Archive for month: August, 2019

 apa format paper & cover page on hate crimes 1.5 page paper discusses your view about hate crime by explaing the follwing. Describe a Hate crime,Explain why it is a hate crime. should Hate crimes be punished more severely than if it was not a Hate crime? Explain… Why or why not? also references also no plagiarism work!

ast week we introduced cells as the basic unit of structure and function in living organisms. But in order to function, a cell needs energy.

Many living organisms—including humans—ingest food as a means to create energy. The organism’s digestive system breaks down the food’s biological macromolecules such as carbohydrates into sugars. When those sugar molecules are broken down, energy is produced. We measure this energy in units of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is used by cells as a source of energy.

Other organisms, such as plants, can produce energy without ingesting food. Plants produce energy from light through a process known as photosynthesis. As a human, your food comes from either plants or animals that eat plants. This means that the energy in your body depends, on some level, on plant photosynthesis. Without plant photosynthesis, we wouldn’t be able to get the energy we need from our food.

This week, we will look at ways cells create energy, the ways they acquire what they need to create energy, and how they transfer energy throughout an organism’s body.

The living cells of every organism constantly use energy. Cells import molecules, metabolize or otherwise modify them, then transport them around the cell, potentially even distributing products back out of the cell to the entire organism.

Metabolism is the sum of all chemical reactions that occur in a living organism. A key feature of metabolism is that chemical reactions often make the materials needed for other chemical reactions. Metabolism both builds bigger molecules from smaller ones and dismantles molecules to release atoms and energy.

Photosynthesis is one of the most important sets of chemical reactions in all of nature for more than just the energy it produces. In addition to being the pathway through which energy and carbon (in the form of glucose) enter the web of life, it also releases oxygen into the environment. Life as we know it would not exist without photosynthesis. This is quite an important role in nature!

You will participate in a class discussion related to topics in biology.

You will also complete a laboratory experiment on parts of the cell, including cell membranes.

And you will demonstrate your knowledge of course concepts with a quiz.

Next week we will study the life cycle of single cells and cell reproduction. Combined, these processes allow for existing cells to make new cells. The ability of living organisms to produce new cells is important for three of the major characteristics of life: growth, healing, and reproduction.       

Week 3 Outcomes

By the end of this week, you should be able to

• describe the scientific concepts relating to energy;
• explain the relationship between enzymes and energy in the context of metabolism;
• describe the role of metabolic pathways in living organisms;
• explain the processes and outcomes of cellular respiration and fermentation;
• explain the process of photosynthesis including the light dependent and light independent (Calvin cycle) reactions;
• compare/contrast cellular organelles;

An end to heart disease? Not quite. A new class of cholesterol lowering drugs called PCSK9 inhibitors (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. is really good at lowering LDL levels, but evidence of how well it reduces the mortality of heart disease is not so clear. From this New York Times article, discuss the problems treating a complex disease like heart disease. Find information about familial hypercholesterolemia and what different treatment options would be available, considering that seven different genes are known to contribute to this disease (OMIM 143890 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.).  In your post, explain or summarize why the new drug Repatha is so powerful in reducing LDL cholesterol, and then pick one of the genes from OMIM (see the Phenotype-Gene Relationship table) and discuss one cause of hypercholesterolemia and possible treatment option, based on the gene you picked.

Bio Peer Response: 4/5/19 100 min

A new LDL drug was endorsed and the researchers had very high expectations and were rooting for the end of heart disease. With a following study of this new drug conducted to patients, it had simliar benefits like a statin. For patients who don’t mind or do mind the high price of this drug, it has been suggested to wait for long-term results when more and more people start to use it. The problems of this disease is that they “are not related to statins at all…[you’ll need a] doctor to determine what’s really causing [the] symptoms. And some people tolerate one statin better then another.” (Krumholz, H., 2017) This drug is so powerful in treating heart disease because typically dozes of this medication is 90 mg/dl (this is considered low) and using Repatha is 30 mg/dl. 

“Familial hypercholesterolemia is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by elevation of serum cholesterol bound to low density lipoprotein (LDL), which promotes deeposition of cholesteral in the skin, tendons, and coronary arteries (Hobbs et al.. 1992, OMIM)” This can happen in both homozygous and heterzygous. Houlston, R. et al. 1988, all discovered that that patients coronary artery disease have a high level of LDL concentration in contrast of those who don’t have coronary artery disease. This suggests “that [LDL] measurements may help predict the risk of coronary heart disease in individuals with familial hypercholesterolemia.” Treatment for this is chaning lifestyle like exercising and consuming a “healthy low-fat diet”.

RESCOURCES:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/20/health/ldl-cholesterol-heart-disease-drugs-pcsk9-inhibitors.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=sectionfront (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

https://www.omim.org/entry/143890 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/familial-hypercholesterolemia/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20353757 (Links to an external site.)

Bio Questions: 4/4/19
1. Many individuals with metabolic diseases are normal at birth but show symptoms shortly thereafter. Why?

2. List the ways in which a metabolic block can have phenotypic effects.

3. If phenylalanine was not an essential amino acid, would diet therapy (the elimination of phenylalanine from the diet) for PKU work? Do not just say yes or no. Give a short explanation.

4. Describe the quaternary structure of the blood protein hemoglobin.

5. Transcriptional regulators are proteins that bind to promoters (the 5’ flanking regions of genes) to regulate their transcription. Assume that a particular transcription regulator normally promotes transcription of gene X, a transport protein. If a mutation makes this regulator gene nonfunctional, would the resulting phenotype be similar to a mutation in the gene X itself? Why or why not?

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Read this piece on social movements, my lecture, and short video 

To quote sociologist, Lynda Ann Ewen, “Social movements are as American as apple pie.”

A “social movement” is a movement where the goal is to promote or prevent social change from occurring. To be considered a social movement, certain criteria needs to be met. (1) A large number of people need to be involved. (2) These people need to have a common goal in mind. (3) The people need a leader or leaders and they must be organized. (4) The group needs to sustain itself over a long period of time (and interaction does not necessarily need to be face to face.) 

In sociology, we categorize social movements since they have unique characteristics that set them apart. It’s difficult, of course, to compare the civil rights movement to the pro life movement! The primary types of social movements are the reformative movement (gay rights advocates), the redemptive movement (Jehovah’s witnesses, born again Christians), the alternative movement (Alcoholics Anonymous, transcendental meditation), the resistance movements (anti-abortion groups, white supremacists) and the revolutionary movement (right wing militia groups). 

There are many social movements that have occurred in our society to start or prevent change. Some movements are the Women’s movement, Gay Rights, Pro-life, Pro-choice movement, Occupy, Black Lives Matter and the environmental movement (which has 50 subgroups!)

I bet many of you have participated in a movement directly or indirectly in your life.

1) Please explain a social movement you belonged to surrounding race, gender, or social clas and how you were part of the movement. Why did you join it and how has it impacted our society?

Or

2) If you have not been part of a movement when it comes to gender, race, and social class  I would like to you to choose a social movement that you WOULD join and explain why you would be part of this social movement (and how it impacts our society.)

Remember, as I always say, choose something that you feel tied to or feel passionate about!