Biology

Please accept this letter as I appeal to your good insurance companys decision to reconsider the coverage for in vitro fertilization or zygote intra fallopian transfer. I do believe that the previous decision is based on specific conditions which your company believes to hinder the success of the aforementioned procedure. However, I must emphasize that these medical reasons have already been attended to and will no longer significantly affect the results of the IVF procedure.
   
Please be informed that my husband was diagnosed with a scar tissue so the sperm must be aspirated and a urologist has confirmed this finding through an exploratory surgery. I, on the other hand, have undergone laparoscopy to check for endometriosis and the result was negative, suggesting the normal growth of the endometrial tissues. However, it was found that my ovary had cysts that were eventually surgically removed. Furthermore, an initial IVF procedure was executed months ago but has failed, and the attending physician has cited no exact reasons that will account for the failure. Hence, I decided to perform my own research by seeking the assistance of an endocrinologist to request a complete thyroid count and antibody test. Results from T3labs have shown that my thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) was overworking and might have been the causality of the failure of the first IVF attempt. At present, I am currently being treated for hyperthyroidism and continuous regulation of haemodynamic values.
   
Based on the abovementioned information, I, the patient, am asking that you reconsider your previous decision and permit the full coverage of the in vitro fertilization or zygote intra fallopian transfer. The cited improvements on the condition of both parties are deemed to pave the way for the success of the second IVF procedure. My partner and I are looking forward to hearing a response from you.

The news about the discovery of the female sex hormone progesterone in a plant amazed me and really caught my attention. The news wedged my interest because it seemed very unlikely to find a female sex hormone in a plant. It made me realize that there are so many things yet to be discovered in plants even though man has been studying them since time immemorial. For the longest time, scientists believed that only animals can produce sex hormones. So when the American Chemical Society published their discovery, a lot of people, including myself, were very much fascinated.
  
 The discovery of female sex hormone in a plant is a great breakthrough in physiology. Sex hormones are vital in the functionality of animals. Physiology basically deals with the study of the functions of living systems. Hence, find progesterone in plants calls for an in-depth study as to why it exists there and for what purpose. As aforementioned, scientists have long studied plants but it is only until recently that they discovered the existence of progesterone in some plants. This just means that the physiology of plants is not as simple as what was thought of before. Physiology is a broad area of science that focuses on very specific systems. A small discovery may lead to more complex findings in the future.
  
Physiology is a very important science because it works hand in hand with health sciences and medical technology. Everything in the field of medicine must be based in physiology because it serves as its foundation. Living systems must be carefully studied before pushing and implementing any bio-related technology. Needless to say, physiology is a basic building block of biology. Learning things like the existence of progesterone is some plants are great in the further development of science.

Evaluation of the Validity of the MAND in Assessing Motor Impairment in Young Children Article Summary 
The article featured a study on the validity and discrimination accuracy of an assessment tool used for identifying motor impairment among young children. (MAND) or the McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscular Development was compared with the most commonly used test which is the (MABC) or Movement Assessment Battery for Children. Children were then selected for testing and observations are recorded for statistical analyses to assess the validity of MAND. The results have shown that there are significant differences between the 2 tests. MAND was found to be more inconsistent and at the same time not as varied and sensitive in making assessment that MABC. It appeared to be more restricted in the type of skills assessed. In the end, MABC was found to be the more effective means of identifying the level of motor impairment with young children.

Biological Psychology The Human Nervous System  
The study showed that motor skills such as voluntary movement or locomotion, manual dexterity, equilibrium, gait as well as fine motor skills are poor among children with apparent neurological deficits caused by autism, cerebral palsy, attention deficit hyperactivity and even anxiety disorders. These factors lie within the normal development of the brain and the entire nervous system. These involve the primary motor cortex of the brain. Specific areas of the brain are found to be affected. Ataxia for example is a motor disorder which demonstrates inability to coordinate muscle movement.

Relation to Everyday Experience    
Motor impairment serves as an indication of neurological deficit.  Detection is important to provide intervention or therapy for young children with inborn mental deficits. Our nervous system and the brain, indeed has a crucial role for coordination and control.

Metabolism, the biochemical mechanism through which the food consumed is converted to energy, is a very essential process that occurs in all living organisms.  Energy is required in the body of all organisms even at rest to perform vital functions that keep an organism alive. Breathing, blood circulation, regulation of hormones and growth are some of the vital functions that require energy (Bender, 2002). Basal metabolic energy is the amount of energy spent by the body while resting. Metabolism varies from one organism to another as well as from one person to another.

Bender, (2002) have clearly stated that organisms which have a high metabolic rate burn calories faster than those with low metabolic rate. Birds and mammals have higher metabolic rates as compared to fish and reptiles. Differences in metabolic rates also occur between organisms of the same classification. For example, a man and a rodent have different metabolic rates though they are both classified as mammals. Differences also, occur between organisms of the same species. A small person have different metabolic rate from a big person. There are various factors that affect the metabolic rates of different animals. Body temperature as well as the surrounding temperature, work, and body size are some of the factors that affect the metabolic rate of an animal.

Birds, which belong to the homoeothermic group of animals, have higher body temperatures than those animals belonging to the poiklothermic group. The fundamental source of energy for birds as well as other organisms is the sun. Energy from the sun is utilized through the process of photosynthesis by green plants. Birds acquire energy by eating green leaves or products from plants. After obtaining this energy, they use it to build tissues, make eggs, process brain information, and power all their activities including flight. Birds which are small animals tend to loss heat more than other big animals. This is because they have a very large surface area as compared to volume ratio. The surface of a bird is also proportionately large as compared to the mass of the metabolizing tissues. Birds have a large amount of the active protoplasmic tissue as comported to big animals. Due to excessive loss of heat, the metabolic rate of birds is high in order to maintain their body temperate and keep them alive. Larger animals do not lose a lot of heat as compared to birds. The surface of large animals is proportionately large as compared to their volume ration (Ehrlich, Dobkin, and Wheye, 1988).

Ehrlich, Dobkin, and Wheye (1988), states that, birds also tend to be more active than other animals. This means that they require a lot of energy to power their activities. Humming bird for example, display high levels of activity as compared to all other living creatures. As a result they have the highest metabolic rate of all animals. In order to maintain the high metabolic rates, birds consume almost the same weight of food in comparison to their bodies. Warm blooded animals could not be created in a size less than a humming bird or a shrew. It would be very difficult for such a creature to eat at a speed that would enable it maintain its body temperature.

While active, the metabolic rate of birds is higher than their basal metabolic rate. Hummingbirds become torpid at night and allow their body temperature to drop until it equals or is close to the surrounding air. This is a mechanism that allows them to conserve energy especially at night when they do not have access to food. When the metabolic rate of humming birds is at its peak, they are just a few hours from death due to starvation (Ehrlich, Dobkin, and Wheye, 1988).

In this article, the authors investigate the behavior of desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis, as they try to search their nests after their navigation system has failed. Through the experiment, the authors tried to ascertain if there are factors other than the distance traveled which affects the search pattern of the ants. The authors hypothesized that the distance traveled is not the only factor that determines the ants uncertainty but there are also other factors that affect the ants confidence in their path integrator.

 Desert ants do not leave a chemical train but rather make use of a strategy known as path integration wherein the ants remember the distances and directions traveled and use them to return safely and quickly back to their nests. However, these path integrators are error prone and previous studies have shown that if the ants do not find the nest where it should be according to the path integrator, they begin a systematic search pattern to quickly find the nest entrance. This systematic search follows a predetermined shape but the width of the search depends on the length of the foraging excursion. If the ant had traveled a small distance in its foraging excursion, its systematic search loop would be much smaller than if it had traveled a longer distance away from the nest. Thus, the more confident the ant is in its path integrator, the shorter distance it will travel during its systematic search. The present study attempts to find if spatial distance covered by the ants during the systematic search is exclusively determined by the distance traveled or if they also depend on other cues and how robust these other cues are.

The experiment was performed on wild desert ants in southern Tunisia and all tested ants belonged to the same colony. There were no visible landmarks around the nest and the foraging area. Before beginning the test, the ants were trained by using a feeder placed about 20 meters south of the nest and the ants that encountered the feeder were marked with a color code. These ants were allowed to forage for one full day before they were tested.

During the test, the ants were captured after they had picked up a food crumb and transferred to a test area. The ants were captured at three places after having traveled a distance of 50 from the feeder to the nest (50-in), after having a traveled a distance of 75 from the feeder (25-in) and at the entrance of the nest (0- in). Fifty ants were captured at each of these distances. The 0-in ants were used as a control. Once transferred to the control area, they were allowed to run their home vector and then their systematic search pattern was recorded.

Once the ants started their systematic search, the center of their search was identified and the width of the search distribution was calculated. To check if the differences in this width of distribution vanished after searching for a long time, the width was calculated three times when the overall search lengths had reached 20, 40 and 50 m. The comparisons between the three groups of ants were carried out using the Kruskal-Wallis one way analysis.

The results showed that the 0-in ants searched in a much narrower area when compared to the 50-in and 25-in ants. These results were also presented in the form of three diagrams showing the paths traveled by the ants in the three groups. In the discussion section, the authors compared the data of the present study with that of an earlier study in which the search loop of 100-in ants was studied. It was found that ants that had been captured at the feeder and transferred to the test area had a much wider search loop than even the 50-in and 25-in ants. Based on this, the authors suggest that when the ants are allowed to reel even a part of their home runs in familiar area, they display much more confidence in their path integrator. The results were also compared to another study in which ants were captured immediately after they left their nest. In this study, when released on the test area, the ants did not start foraging but instead immediately started searching for the nest and their search extensions were extremely small. This experiment suggested that the path integrators were set to zero only after entering the nest and even being in the vicinity of the nest does not reset it.

Based on these results the authors concluded that the 0-in ants had much more confidence in their path integrators, suggesting that factors other than the distance traveled were also involved in their confidence of their path integrators. These other cues could be a variety of things including soil conditions, horizon landmarks or the presence of nest-mates. The authors also discussed an alternative explanation for their results and dismissed it because it was not adequately supported by the observations made. Thus the experiment upheld their initial hypothesis that factors other than distance traveled influences the confidence that desert ants have in their path integrators. For future studies, the authors suggest trying the find if such additional factors do indeed exist, what they are and how they interact with the path integrator. Thus the authors recognize the limitations of the findings of their experiment and realize that the experiment only suggest at the existence of factors others than distance in determining the ants confidence in its path integrator. They leave it to future researchers to confirm the suggestions made by their experiment.

The bcr-abl oncogene is a product of a translocation between chromosomes 9 and 22. This fusion product is also called the Philadephia chromosome and is responsible for the cancer seen in myeloid cells, chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a clonal hematopoietic stem cell disorder with an annual incidence of one to two cases per 100,000 per year (Mauro  Druker, 2001). The disease proceeds in four distinct phases the stable (chronic) phase, advanced phase, accelerated phase, and blast crisis. The first phase, which is the chronic phase, is characterized by massive expansion of myeloid cells. Leukemic cells lose their capacity to terminally differentiate in the other phases, resulting in an acute leukemia, which is highly noncompliant with therapy. The Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome has been found to be the cytogenetic hallmark of all phases of chronic myeloid leukemia and some subsets of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The Ph chromosome is a shortened chromosome 22 that results from a reciprocal translocation between the long arms of chromosomes 9 and 22 (Mauro  Druker, 2001).

CML is distinguished from other conditions by the presence of a distinctive molecular abnormality, namely  a translocation involving the bcr gene on chromosome 22 and the abl gene on chromosome 9 (Kumar, Abbas,  Fausto, 2004).

Researches conducted on oncogenic viruses gave some of the first clues to the mechanisms by which normal cells became malignant.  These viruses have been found to fall into two major groups. These include chronic leukemia viruses and acute transforming viruses.  Chronic leukemia viruses are replication competent and are not known to transform cells in vitro (Rosson  Reddy, 1988). However, several of the chronic leukemia viruses have been implicated in tumors when injected into newborn animals after a lengthy latent period of several months to years.

Discovery
The abl oncogene was initially found in the Abelson murine leukemia virus (Ab-MLV). This virus was isolated about 6 years prior to the discovery that genes contained in some retroviruses were homologous to normal cellular genes and was initially of interest because, unlike most murine  leukemia viruses Ab-MLV induced lymphomas after a very short latent period (Ramakrishnan  Rosenberg, 1989). The ability of Ab-MLV to change both fibroblasts and lymphoid cells in vitro emphasized the biological differences that differentiate the Ab-MLV from other murine leukemia viruses. However, these early experiments only did little to explain the varied and complex responses of cells to abl expression. The identification of the Ab-MLV transforming protein and the finding that many normal cells encode a related protein pointed the way for experiments that culminated in the cloning of the viral genome and the normal cellular homologue of the viral transforming gene (Ramakrishnan et al, 1989).These seminal experiments helped define the properties of the Ab-MLV and was a starting point for understanding the relationship of the virus to the normal cellular abl gene.

The ABL-BCR was first discovered and described by Peter Nowell from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and David Hungerford from Fox Chase Cancer Centres Institute for Cancer Research in 1960. The Chromosome was therefore named after the City in which both institutions were located- Philadephia (Philadelphia chromosome).
The discovery of the Philadelphia chromosome as a hallmark of chronic myelogenous leukemia in 1960 by Peter Nowell provided evidence for a genetic link to cancer (Koretzky, 2007)

Isolation of the bcr-abl oncogene
Different methods have been successfully used to isolate the bcr-abl oncogene. Some of them include
Isolation of BCR-ABL Transfected Ml Clones An expression vector coding for BCR-ABL p210 (pLSV-p210) together with a plasmid conferring resistance to G418 neomycin (pSV2neo) is introduced by electroporation into the S-6 subclone of Ml cells. Stable neo-resistant clones are analyzed for expression and incorporation of the BCR-ABL gene. Northern blot analysis showed that two isolated clones expressed high levels of the BCR-ABL large mRNA transcript. There was no signal either in a control neo clone or in the non transfected parental cells. As a result of the low abundance of the endogenous ABL mRNA transcripts (of 5.3 and 6.5 kilobases) it was not possible to detect them in total RNA samples. The p210 protein, the functional expression of the BCR-ABL gene product, was established by in vitro autokinase assay in immune complexes produced by anti-BCR antibodies. It should be noted that the two BCR-ABL-transfected clones displayed normal growth kinetics and cell cycle distribution, characteristic of parental Ml cells (Zafriri, Argaman, Canaan  Kimchi, 1992).

Expression of v-abl-derived p60 in E. coli A plasmid expression vector, pAS1-Abl-60, is constructed which permits controlled expression of a truncated product of the A-MuLV v-ab1 transforming gene in E. coli (Fergusson, Pritchard, Field, Rieman, Greig, Poste  Rosenberg, 1985).
 In an bid to get high level buildup of  v-abl-derived tyrosine  kinase  in E. coli, fusion of  the  v-ab1  coding  sequence  in-frame  with  the  coding sequence  of  the  first  7  amino  acid  residues  of  a  product (influenza virus NS1) known  to be expressed at high levels  in  E.  coli are carried out.  This approach is designed to ensure that translation of the fusion product will initiate efficiently (Fergusson, Pritchard, Field, Rieman, Greig, Poste  Rosenberg, 1985).

Characterization
The Philadelphia chromosome is found in more than 95 of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia. This chromosome contains 5 BCR gene sequences fused to the ABLgene at its 5 end. The gene product formed is a Bcr-Abl protein that has a greatly elevated protein tyrosine kinase activity. Two forms of the Bcr-Abl protein have been described earlier. Depending on the location of the breakpoint within BCR, either a 210- (P210BCR-ABL) or 185-kDa (P185BCR-ABL) protein is produced (Liu, Wu, Ma, Dailu, Haataja, Heisterkamp, Groffen, Arlinghaus, 1995). The two forms of the Bcr-Abl protein are very important factors in the induction and maintenance of leukemias, as confirmed by mouse studies.
The defect in the BCR-ABL gene is a translocation. Segments of chromosome 9 and 22 swap places which results in a gene (a fusion gene) between the BCR ( breakpoint cluster region) gene from chromosome 22 (region q11) and the Abl1 gene (Abelson, the name of a leukemia virus that carries a similar protein) located on chromosome 9.

Because of its discovery and the early recognition of its role in human cancer, BCR-ABL is one of the most highly studied oncogenes (Etten, 2004).

The translocation results in the oncogene, BCR-ABL gene which is located on the short derivative chromosome 22 and it encodes the BCR-ABL fusion protein with its molecular weight ranging from 185kDa to 210kDa.  The Abl gene expresses a membrane-associated protein, tyrosine kinase and the bcr region expresses serinethreonine kinases but the tyrosine kinase function is of great clinical importance as it is the target for drug therapy.

Treatment of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a pluripotent hematopoietic stem cell disorder characterized by accumulation of mature and immature granulocytes in peripheral blood and bone marrow due to uncontrolled growth and resistance to apoptosis (Rongzhen, Qinhua, Yingzi, Xiaoying, Xiaoxian, Dong, Qinghua, Xiaohua, Xiao-Fang, 2005).

A breakpoint cluster region (bcr) was identified on chromosome 22 the DNAs of all (over 30) Ph-positive CML patients examined to date have breakpoints in this region of up to 5.8 kb (Grosveld, Verwoerd, Agthoven, Klein, Ramachandran, Heisterkamp, Stam,  Groffen, 1986).

Imatinib
In the late 1990s, Imatinib was first identified by Norvatis pharmaceuticals. Imatinib is a potent inhibitor of tyrosine kinase activity. Gleevec (also called Imatinib or STI571) is a small-molecule inhibitor that binds to the kinase domain of bcrabl oncoprotein and stabilizes the protein in its closed, inactive conformation, thereby inhibiting its activity, and is now a rst-line therapy for the majority of CML cases because of its high efficacy and relatively mild side-effects. (Rongzhen et al, 2005).

The Bcr-Abl fusion protein kinase causes chronic myeloid leukemia and is targeted by the signal transduction inhibitor STI-571Gleevecimatinib (STI-571). Sequencing of the BCR-ABL gene in patients who have relapsed after STI-571 chemotherapy has revealed a limited set of kinase domain mutations that mediate drug resistance (Azam, Latek,  Daley, 2003).

In 80 of newly diagnosed cases of CML, imatinib induces the bone marrow to be totally free of the Philadephia chromosome(Levinson, Reid, Burt, Harrison, Fleming, 2008).     

Do something that you love and youll never have to work a day in your life (Wilson, Blumenthal 87), said Mark Mackay once. I knew when I saw how a chiropractor works that it was the career I wanted to pursue and excel on for the rest of my life. I knew if I become a chiropractor, that Ill love every single day of my professional career.

Healing people has been my calling from the very beginning it just took me quite a long while to figure it out. Every day, I think of the littlest ways to help the people all around me. For instance, I volunteered with Big Brothers Big Sisters and adopted a little brother for a year to do my share for the community. I also have made sack lunches with my church and handed these out to homeless people in my hometown of Little Rock, Arizona. I did all of these because theres this unquenchable inner yearning in me to ease and, hopefully, cure the suffering in my own little corner of the world.
   
Being a chiropractor is the next step toward my lifes mission of using myself as a tool of overall wellness and health. The journey though, has not been easy and is in fact filled with various challenges. For instance, my academic performance used to suffer because I decided to put work before school, thinking that if I worked hard, it would soon pay-off. Thus, I excelled in the workforce but I failed to display my full academic potential. I gathered a lot of valuable experiences in the workforce, but still, I dont hesitate to admit that Ive learned my lesson.
   
Learning continues throughout life and since I graduated college, I have matured tremendously. The major turning point in my life was witnessing the birth of my 6 month old daughter.  It was then that I realized that I have not been living to my full potential. With the precious life now in my hands, I underwent a major shift in philosophy. Now, all I want is to position myself in such a way that I am able to provide for my daughter and ensure a bright future for her. I truly feel that being a chiropractor, practicing a profession that I would love to do forever, will help me achieve this goal.
   
My fascination with the bodys natural ability to heal itself began when I was just in elementary and I learned how a scab forms to help repair torn skin. I saw this natural way of healing in its most beautiful and practical form in chiropractic healthcare. I fell in love with the profession when I saw a local chiropractor about a lower back pain. I was absolutely amazed with the amount of time he spent interacting and getting to know his patients. Medical doctors that I have seen in the past never seem to spend time doing the same. It seemed as if they were more concerned with taking your money and getting you out of their office as fast as possible.
   
More and more, I began to see the great contrast between the natural healing techniques of chiropractic healthcare and the normal medical profession were used to. The medical profession believes that disease causes a lack of health, while chiropractic healthcare believes that a lack of health is expressed as disease. As a result, medicine treats the symptoms of sick people while chiropractics address and treat the root cause, which lead to symptoms.
   
By becoming a chiropractor, I would enjoy a rewarding career that would give me the ability to educate others about their potential for true health and well-being. I would help people decrease their pain, improve their quality of life and help gain and maintain optimal health with safe and effective care. Becoming a chiropractor would be the pinnacle of my mission to help cure this world of suffering.