Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Restrictive/ non restrictive interventions free essay sample

This is a form of intervention, which usually aims to prevent the movement of an individual or to move them from a dangerous incident. This can be by bodily contact or by moving of the environment eg: closing doors. Its stops the person from freely moving. It has risks to both those who use this method, those who you use this method on if not done correctly, and those around. Non-restrictive interventions – removing the item etc. that may cause the person stress and anxiety. HSC 3045- 1. 3/1. 4 Four categories of challenging behavior/ physical intervention: Restraint Holding Positive touching Presence HSC 3045-1. 3/1. 4 Restrictive interventions are not to be used as a regular tool for managing behavior and there is a lot of guidance on when and how these can be used. E. g,‘guidance on the use of reasonable force’, available at the Department of Education, and the Challenging Behavior Foundation. Challenging behaviors may include repetitive/obsessive, withdrawn, aggressive, self-injurious, disruptive, anti-social or illegal, verbally abusive. We will write a custom essay sample on Restrictive/ non restrictive interventions or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page HSC 3045 1. 6 Restraint: Defined as the positive application of force with the intention of overpowering a child. Practically, this means any measure, or tecnique designed to completely restrict a child’s mobility or to prevent a child from leaving, for example: Any technique involving a child being held on the floor (‘prone facedown’ techniques may not be used in any circumstances) Any technique which involves the child being held by two or more people Any technique involving a child being held by one person if the balance of power is so great that the child is effectively over powered. Eg, where an adult is holding the child under the age of ten. Locking or bolting a door in order to contain or prevent a child from leaving The significant distinction between this first category and the others 1. Restraint is defined as the positive application of force with the intention of over powering a child. The intention is to over power the child, completely restriction the child’s mobility. The other categories include/provide the child with varying degrees of freedom and mobility. 2. Holding: This includes anything, any measure or technique which involved the child being held firmly by one person, so long as the child retains a degree of mobility and can leave if determined enough. Positive touching: This includes minimum contact in order to lead, guide, usher or block a child; applied in a manner, which permits the child, quite a lot of freedom and mobility. 4. Presence: A form of control using no contact, such as standing in front of a child or obstructing a door way to negotiate with the child; but allowing the child the freedom to leave if they wish www. proceduresonline. com/greatermnchester/childcare/bur/chapters/pphysint. html HSC 3045-1. 6 When restrictive interventions may/not be used. Only trained members of staff should use this. It can be used to: Diffuse situations e. g. to separate a person from a trigger To protect others e. g. children and young people, staff members Prevent damage to property It must not be used: As a punishment With self harmers There are planned interventions and unplanned interventions. The tecniques used must be appropriate to the behaviors displayed and the individual child. HSC 3045-1. 4 Restrictive interventions are serious and you need to protect both the child from harm and yourself from allegations. It is therefore extremely important that you follow procedures for reporting and recording the use of restrictive and physical interventions. EXPLAIN WHO NEEDS TO BE INFORMED OF ANY INCIDENTS WHERE RESTRICTIVE INTERVENTIONS HAVE BEEN USED Manager Social worker All staff Physiotherapist Behavior officer Parents Health and safety officer Children in the class Task 3 HSC- 1. 5 WHY USE THE LEAST RESTRCTIVE INTERVENTIONS To model behavior and to promote positive behavior Will avoid making situations escalate Prevents risk of damage to a child physically or mentally, especially if a child has learning difficulties or has suffered abuse Gives the child/young person more decency and respect, therefore they will respect you SAFEGURDS IN PLACE You must consider alternative methods first There should be a trained member of staff dealing with the situation You must have a policy and adhere to the correct procedures There should be two staff always, probably one observing the child’s behavior. A plan with both the parent and the child must be agreed on how to deal with this You must avoid contact with sensitive body parts You should not put a child face down HSC 3045-2. 1 Proactive- Before something happens Reactive- After it has happened HSC 3045 – 2. 2/2. 3 The teacher plans her lesson thoroughly to provide continuous stability and routine. Staff build trust with the pupils in order to make them less anxious We have class rules and class consequences We provide resources that are accessible by all abilities There are times in the classroom that we will need to use reactive strategies: Some children may require a subtle or correction when sitting on the carpet for circle time. I usually stop what I am doing and ask, â€Å" Are you ok Child A? † When I notice that a child is about to do something or is in the middle of doing something wrong, I raise my eyebrows and they usually move on and stop what they are doing. Some reactive strategies may require some form of physical intervention in order to keep the child and other around safe. For example; I was given a one on one role on a school outing and was responsible for the safety of and Autistic child. We were crossing a main road and he stopped half way across. He did not respond to verbal command so I had to lift him across the road against his will.

Friday, March 6, 2020

Comparison of Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness essays

Comparison of Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness essays Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness share parallel characters, ideas and dialogues, but most important is the distinct similarity between central themes. Each deals with the primitive, animalistic qualities stifled within the modern, refined man which will emerge indefinitely in the absence of civilization. The Kurtz's from each work abandon society and become engrossed in the primitive ways of the jungle, rediscovering their basest human instincts. On a superficial level, one could compare the characters of Heart of Darkness to those of Apocalypse Now. Marlow, on his downriver journey in Africa is a parallel to Willard, on his assassination mission on the river in Vietnam. Each man is on an intrinsic journey as well as a physical one, finding spiritual enlightenment in the darkest of places. The Kurtz's are obvious parallels, not only appellatively but also behaviorally, in that they feed on their instincts and desert their learned morals. Although both men are high-ranked military prodigies, the high attained from being coveted as a god among the natives causes them to depart from their ethics. Even the most minor characters, such as Phillips and Phillips and the Russian and the photojournalist are parallel. In both works, Kurtz is seen as the rebel. He has broken off from the rest of society and rebelled from the mores that had been imposed upon him, living by his instincts. The disenfranchised can be seen as the native Africans who are treated like animals and worked to death in camps in Heart of Darkness , and the civilian Cambodians in Apocalypse Now . In both works we see a genius turn rebel, choosing to join in the lives of the disenfranchised in order to be worshipped as a deity. There are also similarities within the dialogues of the novel and the movie.I don't want to bother you much with what happened to me personally?yet to understand the effect of it on me you ought to know how I got out there, what I saw...

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

The Portrayal of Asian Males in D. W. Griffiths Broken Blossoms Movie Review

The Portrayal of Asian Males in D. W. Griffiths Broken Blossoms - Movie Review Example The film Broken Blossoms perpetuates this stereotype by portraying the Asian male as submissive and weak. Broken Blossoms was released in 1919, during the growth of the yellow peril, a social perspective that rose from the influx of Asian immigration into the United States and some European countries. In America, the yellow peril originated during the late 19th century as Asian laborers immigrated in record numbers to San Francisco to work for the railroads and culminated in Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor which forced America to get involved with World War II. Marchetti writes, Within the context of America's consistently ambivalent attitudes to Native Americans, Hispanics, and African Americans, and other peoples of color, the yellow peril has contributed to the notion that all nonwhite people are by nature physically and mentally inferior, morally suspect, heathen, licentious, disease-ridden, feral, violent, uncivilized, infantile, and in need of guidance of white Anglo-Saxon Protestants. (2-3) America used the stereotype of the yellow peril to at firs... In Broken Blossoms, the Asian male is not only portrayed as being weaker then the Anglo Saxon male, he also must be punished for transgressing cultural boundaries by falling in love with a white woman. In the beginning of the film, the Yellow Man is seen sitting against a wall, depressed, and hugging himself. Already, the film is portraying him as mentally inferior to the white man by having him in a feminized position, since it is culturally understood that the woman becomes sad and depressed, not the male. The Yellow Man is also shown to be an opium smoking drug addicted gambler, again feeding into the Anglo Saxon stereotype of the Asian male as depraved and morally suspect. Then we meet the white male, Battling Burrow, who is a literal symbol of the raw strength of the Anglo Saxon male. The contrast between the two males is startling; the Asian male is morally corrupt and feminized while the Anglo Saxon male is a physical powerhouse of raw brute strength. When the white female, Lucy, goes shopping and stops before the Yellow Man's store, he becomes infatuated with her and begins to follow her around town. This is biggest threat to the white patriarchal society; having an inferior male mating with a white woman. When Lucy comes home, she is beaten by her father for serving his tea late, but the symbolic message is that she must be punished for attracting the attentions of the Yellow Man. The Yellow Man takes Lucy into his apartment to nurse her after her beating. The Yellow Man is further feminized in the eyes of the audience by participating in the female practice of nursing and by showering Lucy with flowers and silk. That he owns such things as silk fabric shows again how the Asian male is not

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Information Systems and Business Processes Essay

Information Systems and Business Processes - Essay Example This approach will affect the revenue and cost of running the video game business (Halpin at el., 2011). Additionally, it will allow proper understanding and incorporation of the management approach since the business strategic assets as a process will allow the managers to understand, improve, and manage value-adding services to the clients or children. Business information systems are usually applied in the business processes to provide required information in delivering services to the clients. The advancement in the internet provides services provide a perfect platform for the business information systems to be used effective and interactively in service delivery (Brocke and Rosemann, 2010). Therefore, in the video game business, the internet will be used to source the information from the clients or children and the service or game provider (Dumas, 2013). Additionally, the business will apply the computer technology or the already readily available software for billing and timin g the game. The use of these technologies will ensure that even distribution time to all games is achieved. Additionally, the same software will enable the business to calculate its profits or losses as it is expected that the system will register all times used per computer. Notably, effective application of the timing and billing technology of the video games per video game will reduce cost of running the business since only one employee may be able to run all the computers in the rooms from a central point. Moreover, there will be increased efficiency and effectiveness in running the business. However, a challenge may emerge when (Halpin at el., 2011); the entrusted employee to the business learns a new technique or mode of adjusting time to these systems. In essence, if that occurs, then losses may be registered without knowing since calculations of time and cumulative amount generated in the business will be calculated from coded data. When such may be the case, then the busine ss plans to incorporate additional data point that is only known to the business owner (Dumas, 2013). This data storage point must code the same information as that managed by the employee; however, edition of such information must never affect its data. Additionally, the systems using internet are usually pound to virus threats. To ensure that all the games are accessible effectively and efficiently at all times to the clients, the business shall ensure that it is abreast with all antivirus software among other new technologies in the market that protect it products and services from being effective to the clients (Halpin at el., 2011). To ensure that children do not misuse the internet by login into antisocial site, the business will use internet technological software or knowledge to ensure that such site are not accessible within its servers (Halpin at el., 2011). Additionally, the business shall ensure that only its programs can operate through its products or computer systems (Brocke and Rosemann, 2010). Therefore, to ensure that this is achieved and children maintain high morals without being unethical and antisocial within the business enterprise, complicated software such as the windows 2008 will be installed so children can only access limited applications. Nonetheless, the use of such complicated software will also increase creativity and critical thinking of the

Monday, January 27, 2020

DNA Based Biosensor in Diagnosis: A Review

DNA Based Biosensor in Diagnosis: A Review The advent of fast and easy DNA testing has given the space for the Science to develop small and easy-to-handle equipments called Biosensors. DNA based biosensors have been proven very useful and are accorded with much importance in detecting the target genes responsible for diseases. This article enlists different types of biosensors, their basic principle of operating system, the preparation of DNA microarrays, lab-on-a-chip and their role in diseases diagnosis. DNA biosensors provide swift, sensitive, selective, simple and economical detection of DNA hybridization. New strategies for DNA biosensor are enumerated and are used meticulously in recent trends and for future directions. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) amplify the electrochemical signal when used with DNA hybridization. Electrochemical, piezoelectric, SPR, optical DNA biosensors are used to detect various viruses like hepatitis virus, HCMV, HIV, orthopox virus etc. and also for the diagnosis of various diseases like cancer, tube rculosis, COPD, genetic diseases (sickle cell anemia i.e. due to single point gene mutation), cystic fibrosis, diabetes etc. The methodologies of detecting such diseases using different types of DNA based biosensors and gene chips are described in this article. PCR free DNA chips, cell- omic sensors and nanosensor are emerging tools in the field of diagnosis. Recent advances in developing such devices provide myriads of new opportunities for DNA diagnostics. Introduction A rapidly developing area of biotechnology arousing intense scientist interest is that of biosensor. Biosensor has become popular in the field of food analysis [1], bioterrorism [3], environmental [2-3] and in the area of human health monitoring and diagnostics [4-6]. Recent advances are being mad in all areas of biosensors technology. Presently, most fascinating and prospective sensors are immunosensors based on affinity reactions between antibody and antigens and DNA biosensors based on the hybridization between DNA probes and their complementary DNA strands. In general, biosensor is an analytical device which employs biological recognition properties for a selective analysis. Such sensors combine a biological element with a physiochemical transducer for the electronic signal output which is proportional to the concentration of analytes [7]. A basic biosensor assembly includes a biological element, transducer and detector. The sensing material may be antibodies, enzymes, whole cell or nucleic acids that form a recognition layer which is integrated with the transducer via immobilization by cross linking, adsorption or covalent binding. Transducers may be amperometric (measuring the current at constant potential) [8], potentiometric (measuring the potential at constant current) [9], piezoelectric (measuring the changes in mass), thermal (measuring the changes in temperature) [10] or optical (detects changes in transmission of light) [11]. The interaction between the analyte and the biological material, used in biosensors may be of two types: a) Bioaffinity sensors: depend on the selective and specific attachment of the target molecule to the surface-attached ligand partner (e.g. antibodies, nucleic acids). b) Biocatalytic sensors: an immobilized enzyme is used as a tool to recognize the target substrate (sensor strips with immobilized glucose oxidase used for personal monitoring of diabetes). A number of steps, much labor, time and costly instruments are required in usual analytical technique whereas biosensors are economical, fast and simple and can be used in small laboratories and hospitals of remote areas which are devoid of sophisticated instruments facilities. DNA Biosensors Nucleic acid recognition process is the basis of DNA Biosensors. These are being developed with a rapid pace with an ambition for inexpensive testing for genetic and infectious disease and for detecting DNA damage and interactions. The study of gene polymorphisms and the analysis of gene sequences play a fundamental role in rapid detection of genetic mutations, opens up new opportunities for reliable diagnosis even before any symptoms of a disease appear. Thus recent advances in developing such devices offer the opportunities for DNA diagnostics. DNA biosensors are made by immobilizing single stranded (ss) DNA probes on different transducers for measuring the hybridization between the DNA probes and their complementary DNA strands [12-13]. The current methods to identify specific DNA sequence in Biological samples depends on the isolation of double stranded (ds) DNA and further polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify the target sequence of DNA. The PCR product is then subjected to electrophoresis or adsorbed onto a suitable membrane and exposed to a solution containing DNA probe. Surface Chemistry and Biochemistry The immobilization of DNA probe onto the transducer plays an important role in the performance of the DNA Biosensor. It should be in well-defined probe orientation and should be readily accessible to the target. The mode of immobilization is the determining factor for the type of environment of probes that are immobilized at the solid surface. On the basis of nature of physical transducer, various schemes can be opted for the DNA probes attachment to the surface such as thiolated DNA utilisation for self binding onto gold transducers, the formation of a complex by the use of biotylated DNA with a surface-confined strepavidin or avidin, covalent binding to the gold surface through functional alkanethiol-based monolayer and coupling covalently (carbodiimide) to the functional groups on carbon electrodes or adsorption onto carbon surfaces. Introduction of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) has paved way for many exciting and new opportunities to DNA biosensors. Peptide Nucleic Acid is a DNA mimic, the only difference is that the sugar-phosphate bone is replaced by a pseudo-peptide one. Like use of surface-confined PNA recognition layers provides remarkable sequence specificity on DNA biosensors and offers other advantages. DNA dendrimers may also be utilized for imparting extreme sensitivity onto DNA Biosensors. By shape, these are tree-like superstructures which possess numerous ss arms that are able to hybridize to their complementary DNA sequence. The immobilization of these dendritic nucleic acids onto physical transducer gives an amplified response [14]. Recent advances in the field of biomolecular techniques may be used to design new generation miniaturized biosensor. Types of DNA based Biosensors 1. Optical Type Fiber optics Biological Element Laser Interferometry Transducer DNA Advantages Optical fiber Highly sensitive Disadvantages Expensive equipment and not portable turbidity interference 2. Electrochemical Type Potentiometric Biological Element Conductometric Transducer Amperometric DNA Advantages Carbon paste electrodes Cheap, Fast Limitations Interference of highly buffered solution 3. Piezoelectric Type DNA Biological Element Quartz Crystals Advantages highly sensitive, Fast 4. DNA chips DNA Quantitative Optical DNA based Biosensor Optical methods are the most commonly used for the detection of analytes. DNA optical biosensors are based on a fiber optic which transduces the emission signal to a fluorescent label and that can carry light from one region to another through a series of internal inflections. The methodology of fiber-optic DNA bio-sensors involves placing of a single stranded DNA probe at the ending-site of fiber and assessing the fluorescent changes resulting from the combination of a fluorescent indicator with the double stranded DNA hybrid [15 16]. The first DNA optical bio-sensors were developed by Krull and Co workers using fluorescent indicator ethidium bromide. A fiber-optic DNA sensor array was developed by Watts group for the detection of multiple DNA sequences at one time [17]. The hybridization of fluorescent labeled complementary oligonucleotides was assessed by observing the increase in fluorescence. A real label free optical detection of DNA hybridization can be offered by a different type of optical transduction based on evanescent wave devices. The different types of optical biosensors include: 1.1 Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) It is a quantum optical electrical phenomenon based on the interaction of light with metal surface. Only at specific resonance wavelength of light, the energy carried by photons of light is transferred to packets of electrons (photons) on a metal surface [17]. These biosensors depend on change in surface optical properties (change in resonance angle because of alteration in interfacial refractive index) which results from the surface binding reaction. Thus, these devices integrate the simplicity of SPR with the sensitivity and specificity of wave guiding devices. The SPR signal that is expressed in resonance units is therefore a measure of mass concentration at the senor chip surface [18-20]. 1.2 Molecular Beacons (MBs) MBs are oligonucleotides possessing a stem and loop structure that are labeled with a quencher at one end and a fluorophore on the other end of the stem that converts into fluorescent upon hybridization. MB probes possess high sensitivity and specificity and direct monitoring capability. A biotinylated molecular beacon probe was developed to prepare a DNA sensor using a bridge structure. MB was biotinylated at quencher site of the stem and linked on a glass through streptavidin that act as a bridge between MB and glass matrix. The fluorescence change was measured by confirmation change of MB in the presence of complementary target DNA [21-23]. Quantum Dot It is an ultra sensitive nanosensor based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FREET) that can detect very low concentration of DNA. In these neon sensors, quantum dots (QDs) are linked to specific DNA probes to capture target DNA. The target DNA strand binds to a fluorescent dye (Fluorophore) labeled reporter strand and thus forming FREET donor acceptor assembly. Quantum dot also functions as target concentrator as well as FREET energy donor [24]. DNA nanosensor contains two target specific DNA probes i.e. reporter and capture probe. The reporter probe is labeled with fluorophore whereas capture probe is labeled with biotin that binds with streptavidin conjugated with QD [25]. The fluorophore acceptor and QD donor in close proximity produce fluorescence from acceptor by means of FREET on illumination of the donor. The presence of target DNA is indicated by the detection of acceptor emission. The un-hybridized probe does not give fluorescence. The CdSe Zns core shell nanocrys tal can be used as donor and Cy5 (fluorophore) as acceptor for developing QD based DNA nanosensors [25]. For this type of optical bio sensors fluorescent dyes used as standard labels are very expensive and can rapidly photo bleach. An alternate used is chemiluncinscence format, which overcomes the use of fluorescent dyes. A Fiber-optic DNA biosensor array A new method of preparing the fiber-optic DNA biosensor and its array for the simultaneous detection of multiple genes is described. The optical fibers were made into fiber-optic DNA biosensors by adsorbing and immobilizing the oligonucleotide probe on its end but were first treated with poly-l-lysine. The fiber-optic DNA biosensor array was well prepared by assembling the fiber-optic DNA biosensors in a bundle in which each fiber carried a different DNA probe. Hybridization of fluorescent- labeled cDNA of Rb1 gene, N-ras gene and Rb1 p53 gene to the DNA array was monitored CCD camera. A good result was achieved [61]. 2. Electrochemical DNA Bio sensors These are very useful devices for sequence specific biosensing of DNA. The inherent miniaturization of such devices and advance micro fabrication technology make them excellent tool to diagnose DNA. DNA hybridization is detected electrochemically by monitoring the current response at fixed potential. Detection of hybridization is also commonly done through the increased current of a redox indicator or from other changes induced by hybridization in electrochemical parameters such as capacitance or conductivity [26-28]. The discovery of carbon nano tubes (CNTs) plays an important role in development of electrochemical DNA sensors. Various CNT based electrochemical are developed because the combination of unique electrical, thermal, chemical, mechanical and 3-D spatial properties of CNTs with DNA hybridization offers the possibility of creating DNA bio sensors with specificity, simplicity, high sensitivity and multiplexing. Two major groups in which CNTs divided are single walled CNTs (SWCNTs) that are comprised of a single graphite sheet rolled with a tube and multi walled CNTs (MWCNTs) that are concentric closed graphite tubes [29]. CNT enables immobilization of DNA molecules and also used as powerful amplifier to amplify signal transduction of hybridization [30]. Two types are generally used to immobilize the CNT on electrodes aligned and non-aligned. Two approaches are generally used for the immobilization of bio molecules onto CNTs that are non covalent attachment (physical absorption) and covalent binding (some cross linker agents (1-ethyl 3-3 dimethylaminopropyl) carbodilimide hydrochloride (EDC)/N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS)] or affinity binding (avidin biotin interaction). CNT also act as novel indicator of hybridization. The application of arrayed CNT into DNA chip requires small amount of sample and development of CNT base biosensor has an important role in DNA based diagnostics in hospitals or at home [30]. Various methods are used for immobilizations step i.e. for attaching the DNA probe onto the solid surface that are (a) the use of thiolated DNA probe for self assembled monolayers (SEM) onto gold transducers by covalently bonding to the gold surface through functional alkanethiol based monolayers.(b) Attachment of biotinylated DNA probe through biotin avidin interaction on electrode surface for e.g. avidin modified polyaniline electro chemically deposited onto a Pt disc electrode for direct detection of E. Coli by immobility a 5 biotin labeled probe using a differential pulse Voltametric technique in the presence of methylene blue as an DNA hybridization indicator [31,32]. The electrochemical DNA biosensors may be labeled free and labeled based. Label Free In this direct detection technique the target molecule does not need to be labeled [27]. The elimination of labeling steps simplifies the readout the speed and ease of nucleic acid assays. Thus recently increased attention has been accorded to new label free electrochemical detection schemes. There is a possibility in exploiting the changes in DNAs intrinsic electroactivity (Guanine oxidation peak of hybridization). To deal with the drawbacks of the probe sequences i.e. absence of G, guanines were substituted by inosine residues (pairing with C) and detection of hybridization was done through the target DNA guanine signal. The change in the guanine oxidation and intrinsic DNA redox signals detects the chemical and physical damage [33]. Label Based In label based electrochemical biosensor specific organic dyes, enzymes or metal complexes are used for hybridization detection. Redox active molecules such as methylene blue, dacinomycin that is inserted between the dsDNA and gives signal which is used for detecting hybridization [26] (e.g. of two commercialized DNA chips based on redox active molecules are eSensor TM produced by Motorola life sciences [34], Inc. and Genlyser TM by Toshiba)[35]. Piezoelectric DNA Biosensor These are the mass sensitive devices rely on quartz crystal that oscillate at a defined frequency when oscillation voltage is applied. Increased attention has been given to piezoelectric method due to their simplicity, cost, sensitivity and real time label free detection. The quartz crystal microbalance is an extremely sensitive piezoelectric device that monitors the hybridization events. These biosensors DNA probe is immobilized on the surface of oscillation crystal. The increased mass due to hybridization reaction results in change in oscillating frequency [36-37]. A Piezoelectric sensor for determination of genetically modified soyabean roundup ready [RR soyabean] by immobilizing probe related to 5-enolpyrllvylshikimate 3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) gene onto gold piezoelectrodes [38]. For detecting a point mutation in a human gene (apolipoprotein-E polymorphism) a combination of DNA piezoelectric biosensor and PCR was developed by immobilizing biotinylated probe on the streptavidin coated gold surface of quartz crystal. The hybridization probes with complementary, non-complementary and mismatched DNA of synthetic as well as amplified PCR samples from human blood DNA was taken out and the device was able to distinguish polymorphism [39]. Colorimetric or Strip type DNA sensor Using these sensors the direct detection of DNA hybridization is possible [40-42]. The dry-reagent strip type biosensor has been developed for visual detection of double stranded DNA within a short time [43]. Oligonucleotides conjugated gold particle is used as probe. The main advantage of these biosensors is not requiring any instruments, multiple incubation and washing steps. Integral part of strip consists of gold particles, with oligo (dT) attached to their surface. Biotinylated PCR products are hybridized with poly (dA) tailed oligo, switched to the top of strip and immersed in the appropriate buffer. With the migration of buffer in upward direction, the nanoparticles that are linked through target DNA through poly (dA/dT) hybridization are rehydrated. Immobilized streptavidin then capture the hybrid in the controlled zone of the strip. The test is 8-10 times more sensitive than ethidium bromide in agarose gel electrophoresis. The detection limit is abysmally low of 2 fmol of amplified DNA products. DNA Biochips Microarrays, DNA arrays, gene chips or biochips are same terminology often being intermixed. DNA microarrays are small, solid supports which themselves are usually microscopic slides, but can also be silicon chips or nylon membranes onto which the sequences from thousands of different genes are immobilized, or attached, at fixed locations. The DNA may be spotted, or synthesized directly onto the support. DNA microarrays detect the change in gene expression levels, genomic gained and losses, mutations in DNA and infectious agents, diagnosis of genetic diseases, drug screening or forensic analysis. Developing the methods for detecting target hybridization, designing probe arrays, data analysis and reconstructing the target sequence are required for successful implementation of DNA chip technology. Such array technology thus forms the basis of integration of molecular biology, surface and analytical chemistry, advanced micro fabrication, robotics, software and automation. In this technique, RNA extracted from two samples are labeled with two different fluorochromes (generally the green cyanine 3 and the red cyanine 5 (Cy3, Cy5)) before being hybridized to a biochip consisting of large numbers of cDNAs/oligonucleotides arranged orderly onto a glass microscopic slide. After hybridization, a scanner records excitation of the two fluorochromes at given wavelengths and the intensity of the fluorescence emission signals that is proportional to transcript levels in the biological samples. The data is analyzed using specific software that enables clustering of genes with similar expression patterns, with the assumption that they share common biological functions [33, 44]. A new ultrasensitive electronic sensor has been developed by Singapore scientists that would speed up effectively DNA testing for disease diagnosis and biological research. The novel electronic sensor array would be faster, accurate and cost-efficient. Excellent sensitivity has been shown by the Nanogap Sensor Array in detecting the trace amounts of DNA. By saving time and cutting expenses, newly developed Nanogap Sensor Array offers a scalable and viable alternative for DNA testing. The presence of DNA is translated into an electrical signal by biosensor for computer analysis. The distinctively and meticulously designed sensor chip has the ability to detect DNA efficiently. The novel vertical nanostructure design and two different surfaces of the sensor allow ultrasensitive detection of DNA [45]. Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) Lab Chip is a device which involves preparation of sample and detection of DNA array. The objective of this technology is to integrate multiple processes, including collection of sample and pretreatment of it with the DNA extraction, hybridization and detection, on single self-contained microchip i.e. on a microfluidic platform. The capability to do all the processes on a single chip merits excellent advantages in terms of cost, speed, efficacy, effectiveness, contamination, sample consumption and automation. Laboratory transportation to the source of sample will be enabled by such miniaturization of analytical instrumentation. The development of these credit-card sized microlaboratories is commonly based on latest micromachining and microfabrication technologies, utilizing processes well known in the manufacture of electronic circuitry [14]. Cell-omic sensors Cell based detection systems can be combined with the microarray probes generating the hybrid arrays of cells within arrays of DNA/protein probs. This allows multiparameters analysis [46]. Applications of DNA Biosensors Biosensors plays a distinguished role in the field of environmental quality, food analysis, study of biomolecules and their interactions, drug development, crime detection, medical diagnosis, quality control, industrial process control, detection system for biological warfare agents, manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and replacement organs. The applications of DNA biosensor can be classified into three broad categories: sequencing, mutation detection and matching detection [47]. Their main use is for diseases diagnosis. Numerous diseases can be diagnosed and variety of infectious agents can be detected using DNA biosensors. 1. Viral diseases By DNA microarrays Either viral detection were being carried by immunological techniques (i.e. use of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for the detection of circulating virus-specific antibodies) or PCR based techniques (i.e. reverse transcriptase (RT) PCR is used to detect the presence of specific viral genes). Both these approaches possess some limitations. Immunological tests need specific antisera and the production of antisera is laborious and time-consuming task whereas PCR is prone to failure in its ability to identify multiple viruses simultaneously [48]. Therefore, recent advances in DNA and protein microarray methodology fulfill the need of a rapid and sensitive detection of viral infections (also identify multiple viruses in parallel). DNA microarrays for viral analysis can be divided into viral chips and host chips. Each not only detects and identifies but also monitor the viral populations. In 1999, the first viral DNA microarray for the temporal profiling of viral (human cytomegalovirus, HCMV) gene expression was described. Viral replication or de novo protein synthesis was blocked by treatment of infected cells with cycloheximide or ganciclovir and then the expression profiles of viral genes was generated using microarray. Using this approach, the HCMV genes were classified to immediate-early, early or late expression classes, on the basis of their expression profile in response to the drug treatments. This can be used as an identifying hybridization signature for the molecular staging of an infection [49]. Orthopoxvirus causes smallpox and has two subtypes variola major and variola minor, of differing pathogenicity. This problem of orthopoxvirus subtype discrimination was solved by producing an array capable of correctly identifying the four of the orthopoxvirus species by laassri etal. [50]. HIV genotyping was done using chip technology [51]. A unique signature that is derived from viral is provided by viral chips. Host chip is used for examining the host response i.e. changes in host gene expression. This provides a molecular signature of infection. Cummings and Relman exposed an idea of host chips [52]. Vant wout etal. examined HIV 1 infection in CD4+ T-cells to detect changes in host gene expression that were specific to HIV infection [53]. Proinflammatory genes and genes involved in endoplasmic reticulum stress pathways, cell cycle, and apoptosis were the host gene signatures identified. Detection of hepatitis B virus Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the causative agents of viral hepatitis which is leading cause of liver cancer. Infection of HBV is a public health menace for worldwide resulting acute and chronic clinical consequences. Acute HBV infection may lead to liver failure or may progress to chronic liver disease. Some chronically infected individuals may subsequently suffer cirrhosis and liver failure or develop hepatocellular carcinoma. Effective antiviral therapy may inhibit or retard the progression to severe liver disease. By DNA optical biosensor Bacterial alkaline phosphatase (phoA) gene and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA were used as target DNA. For capturing the target gene onto streptavidin coated magnetic beads, a biotinylated DNA probe was used. A calf intestine alkaline phosphatase labeled DNA probe was used for subsequent enzymatic chemiluminescences detection. The detection cycle was less than 30 min, excluding the DNA hybridization time that was about 100 min. at fematomole or picogramme levels both phoA gene and HBV DNA could be detected. No response signal was obtained when in sample target DNA did not exist [54]. By Piezoelectric DNA biosensor HBV nucleic acid probe was immobilized onto the coated gold surface of quartz crystal using polyethyleneimine adhesion, glutaraldehyde cross-linking (PEI-Glu) method or the physical adsorption method. Better results were obtained with the coated crystal with the PEI Glu method to immobilized HBV nucleic acid probe than physical adsorption method with respect to sensitivity, reproducibility and stability. With the hybridization reaction, the mass is increasing that resulted change in oscillating frequency. The frequency shifts of hybridization have better linear relationship with the amount of HBV DNA, when the amount was in range of 0.02-0.14 microgram/ml [55]. By electrochemical DNA biosensor An electrochemical DNA biosensor that is a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with label free21mer single-stranded (ss) oligonucleotides (related to hepatitis B virus sequence) via covalent immobilization. [Cu(dmp)(H2O)Cl2] (dmp = 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline) is used as an electrochemical indicator. The method is simple, economical and allows the accumulation of copper complex within the DNA layer. Cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry were used for electrochemical detection. The detection of hybridization is accomplished by using [Cu(dmp)(H2O)Cl2], where electroactivity and strong association with the immobilized dsDNA segment lead to significantly enhanced voltammetric signal. The differential pulse voltammograms for the cathodic signals of [Cu(dmp)(H2O)Cl2] at a bare GCE, and at ss- and dsDNA-modified GCEs are also recorded. The peak currents of [Cu(dmp)(H2O)Cl2] increased in the order of bare GCE, ssDNA/GCE, and dsDNA/GCE. After hybridization process, a greater peak current was observed from dsDNA/GCE than at ssDNA/GCE, because that more [Cu(dmp)(H2O)Cl2] molecules are concentrated or bound to dsDNA helix than to ssDNA. Thus, [Cu(dmp)(H2O)Cl2] can be used as an electroactive indicator for recognition of the surface hybridization process. The sensitivity of the electrochemical hybridization assay was investigated by varying the target oligonucleotides concentration. The different current value obtained in the DPV response of [Cu(dmp)(H2O)Cl2] after hybridization of probe with target is recorded with three repetitive measurements. The current response at about 0.485V increased in proportion to the amount of the target sequence used [56]. Detection of hepatitis C 3a virus An electrochemical DNA biosensor i.e. a gold electrode modified with a monolayer of a peptide nucleic acid probe and 6-mercapto-1-hexanol was used that depends on covalent binding of the14-mer PNA probe (related to the HCV genotype 3a (pHCV3a) core/E1 region) onto the electrode. This self-assembled PNA could selectively hybridize with a complementary sequence in solution to give dsPNA-DNA on the surface, and this increases the peak current of methylene blue (MB) which is used for detecting target DNA sequence. Diagnostic performance of the biosensor is described and the detection limit was found to be 5.7  ÃƒÆ'-  10à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢11  M with a relative standard deviation of 1.4% in phosphate buffer solution, pH 7.0. This sensor exhibits high reproducibility and could be used to detect the target DNA for seven times after the regeneration process [57]. Cystic fibrosis Mikkelsens team, pioneered the utilization of redox indicators, demonstrated utility of electrochemical DNA biosensor for detecting the cystic fibrosis F508 deletion sequence which is associated with 70% of cystic fibrosis patients. For the 4000-base DNA fragment, 1.8 fmol was the detection limit in relation to a Co(bpy)33+ indicator. High selectivity for the disease sequence (not for normal DNA) was accomplished by doing the hybridization at high (43 °C) temperature [14]. 3. Diabetes Diabetes is a worldwide public health problem. The diagnosis and management of diabetes requires a tight monitoring of blood glucose levels. Thus millions of diabetics test their blood glucose levels daily by making glucose the most commonly tested analyte. The challenge is to provide such reliable and tight glycemic control. Electrochemical biosensors for glucose thus play a leading role. Amperometric enzyme electrodes, based on glucose oxidase (GOx) bound to electrode transducers, have thus been found the subject of substantial research [58]. Glucose sensors are commonly used to measure the blood glucose level of diabetes patients. Using the latest DNA chip technology, many scientists at Diabetes Center have discovered the implication of new gene in the cause of type 2 diabetes. They created an abnormality in one of these genes known as ARNT (aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator gene which is a member of a family of transcription factors) in mice and the mice developed changes in insulin secretion which were same as in patients with type 2 diabetes. The ARNT is required for the development of normal embryo. It is also related to responses to hypoxic stress condition and certain environmental toxins, such as dioxin and thus for integrating genetic and environmental insults it is present at specific potential sites. The expression of many other genes in the cell is regulated by transcription factors like ARNT and thus they are the master regulators of cellular functions. The first use of DNA chips has been represented by this study,

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson was a politician, scholar, activist, and an idealist who believed that â€Å"there is no cause half so sacred as the cause of a people. There is no idea so uplifting as the idea of the service of humanity†. Yet he was also considered a racist. A. The Child Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born December 28, 1856 at Staunton, Virginia; one of four children to Joseph Ruggles Wilson and Janet Wilson who were of Scottish descent. His family moved to Augusta, Georgia a year after his birth and then in 1870 moving to Columbia and later moved to Wilmington in 1884. Woodrow later drop his first name, Thomas. B. The Student He got his early education from a few ex-Confederate soldiers who set up some schools after the Civil war and his father who taught him religion, literature and British history. At sixteen years of age, Wilson attended Davidson College, North Carolina for one year and later drop out of college due to his health. In 1875, he attended a College of New Jersey which is now known as Princeton University where he graduated in 1879. Later that year he studied law at the University of Virginia but left school again due to personal reasons. He continued his studying law on his own after returning home of Wilmington, North Carolina. He set up a legal practice with a friend from the University of Virginia in 1882 and passed the Georgia Bar Exam. Later, he left the practice of law and decided to continue his education at John Hopkins University, Baltimore. There he was enrolled as a graduate student in history and political science and earned his PH. D in 1886. With his research study, he made the dissertation known as Congressional Government: A Study in American Politics. In this dissertation, Wilson argued about the power the congressional government has over a weak postwar Presidency and for a constitutional change of separation of powers between Congress and the President to that of the British Parliament. In the final year of his graduate school, Wilson, at 28 years old, married Ellen Louise Axson, in Savannah, Georgia. They had three daughters in their life together, Margaret, Jessie, and Eleanor. Woodrow Wilson became an instructor at Bryn Mawr College from 1885 to 1888 teaching political economy and public law. He then accepted professorship at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, teaching history for two years. After 1890, he went back to Princeton University teaching political economy and law. From 1902 – 1910, Woodrow Wilson served as President of Princeton University. Wilson’s tenure helped shape Princeton into one of America’s great universities. C. The Governor Wilson ran for governor of New Jersey accepting the conservative Democrats’ proposal and won the democratic nomination. He shocked the politicians by declaring independence of the political bosses and later won the decisive victory over the Republican opponent and began his reforms against the political bosses. During two year period, Wilson had pushed legislation to allow voters to choose their candidates rather than having party bosses choose as well as secure reform for campaign finances. He also made passage for Workers Compensation for families whose working member is injured or killed on the job as well as improve the public utility commission to improve rates. During his time as Governor of New Jersey, many progressive leaders took interest in Wilson as a potential Presidential candidate, especially the Democrat William Jennings Bryan. D. The President Woodrow Wilson narrowly won the Democratic nomination in 1912 putting him against President Taft of the Republicans, Theodore Roosevelt of the Bull Moose Party, and Eugene Debs of the Socialist Party. Wilson on his platform presented a program called the â€Å"New Freedom† which busted up corporate monopolies to allow the chance for competition to prevent monopolies from controlling the Federal government. Wilson won the election with 41. 9% becoming the 28th President of the United States. Few reforms he first put out was the tariff reform, The Underwood Act; which had lowered rates from 40% to 27%, as well as creating the first federal income tax with the passage of the 16th Amendment. In 1914, Ellen Louise Axson, Wilson’s wife and First Lady, died from Bright’s disease. In 1915, Wilson married Edith Bolling Galt, who happens to be a widow at the time which made her the 2nd First Lady. With the Election of 1916 coming, the main focus came to light about the War in Europe, which Wilson being the Democratic candidate with Marshall as his running mate, bent on neutrality of keeping the United States out of the European War. His opponents were the reunited Republican Party with Charles Evan Hughes of New York as their candidate. Wilson called for military preparedness as well as a world association of peace for maintaining peace after the war in Europe ends, as well as women suffrage, and ending child labor. Democratic delegates also came up with the chant, â€Å"He kept us out of war† as the campaign slogan. Wilson had narrowly won the election in November with 49. 4% vote and 277 electoral vote compared to Hughes 46. 2% vote and 254 electoral vote. E. The Racist Wilson initiated his segregation efforts while president of Princeton University, he discouraged blacks from applying for admission. Wilson's History of the American People (1901) described the Ku Klux Klan of the late 1860s as a lawless reaction to a lawless period. Wilson wrote that the Klan â€Å"began to attempt by intimidation what they were not allowed to attempt by the ballot or by any ordered course of public action†. Wilson considered African American immigrants unfitting for American citizenship and unable to integrate in the American society. He made this very evident in his book, History of the American People. Wilson described slaves as â€Å"indolent† and compared them to â€Å"shiftless children† and thought that slave masters were patient with these lazy laborers. Woodrow Wilson disapproved of the idea of African American being free. He usual related them to animals and commonly referred to blacks as darkies. Wilson held the common neo-Confederate view that the South was demoralized by Northern advocates and Congressional hassle of black equality justified extreme measures to reassert white supremacist national and state governments. Though in 1912, â€Å"an extraordinary number of African Americans left the Republican Party to vote for Wilson (a Democrat), encouraged by his promises to support minorities, Wilson’s cabinet expanded racially segregationist policies. Under Woodrow Wilson administration, most federal government offices were segregated – in some departments for the first time since 1863. Many African American employees were demoted or fired. Some segregationist federal workplace policies introduced by the Wilson administration remained until the Truman Administration in the 1940s. In 1914, Wilson told The New York Times, â€Å"If the colored people made a mistake in voting for me, they ought to correct it†. F. The Public Administrator Wilson believed Public Administration was â€Å"government in action; it is the executive, the operative, the most visible side of government, and is of course as old as government itself†. He was fretful about the implementation of government so he studied public administration because he believed that it could increase governmental efficiency. He condemned political leader who modulated the importance of government administration and made it â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. harder to run the constitution than to frame it†. Woodrow Wilson thought that the United States required greater compromise because of the diversity of public opinion. He compared administration to a machine that functions independent of the changing mood of its leaders. Wilson put it, â€Å"public attention must be easily directed, in each case of good or bad administration, to just the man deserving of praise or blame. There is no danger in power, if only it be not irresponsible. If it be divided, dealt out in share to many, it is obscured†¦. † II. Conclusion In 1919, Wilson suffered a stroke while on a speaking tour in Pueblo, Colorado, making him unable to carry out his Presidential duties effectively. After leaving office, he retired in Washington DC where he spent the remaining three years of his life before passing away on February 3, 1924. He is the only President to be buried in the National Cathedral in Washington DC. He changed the Democratic Party to a â€Å"party of reform† as well as changing foreign policy to internationalism from isolationism. He also left behind the Federal Reserve, the tariff reduction, federal regulation of business, as well as support for the labor unions. He helped prepare the United States for its role in the world with creating the League of Nations only for the US to join its; predecessor the United Nations. Woodrow Wilson left behind an idea that would fuel for global peace.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Being a Solomon Islander

I sit with my brothers and my cousins, watching our mothers stomp out the dance, their hips swaying and the dust kicked up by their bare feet settling in their hair. My mother seems to have been dancing for hours, her soft hair is covered in a fine layer of dirt, and her smile flashes every so often in my direction. The drums and pipes carry the light tone through the air and I clap with my brothers and cousins in beat with the motions of the dance, laughing and singing.Caught up in my own traditions, I can almost forget the voice of the missionary teacher who follows me each day as I join my older brothers in their daily journey to and from the waterside. I watch as they sail away from the shoreline, the long canoe gliding across the water. They can escape the confusing words of this colorless man who wears too many cloths and wonders still why he is hot. This man follows me and my friends as we trap lizards or play other boyish games, trying to dodge him and his talks of being burn ed in a volcano forever.My brothers tell me to ignore him, as they have. The missionary is not the threat, it is the kings who will take our homes and the food we eat. I hear my auntie telling my mother that morning as they prepared the pig for the feast later that evening, that the missionary plans to open a school and make me and my friends be students. My auntie told my mother, that my uncle feared they would teach us to be colorless too. For now though, we are away from the eyes of the missionary.My cousin says that he hides in his hut and prays for us to be thrown into a volcano when we dance. If only he could see my mother smiling and throwing her arms above her head. He does not look at us though, instead he follows and speaks of fire and his father, scaring my sisters and little brother. He scares me too but I will soon be a man, I am almost 9 already, I cannot show my fear. I will learn to laugh as my mother or walk away unhearing like my brothers and father.