Monday, January 27, 2020

Ethanol on the heart rate

Ethanol on the heart rate Effects of different concentrations of ethanol on the heart rate of the water flea In this experiment I will be looking at the effects of different concentrations of ethanol on the heart rate of the water flea, Daphnia because using humans in a study to test the effects of Ethanol on heart rate would not be ethical. Daphnia, like many animals, are prone to alcohol intoxication, and make excellent subjects for studying the effects of the depressant on the nervous system due to the translucent exoskeleton, and the visibly altered heart rate.Ethanol is a small molecule, RMM of 43, so it crosses cell membranes by simple diffusion. The exoskeleton of Daphnia is not waterproof, so there are no waterproof waxy layers to cross. The gills are particularly thin-walled and optimised for diffusion. They live in various aquatic environments ranging from acidic swamps to freshwater lakes, ponds, streams and rivers. They are tolerant of being observed live under a microscope and appear to suffer no harm when returned to open water. The experiment consists in preparing 5 different environments to put the water flea in, and observe how the heart rate responds to each change; the change will be the increase of ethanol concentration %. This will be the independent variable. The dependent variable is the heart rate of the Daphnia. Hypothesis : Ethanol will decrease the heart rate of the Daphnia. Null Hypothesis : Ethanol will have no effect on the heart rate of the Daphnia. I will change the concentration of my Ethanol solution by dilution and will therefore plot a graph. In addition, a correlation and ANOVA test will be calculated to determine the relationship (If any) between the concentration of Ethanol and the heart rate of the Daphnia. I have taken into consideration factors that will affect my overall conclusion Factors: Size of Daphnia The size of the Daphnia will affect its absorption of Ethanol and also the metabolism of the drug in the liver. Different rates of metabolism will result in different heart rates. As a result I must ensure that I choose Daphnia which are the same size when conducting repeats. I will use a highly sensitive scale to confirm that both daphnia are of equal body mass. Time kept in ethanol solution The Daphnia must be kept in the Petri dish full of ethanol solution for a specific amount of time. If they are kept in the solution for too long they will become intoxicated which will result in abnormal heart beats that are hard to measure although they must be kept in the solution long enough for sufficient absorption of Ethanol. Each Daphnia will stay in the ethanol solution for exactly 3 minutes so that an equal volume of ethanol is absorbed. Activity of Daphnia Some Daphnia tend to be more active than others and these will have a higher heart rate compared to ones that are idle. After allowing the Daphnia to swim in a specific solution of ethanol I will place them on a cavity slide so that I can observe the heart rate with a microscope. As I will be using a pipette to transfer the Daphnia from the Petri dish to the cavity slide excess fluid will be found on the slide which must be removed with tissue so that all Daphnia remain idle/immobile and not active I.e. swimming on the slide. This will also allow me to measure the heart rate with ease which reduces the likelihood of human error. Time left under the microscope If the Daphnia are left under the microscope for too long they will become stressed due to the heat of the microscope light and this will increase the heart rate of the Daphnia due to the secretion of adrenaline therefore I must ensure that the microscope is switched off when not in use. The cavity slides must be allowed to cool down before using them again as they tend to heat up. Impurities on cavity slide Traces of impurities including ethanol from a previous experiment may be left on the cavity slide which may slightly affect the heart rate of the Daphnia therefore the slide must be cleaned and dried thoroughly before each repeat. Alternatively, a new slide may be used for each repeat. The materials needed to perform this experiment are the following: Normal size syringe 2 Small syringes (must have units of measurement) Open top pipette Ethanol of 1% concentration Various Daphnia to perform experiment on Microscope 6 Petri dishes Cavity slide Marker Kleenex tissue for absorbing excess liquid Scale Stopwatch Method : 1. The first thing that has to be done is the preparation of the different solutions where the Daphnia will be placed. To do this you will need the small syringe, and 5 Petri dishes. It is very advisable to have labels. The first Petri dish will contain 0% Ethanol, in other words just water. With a small syringe, take 10 ml of distilled water (the use of distilled water is important as you will be removing any materials that may have an effect on the Daphnia heart rate) and place it in the Petri dish. The syringe you just used will only be used with water and not for the Ethanol. Put a 0% label on the Petri dish in order to keep track of the different concentrations you will be making. The next Petri dish will contain 0.2% ethanol concentration, and you will make concentrations going up to 0.8%, so: 0.2 %: With the other small syringe (this one will only be used for ethanol), add 2 ml of the 1% Ethanol, to 8 ml of distilled water 0.4 %: Add 4 ml of the 1% ethanol, to 6 ml of distilled water 0.6%: Add 6 ml of the 1% ethanol, to 4 ml of distilled water 0.8%: Add 8 ml of the 1% ethanol, to 2 ml of distilled water remember to label each concentration accordingly 2. Set your microscope up, put it on medium magnification. Do not turn it on yet because the light of the microscope can heat up the environment where you will be observing the Daphnia. It is important to try to keep the temperature of the experiment as stable as possible. Heat may modify the Daphnia heart rate, and the effect of heat on the heart rate is not the purpose of this experiment. 3. Now it is time to pick out one Daphnia from the glass or container where you put all of them in. It is important to use only one throughout this whole experiment because different animals may present variations in their response to different environments. With the open top pipette, try to pick out a Daphnia which is not too small, as it will be harder to observe the heart rate if it is small. Once you have managed to take one out, place it in the remaining empty Petri dish. Take the normal size syringe and very carefully suck the Daphnia in with as least water possible. The objective is to have the Daphnia right at the tip of the syringe. Squirt the Daphnia out into the cavity slide. It is very important to put the Daphnia in with the least water possible, in order to prevent it from moving too much. It is recommended to try to squirt it out with only one drop of water, as this will keep it alive, but immobile. Use tissue to remove excess fluid. Put the slide under the microscope. Turn the microscope on. 4. Make sure you can see the Daphnia clearly under the microscope, once you are happy with the image, look for the heart: 7 is the heart. If you can see the heart, and can keep track of its beating, put the Daphnia, with the normal sized, syringe into the 0% labelled Petri dish. Wash the microscope slide with water and dry it. Turn the microscope off. 5. Keep the Daphnia in the Petri dish for 3 minutes, this lets it adapt do the conditions and also increases the probability of it surviving the whole experiment. With the normal size syringe take it out of the Petri dish and put it onto the microscope slide, make sure that it is practically immobile (by making sure that you squirted the least amount of water possible) and put it under the microscope. Turn the microscope on. 6. Get the paper and marker ready. Look into the microscope and make sure you can count the heart beat. Get someone to count 15 seconds with the stop watch. During 15 seconds, tap the paper with the marker each time the heart beats, after this, count the number of dots on the paper. Multiply this number by four; this gives you the heart rate per minute. Record the result. Do this process 3 times in order to get 3 heart rates. Add the 3 heart rates and then divide the result by 3; this will give you the average of the Daphnia heart rate under those conditions. Keep the Daphnia under the microscope for a maximum of 2 minutes, because the heat of the light in the microscope could have effects on the experiment. Turn the microscope off after the count to prevent further heating caused by the light. 7. Remove the slide from the microscope, and with the normal size syringe put the Daphnia into the 0.2% labelled Petri dish (wash the slide with water and dry it). Leave the Daphnia in the Petri dish for 3 minutes once again. After 3 minutes, use the normal sized syringe to put it onto the microscope slide. Repeat step 6 and record results. 8. Count the heart rate of the Daphnia when placed in all the concentrations. Work your way up from 0% to 0.2% to 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8%. Make sure you rinse and dry the slide with the distilled water after each time. You must start from the lowest concentration up to the highest concentration because the Daphnia has to gradually adapt to the changes, you will be reducing the probability of it dying. Another reason for this is that if you start at the highest concentration, the impact on the Daphnia will be too dramatic and you will not see any trends once you try a lower concentration, it will have an effect of intoxication. Remember to repeat each count 3 times to obtain an average of the heart rate. Keep the Daphnia under the microscope during the same amount of time for each concentration, this will ensure that if there was any type of effect from the light under the microscope, all tests will be fair because they were under the exact same conditions. It is possible for the Daphnia to die during these tests; this is why you must have acquired a fair amount of Daphnia, in order to have back-ups. 9. Repeat this experiment once or twice with different Daphnia, in this way you will be able to analyse any trends present in the experiment more accurately. I will use the following tables to record the results of this experiment: Averages will be calculated for both experiments and the results will be organised in a separate table. My conclusion will be based on these averages because they are more representative. Modifications made to method: The Daphnia used in the first experiment died after being placed on the cavity slide from the 0.6% ethanol solution probably due to the lack of fluid on the slide so I had to restart the experiment using another Daphnia. No one was available to count 15 seconds with a stopwatch so I had to use my mobile phone which beeped after 15 seconds prompting me stop counting the number of heart beats. Results

Sunday, January 19, 2020

China Unbalanced

China â€Å"Unbalanced† Continual economic growth for the past 30 years has allowed China to rise as an economic power. As the Chinese manufacturing industry continued to grow many of the people moved from rural areas into urban centers. The continued economic growth has taken China from a poor country to the 2nd largest economy in the world. Using many of the principals of capitalism China has overcome obscurity and increased exports to the point of drawing a large trade surplus with Europe and the United States. The growing wealth of China has drawn much criticism form the global leaders as trade deficits rise.China has continued on policies of currency fixing and implementation of subsidies that are consistently controversial with the World Trade Organization (WTO). Continued pressure from global leaders for currency reform and trademark infringement violations have forced Chinese officials to take actions. China’s increased wealth did not immediate result in increas ed funding for social programs. Health care, public education, workers benefits, and social security are all lacking or nonexistent. The government is faced with the difficult prospect of developing social programs, revising the work system, and ensuring employment remains low.Health care for many years not an issue for the Chinese people as a program termed the â€Å"iron rice bowl† ensured the people that health care would be available and at an affordable cost. The â€Å"iron rice bowl† was no longer available to the majority of the Chinese’s and health care had become a concern to millions of people. Failed programs in the past had encourage improper diagnoses and the over subscribing of antibiotics. Restructuring became a priority and the government has contributed large sums towards improving coverage and facilities.Universal health care is expected to be a possibility in the coming years for all Chinese. The Chinese people have traditionally been a nation that saves the majority of their disposable income. The tendency to save large amounts of income has been a result of the people expecting little to no assistance from the government in retirement. Pensions and Social Security were almost completely non-existent for many workers. The government has gradually increased pensions for urban and rural workers consistently since 2005. The majority of the people still do not have pension coverage.The move towards providing increased financial security for the people is expected to have a positive result on domestic consumption. Domestic consumption is the key to growth in China as the global economy has slowed. Rising unemployment has been an increased concern for the Chinese government. Students are graduating from college and are unable to find employment. As unemployment continues to remain stubbornly high the government has taken to stimulus to assist in creating jobs. With local governments having submitted for projects in the past t he stimulus was implemented quickly.Jobs were created and the infrastructure of China was improved. A continual effort has been made to improving the Chinese infrastructure in both the costal cities as well as the inland. Government infrastructure projects have become increasingly important in the fight against unemployment. New technology in construction equipment is commonly not used in favor of using manpower over machine power. Social programs have proven to be expensive. Increased wages and the development of social programs all result in more expenses for businesses and government.China has sustained growth for the last 30 years by providing the world with cheap manufacturing labor. Cheap labor is beginning to leave China. Manufacturing chases cheap labor. China is in danger of loosing the primary reason why the country was able to rise out of poverty. Creating a new competitive edge is essential for China to continue growth and remain an economic power. The economy must evolv e. The population has gradually increased their level of education. China must encourage higher education by building universities and attracting the world’s top educators.Without an educated population and a thriving middle class China will loose everything they have worked so hard to gain. Aggressive infrastructure developments continue but not in a sustainable way. China lacks quality engineers and regulations for construction projects. Low quality designs, engineering, and project management has made the Chinese infrastructure increasingly faulty. Buildings, roads, and bridges have half the life span as those within the US. A lack of codes and regulations on materials and design has lead to increased failures.Development of schools that promote architecture, engineering, and project management must be promoted throughout the country. China is cash rich and knowledge poor. Professionals in the applied sciences must be developed and be comparably to those of the developed n ations. The Chinese economy must adapt in order to sustain growth. The years of hyper growth appear to have ended and are know privy to slower yet continued growth in the range of 7%-10%. As the economy advances from an emerging economy into a fully developed economy the Chinese people must develop regulations and laws that support the new economy.The Chinese have lacked a proper foundation in accounting standards and laws governing business practices. Accounting fraud or misuse of information is not uncommon. Without accepting International accounting standards (IAS) or generally excepted accounting standards (GAAP) China will not realize it’s full potential and the international community will question earnings results. The laws that protect investors and businesses must be modern laws. Bankruptcy laws in particular are almost nonexistent. China has a bright future but like so many economies before them must except change and not rely solely on what has worked in the past.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Technological Influences: Good or Bad?

Technological Influences: Good or Bad? Our generation has been fortunate enough to have the privilege of growing up in the 21st century and using technology in our everyday lives. Previous generations were not as fortunate as us; they did not get to have the technology lifestyle as we do. Our digital access offers our generation technological advances that can either be harming our future or benefitting it. Technology has affected many teenagers and their families. The Growing Up Online goes into depth about the pressures and benefits with the internet and technology. In the video, many teens admit the technological advances are becoming a little too out of control. A child named Ryan Halligan committed suicide because of all the online threats and cyber bullying he was receiving. His father had no idea about the severity of these letters his son was receiving because they were all read by Ryan in the privacy of his own room. The anonymous messages were only possible through the use of this technology. Ryan’s ability to keep his online life private and away from his parent’s eyes is also a result of the digital technology. People are starting to express their feelings online, and not to other peoples’ faces. The cyber bully who was sending Ryan these horrible messages, would not confront Ryan at school, he would only harass him online. Technology is starting to create a world of people who are becoming less social. This is just one example of how the online world can create horrible worlds for the people who use it. Greg Burta is a teenager who was always isolated in the privacy of his room with his eyes locked in hard on the computer. He would play video games constantly or use the computer to â€Å"read† novels in five minutes. He would rarely leave his room and grew very impatient toward his family. This got to be so bad that his parents would text or email him, while in the same house, because it was the best way to get ahold of him. His grades were slipping and his relationship with his family began to plunge. Greg was not a special exception either; many kids today are doing the exact same thing, if not worse. They become so locked up in their rooms that they don’t know how to have fun any differently.. The use of computers, phones, and TVs is becoming an obsessive â€Å"hobby† that is starting to make people less social, and overweight. Their need to be constantly connected with their phones or on computers scares me for our future. The video Digital Nation gives more examples about the side effects of the internet. It shows one study about how technology can truly lead to death. In South Korea, there are miniature cafes called â€Å"PC Bongs,† people go to these cafes and become addicted to playing video games. Young men stay in these cafes for hours, and even days at a time, only playing video games. This is an addiction that can be very dangerous, and it has even led to death. These boys can get so engrossed in their gaming that they fail to eat or drink, and can play to the true point of physical exhaustion, and even death. Sitting on a couch for hours and even days is not beneficial for people’s health, and even their eyes. People need to be active and more social during the day instead of wasting time playing these games. The online world had a good impact of a girl named Amber. She used pages like Myspace and Facebook to feel important and pretty to people. When she wasn’t on these sites, she felt unimportant and useless. Amber would take explicit and questionable pictures of her self posing inappropriately and post them on Facebook and Myspace. When she would receive positive comments about the pictures, it would comfort her and make her feel beautiful. Her parents were completely blindsided when the principal relayed this onto them. He said that parents, students, and teachers had seen explicit pictures of their daughter and that it was completely unethical and inappropriate. They had no idea that Amber was doing any of this because when she used the computer, she was in her own safe haven of her bedroom. For Amber, the online world was a good way to express herself and her feelings. Most teens that do what Amber did become so caught up with their other online side that they can sometimes forget who they really are. The internet is a very good way for people to stay in touch with each other. In present times, people are video chatting, e-mailing, and instant messaging from all over the world. I went to Spain over the summer to stay with family, and emailing or using video chat made it so easy for my family and friends to connect with each other. The internet is also a good way to catch up on the latest information and news. This feature benefitted me and many others greatly. Every day the latest headlines from the news hits the internet faster than it goes onto paper. Many people rely on the internet for news about the stock market, foreign affairs, local news, and our country’s news. It has become very popular and almost a necessity in our country. Technological advances do have positive and negative side effects on our generation. Teens do too wrapped up in the technology that we have today. The boy that cyber bullied Ryan online, sending him vulgar messages, took advantage of the internet and used it to harm Ryan, but to feel better about himself. This could easily have been avoided if he was educated about the harmful effects of the online world. Greg played video games and used the computer to get summaries about books he didn’t want to read. He should have time limits for the uses of technological machines so he doesn’t get too carried away. Amber created a place where she felt comfortable by making an online persona. This site she had helped her gain confidence by all of the positive comments people left, even though she exploited herself. Without the news of current event, it would be hard to keep up on what is happening in the world. The technological advances that we have today give us a tremendous amount of knowledge and lessons that we can use our everyday life. Teens learn not to cyber bully because they know the possible outcomes. Some learn to understand that they need limits on machines, and some learn between right and wrong. People use the technological advances for everything these days, and now that they have been introduced, not very many people would even consider going without.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Multicultural Communities and Multi-Faith Practices

In the past decade, Ireland became an increasing multicultural community from different nationalities accompanying multi-faith practices.[1] Despite the acknowledgment of the fact that diversity of race, religion, language, and cultural background between people is crucial in the healthcare environment, it is more important to develop cultural competency in hospitals to ensure high-quality health care service exclusive of inequalities and responsive to the requirements of the diverse patients.[2][3] This report highlights the barriers leading to poor multicultural communication in the healthcare setting where communication can be affected by religious consideration and recommends some solutions to tackle this problem. We have chosen this topic in specific to explore on the role of religious beliefs in the medical decision making, and the importance of caregivers not to assume homogeneity among their patients since religious beliefs is considered as an integral component of a patient’s holistic healthcare.[1] The aim of this report to identify some strategies of good practice regarding faith and spirituality in a healthcare context to ensure quality and equality of care provided by healthcare workers in Ireland. Intercultural communication is progressively pertinent in the health communication. This is because difficulties arise when communicating about different health issue as cultural diversity increases in the population.[4] There are number of issues that demoteShow MoreRelatedThe Influence Of Ecumenical Movements And Interfaith Dialogue1585 Words   |  7 Pageshold great value due to the effect they had on Australia post-World War II; they aim and work towards increasing peace, cooperation, dialogue and mutual understanding within the world, thus forming an integrated, united, non-discriminatory and multicultural civilization. Ecumenism is the initiatives taken towards the reconciliation of Christian denominations; promoting greater cooperation and unity among separate churches. Australia has contributed significantly to the advancement of ecumenism, mainlyRead MoreThe Current Social And Political Climate On Australia Is The Corollary Of The Postmodern Age And Globalisation771 Words   |  4 Pagesthe homogeneity of modernity. 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