Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Biosoilds

The pros and cons of this method and take a stand as to whether this can be a realistic alternative to our current agriculture practices. Who are the potential stakeholders in this issue? Are we influenced by the western view of human waste as an unsanitary and disgusting nuisance?






What is it and how it is created?
Biosolids is the treatment of wastewater that has gone through additional treatments of organic solids. This treatment is used to kill pathogens (An agent that causes disease, especially a living microorganism such as a bacterium or fungus) it has been EPA approved for use as a fertilizer on
the soil. The biosoilds includes nutrients the help promote plant growth.
Domestic wastewater from sewage and treatment faculties is how biosoilds are created. It monitors the wastewater streams to insure the compatibility and recyclability with treatment plant process. Once it reaches the plant it is cleaned and removed of all solids through physical, biological and chemical processes, it then sanities wastewater solids to control pathogens and other organisms capable of transporting disease.


Pros
· It is a cost effective method of disposal
· Promotes farming
· Good free fertilizer
· Land reclaiming
· It regulated according to the EPA law 503
· Recycles versus filling landfills
· Creates jobs
· Reduces emission from transportation to landfills

Cons
· Effects irreversible
· Contamination resulting from accumulation of industrial waste
· Potential health hazard
· May contain hazardous chemicals
· Odour
· Decreases property value
· Possibly transferable to crops
· Its true composition is unknown
· Not sufficiently regulated

Take a stand
I believe that biosoilds could become an alternative to our current agricultural practices. This is so because of the pros that comes with the product such as being cheep and cost effect for both the farmers and the companies or facilities dropping off the biosoilds. It also reduces the amount of waste in landfills therefore helping the environment and putting it into good use instead of it just contributing to the viruses. As well they promote farming which arises job opportunities to the public and can decrease the rate of the unemployment issue. With all of these factors in the picture I think people will consider using it as an alternative or addition to their farming. To solve problems such as odour you can use the biosoilds in places that are far away from national parks or waterways. Another prevention that can be made is using it quite a distance away from where people live for it wouldn’t decrease the property value and the chemicals would not be as big as a risk to the people in the area in which it was being used.

Potential Stakeholders

The potential stakeholders would be thousands of people but I will cut it down to the main groups of people. The first hurdle it would have to jump is with the government and its health standards. They would go through every standard that the biosoilds would have to pass to be eligible or accepted to not be a risk to the public. If the government approves it then falls into the hands of the farmers and gardeners. Without them wanting to consume the product then there is no point in perusing it. The final people who it would fall into the hands of would be the population/community that will have the ultimate say because they will have to live with the pros and cons of the biosoilds.


Influence of the Western view

I believe we are influenced to a certain degree but we have to consider our own environment as it as different from any other country. We are influenced in the way that other western countries deal with the issue or steps in which we would have not have thought of taking before allowing the use of the biosoilds. Although we do use it to our advantage as if it was to help our economy and other issues that may arise we do not really consider the eastern view on the concern.


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Sunday, April 25, 2010

Evaluate the Importance of Various Technologies, Including Canadian Contribution, to Our Understanding of the Internal Body System

Technology has brought us a new hope for solving the cause many diseases that could not be cured in the past. Different types of technologies have assisted us to see many things we could never see before on our own. The technology is a part of what helps keep us healthy such as finding early stages of health problems that can create much harm to our bodies. It helps us understand our body systems like never before, giving us new advantages to improve the health of all.

One of the many technologies that help us better understands our body is the colonoscopy. It was pioneered by Hiromi Shinya who began the technique with an esophagoscope which is a short fiberscope which was used for the esophagus. Unlike others using his tools he was able to reach further than anyone else for 90% of his patients by himself using his own method. He also contributed to the invention of the electrosurgical polypectomy snare. He preformed the first electrosurgical snare polypectomy in September of 1969. This technology has now developed to be able to reaches places such as the colon and rectum; it is a long flexible tube with a camera and a light at the end of it. Using a set of dials it is very capable and takes high quality pictures which allows the doctors to have a great look at your colon and can help us get a clear image of things such as ulcers, abnormal growths or inflamed tissues. It helps doctors also find answers for unexplained changes in abnormal pain or bowel movements and weight loss. Since its improvement it has removed many growths which have prevented people from having it develop into cancer. As well it has given us many answers to how this part of the digestive system works.

Another technology that is used to help us understand our bodies is the stethoscope. It was invented in France by Rene Laennec in 1816. He used a stack of paper rolled into a tube to listen to the chest of his patients. He later then made new models out of long pieces of wood. They were with a single ear piece and are much of a reminiscent of the ear trumpet. It helped listen to the heart and lung sounds as well as the blood flow through the veins and arteries. The standard stethoscope that we use today is a result of a design in the 1940s by Rappaport and Sprague. There design went through many changes and was then became Philips Medical System. Since then a number of slight changes that has happened over the years such as David Letterman who in the 1960s created a lighter model and improved the acoustics and later on added the turn able diaphragm. Through all these developments and more to come in the future it has made understanding and hearing the heart easier and clearer.

A technology which helps us further understand is the X ray machine. The first x ray machine was created by Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen in1895 when he discovered an image come from his cathode ray generator, projected far beyond the possible range of electric beam on the inside of a vacuum tube that were not deflective by magnetic fields and break through any kind of matter . He then took a picture of his wife’s hand which clearly showed her bones and wedding ring which shocked the public when it was shown. It is now used to show parts of our body that we cannot see alone with the human eye. It helps us view things such as broken legs or sprains that were never able to be detected before.


Canadian contributions have made a difference in the medical world. One of the greatest contributions Canada made was insulin, which has saved many lives of people who are suffering from diabetes’s. It was discovered by Canadians Frederick Grant Banting and Charles Herbert Best who got extracts from the pancreas a preparation of insulin which could serve as a hormone that the body is not able to produce. They used a dog to extract insulin from it pancreas, they then injected the insulin twice into a 14 year old boy and his health improved rapidly, this lead for the commercial production for treating diabetes. For many years the drug companies used pancreases from stockyards taken from slaughtered animals who did not need their organ anymore. This changed the treatment of diabetes forever as all people with this diseases today uses insulin.

Without any of these inventions we do not know where we would be today in the world of medicine. All of these technologies help us improve our health and people all around the world. The technology keeps evolving as each and every day as we discover something new that can benefit all humans to live a healthier life. As well they help us understand how our body functions like never before, which helps us get to the source of the problem faster before it becomes harmful to our bodies.
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Sunday, January 31, 2010

Artifical Selection



What is it?
Artificial section is international breeding for certain traits or combination of traits. Just as when breeders select their dogs for certain characteristics or traits such as a long or short tail. It was created by Charles Darwin in comparison to natural selection. Artificial selection is used by humans to alter populations such as agriculture an example being the amount of eggs that hens lay. Although many aspects such as producing more milk may benefit us although it is wrong to over manipulate something such as humans. Although artificially selecting a plant can benefit us, greatly such as giving us nutrients that could possibly make us all healthier. By artificially placing higher volumes of nutrients it could increase our overall health greatly. Although there are many positive and negative sides I think that as us humans being living creatures just like plants and animals it is as wrong for a human to artificially select a plant or animal.

Advantages:
The advantages of artificial selection include diseases that can be prevented by being able to detect genetically prone people, plants and animals and preparing for the inevitable. Not to mention with artificial selection can treat infectious diseases by implanting genes with codes for antiviral proteins. An example would be just as the designer babies. They will select and manipulate the embryo to make sure that the child does not contain any infectious diseases. They can be tailored to show characteristics that are desirable. For example the trees can be manipulated to decrease the threat of global warming by absorbing greater sums of CO2. The genetic engineering could increase diversity as well as cross over alleles to be added to other species, such as altering the genetics of wheat plants to grow insulin to benefit all. It can also rule our weakness or disabilities such as arthritis in humans.

Disadvantages:
The disadvantages of artificial section include the risk of disturbing natures complex inter related chain by bringing in genetically modified genes. This could potentially have an effect on the eco system that is irreversible and the consequences that are unknown. It can also create many moral issues such as religion, this questions if it is right to mould or form the law and course of nature. This includes the Christian belief of loving all as they are or were meant to be. Another disadvantage is having all sections uniform makes the crops or cattle more easily influenced or affected to an infectious disease because of the lack of biodiversity. Another disadvantage is it gets rid of verity as well interbreeding to obtain certain characteristics that can increase the inherent illness for example German shepherd dogs with hip problems. As well another example is the interbreeding of humans. This can occur if let’s say a breeder only wants to artificially select the maths and science to excel in all humans therefore decreasing or eliminating other elements. The disadvantages would be great all as humans would lose such abilities like to create art work for example. It could potentially wipe out or alter a whole aspect of human life.

Natural vs. Artificial
Natural selection is when heritable traits make it more likely for an organism to survive and successfully reproduce and become more successful over each generation. An example being children and their parents, through each generation the parents learn many new things throughout their life. By passing on these many traits to their children and adding it to their own knowledge that the children are learning as we have their own experiences it gives the children traits which ultimately will make them more successful. Later on in life when the children get to the role of the parents their traits and experiences as well as what they have been taught will only give their own children a better chance to survive. Artificial selection is a concept of a wider process of natural selection. It is considered artificial when human influences and preferences are influenced and have an effect on evolution of a species. An example of artificial selection is breeders that select certain characteristics and how they make sure the certain characteristics are made into the next generation. This is the process of how different dog breeds are made; if a breeder wanted a dog with a curly coat he would only let the curly coated dogs to breed and not mix with the straight coated dogs. In nature the most well adapted dogs would survive and reproduced but in dog breeding humans will choose dogs with the most desirable characteristics to be allowed to reproduce.

Conclusions
Artificial selection has altered the lives of many humans’ animals and plants. There are many advantages and disadvantages that come into play. An advantage could be decreasing or eliminating a disease as I have said. Although disadvantages are big hurtles we have to jump such as an effect on the eco system that could potentially be irreversible as I have said above. We will have to live with the consequences of our wrong doing. I believe that artificial selections although it has been ment to benefit people I think the disadvantages over rule the advantages because the risks evolved could patiently change the way we live.
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