Thursday, December 26, 2019

The History and Domestication of Goats

Goats (Capra hircus) were among the first domesticated animals, adapted from the wild bezoar ibex (Capra aegagrus) in western Asia. Bezoar ibexes are native to the southern slopes of the Zagros and Taurus mountains in Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. Evidence shows that goats spread globally and played an important role in the advancement of Neolithic agricultural technology wherever they went. Today, over 300 breeds of goats exist on our planet, living on every continent except Antarctica. They thrive in an astonishing range of environments, from human settlements and tropical rainforests, to dry, hot deserts and cold, hypoxic, high altitudes. Because of this variety, the domestication history was a bit obscure until the development of DNA research. Where Goats Originated Beginning between 10,000 and 11,000 Before Present (BP), Neolithic farmers in areas of the Middle East and Western Asia started keeping small herds of ibexes for their milk and meat; dung for fuel; and hair, bone, skin, and sinew for clothing and building materials. Domestic goats were recognized archaeologically by: Their presence and abundance in regions well beyond western AsiaPerceived changes in their body size and shape (morphology)Differences in demographic profiles from feral groupsStable isotope evidence of dependence on year-round fodders. Archaeological data suggests two distinct places of domestication: the Euphrates river valley at Nevali Çori, Turkey (11,000 BP), and the Zagros Mountains of Iran at Ganj Dareh (10,000 BP). Other possible sites of domestication posed by archaeologists included the Indus Basin in Pakistan at (Mehrgarh, 9,000 BP), central Anatolia, the southern Levant, and China. Divergent Goat Lineages Studies on mitochondrial DNA sequences indicate there are four highly divergent goat lineages today. This would mean either that there were four domestication events, or that there is a broad level of diversity that was always present in the bezoar ibex. Additional studies suggest the extraordinary variety of genes in modern goats arose from one or more domestication events from the Zagros and Taurus mountains and the southern Levant, followed by interbreeding and continued development in other places. A study on the frequency of genetic haplotypes (gene variation packages) in goats suggests that there may have been a Southeast Asian domestication event as well. Its also possible that, during the transport to Southeast Asia via the steppe region of central Asia, goat groups developed extreme bottlenecks which resulted in fewer variations. Goat Domestication Processes Researchers looked at stable isotopes in goat and gazelle bones from two sites on either side of the Dead Sea in Israel: Abu Ghosh (the Middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) site) and Basta (the Late PPNB site). They showed that gazelles (used as a control group) eaten by the occupants of the two sites maintained a consistently wild diet, but goats from the later Basta site had a significantly different diet than goats from the earlier site. The main difference in the oxygen- and nitrogen-stable isotopes of the goats suggests that Basta goats had access to plants that were from a wetter environment than where they were eaten. This would likely result from the goats being either herded to wetter environments during some part of the year,  or provided fodder from those environments. This indicates that people managed goats—herding them from pasture to pasture or feeding them, or both—by as early as around 9950 cal BP. This would have been part of a process that began earlier still, perhaps during the early PPNB (10,450 to 10,050 cal BP) and coinciding with reliance on plant cultivars. Significant Goat Sites Important archaeological sites with evidence for the initial process of goat domestication include Cayà ¶nà ¼, Turkey (10,450 to 9950 BP), Tell Abu Hureyra, Syria (9950 to 9350 BP), Jericho, Israel (9450 BP), and Ain Ghazal, Jordan (9550 to 9450 BP). Resources and Further Reading Fernà ¡ndez, Helena, et al. â€Å"Divergent mtDNA Lineages of Goats in an Early Neolithic Site, Far From the Initial Domestication Areas.† Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Edited by Ofer Bar-Yosef, vol. 103, no. 42, 17 Oct. 2006, pp. 15375-15379.Gerbault, Pascale, et al. â€Å"Evaluating Demographic Models for Goat Domestication Using mtDNA Sequences.† Anthropozoologica, vol. 47, no. 2, 1 Dec. 2012, pp. 64-76.Luikart, Gordon., et al. â€Å"Multiple Maternal Origins and Weak Phylogeographic Structure in Domestic Goats.† Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Edited by Henry Harpending, vol. 98, no. 10, 8 Mar. 2001, pp. 5927-5932.Makarewicz, Cheryl, and Noreen Tuross. â€Å"Finding Fodder and Tracking Transhumance: Isotopic Detection of Goat Domestication Processes in the Near East.† Current Anthropology, vol. 53, no. 4, Aug. 2012, pp. 495-505.Naderi, Saed, et al. â€Å"The Goat Domestication Process Inferred From Large-Scale Mito chondrial DNA Analysis of Wild and Domestic Individuals.† Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Edited by Kent V. Flannery, vol. 105, no. 46, 18 Nov. 2008, pp. 17659-17664.Naderi, Saeid, et al. â€Å"Large-Scale Mitochondrial DNA Analysis of the Domestic Goat Reveals Six Haplogroups with High Diversity.† PLoS ONE, Edited by Henry Harpending, vol. 2, no. 10, 10 Oct. 2007, pp. 1-12.Nomura, Koh, et al. â€Å"Domestication Process of the Goat Revealed by an Analysis of the Nearly Complete Mitochondrial Protein-Encoding Genes.† PLoS ONE, Edited by Giovanni Maga, vol. 8, no. 8, 1 Aug. 2013, pp. 1-15.Vahidi, Sayed Mohammad Farhad, et al. â€Å"Investigation of the Genetic Diversity of Domestic .† Genetics Selection Evolution, vol. 46, no. 27, 17 Apr. 2004, pp. 1-12.Capra Hircus Breeds Reared Within an Early Goat Domestication Area in IranZeder, Melinda A. â€Å"A Metrical Analysis of a Collection of Modern Goats (.† Journal of Archaeological Sci ence, vol. 28, no. 1, Jan. 2001, pp. 61-79.Capra Hircus Aegargus and C. H. Hircus) From Iran and Iraq: Implications for the Study of Caprine DomesticationZeder, Melinda A., and Brian Hesse. â€Å"The Initial Domestication of Goats (Capra Hircus) in the Zagros Mountains 10,000 Years Ago.† Science, vol. 287, no. 5461, 24 Mar. 2000, pp. 2254-2257.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Comparing Hegel, Marx, Kants Views on Pantheism Essay

Comparing Hegel, Marx, Kants Views on Pantheism 1.Hegel is a pantheist, meaning that he believes that everytng toeather comes to being God. Subsequently he believes that everythenig is one, menatin gtat reason and reality actually are the same thing, fuirtheremore Hegel believst that reality is reason, this is his first Principle. In contrast to this Kant believes that all we really know are our persc=eptions of the real (Nominal world) and tat we cannot really knowanything aobut the real world. So our reason, though it lets us perceive reality it in fact changes reality, so our reason is not our reality. This is why Kant believes that reason isnt our first principle, and that we cannot in fact know the true first principle.†¦show more content†¦Kant believes that evertythnging is the nouminal world, and the we are perscieveing theis nouminal wourld though our lens which we call reason (Or concepts). We then use our senses to interpret what we are percieveing. He came to this conclusion when he was trying ot find a synt hesis between hume and Descares. Descartes was wrong in his thinking, or at least is is evident that there is something missing from his rationalist thinking. Kant used to believe this but after reading the empirist remarks of Hume he began to see the need for use of our sensory perceptions within reality as well. So the synthesis is that all knowledge comes from the combination of conepts and intuitions (reason and sensory perceptions), without reason we would have no lens to perceive what the nominal wourld is telling us, and without senses we would have no way of understanding what our reason is telling us. But even with this we need to remember that the best that we can do is perceive what is, but that does not determine what something is, the nominal would exists beyond our perception and is still a mystery. This leaves open room for metaphysics, because God, and our souls can still exist beyond our plain of sensory, or reason. 2. both Kierkegaard and Marx disagreed with hegels philiosphy. Kirkegaard Thought that Hegel was full of

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Contagious Disease

Question: Compare and contrast provision against contagious diseases in the nineteenth and twenty first centuries? Answer: Contagious disease Introduction: Contagious disease is described as infections which could be transferred from one person to another by direct contact. Contagious disease are still considered to be the major killing agents in the world and the situation has worsened with tuberculosis, malaria, HIV and now recently Ebola taking a huge toll on mankind. These are more apparent in developing world where the sheer survival in early childhood is again a major challenge to the question of survivability as acute respiratory diseases and diarrhoea accounting for close to six million young lives every year. While individuals falling sick require the medical expertise to survive the odd against these communicable diseases, its the assessment of cause and controlling measures that will help the community to fight against these diseases effectively. Background information of contagious disease Any contagious disease could either be epidemic or endemic. The epidemic forms usually are seasonal and most of the time any new form of contagious diseases are epidemic, whereas endemic forms are generally restricted to any geographical forms. The learning process of disease is a long complicated time consuming method where any new epidemic needs to be understood from its category, vectors involved and incubation period. The disease unless understood from factors cannot be controlled from spreading, and then eradicated properly (Ludwig, 2005).. Epidemiology is concerned with the community science where the common characteristics of a disease is compared with other relative ones and analysed. With every passing day the same bacterias and virus that could be killed or restrained with antibiotics are now getting stronger and stronger by mutating. The same virulent now could survive in multiple hosts and that makes the task even more complicated for mankind to survive in this ever changing scenario. Various factors both natural and artificial have influenced the manner in which these diseases have spread and became potent killers even in modern times. The nutrition pattern, diet, the general hygiene conditions, the health systems and overall medical advances along with perceptions have all contributed to both spreading and restricting into new segments of society. During the colonial period most of the causes of death were basically the infectious diseases and if there was any change in the rate of mortality it was only because The mode of transmission Immunity to disease Other methods were of course treatment of disease Aim of learning about contagious disease The main aim of learning about contagious disease is to prevent transmission and reduce the level of infection. The precautionary measures one has to undertake are flu vaccination, pre departure TB test and followed by re test after 12 weeks. The mode of transmission is another vital bit of information which is essential to reduce and finally stop the spreading of disease. Proper quarantine methods are also essential to eradicate the contagious disease from a geographical area or community. Limitations The spreading and infection depended completely on how these bacterias and virus survived in a particular weather pattern along with how well the spreading is restricted. The low death rates in New England were due to quarantine measures and laws which generally reduced the spread of the disease (Bashford, 2006). The higher death rates in south were mainly due to suitable weather patterns for these microbes to survive apart from no or minimal quarantine measures. Density of population, sanitation, nutritional intake all combine together how good a epidemic could be contained. These increase in infectious diseases affected negatively the children and their nutritional status. The nutritional deficiency resulted in deficit growth and development. Reduction in average weight and height of children Class difference resulted in difference in growth pattern as well Infection and contagious disease also resulted in higher casualty during war The wide spread use of antibiotics have made the medicines ineffective against the new strains of microbes. Humankind have become susceptible to new variants of disease which are either spread through animals, birds, body fluids, apart from the normal route of direct contact. Non availability of drugs, resistance to drugs, new entrants of vectors and wide spread use of medicines have led to a situation of emergency in many countries to fight against super bugs. Thesis statement Contagious disease is here to stay and the mutating microbes could become the greatest risk factor for the survival of the entire human kind. Vaccination historical background The term vaccine is basically a Latin word derivation which means cow prevented a disease. As vacca means cow and as cowpox prevented the spread of small pox (Ludwig, 2005). The vaccine era began in 1774 when Benjamin Jesty showed the immunity to small pox. This person had cowpox and later on inocoluted his wife and sons. Almost 22 years later Edward Jenner published his work and mouse pox virus replaced cowpox in the vacine. It was noticed that the vaccine lost its potency when it went through serial human testing and the virus mutated when it passed from human to another and was no longer immunogenic. Contagious disease summary Measles Category : Measles is caused by the measles virus Vectors : Humans are the natural hosts of the virus; no other animal reservoirs are known to exist. Measles is an endemic disease and many people have developed immunity Statistics : WHO in 2011 estimated that there were about 158,000 deaths caused by measles down from 630000 in 1990 Vaccinition : MMR vaccine is given to children to immunizeagainst measles at 12 months Symptoms : Fever, Dry cough, Runny nose, Sore throat, Inflamed eyes or conjunctivitis, Tiny white spots with bluish-white centers, skin rash Historical background : It was known even during 165 AD and was known as plague of Galen. Responsible for the many deaths in Inca civilization, and in between 1855 and 2005 it is estimated to have killed 200 million people worldwide Influenza Category : It is caused by the influenza virus Vectors : Animals birds human contact. By direct transmission, airbourne transmission, and through hand to hand, hand to nose, hand to mouth and contaminated surfaces Statistics :The disease kills between 2 and 20% of those who are infected. The first influenza virus was isolated in 1901 from poultry. Vaccinition :Influenza vaccin Symptoms :Fever or feeling feverish/chills, Cough, Sore throat, Runny or stuffy nose, Muscle or body aches, Headaches, Fatigue Historical background :The human influenza were present 2400 years ago. The disease was first described in 1703 by J. Hugger of the University of Edinburgh. Tuberculosis Category : Tuberculosis is caused by Mycobacteria Vectors : Human, cattle and deer Statistics : Almost one-third of the world's population has been infected with tuberculosis with new infections occurring in about 1% of the population each year. Tuberculosis is the second-most common cause of death from infectious disease after HIV / AIDS Vaccination : BCG Symptoms : Coughing that lasts three or more weeks,Coughing up blood, Chest pain, or pain with breathing or coughing, Unintentional weight loss. Fatigue, Fever, Night sweats, Chills. Historical background : Tuberculosis has been present in humans since ancient times. The first evidence of the disease is found in the remains of bison in Wyoming dated to around 17,000 years ago. Cholera Category : Intestinal bacterial infection Vectors : Human waste, drinking water, food Statistics :The first cholera pandemic occurred in the Bengal region of India starting in 1817 through 1824. The disease has killed tens of millions of people in 19th century Vaccination : Oral vaccination Symptoms :Rapid heart rate, Loss of skin elasticity, dry mucous membranes, low blood pressure, Thirst, Muscle cramps. Historical background :Cholera has originated in India and was prevalent in the Ganges delta since ancient times. Small pox Category : caused by virus Vectors : Transmission occurs mainly by inhalation of airborne variola virus, mostly by droplets from the oral, nasal, or pharyngeal mucosa of an infected person. Statistics : The disease, for which no effective treatment was ever developed, killed as many as 30% of those infected. In the early 1950s an estimated 50 million cases of smallpox occurred in the world each year, a figure which fell toaround 10 15 million by 1967 because of vaccination Vaccination : within three days of exposure and smallpox vaccine is a live virus preparation given to patient using bifurcated needle. Symptoms Historical background : Originated in ancient India at around 1500 BC Comparison of contagious disease in 19th and 21st century Similarities Contagious disease 19th century Contagious disease 21stcentury New strains of virus and bacteria New mutated strains of virus and bacteria Virus and bacteria thrived due to non-availability of vaccines and effective drugs Virus and bacteria thrives due to over use of drugs and antibiotics Virus and bacteria transferred from animals into humans Virus and bacteria can now survive in both human and animal Animals served as reservoir of virus and bacteria Virus and bacteria can now survive in dual host easily Malaria, TB and other contagious disease could not be controlled effectively The malaria, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases remain enormous global problems Casual approach of community against contagious disease Careless attitude of communities encourages contagious disease spreading Difference Contagious disease 19th century Contagious disease 21st century Vaccines and drugs were not effective against most disease Vaccines and drugs are developed to effectively reduce the infection level Research time for any infection detection was more Faster research time and development of drugs Preventive measures against contagious disease were not effective Better enhanced preventive measures against contagious disease Government contribution for research work Private and Government partnering against contagious disease research work Selective cooperation between countries Better and enhanced country to country and research units across the globe Conclusion: Use of vaccine in limited amount of drugs against microbes in controlled manner can control and reduce the threat to humankind. The advent of over usage and uncontrolled use of drugs caused mutations of these microbes and hence has led to a situation where people are more susceptible to disease (Easterlin, 2009). The change in life style, food intake and living conditions have increased the threat level of microbe invasion even more than what it was in early 19th century. The strains are more powerful and immune to drugs. The advent of super bug has now taken the challenge of microbe led war against humankind to a new level. References: 1. Nutbeam, D. (2000). Health literacy as a public health goal: a challenge for contemporary health education and communication strategies into the 21st century.Health promotion international, 15(3), 259-267.2. Olshansky, S. J., Passaro, D. J., Hershow, R. C., Layden, J., Carnes, B. A., Brody, J., ... Ludwig, D. S. (2005). A potential decline in life expectancy in the United States in the 21st century.New England Journal of Medicine,352(11), 1138-1145.3. Tulchinsky, T. H., Varavikova, E. A. (2014).The new public health: an introduction for the 21st century. Academic Press.4. Sclar, E. D., Garau, P., Carolini, G. (2005). The 21st century health challenge of slums and cities.The Lancet, 365(9462), 901-903.5. Bashford, A. (2006).Medicine at the border: disease, globalization and security, 1850 to the present. Palgrave Macmillan.6. Easterlin, R. A. (2009).Growth triumphant: the twenty-first century in historical perspective. University of Michigan Press.7. Barnett, T. P. (2005).The Pe ntagon's new map: War and peace in the twenty-first century. Penguin.8. Arnold, D. (1993).Colonizing the body: State medicine and epidemic disease in nineteenth-century India. Univ of California Press.9. Abraham, T. (2007).Twenty-first century plague: the story of SARS. JHU Press.10. Aginam, O. (2002). International law and communicable diseases.Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 80(12), 946-951.11. Hess, G. R. (1994). Conservation corridors and contagious disease: a cautionary note.Conservation Biology, 8(1), 256-262.12. Fischer, J. R., Stallknecht, D. E., Luttrell, P., Dhondt, A. A., Converse, K. A. (1997). Mycoplasmal conjunctivitis in wild songbirds: the spread of a new contagious disease in a mobile host population.Emerging infectious diseases,3(1), 69.

Monday, December 2, 2019

Legalize Pot Essays - Drug Culture, Drug Control Law,

Legalize Pot There is no denying that the drug problem in our country today has reached epidemic proportions. The problem has gotten so out of hand that many options are being considered to control and/or solve it. Ending the drug war may not seem to be the best answer at first, but the so-called war on drugs has actually accomplished very little. Different options need to be considered. Legalization is an option that hasn't gotten much of a chance, but should be given one. It is my position that marijuana should be legalized. Although many people feel that the legalization of marijuana would result in an increase in the amount of crime and drug abuse, I contend that the opposite is true. While I admit that there might be an initial increase in use, I feel that it would gradually wane, and that the crime rate would be reduced immediately. Furthermore, legalization would reduce the enormous amount of money spent on enforcement while at the same time increasing our country's revenue. In 1996 voters in both California and Arizona approved ballot measures exempting physicians and patients from criminal prosecution when marijuana is prescribed for medical purposes in the relief of pain or other symptoms caused by cancer, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), glaucoma, arthritis, and other illnesses and chronic conditions. The Massachusetts and Ohio legislatures enacted similar medical necessity laws in 1996. However, the U.S. government, which opposes such exemptions to anti-marijuana laws, warned physicians in these states that they may lose federally sanctioned privileges for writing prescriptions for controlled substances, be barred from participation in federal Medicare and Medicaid programs, and face federal criminal prosecution for prescribing marijuana (1). The legalization of marijuana would be a boom to the economy. During prohibition, alcohol was still sold and used, but people were doing it illegally. The 21st amendment repealed prohibition, and alcohol taxes were increased. The same thing should happen with pot. Marijuana could be heavily taxed to increase our countrys revenue. Moreover, major companies operating under strict government regulations would legally produce marijuana, resulting in a higher quality product free of poisons and other adulterants (2). Making marijuana legal would greatly reduce the vast amount of money spent on drug law enforcement every year. Drug dealers and users seem to constantly be one step ahead of the authorities, anyway. If one drug lord is caught, for instance, another one turns up somewhere else to take his place. We cannot win. For example: In 1990, well over 10 billion dollars was spent on drug enforcement alone. Drugs accounted for more than 40 percent of all felony indictments in our nations courts in 1992. This figure is quadruple what it was in 1985. Forty percent of the people in federal prison are drug law violators (2). One can only imagine what this figure would be like today. Too much money is wasted on a cause that there seems to be no end to. In 1989, a Republican county executive of Mercer County, NJ estimated that it would cost as much as one billion dollars to build the jail space needed to house all of the drug offenders in Trenton alone (2). All of this money could certainly be used on better things. By lifting the ban on marijuana and treating it like other drugs such as tobacco and alcohol, the nation would gain both immediate and long-term benefits. This change in the law would greatly improve the quality of life for many people in need of the herbs medicinal properties (3). Victims of cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, glaucoma, arthritis, migraine, or any other illness for which marijuana provides relief, for example, would find quality marijuana readily available. Also, the cloud of suspicion over marijuana would disappear, and doctors could get on with legitimate investigating of the plant's medical uses without fear of controversy (4). Meanwhile, the black market would disappear overnight. Some arrangement would be made to license the production of marijuana cigarettes. The untold multitudes of dealers would be put out of business, and a major source of financial loss to the economy would become one of financial gain. It is difficult to say what effect this change alone would have on crime, however, since criminals