Environmental Change and Infectious Diseases Relationship

Environmental Change and Infectious Diseases Relationship Changes in the natural environment through human activities will have broad impacts on global health and human habitation. The links between rapid environmental change and novel pathogens suggest we are entering a new transition in the history of emerging infectious disease. Scientists, however, have not reached consensus regarding an increase of emerging infectious diseases under the broad conditions of environmental change and climate change. This is an area of intense scientific scrutiny. An emerging infectious disease [EID] is one that that has newly appeared in a population or that has been known for some time but is rapidly increasing in incidence or geographic range. Familiar examples include Influenza, E. coli, HIV, SARS, Tuberculosis, Dengue Fever, West Nile Virus, but there are many others. Influenza is the most common. This bibliographic essay focuses on the emergence of novel pathogens, highlighting areas of scientific agreement as well as controversy. These selections can serve as a guide for the informed general reader as well as for health professionals. They draw from international books, articles and websites that provide the most engaging histories, authoritative sources, and current information. The themes in this essay begin with broad topics and become increasing more specific. These EID themes include: Microbes through History; Past Pandemics; Zoonoses focus on Avian Influenza; Ecological Factors; Links to Climate Change; Public Health Preparedness Strategies; Impacts on National Security; and Strategies for the Future. Emerging Infectious Disease Microbes through History The first known texts related to infectious disease were part of the Hippocratic corpus written in the fourth and third centuries B.C.E. Airs, Waters, Places was on environmental health and On Epidemics contains descriptions of contagious and other diseases of public health importance during the ancient period. These texts appear in Hippocratic Writings, edited by G.E.R. Lloyd. The epidemiological transition model describes the changing relationship between humans and their diseases. Based on this model, the first transition occurred with the shift to agriculture about 10,000 YBP, resulting in a pattern of infectious diseases still evident today. In The Changing Disease-Scape in the Third Epidemiological Transition, Kristin Harper and George Armelagos, medical anthropologists, propose that during the last two centuries, some populations have undergone a second transition with a decline in infectious disease and rise in degenerative disease. The authors maintain that we are now in a third epidemiological transition, in which a resurgence of familiar infections is accompanied by an array of novel diseases, all of which have the potential to spread rapidly. Several books and articles are appropriate for historians and medical researchers. Lois Magner, a distinguished medical historian, produced a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the development of medical microbiology. In A History of Infectious Diseases and the Microbial World, the author places modern infectious diseases within their historical context, and highlights the links between disease and social, cultural, political, and economic factors. In Deadly Companions: How Microbes Shaped our History, Dorothy Crawford combines tales of epidemics with science and history. Crawford is Professor of Medical Microbiology at the University of Edinburgh. She reveals how microbes have evolved with humans over the millennia, shaping civilizations through infection, disease, and pandemic. In Conquest of Epidemic Disease: a Chapter in the History of Ideas, Charles-Edward Amory Winslow traces the human understanding of the causes and control of epidemic communicable diseases. Winslow had a rich knowledge of public health, history, and philosophy. According to Joshua Lederberg, molecular biologist and Nobel Prize winner, the success of the wonder drugs of the 1950s led many to believe that the war on microbes had been fought and won, but the emergence of new infectious agents shattered that illusion. Infectious History is a very engaging global history of the cohabitation of humanity and microbes. Ultimate survival, Lederberg suggests, may require humans to embrace a more microbial point of view, in which microbes and their human hosts constitute a superorganism. In a related argument, the Mirage of Health: Utopias, Progress, and Biological Change by Renà © J. Dubos emphasizes that the process of living cannot be separated from the disease process. The book is primarily concerned with the limitations of medicine in the search for the solution of health problems. Dubos, a microbiologist and environmentalist, argues that humankind should not ignore the dynamic process of adaptation to a constantly changing environment that ever y living organism must face. A. J. McMichael, a notable expert on the environment and emerging infectious disease, reports similar conclusions in Environmental and Social Influences on Emerging Infectious Diseases: Past, Present and Future. McMichael urges that humankind come to terms with the fact that microbial species help to make up the interdependent system of life on Earth. He claims that humans and microbes are engaged in amoral, self-interested, co-evolutionary struggle. Pandemics from the Past There are several books on pandemic disease that would appeal to historians and medical professionals. Historians Tamara Giles-Vernick and Susan Craddock edited Influenza and Public Health, an investigation of past influenza pandemics with insights into possible transmission patterns, experiences, mistakes, and interventions. It explores several pandemics over the past century including the infamous 1918 Spanish Influenza, the avian flu epidemic of 2003, and the novel H1N1 pandemic of 2009. In Dread: How Fear and Fantasy have Fueled Epidemics from the Black Death to Avian Flu by Philip Alcabes a writer and professor of Urban Public Health, writes in an engaging style with comprehensive literary, historical and medical references. For readers interested in the history of great plagues and pandemics, there are a number of recommended books. John H. Powells Bring out Your Dead: The Great Plague of Yellow Fever in Philadelphia in 1793 is a historical account of the impact of a yellow fever epidemic that claimed the lives of over 10 percent of the population of Philadelphia and caused its virtual evacuation. Plagues and Peoples by historian William H. McNeill provides an account of the impact of epidemic diseases on the rise and fall of civilizations. Laurie Garretts The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World out of Balance is an engaging survey of new and emerging infections the chapter on future history is especially good. There is a bit of good news among the gloom. Scientists from the National Institute of Health (David Morens, Jeffery Taubenberger, and Anthony Fauci) suggest that successive pandemics generally appear to be decreasing in severity over time. This reflects viral evolution that favors optimal transmissibility with minimal pathogenicity. However, the scientists suggest it is important to understand in greater depth the determinants and dynamics of the pandemic era in which we live. In related research, NIH researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine (Miller et al.) that the signature features of past pandemics can help health authorities prioritize national strategies and provide aid to international collaborators. Zoonoses Case Study in Avian Influenza The incidence and frequency of epidemic transmission of zoonotic diseases, both known and newly recognized, has increased dramatically in the past 30 years. It is thought that this dramatic disease emergence is primarily the result of the social, demographic, and environmental transformation that has occurred globally. Most human pathogens also circulate in animals or originate in nonhuman hosts. Influenza is a classic example of a zoonotic infection that transmits from animals to humans. Smith et al., scientists from the Georgia Institute of Ecology, report that infectious agents specific to humans are broadly and uniformly distributed, whereas zoonotic infectious agents are far more localized in their geographical distribution. These results have critical implications for public-health policy and future research pathways of infectious disease ecology. As reported in Epidemic Dynamics at the Human-Animal Interface. Lloyd-Smith et al., maintain that understanding zoonoses requires a new generation of models that addresses a broader set of pathogen life histories and integrates across scientific disciplines. Outbreaks of pathogenic avian influenza have been relatively uncommon around the world in the last 50 years with limited spread within a country or region. There is one major exception, Asian lineage H5N1 that was first identified in 1996. According to David Suarez, a researcher with the U.S.D.A., this lineage of virus has spread to over 60 countries and has become endemic in poultry in at least four countries. As reported in Avian influenza: our current Understanding, this virus represents a public health threat, with some infected humans having severe disease and a high case fatality rate. Suarez maintains that it is a difficult disease to control because of its highly infectious nature and the interface of domestic and wild animals. Influenza surveillance in wild birds has established that the aquatic birds of the world are the source of influenza A viruses, which occasionally spread to domestic avian species and to mammals, including humans. In Avian Influenza Virus Surveillance and Wild Birds: Past and Present, Scott Krauss and Robert Webster report that much more attention has been given to understanding the ecology of influenza in wild aquatic birds. Robert Webster has been cited in over 400 articles on the influenza virus, particularly its link to wild birds. At Qinghai Lake in China, migrating birds are being tracked by satellite, part of a series of investigations that began after highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1 subtype) first swept the region in 2005. The studies are attempting to pinpoint the viral reservoir and the role that wild birds play in transmission. L. Jiao reports results in In Chinas Backcountry, Tracking Lethal Bird Flu that no reservoir for the virus has yet been found, but transmission routes have come into clearer focus. However, in another scientific report, New Avian Influenza Virus (H5N1) in Wild Birds, Qinghai, China, scientist Yanbing Li reports that in 2010 the virus mutated into yet another viral subtype. This occurred in a wetland region very close to Qinghai Lake. This increases concerns about a potential pandemic and the likelihood that avian influenza virus will again spread and continue to increase its genetic diversity. Scientists stress that determining movements of wild birds from Qinghai Lake is essential to track H5N1. Wallenstein et al. investigated the transmission of H5N1 among people who had unprotected contact with infected wild mute swans in Dorset, England. Results in No evidence of transmission of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza to humans after unprotected contact with infected wild swans reveal that no evidence of transmission of H5N1 to humans was found. The incident provided a rare opportunity to study the direct transmissibility of the virus from wild birds to humans. Emerging Infectious Disease Ecological Phenomena Ecological approaches to the understanding of health and disease have a long history. The links between the environment and health are complex and can occur over long time scales that obscure those connections. Emerging zoonotic diseases have assumed increasing importance in both public and animal health, as the last few years have seen a steady increase of new cases, each emerging from an unsuspected geographic area and causing serious problems, often leading to mortalities among animals and humans. Investigating these pathogens as ecological phenomena can provide insights into why these pathogens have jumped species. In a highly recommended article by Samuel Myers and Jonathan Patz, Emerging Threats to Humans from Global Environmental Change, the scientists assert that changes to the natural environment are all accelerating with increased exposure to infectious disease. The authors maintain that these threats represent the greatest public health challenge humanity has faced. In Environmental Determinants of Infectious Disease, Joseph Eisenburg concludes that emerging and re-emerging pathogens have their origin in environmental change. However, in Causal Inference in Disease Ecology: Investigating Ecological Drivers of Disease Emergence, Raina Plowright maintains that few studies have rigorously analyzed the underlying environmental drivers of disease emergence. As an expert on ecological drivers of disease, Plowright reports that ecological change and disease emerge from complex, large-scale processes that are not amenable to traditional approaches to causal inference. Emerging Infectious Disease Links to Climate Change Paul Epstein of Harvard School of Public Health and been sounding the warning bell on climate change and infectious disease for over 10 years. In Climate Change and Emerging Infectious Disease he presented a theory that deforestation and climatic volatility are a potent combination creating conditions conducive to disease emergence and spread. In Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Effects of Eco-Climate Change: The Medical Response, Colin Butler and David Harley propose that the primary effects of climate change to global health include the acute and chronic stress of heat waves, and trauma from increased fires and flooding. Secondary signs are indirect, such as an altered distribution of vectors, intermediate hosts and pathogens. More severe future health consequences of climate change are classified here as tertiary effects: famine, war and significant population displacement. There is near unanimous scientific consensus that greenhouse gas emissions generated by human activity will change Earths climate. Yet, there is little hard evidence that recent global warming has already affected some health outcomes. Researchers, A.J. McMichael, Rosalie Woodruff, and Simon Hales, suggest in Climate Change and human health: present and future risks, that anticipation of adverse health effects will strengthen the case for pre-emptive policies and guide priorities for planned adaptive strategies. In a related argument in Climate Change and Infectious Disease in North America: the Road Ahead, researchers Amy Greer, Victoria Ng and David Fisman recommend that the best defense against increases in infectious disease related to climate change lies in strengthening existing public health infrastructure. In Biodiversity Loss Affects Global Disease Ecology, Montira J. Pongsiri et al. propose that climate change is a phenomenon that will require a biogeographic perspective to predict its affect on global disease. Currently, biogeography and disease ecology are disciplinary communities with little overlap. Not all scientists agree on climate change and emerging infectious disease. In The Ecology of Climate Change and Infectious Disease, Kevin Lafferty claims that although the globe is significantly warmer than it was a century ago, there is little evidence that climate change has favored infectious diseases. Lafferty reports that recent models predict range shifts in disease distributions, with little net increase in area. Researchers Bruce Wilcox and Duane Gubler link demographic and societal factors to land use, land cover change, and ecological factors to disease emergence in Disease Ecology and the Global Emergence of Zoonotic Pathogens. They report that the scale and magnitude of these changes are more significant than those associated with climate change, the effects of which are largely not yet understood. Joshua Rosenthal of the National Institutes of Health reports that the ability to predict the effects of climate change on the spread of infectious diseases is in its infancy. In Climate Change and the geographic distribution of Infectious Disease, the authors report that there are conflicting predictions. Emerging Infectious Disease and Public Health Preparedness In a 2010 report, Infectious Disease Movement in a Borderless World, David Relman and the Institute of Medicine report that infectious diseases (pre-pandemic stage) now emerge more frequently, spread greater distances, pass more easily between humans and animals, and evolve into new and more virulent strains. Literature from the U.S. Institute of Medicine intended for clinicians, researchers, and public policy makers includes The Impact of globalization on infectious disease emergence and control exploring the consequences and opportunities by Stacey Knobler. Keith Fukuda and The World Health Organization released Ethical considerations developing a public health response to pandemic influenza. A product of expert international opinion, this publication is intended for public health and pandemic influenza preparedness activities at the national level. In Communicating about Emerging Infectious Disease: the Importance of Research, Bev Holmes reviews risk communication strategies for e merging infectious diseases. In The Generic Biothreat, Or, How we became Unprepared, sociologist Andrew Lakoff argues that over the course of the past three decades, a new way of thinking about the threat of infectious disease has coalesced. The problem of infectious disease is no longer only one of prevention, but one of preparedness. Jonathan D. Moreno, professor of Medical Ethics, wrote In the Wake of Terror: Medicine and the Morality in a Time of Crisis, a book intended for public health policymakers. He maintains that responses to bioterrorism and emerging infectious diseases of the twenty-first century are destined to overwhelm the public health system. Emerging Infectious Disease and National Security In Contagion and Chaos, Andrew Price-Smith offers an examination of disease through the lens of national security. This book will be of interest to political scientists and those in public health and medicine as it highlights the interdependence between political science and public health. The author stresses that the association between the health of a population and perception of national security is ancient but largely forgotten. He argues that epidemic disease represents a direct threat to the power of a state, eroding prosperity and destabilizing both its internal politics and its relationships with other states. The danger of an infectious pathogen to national security depends on lethality, transmissability, fear, and economic damage. The author maintains that warfare and ecological change contribute to the spread of disease and act as disease amplifiers. Strategies for the Future There are several valuable data collection tools and collaboration networks in existence. To be useful, data must assist in the effort to identify population-based strategies for pandemics. Advance knowledge of which subpopulations are most likely at increased risk can lead to quicker public health response and disease control. Lessons from the past would suggest that public health preparedness include human health surveillance that is integrated with monitoring of climate and other environmental conditions that favor emerging infectious disease. In an important work by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Jeremy Hess, Josephine Mililay and Alan Parkinson), scientists considered the ways in which the concept of place the sense of human relationship with particular environments will play a key role in motivating, developing, and deploying an effective public health response. In Climate Change: the Importance of Place, they highlight the concepts of community resilience and risk management, key aspects of a robust response to climate change in public health and other sectors. Mark Woolhouse, faculty at University of Edinburgh in infectious disease epidemiology, reports in Emerging Diseases go Global that novel human infections continue to appear all over the world, but the risk is higher in some regions than others. Identification of emerging-disease hotspots will help target surveillance work. In Global trends in emerging infectious diseases, Kate E. Jones et al. provide a basis for identifying regions where new EIDs are most likely to originate (emerging disease hotspots). Currently, they claim that global resources to counter disease emergence are poorly allocated the majority of the surveillance effort is focused on countries from where the next important EID is least likely to originate. John Brownstein, a medical informatics researcher, reports that the existing network of disease surveillance efforts managed by public health institutes has wide gaps in geographic coverage and often suffers from poor and sometimes suppressed information flow across national borders. In Surveillance Sans Frontieres: Internet Based Emerging Infectious Disease Intelligence and HealthMap project, Brownstein reports that valuable information about infectious diseases is found in internet-accessible information sources such as discussion sites and disease reporting networks. These data must be studied in depth, including false reports and reporting bias. Yet, this information holds potential to provide complementary epidemic intelligence context. This potential is already being realized, as a majority of outbreak verifications currently conducted by the World Health Organizations Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network are triggered by reports from these nontraditional sources. Conclusions It is clear that there is a relationship between environmental change and infectious disease, but these links are disease and location specific. Thus, the direct impact on human health is still unclear. Climate change may increase the prevalence of particular infectious diseases in some regions, while decreasing the prevalence in others. Many factors can affect emerging infectious disease, and some of these factors may overshadow the effects of climate. The potential health impacts underscore the need to reinforce response systems for infectious disease outbreaks, including public health preparedness and the capacity necessary to mount effective responses. There is no natural analog to the rapid increases of human-induced environmental changes that are emerging in the 21st century. The links between rapid environmental change and novel pathogens suggest we are entering a new transition in the history of emerging infectious disease.

History the is fake! :: essays research papers

WAR IMMINENT: Spain and America to Fight After a recent publication in our sister publication, the New York Journal, a letter from the Spanish Minister de Lome to President McKinley, tensions rose to a point of combustion. Citizens all over the United States have complained about the insulting message contained within the letter from the Minister. This letter ridiculed McKinley, and lead to the eventual resignation of this Spanish Minister de Lome. Another catalyst that added to growing American distaste for the Spanish was the destruction of the battleship, the USS Maine. Although the source remains unknown for sure, we’re positive here at The Chronicle that the dastardly Spaniards committed this heinous crime. Many valuable American lives, as well as other less valuable foreign lives, were lost due to the explosion onboard the gunship. This blatant attack   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  on an American Naval vessel is definite grounds for a war with the Spaniards. In response to the att ack on the Maine, the United States Congress has raised an emergency fund of $50 million for President McKinley to do with as he pleases in order to fight the war that they declared also following the destruction of the Maine. Congress, through this declaration of war, desired to repay the indignation bestowed upon the US by Spain and to also help free the Spanish colonies of Guam, Cuba, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico. The main catalyst that escalated this war was very much to the â€Å"Yellow Journalism† produced by such newspapers such this one, but also by others such as the New York Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, and even by very reputable newspapers like the New York Times.

Phoenix Suns :: essays research papers

The History Of The Phoenix Suns   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I chose to write about the Phoenix Suns basketball History mainly because they have gave me, â€Å"the fan† great memories. The Suns introduced me to a whole new world of sports. When I watch their Basketball games it’s probably different from any other fan’s viewpoint. I tend to analyze their games and try to think what their next move is going to be. Other fans just cheer which is alright. Throughout the Phoenix Suns existence, they have had many great years as well as many down years. When I was introduced to the sport of Basketball, the first team I watched was the Chicago Bulls; I was completely intrigued by this sport. Each member of the team on the court always seemed to be giving it their all. It was only for a year that I was a Chicago Bull fan; this was because I had not yet found out that Arizona had, and â€Å"The Team† of course, is the Phoenix Suns. I was quickly converted to a Suns fan (now I now what you’re thinking; you think I’m one of those people who just moves around cheering the team that wins†¦. well I’m not I was just a little kid who just found out that there was a professional basketball team in the state he lived in, and I just started cheering for them.) This team is great they are always playing their hearts out.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Well before the beginning of the 1968 draft two Teams (the expansion teams) Milwaukee and Phoenix got select players from other teams this is known as the Expansion draft. The other teams were basically giving away low quality players . Before the team was even created there was a contest to see what the teams name was going to be. There were names like: The Moon Shooters, The Nitros, The Hoopsters, The Dudes, The Gransuns, Desert Rats, Desert Cats, The Sun Dials, And how about The Phoenix White Wing Doves?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The eventual winner was Selinda King she acquired $1,000 dollars plus season tickets to the suns first inaugural season. In the expansion draft the Suns selected Dick Van Arsdale, which turned out to be a great pick because he ended up averaging 17.6 points a game for Phoenix. Other players selected by Phoenix were: Gail Goodrich, Neil Johnson, David Latin, Stan McKenzie, McCoy McLemore, Dick Snyder, and George Wilson.

American Treatment of the Indian Tribes Essay -- essays research paper

American Treatment of the Indian Tribes The American Indian lived a life being one with nature. In their way, they understood the ecological demands of the land and knew that if they took care of the land the land would take care of them. They possessed an untouched wisdom living in harmony with the environment. They hunted the land for buffalo, which provided food and clothing for the ages to come. In time they would almost become non existent at the hands of the â€Å"white† man. They would come to lose their land, lose the buffalo and lose their self being and their way of life. Towards the end of the 1800s the Indian territories were reduced by about 95 percent. The U.S. government along with greedy white settlers was the main reason behind this loss of land. The government placed treaty upon treaty on the Native Americans and would not uphold to any of them. Some treaties were made to guarantee safety and permanent reserve for the Indians, but they were not followed through. In most cases the Indians were driven off the land by white settlers looking for gold or rich farmlands. The U. S. government broke some of the treaties by expanding through the promised lands looking for valuable minerals and making way for the expansion of the railways. The U.S. Government in seeking rights to control the land and its natural resources reverted to â€Å"legal† manipulation. In cases were they were met with resistance, the Army was called in to settle the score. The relocation of the Indians from lands east of the Mississippi River to the West represents a dark phase in American history. In the first treaties signed, there were promises of stability for the Indians. One of these sagas is known as the â€Å"Trail of Tears†. This relates to the removal of the Cherokee Indians by the U.S. Army from their native lands in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. During the journey they were held in camps and then forced to travel over 1,000 miles during adverse weather. This trail led them to the Indian Territory, which is now Oklahoma. This was a catalyst towards the devastation of the American Indian culture... ...mises such as owning their land â€Å"as long waters run and the grass shall grow.† The Indians would have continued to live "until the end of time" if the white settlers had not intervened. The white settlers created conditions that threatened the existence of the Indians. By the late 1800s, most of the tribes had now been almost completely abolished. The Indians were either beaten into submission or succumbed to the many contagious diseases brought on by the settlers. By the start of the 1900s there were less than one quarter million Native American Indians in the country. These numbers dwindled from over half a million in the early 1880s and over five million since Columbus first set foot on these lands. Most of the Indians now were living in the small reservations. Beaten, tired and humiliated, they lived in poverty, alcoholism, and unemployment. They were now forced to live off the government as wards of the state. Once the rulers of the West they now a lost culture, having lost their identities and sense of being. Although the freedom of their ancient way of life has been lost, the religion, culture, legends, and spirit of the Native American Indian will always endure.

Beneficial Wasps against Destructive Flies

An article appearing on the ScienceDaily website entitled â€Å"Olives may be rescued by Helpful Wasp† reported the findings of the research headed by Victoria Yokoyama concerning the effects of releasing a small brown wasp known as Psyttalia cf. concolor into olive fruit fly infested groves in California. California is the leading producer of the olive fruit but olive fruit flies prove to be a major problem with the potential to destroy annual olive crop. ScienceDaily (2009) reported that the olive fruit fly was first discovered in 1998 but has now come to infest the whole state especially where olives are grown.P. cf. concolor would be able to help minimize the damage caused by the olive fruit fly by attacking its maggots thereby prohibiting their growth and decreasing their numbers. Olive fruit flies damage the production of olive fruits as its young feed voraciously on the fruit of the olive tree as it ripens. The P. cf. concolor would help to solve this damage caused by t he olive fruit flies by laying its eggs inside the flies’ maggots. ScienceDaily (2009) reported that when the wasp’s eggs hatch, the young wasp would feed on the maggot â€Å"from the inside out.† However, ScienceDaily (2009) reported that â€Å"scientists are continuing to carefully evaluate the wasp’s effectiveness in thwarting the olive fruit fly† but stated that â€Å"the wasp is harmless to people, pets and plants. † ScienceDaily (2009) also reported that the wasp is more effective than some of the parasitoids in combating the olive fruit fly. In 2008, Yokoyama et al. reported that the P. cf. concolor rate of parasitism to the olive fruit fly was at 24. 2 percent. The report by Yokoyama et al. (2008) also showed that the P. cf.concolor would, given the choice, prefer to attack olive fruit flies than the walnut husk fly implying that the wasp would attack the olive fruit fly maggots more often when there was no other choice thereby incre asing its effectiveness against the invasive pest. Yokoyama et al. (2008) reported that the P. cf. concolor was imported from Guatemala and were used in laboratory and field tests to determine its ability to control the olive fruit fly and was found to be highly adaptable under the same climate and weather conditions where its hosts thrive.They also reported that the wasps did not attack the seedhead fly—a beneficial fruit fly. Furthermore, Yokoyama et al. (2008) held that P. cf. concolor â€Å"shows great promise as a biological control agent for olive fruit fly and establishment of the parasitoid in olives will help protect the production of canned olives and olive oil in California that is valued at $68 million annually. † The ScienceDaily article presented two insects: a beneficial wasp and the destructive olive fruit fly.While it reported that the olive fruit fly causes destruction, particularly on olive crops, it reported a more likely solution to the problem. Th e article did not present the olive fruit as overly dangerous, however damaging, yet presented the P. cf. concolor as beneficial, without any serious adverse effects to the environment and to human population. Furthermore, the article presented its report based on scientific research and based its conclusions on the report of the researchers concerning P.cf. concolor as biological control for the olive fruit flies. Works Cited ScienceDaily. â€Å"Olives may be rescued by helpful wasp. † 7 March 2009. ScienceDaily. 23 March 2009. Yokoyama, Victoria, Rendon, Pedro A. , and Sivinski, John. â€Å"Psyttalia cf. concolor (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) for biological control of olive fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) in California. † Environmental Entomology Vol. 37, n

Why L.A. Used as Setting for Most Disaster Movies.

HENOS WOLDE Instructor: STARR GOODE English 1 Essay 3 10/29/2012 Why L. A. used as setting for most disaster movies. Through decades of disaster films, Los Angeles has been targeted by aliens, toppled by temblors, sunken by tsunamis, leveled by lava, and a rogue tornado once took out the Hollywood sign. Even though in real life los angels is not such a disastrous it nonetheless faces constant destruction in movies, on television, and in books; in the collective imagination, the city burns and burns.Los angels is used as a setting for most disastrous movies because the city is home to Hollywood and the movie business, so the artists who write about, direct and execute mass destruction in Los Angeles are often intimately familiar with the territory and find it convenient to destroy los angels in their films. Los Angeles is a popular disaster movie locale because it is home of the entertainment capital of the world Hollywood, its famous landmarks, and its geography. Los Angeles is home to the entertainment capital of the world Hollywood, which explains why L. A. is often used as a setting for most disaster movies.To destroy a big city in movies takes a lot of time and work. It would make it even harder to travel far away to shoot these movies. To make the destruction look realistic, Hollywood movie makers have to work extra hard and film non stop making sure they get every little detail right. It would make it very challenging to film these movies far away from the studio. For these reason Hollywood apparently wants to destroy all of Los Angeles. For example, the city is going down in flames in DEMOLITION MAN, turned into an island in ESCAPE FROM L. A. , and obliterated in THE BIG ONE: THE GREAT LOS ANGELES EARTHQUAKE.Perhaps Hollywood has no particular malice toward Los Angeles but simply destroys it cinematically because â€Å"it’s there,† at hand, nearby, easy to drive to and blow up, burn down, and shake apart while the cameras roll. With these d isaster movies Hollywood has perfected the cinema of conspicuous destruction, certainly a defining aspect of American movie technology. Los Angeles is also a city filled with internationally recognized landmarks. The Hollywood sign, the Capitol Records building, City Hall and the skyscrapers of down town makes the movies convenient for cinematic shorthand.Almost everybody recognizes these landmarks and when they see it being destroyed in movies, it allows the scale of the disaster to strike the audience greatly. By far, L. A. ‘s biggest cinematic target is the famous nine-letter landmark perched in the Hollywood hills. When people see the Hollywood sign being destroyed by natural disaster or alien attack, the idea behind it is to exaggerates the power of the destruction and to shock viewers with a realistic image of these familiar monument’s falling apart. Apart from its landmarks, L. A. s a popular disaster-movie locale because of its geography. Sitting in a seismic zo ne on the western edge of the continent, it is surrounded by beaches, mountains and deserts. In real life, the city is subject to floods, fires, earthquakes and big waves, so seeing freeways collapse or Santa Monica swallowed up by the sea isn't such a stretch. Hollywood takes great advantage of these landmarks to destroy Los Angeles. Some People also love watching Los Angeles get destroyed because they believe It's nice to mess up the great weather and see it being destroyed by natural disasters.But regardless of the on screen devastation, Fire, earthquakes, floods, volcanos, and a few alien invasions have destroyed the City of Los Angeles. Even though 1000's of disastrous movies have been made in the City, these movies have made the City a Famous landmark. Ultimately, heaving destruction on Los Angeles also shows Hollywood's sense of humor and optimism. It's an odd kind of Western optimism where Los Angeles always seems to start over again, like a phoenix rising from its own destr uction.Los angeles also makes it easier for Hollywood actors to destroy it because of its geography and world wide recognized landmarks. L. A. is good at playing itself in film. It's a familiar face and it is always expected to get blown up and somehow miraculously reappear in the next summer blockbuster. Interestingly, there are always a few survivors in these films, along with a message of hope. Even thought Los Angeles is used as a setting of disaster in most of its movies, there's always hope for change and resurrection as well.

Delta Sigma Theta

The book is affluent in narration of not only the sorority but also of the struggles and fortitude of African American women who often found themselves as a double minority, facing issues of their race and also their sex. It takes you ahead of the conventionality and the existing paranoia, the stride shows and the parties and provides an insight into the more profound rationale and significance of the ‘sisterhood'.‘In Search of Sisterhood: Delta Sigma Theta and the Challenge of the Black Sorority Movement’ provides a perfect certified chronological reference. It is the detailed history of the organization on paper written in a very convincing manner. It sheds light on the founders, the various events, and the chronology of the events, and other important information about the growth and intensification of the organisation which stood for 90 years. It also talks about the national presidents through 1988, the conventions, the Delta oath and the hymn of the organisat ion.The book talks not only about the history of the largest block women's organization in the United States but also tells of the increasing involvement of black women in the political, social, and economic affairs of America. The foray of the black women in the American politics has been a focal point. This organisation was founded when liberal art tutoring was extensively considered as futile, treacherous, and unrealistic for blacks. They were not provided with enough space and platform to exhibit their talent. Women especially were devoid of any advancement in studies, knowledge and arts.This book is a convincing manifestation of how they overcame the initial prohibitions and challenges to find a place for them in the competitive world and color the canvases of their aspirations. It also gives a reflection of how they gave meaning to their existences by providing platforms to the dreams of the society which was suffering. Paula Giddings remarks that contrasting the aims of other organizations which propagated racial goals, Delta Sigma Theta was formed to transform and assist individuals rather than society.She says that it basically emphasises on the benefit of an individual which would in turn benefit the society. As a sorority, it was formed to bring women together as sisters. If women fought for one cause it could prove beneficial to them as well as to the society. There were certain issues which would create division, often class-related issues involving black women in our society. Giddings also mentions the way these women get together to face the divisive and to address the problem of class related issues.Giddings has given a vision that is obscure because certain goals and aims of the women of Delta Sigma Theta form a mesmerising microcosm. This talks about the struggles, the hardships faced by the black women. It also states the problems faced by the organization. There are many tribulations that Gidding has beautifully mentioned giving an insight into the actual situation that persisted before Afro-American women found a place for themselves in the society.The members stated in Delta Sigma Theta includes a list of renowned women namely Mary McLeod Bethune, Mary Church Terrell, Margaret Murray Washington, Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Jordan, and, on the cultural side, Leontyne Price, Lena Horne, Ruby Dee, Judith Jamison, and Roberta Flack. In Search of Sisterhood Delta Sigma Theta and the Challenge of the Black Sorority Movement is full of gripping, absorbing, fascinating anecdotes told by the Deltas themselves. The anecdotes are nicely illustrated with uncommon early photographs of the Delta women.