Morality, Legality and its Possible Solutions in Art Conservation
Struggle within Museums between Conservators and Curators
Art conservators play a vital role in the preservation of our culture and heritage, though this importance can sometimes be undermined by the differing goals of the public and other museum staff. Conservators cite disagreements with museum directors and curators over the future of certain artwork that needs to be properly restored and put on display. Philip Conisbee, a curator at the National Gallery of Art, quotes Keith Christiansen, the Department Chair of European Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, on how the public’s focus on contemporary over classical has directly impacted what gets displayed in museums. Curators are pressured to display work that is more modern and less political, narrow criteria that excludes the artwork that provokes thought and has the ability to educate the public on something new (Schwartzbaum). He also cites other disputes and reluctant compromises between conservators and curators, such as lighting disputes (i.e. too bright or too low light, and finding a happy medium that allows viewers to properly appreciate the artwork without shortening its lifespan) and “not letting us borrow things” (i.e. refusing to display certain artwork because it has not been restored properly enough to be open to the public).
Other Complications in the Conservator Field: The Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990
In December 1990 VARA was passed, granting visual artists “moral rights.” Among others, these new rights dealt with how artists’ work would be handled after leaving the artist’s possession – which meant considerable changes for conservators and collectors alike. Artist intention has always been debated in the conservation community, as conservation processes always mean some sort of slight alteration, and can never truly restore pieces back to their original look. These laws would force conservators to be more careful with how they approach the restoration process, especially since artists would have legal backing to sue should their work be changed even for conservation purposes. Poorly done conservation seen as negligent or “mutilation” of a piece would leave the conservator liable to the artist under VARA (Garfinkel, Fries, Lopez, Possessky).
Duties of a Conservator Specializing in Painting Conservation & Education Outreach
Julie Heath is a conservation educator as well as a conservator specializing in paintings at the Lunder Conservation Center at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. She leads workshops and tours around the conservation labs and other Smithsonian facilities.
Heath details the nature of conservator work and provides examples in paintings she has helped restore: from watercolor on paper to oil on burlap. In terms of surface treatment, she must consolidate paint, remove surface grime, and conduct a humidification process as well as a lining process for sturdy mounting. In most cases, she works manually with the aid of certain table-top equipment, though for certain procedures, she uses large machinery and equipment that is capable of executing the restoration process without manual retouching (humidification and lining). Only 20% of a conservator’s work occurs in the lab, which leaves room for difficulty in arranging public tours of mostly empty labs. However, the public awareness of the work that conservators do is extremely important to more than just the art world – it reaches various scientific and anthropological fields and is essential to understanding and preserving our history. Heath and her colleagues at the Smithsonian Institute widely encourage tours and other ways of promoting conservation education to the masses.
William H. Johnson. “Still Life – Bouquet” (1931). Before and after treatment – restoration process included removing surface grime (pictured above), consolidating paint, humidification and lining processes.
References
Garfinkle, Ann M., Janet Fries, Daniel Lopez and Laura Possessky. Journal of the American Institute for Conservation. 36.2 (1997): 165-179. Web.
Heath, Julie. Smithsonian Institute Lunder Conservation Center. “Using Art Conservation in Educational Outreach.” Web.
Institute, The Getty Conservation. (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
Perry, Marilyn. “The Samuel H. Kress Collection: Conservation and Context.” Introduction. Studying and Conserving Paintings: Occasional Papers on the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London: Archetype Publications, 2006. 3-5. Print.
Schwartzbaum, Paul. Studies in Conservation 52.1 (2007): 79-80. Web.
Good Intentions Can Sometimes Backfire: Immature Los Angeles and Safer New York
When the issue our society is dealing with concerns human life and safety, which is true about the “Vision Zero” project, it is vital that the actions undertaken to resolve a certain aspect of the problem do not backfire by leading to a loss of balance in another aspect. Traffic engineers must be able to reduce the amount of vehicle-related injuries and deaths without increasing the risk of deaths caused by other factors, which is often a very difficult task.
Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles Mayor, considers “Vision Zero” to be the most important investment in transportation, and that is why he encouraged the City Council to adopt the “Mobility Plan 2035.” The key idea of the project is to remove automobile lanes in order to make more room for bike (see Figure 1 below) and bus lanes (Galles, 2015). The plan is supposed to save lives by reducing speed-related and other risk factors; however, the truth is that, if implemented, the plan will cost lives instead. First of all, about 36% of intersections would be heavily congested during evening rush hours, which is an increase of 14% from the value predicted in absence of the plan (Ljungdahl, 2015). Drivers that are trapped in a gridlock would not be able to clear the way for emergency vehicles.
Figure 1: Example of Mobility Plan action: extra room for bike lanes.
Source: Los Angeles Times.
Time becomes extremely precious in cases of cardiac arrests, and even slight delays of less than a minute can decide a person’s position on the border between life and death. According to Mayo Clinic physician Roger White, even “one-minute decrease in the call-to-shock time increases the odds of survival by 57% (Galles, 2015).” Randal O’Toole, economist and expert in urban transportation, estimates that “for every pedestrian whose life might be saved by traffic calming, more than 30 people are likely to die due to delays in fire trucks and paramedics (Ljungdahl, 2015),” which is not a reasonable tradeoff at all.
The plan of Los Angeles City Council would be a perfect example of an unbalanced, premature decision. Even though the intentions were the best, the Council failed to assess the risks posed by the proposed actions, which is totally irresponsible.
In contrast to the unhelpful “traffic safety” act of Los Angeles, “Vision Zero” proves itself as an efficient shield that protects people against traffic deaths in New York. Special attention is paid to the safety of children, since more than 100 children under the age of 13 were killed in motor vehicle accidents between 2003 and 2012 (Worland, 2015). According to the NYC Department of Health report, these crashes are the leading cause of injury deaths among children; however, “Vision Zero” helped bring the number of traffic deaths down to a 100-year low in 2014, even though the program was in its infancy at the moment (Belin, 2015).
Among all the legislation and techniques implemented in New York to ensure traffic safety, the crucial aspect appears to be the reduction of the speed limit to 25 miles per hour. A car that hits a pedestrian at 30 miles per hour is twice as likely to cause death than a car hitting a person at 25 miles per hour. Furthermore, a car that hits a pedestrian at 30 miles per hour is 8 times more likely to cause a death than a car moving at 20 miles per hour (Tangel, 2014). Indeed, a five-mile per hour difference is in a way equivalent to the difference between life and death – this statement should be the message and motivation kept in the minds of angry and aggressive drivers.
Figure 2: Vehicle Impact Speed and Pedestrian Injury Severity.
Source: DETR.
The difficulty in this key component of the project is the fact that drivers will only abide by the speed limits if such behavior is enforced, and it requires more than available time and resources to fully enforce the law. The police department has to make sure no single driver violates the speed law, which many city-dwellers think isn’t likely. Therefore, the question is about what goes on in people’s minds rather than about punishment or enforcement. One of the tools that allows us to affect drivers’ attitudes and driving habits is the defensive driving course, which is a 6-hour lecture that explains in detail traffic crash problems, the human factors, man-machine-environment interaction, and informs about the traffic laws that most of New Yorkers don’t know about even after passing the road test.
Figure 3: Insurance companies encourage drivers to take the defensive driving course by providing insurance reductions for completion of the course.
Source: Geico Insurance Website.
Even though slowing the roads reduces people’s potential mobility, the bright side of the change reminds us that researchers have found links between lower speed limits and increased physical activity, which means a decrease in the rates of obesity and diabetes (Tangel, 2014). After all, we have to be focused on two factors regarding city traffic – health and safety: walking and increased physical activity have almost become the new American dream, and, of course, we have to take actions to make our streets more forgiving, especially for the younger, inattentive generation.
Works Cited (MLA Format)
Belin, Matts. “Vision Zero – a Road Safety Policy Innovation.” International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion 19.2 (2015): 171-79.
Galles, Gary M. “Los Angeles Business Journal.” Traffic Plan May Fuel Health Risks. LABJ, 30 Nov. 2015. Web. 13 Oct. 2016.
Ljungdahl, Katarina. “Right in the Middle of Vision Zero’s Blind Spot.” Road & Transport Research Journal 6.1 (2015).
Tangel, Andrew. “New York’s New Speed Limit Means a Healthier City.” New Perspectives Journal 17.3 (2014).
Worland, Justin. “This Is the Leading Cause of Injury Death for Children in NYC.” Injury Prevention Journal 12.6 (2015): 414-16.
Inexpressibility of Pain
Physical pain has existed for as long as living organisms have been around to experience it. Whether it be stubbing your toe, a laceration, or childbirth, pain has always been an experience that all humans can relate to and sympathize with. While this fact of life is unifying and constant, the history of pain and how it is expressed has been evolving since the beginning of mankind. Academics are still studying this age old question: How do human beings communicate and assess pain?
Figure 1. McGill Pain Questionnaire (Barbour & Barbour, 2003)
In her book, The Body in Pain, Elaine Scarry describes the ways in which physical pain is inexpressible and how this affects people in a social and political context. The first point she makes is that physical pain is language resistant. When someone is in pain, their first reaction is not to speak, but to scream or shout, “Ah!” This relatable example proves that immediate pain is not expressible through language. Another important point Scarry makes is that when pain is communicated from the the person that is experiencing it to another person, the original message is often lost in translation. She gives the example of a patient-physician relationship to portray this idea. A patient describing their pain to a physician is not given the same credibility of a medical test proving that there should be a pain (Skelton, 1991). While medical testing is effective and necessary, some pains cannot be tested for. When this is the case, the physician must rely on the patient’s description of their pain. Melzack and Katz establish that the former method of describing pain solely by its intensity (moderate, severe, etc.) was replaced by a more categorical method that examines different facets of pain such as temperature (burning, stinging, etc.), time (throbbing, constant, etc.) and various others (2007). While these categorical methods of describing pain is helpful in diagnosis, reducing the entirety of the felt experience to a word or two in the english language will never communicate the full extent of the pain. Swain claims that language and emotion are not separate from one another (2013). However, pain is an exception to this rule. Another example Scarry gives in her book is a communicating pain in a courtroom setting. When someone is injured in an accident, they must effectively communicate their pain to their lawyer with . Not only this, but the lawyer must then express their perception of the original pain to a jury, who is then responsible for evaluating this already filtered description of the original felt experience. After Scarry establishes that physical pain is difficult to communicate in its entirety, she relates this idea to how pain is often not addressed effectively in society. She shares a phenomenon seen in history and science showing that when two ideas are presented, the idea that is more easily expressed will always be the one that is addressed more effectively and immediately. This phenomenon points us to an unfortunate conclusion: As physical pain is not easily communicated due to the barrier of language, we cannot effectively address and treat it. (Scarry)
Citations:
Barbour, R. S., & Barbour, M. (2003). Evaluating and synthesizing qualitative research: the need to develop a distinctive approach. Journal of evaluation in clinical practice, 9(2), 179-186.
Melzack, R., & Katz, J. (2007). McGill pain questionnaire. In Encyclopedia of pain (pp. 1102-1104). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Scarry, E. (1985). The body in pain: The making and unmaking of the world. Oxford University Press, USA.
Skelton, J. A. (1991). Laypersons’ judgments of patient credibility and the study of illness representations. In Mental representation in health and illness(pp. 108-131). Springer US.
Swain, M. (2013). The inseparability of cognition and emotion in second language learning. Language Teaching, 46(02), 195-207.
The Physiological and Neurological Dangers of Marijuana Use
Marijuana is a drug that has been popular for decades, but in recent years, more and more debate has risen about whether it is safe to use and whether it should be legalized across the United States. Many studies have been conducted that show the dangers that marijuana can impose upon users of the drug, in terms of physiological and neurological health.
A study published in the Journal of Immunopharmacology tested the effects of THC, the main component of marijuana that affects neurological function, on human natural killer (NK) cell function. The study found that THC “was inhibitory for NK activity against K562, a human tumor cell line at concentrations [as low as] 5 μg/ml when pre-incubated with the effector cells” (Specter et al., 1986). Furthermore, a study published by the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics states that “prolonged delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) ingestion produced significant heart rate slowing and blood pressure lowering in hospitalized volunteers. Impaired circulatory responses to standing, exercise, Valsalva maneuver, and cold pressor testing suggest a state of sympathetic insufficiency” (Benowitz et al., 1975). From this, it is clear that the THC in marijuana poses a threat to cellular and physiological health by inhibiting typical bodily functions.
Marijuana use can also have an impact on neurological health. A study published in the Oxford University Press Journal was conducted to determine the effects of long-term marijuana use on axonal fibre pathways and connections in the brain. The study found that “The fimbria network comprised a total of 7 1.6 stream-lines in users (meanstandard error) and 446.4 in non-users, an 84% reduction…[and] The commissural fibre comprised a total of 9 1.7 streamlines in users and 78 15.1 in non-users, an 88% reduction” (Zalesky et al., 2012). Therefore, it is clear that marijuana has the ability to reduce connectivity in brain tissue, and pose a hindrance to neurological function.
Intelligence is another facet that can be adversely affected by marijuana use. A study published in Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America was conducted to test the neuropsychological decline in users of marijuana from birth to age 38. The study found that “study members who never used cannabis experienced a slight increase in IQ, whereas those…diagnosed with cannabis dependence at one, two, or three or more study waves experienced IQ declines of −0.11, −0.17, and −0.38 SD units, respectively. An IQ decline of −0.38 SD units corresponds to a loss of ∼6 IQ points, from 99.68 to 93.93” (Meier et al., 2012).
Change in IQ over time depending on marijuana use and dependence.
Moreover, a study published in the Neuropsychopharmacology journal was conducted to determine people’s likelihood to participate in risky behavior after using marijuana. The study found that after the third dose of marijuana, “subjects were more likely to persist on the risky option, whether winning or losing” (Lane et al., 2004). Therefore, marijuana has the ability to skew people’s rational perceptions and put them at risk by leading them to perform risky actions, regardless of outcome.
Marijuana has always been a popular drug, but recently greater public debate has arisen than ever before over whether it is safe and should be legalized in the U.S. While many argue that marijuana is safe, many studies show that it can have adverse effects on physiological and neurological health.
Works Cited
Benowitz NL, Jones RT. Cardiovascular effects of prolonged delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol ingestion. American Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics. Vol 18, p 287-297. 1975.
Lane SD, Cherek DR, Tcheremissine OV, et al. Acute Marijuana Effects on Human Risk Taking. Neuropsychopharmacology. Vol 30, p 800-809. 2005.
Meier MH, Caspi A, Ambler A, et al. Persistent cannabis users show neuropsychological decline from childhood to midlife. Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Vol 109, p E2657-E2664. 2012.
Specter SC , Klein TW, Newton C, et al. Marijuana effects on immunity: Suppression of human natural killer cell activity by delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol. International Journal of Immunopharmacology. Vol 8, p 741-745. 1986.
Zalesky A, Solowij N, Yücel M, et al. Effect of long-term cannabis use on axonal fibre connectivity. Oxford University Press. Vol 135, p 2245-2255. 2012.
Cancer Cell Biology: A General Overview of Factors Linked to Cancer Development and Its Progression
By: Ariana Gopal
Cancer forms when a cell veers away from its normal pattern of cell division and begins to proliferate abnormally. This proliferation can lead to the development of a mass of cells known as a tumor. This high proliferation of abnormal cells can eventually damage nearby tissues or enter the bloodstream or the lymph system and begin to damage tissues further away (known as cancer metastases). This continued replication of abnormal cells can negatively impact the functioning of the tissues targeted by the cancer, which is why it can be so deadly. (NIH, 2007)
Overtime, researchers have proposed numerous theories regarding what causes the development cancer. One of of these theories was that specific cancers can be induced by specific environmental conditions. For example, in the 1770s, there was a high correlation between working as a chimney sweeper as a child and developing scrotal cancer later on in life (NIH, 2007). Even today, we see an extensive correlation between cigarette smoking and lung cancer.
Although these environmental factors do put people at increased risk for developing cancer, a number of researchers have been taking a biological approach toward understanding various cancers’ origins. Cancer systems biology is geared toward analyzing how cellular networks in normal cells are disrupted to eventually develop into cancer cells (Werner, 2014). It does not disregard environmental factors, but its primary focus is how a person’s replicating cells are disrupted on a biological level in order to yield cancer. In fact, these environmental conditions may essentially result in the genomic abnormalities that lead to the development of cancerous cells.
As a result of the linkage between biological abnormalities and the development of cancer, physicians and researchers have proposed cellular and genetic research toward characterizing the underlying mechanisms of certain cancers. One way of doing this is considered the “single cell approach” (Doxie & Irish, 2014). By evaluating cancer cells this way, researchers have the capability of identifying complex, abnormal phenotypical characteristics of cancer cells and evaluating whether or not the genetic mutation or abnormal signaling pathways present in the cells are specific to a single cell subset or exist across all cancer cells (Doxie & Irish, 2014). Having this knowledge can essentially help researchers develop more effective treatment methods for targeting various forms of cancer and treating patients.
Systems biology has indicated that a wide range of mutational differences exist across various cancers. For example, neuroblastoma, prostate cancer, as well as breast cancers have a fewer number of genetic mutations prominent in the abnormal cells opposed to those in lung cancers and cancers related to sun exposure (Gentles & Gallahan, 2011). These higher genetic alterations can be indicative that carcinogenic environmental factors play a significant role in increasing genomic mutations that lead to the development cancer. In addition to general genomic mutations, impaired DNA repair pathways have been deemed prominent across various cancers (Gentles & Gallahan, 2011).
In addition to looking at individual cells and genetic pathways, researchers have also focused directly on the progression of tumor development. One article specifically discussed the idea that tissue cells are typically exposed to physical stressors, such as pressure and tension (Butcher et al., 2009). The cells that make up these tissues are forced to respond to these external stressors by reciprocating the force they are being exposed to (Butcher et al., 2009). This article ultimately suggests that losing the ability to return the stress placed on tissue cells can actually lead to the progression of malignant tumors for cancer patients (Butcher et al., 2009).
Overall, the articles presented in this paper shed light on what doctors and scientists know about cancer. They suggest that genetic mutations and altered signaling pathways, which can be influenced by environmental factors, lead to the development of cancer, and that evaluating cancer from a biological perspective can increase people’s understandings of what exactly causes cancer. From evaluating tissue cells, researchers can also better understand factors that lead to the progression of malignant tumors.
Figure 1: The process of tumor development and metastasis (NIH, 2007). As cancerous cells begin to replicate and form malignant tumors, cells can break off from the tumor and travel into the bloodstream. This means that the cancer has become delocalized and will effect more organs, thus making it harder to treat.
References
Butcher, Darci T., Tamara Alliston, and Valerie M. Weaver. “A Tense Situation: Forcing Tumour Progression.” Nature Reviews Cancer 9.2 (2009): 108-22.
Doxie, Deon B., and Jonathan M. Irish. “High-Dimensional Single-Cell Cancer Biology.” Current Topics in Microbiology Immunology (2014): 1-21.
Gentles, Andrew J., and Daniel Gallahan. “Meeting Report: “Systems Biology: Confronting the Complexity of Cancer”.” Cancer Research 71.18 (2011): 5961-964. Web.
National Institutes of Heath. “Understanding Cancer.” National Institutes of Heath (2007)
Werner, Henrica M.J., Gordon B. Mills, and Prahlad T. Ram. “Cancer Systems Biology: A Peak into the Future of Patient Care?” Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology (2014): 167-76.
The Advancement of X-Ray Screening Technologies
The increasing threat of terrorist attacks in recent years has led to large investments in technological advancements in aviation security. One main focus continues to be the improvement of the process of X-ray screening of passenger bags to prevent prohibited items to get past security checkpoints (Brady). Some airports have started using the newest technologies of cabin baggage screening, such as multi-view X-ray systems. Some of these new systems provide automated detection of explosives, leading to a substantial improvement in security. However, human operators are still needed to visually inspect X-ray images (Bülthoff, Edelman).
The task of threat detection in objects depends on knowledge-based and image-based factors. Knowledge-based factors refer to knowing which items are prohibited and what they look in an X-ray image. Some objects like the stun gun are difficult to differentiate from commonly used electronics like a cell phone or a hard drive when shown on an X-ray image (Cohen).
Image-based factors also play an important role in threat object detection. This is often attributed to the visual abilities of a person, that is, how he or she handles image difficulty. There are three main image-based factors: rotation, superposition, and bag transparency (Graf, Schwaninger, Wallraven). Rotation refers to when forbidden objects are difficult to recognize from an unusual viewpoint and distinctive features are not visible. Another important factor is the superposition of the threat by other objects in a bag. If a threat object, such as a knife, is superimposed by a high density material, it becomes difficult to recognize the distinctive shape of the object. The transparency of a bag, determined by the number and type of objects in the bag, has a significant influence on detection performance making it difficult to distinguish prohibited items (Green, Swets).
Besides issues with knowledge-based and image-based factors, the screener also has to detect a prohibited item in a limited amount of time. During peak hours at a busy international airport, screeners often have only a few seconds to visually inspect the X-ray images before moving on to the next bag. There is also evidence that perceptual training can help screeners distinguish prohibited objects from cluttered visual scenes. Through training, screeners can learn how different prohibited objects appear in X-ray images (Hardmeier, Michel, Schwaninger).
A study was conducted in Zurich airport where 32 different novices participated in 512 trials (single-view and multi-view mixed). Their task was to determine whether the bag presented was OK (didn’t contain a threat item) or if the bag was NOT OK (contained a threat item) by clicking the respective button on the screen. In addition, participants were asked to indicated how confident they were in their decision by clicking on a rating scale on the screen (Kourtzi, Betts, Sarkheil, Welchman).
Overall, the experiment showed that the multi-view X-rays made it easier to detect prohibited items when they were rotated or superimposed with other objects.
Figure 1: X-ray image of a stun gay looks familiar to a cell phone or electronic device.
Figure 2: Image based factors with an impact on threat detection performance
(a) Easy and difficult rotation
(b) Low and high superposition
(c) Low and high bag transparency
References:
Brady, M. J.; Kersten, D.: Bootstrapped learning of novel objects. Journal of Vision, 3(6), pp. 413 – 422, 2003
Bülthoff, H. H.; Edelman, S.: Psychophysical support for a 2-D view interpolation theory of object recognition. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 89, pp. 60 – 64, 1992
Cohen, J.: Statistical Power Analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Asso- ciates, Hillsdale, NJ, 1988
Graf, M.; Schwaninger, A.; Wallraven, C.; Bülthoff, H. H.: Psychophysical results from experi- ments on recognition & categorization. Information Society Technologies (IST) programme, Cognitive Vision Systems – CogVis (IST-2000-29375), 2002
Green, D. M.; Swets, J. A.: Signal detection theory and psychophysics. Wiley, New York, 1966
Hardmeier, D.; Hofer, F.; Schwaninger, A.: The X-ray object recognition test (X-ray ORT) – a reli- able and valid instrument for measuring visual abilities needed in X-ray screening. IEEE ICCST Proceedings, 39, pp. 189 – 192, 2005
Ishihara, S.: Ishihara’s tests for colour-blindness. Kanehara and Co, Tokyo, 2003
Koller, S. M.; Hardmeier, D.; Michel, S.; Schwaninger, A.: Investigating training and transfer ef- fects resulting from recurrent CBT of X-ray image interpretation. In D. S. McNamara & J. G. Trafton (Eds.), Proceedings of the 29th Annual Cognitive Science Society, Cognitive Science Society, Austin, TX, 2007
Koller, S. M.; Hardmeier, D.; Michel, S.; Schwaninger, A.: Investigating training, transfer, and viewpoint effects resulting from recurrent CBT of X-ray image interpretation. Journal of Transportation Security, 1(2), pp. 81 – 106, 2008
Kourtzi, Z.; Betts, L. R.; Sarkheil, P.; Welchman, A. E.: Distributed neural plasticity for shape learning in the human visual cortex. PLoS Biology, 3(7), pp. 1317 – 1327, 2005
Onchocerciasis: What is it and what is being done to help those afflicted?
Onchocerciasis, or River Blindness, is a member of the Neglected Tropical Disease group. River Blindness is caused by the parasitic worm known as Onchocerca volvulus. Transmission occurs when someone is bitten by a blackfly that contains the parasite. The name River Blindness was given to the disease because the blackflies live and breed by rivers and streams, and once infected, blindness usually occurs. In addition to blindness, the disease can also cause a severe skin irritation, leading to extreme itching and the appearance of nodules under the skin (CDC, 2015).
The etiology of this disease is very interesting as the flies must bite the human host multiple times because the fly larvae must take time to grow. Larvae are introduced at different stages of development and they each contribute to another painful symptom. Early larvae cause skin irritation. As the larvae age and the fly bites again, more skin tissue is affected on the human host. At the latest stage of development, the fly will by the human again and infect with the larvae that will produce blindness. This life cycle can be clearly seen in Figure 1 (EyeWiki, 2015).
River Blindness occurs with the highest prevalence of the specific species of blackfly that breed by streams and rivers, which is in a predominantly tropic zone. Due to this specificity, 90% of the disease occurs in Africa. Other places such as Latin America and southern parts of the Arabian Peninsula have also had cases of River Blindness, most likely due to early trade with Africa (WHO, 2016). The areas affected by River Blindness can be seen in Figure 2. In Africa, hundreds of millions of people are at risk of contracting the disease. What makes this such a social issue is that many people live near fertile river areas, which help with easy access to crops and a water supply. Unfortunately, that is also the breeding spot for the blackfly. In some communities that live near a river, almost 50% of the adults are blind as a result of this disease. Due to this tragedy, many of these people are forced to leave their fertile land and go elsewhere to escape this debilitating disease (The End Fund, 2016).
Originally, the most effective method of prevention was vector control of the blackflies. Larvicides were used to get rid of the blackfly population, unfortunately, many infectious blackflies came in from different regions. They continued with this in West Africa and used the vector control method along a wide span of area, helping to control the population of infectious flies. The problem of migration of infectious flies is always the issue though. In addition to vector control, Ivermectin is a drug that can also be used to treat River Blindness. Ivermectin is a microfilaricide and therefore does not kill adult flies. The drug can help reduce transmission and can prevent ocular and dermal morbidity. The treatment is provided annually by manufacturers that donate the drugs. Without the help of outside support, the people affected by the disease can do very little to help prevent ar treat the disease, making this a major social and public health issue (Remme et al., 2006).
Figure 1: Life Cycle of Onchocerca volvulus
Figure 2: Prevalence of River Blindness
Works Cited:
“Parasites – Onchocerciasis (also Known as River Blindness).” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10 Aug. 2015. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.
“WHO | Onchocerciasis (river Blindness) – Disease Information.” WHO | Onchocerciasis (river Blindness) – Disease Information. World Health Organization, 2016. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.
Feldman, Brad, Hubert Pham, Maria Woodward, and Vinay Shah. “Onchocerciasis (African River Blindness).” – EyeWiki. N.p., 17 Feb. 2015. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.
“River Blindness.” River Blindness. The End Fund, 2016. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.
Remme, Jan H. F. “Tropical Diseases Targeted for Elimination: Chagas Disease, Lymphatic Filariasis, Onchocerciasis, and Leprosy.” Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries. 2nd Edition. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2006. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.
Lina Mohamed-Assignment 3
Lina Mohamed October 17th, 2016
MHC 20301-Paper 3 Professor Glen Kowach
Continuation of: The Search for Natural Alternatives-Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy is the use of water, ice, steam in hot and cold temperatures to maintain and restore health, subdue pain, speed up recoveries, lessen the pain from injuries and so much more. Hydrotherapy dates back to times as early as the beginning of civilization. It was used to treat diseases by many cultures like the Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, Hebrew, Hindu, Chinese and Native American. You would think that something this ancient has simply become extinct, but think again. You’re using hydrotherapy every time you take a hot bath/ice bath, or just simply placing an ice pack of heat pack on an injury. Hydrotherapy is effective for such a wide range of conditions and can be used to self-treat and with a little background knowledge, one can help many other people practice simple hydrotherapies to treat chronic pain.
Most hydrotherapy involves water because it is used to change the temperatures in our bodies, can manipulate blood circulation, inflammation, and help with burn treatments. Water is very versatile because it can be used to apply pressure (water massages), for relaxation (floatation therapy), to expose skin to certain substances and so much more. Water is also cost-efficient and usually harmless while being effective. Sometimes the body needs help regulating temperatures and water can do just that. Also, different types of waters can heal the body. For example, natural spring water carries concentrated levels of sodium, calcium. Magnesium, and other minerals that are beneficial and bicarbonate spring water can aid in healing cuts, burns, digestive problems, allergies, etc. . Women often take pills to relieve menstruation pain such as cramps and such. This can, however, be relieved with sitz baths in which your body is immersed in hot or cold water. There are so many other alternatives for pills that can help soothe other chronic pains.
Hydrotherapy replacing pain relievers would be a huge stepping stone in reducing pill intake in the United States. Since taking pills only makes symptoms, hydrotherapy is definitely a better option because it can result in permanent relief without harming internal organs. Taking Pill after pill will only do so much as it will just minimize the pain for a couple of hours instead of dealing with the problem by treating it correctly. Instead of prescribing pills to patients with joint pain, back pain, etc., why not try some of these hydrotherapies that give lasting relief? Past experiments prove that hydrotherapy provides results almost all the time in cases like rheumatoid arthritis and other disorders.
A galvanic bath, one of the quirkier old-timey hydrotherapies.
Citations:
-(Karin M. Felten-Barentsz P.T., M.Sc., Antonius J. C. Haans R.T., Arthur S. Slutsky M.D., Leo M. A. Heunks M.D., Ph.D., and Johannes G. van der Hoeven M.D., Ph.D., February, 2015)
Feasibility and Safety of Hydrotherapy in Critically Ill Ventilated Patients. ATS Journals. Retrieved from:
http://www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/rccm.201408-1559LE#.WAPBk7Ri5FI
-(Jane Hall, Suzanne M, Skevington, Peter J. Maddison, and Kate Chapman, June 1996) A Randomized and Controlled Trial of Hydrotherapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis. Retrieved from:
-Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide (2nd Edition)– June 6, 2002 Retrieved from Google Scholars: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=OyrhatOdk9gC&oi=fnd&pg=PA270&dq=natural+alternatives+to+painkillers&ots=68fhOAE58y&sig=-malo2jqTO8ylS5N_CVlAN-PFSo#v=onepage&q=natural%20alternatives%20to%20painkillers&f=false
-(Ingraham, 2016) Hydrotherapy: Using warm and cold water as a treatment for pain injury. PainScience.com. Retrieved From: https://www.painscience.com/articles/hydrotherapy.php
– Leire Santisteban, Caroline Hugeron, Michele Lejaille, Isabelle Vaugier, Florian Kunst, Line Falaize, Frederic Lofaso, Helene Prigent. Evaluation of water immersion level on respiratory function of tetraplegic patients undergoing hydrotherapy. European Respiratory Journal 2015. Retrieved from: http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/46/suppl_59/PA3704.abstract
Gene Therapy and its Ethical Issues
What if there was a way to eliminate genetic disorders? There would be more children who can lead long and healthy lives. Less people would suffer from uncontrollable chromosomal errors. One method that is being tested to cure genetic disorders is gene therapy. During gene therapy, the mutated gene that prevents the cell from carrying out its normal functions is removed and replaced with a working gene that allows the cell to carry out functions it could not before (Stone 2010). The patient will not suffer from the genetic disorder that resulted from the mutated gene anymore. There is still research on inserting genes into targeted cells because it is challenging. Gene therapy is used in limited amounts because more information is needed before it becomes a normalized and practical procedure. Although there is potential for gene therapy to revolutionize treatment for genetic disorders, there is controversy surrounding the ethical issues of changing someone’s DNA. In addition, changing one gene can inadvertently change other parts of DNA and lead to unforeseen health risks that may result in death.
Figure 1- Systems for Gene Delivery.
Source: Viral and nonviral delivery systems for gene delivery by Nouri Nayerossadat from Advanced Biomedical Research (2012)
There is research on gene therapy to make a practical procedure for inserting a gene into a cell so that it becomes part of the cell’s DNA. It is the “most difficult” part of gene therapy (Zhang 2012). The new gene has to cross the cell membrane and enter the nucleus (Nayerossadat 2012). There are many techniques being studied to insert the fixed DNA into a cell. One popular technique for gene therapy, called in vivo delivery, is using vectors to transfer a gene into a cell (Nayerossadat 2012). Some vectors are viral. Viruses are ideal for transferring genes because they are easy to manipulate so that they carry the desired genes and they are capable of inserting genes into many types of cells (Stone 2010). They are made “safe” during manipulation, but it is difficult to rid a virus of all of its damaging qualities while maintaining functions needed for gene transfer (Stone 2010). In addition, patients may have an inflammatory response to viral vectors (Stone 2010). Some prefer using nonviral vectors because they are more available and are cost-effective (Nayerossadat 2012). As shown in Figure 1, nonviral vectors transfer genes by physical or chemical methods. A physical method is injecting naked DNA, or DNA without proteins called histones, into target tissue and creating an electric field to increase cell permeability, called electroporation, so that the DNA will successfully enter the cell (Niidome 2002). This method is not efficient and used for limited purposes such as vaccinations (Nayerossadat 2012). Chemical methods involve chemical carries like lipids and cationic polymers, each also with advantages and disadvantages (Niidome 2002). These techniques need to be modified so that they can be safely used as clinical treatments in all types of cells and tissues.
Gene therapy has garnered controversy for being an unethical. There are two types of gene therapies: somatic and germline. DNA will change in both types, but only changes in germline DNA will be passed on to the next generation. Germline gene therapy is ethically not allowed anywhere (Nayerossadat 2012). There are too many potential consequences for changing the DNA of germ cells. Generations can be affected by a bad experiment. Other ethical concerns include changing a gene for nontherapeutic reasons, such as beauty enhancements, “superhuman characteristics” like wings, and longer life expectancy (Robillard 2013). Genetic diversity, conformity to social standards of beauty, and the importance of one’s identity and authenticity as a human if one is genetically enhanced are all topics that must be taken seriously into consideration before gene therapy becomes a clinical treatment. Gene therapy can allow many people born with genetic disorders to live normally and help their families become happy. However, it can be exploited and cause unintentional harm to human DNA and future generations.
Works Cited
Nayerossadat N, Maedeh T, Palizban AA. Viral and nonviral delivery systems for gene delivery. Advanced Biomedical Research 2012;1(27):n/a
Niidome T, Huang L. Gene Therapy Progress and Prospects: Nonviral vectors. Gene Therapy 2002;9:1647-1652
Robillard JM, Whiteley L, Johnson TW, Lim J, Wasserman WW, Illes J. Utilizing Social Media to Study Information-Seeking and Ethical Issues in Gene Therapy. Journal of Medical Internet Research 2013;15(3):n/a
Stone D. Novel viral vector systems for gene therapy. Viruses 2010;2:1002-1007
Zhang Y, Satterlee A, Huang Leaf. In Vivo Gene Delivery by Nonviral Vectors: Overcoming Hurdles? Molecular Therapy 2012; 20(7); 1298-1304
