Developing An Experiment To Test A Hypothesis

****PLEASE REVIEW ATTACHMENT FOR ASSIGNMENT****

To complete this task you will need to understand the following terms.

Independent Variable: This is the factor which the experimenter intentionally changes between groups in the experiment.  It corresponds to the “if” part of the hypothesis.  For example, if the hypothesis states: If a person is exposed to more minutes of sunlight then the person’s skin will be more severally burned.  The independent variable would be the minutes of sunlight the person is exposed to.

Dependent Variable: This is the factor which the experimenter will measure.  It corresponds to the “then” part of the hypothesis.  In the above example the severity of the sun burn is the dependent variable.

Controlled Variables: These are factors which are held the same in all the groups of subjects.  For example for the above hypothesis one controlled variable would be the complexation of the people in the experiment.  You would ideally want all the subjects to have the same initial skin color.  Another variable would be the time of day that the people were exposed to sunlight.  Another variable would be the amounts of clouds in the sky during the time the people were exposed to sunlight.  There can be several controlled variables in any experiment.

Control Group: that group of subjects in which the independent variable is either set to zero or is set at the normal value of the variable.  For example in the above experiment the control group could spend no time in the sun.  Alternatively, in another experiment testing the effect of different levels of water consumption over a period of several days you would not have the control group get zero water since this would adversely affect their health.  You would have them consume a “normal” volume of water.

Experimental Group: that group or groups of subjects in which the independent variable is set at a value different from that of the control group.  There can be several experimental groups in a given experiment.  For example in the above experiment the experimental groups might be exposed to sunlight for the following times: 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes.  In this case there are four experimental groups.  Both the control group and the experimental group(s) have the same values for the controlled variables.  For the above example both the control group and all four experimental groups would be composed of individuals with red hair and fair skin, they would all be exposed to the sun between 1 and 2 o’clock in the afternoon, and the experiment would only be performed on a day with no clouds.

 
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Soil LaB

Intro Soils – Lab 3 Soil Colloids – Cation Exchange Capacity

o Lecture and Text Materials: Soil Colloids (Chapter 8)

o Labs submitted without advised instructions will result in a 3 point deduction:

 Proper document name (LastName_SoilsLab3)

 Name included in document

 Legible numbering and spacing including questions with answers

 Use of spell and grammar check

o Labs submitted early will receive feedback to aid in exam preparation with the opportunity to resubmit the lab. Do not miss out on a great opportunity to be ensure understanding of the materials and increase your lab grade.

 

Lab 3 –Soil Colloids and Cation Exchange Capacity Soil colloids are the smallest size fraction of the soil particles and are the most chemically active portions of the soil; soil colloids include clays and humus. These particles are generally <0.1µm in size and are collectively called the soil colloid fraction. The soil colloids have very large per unit volume surface areas and thus are critical in attracting and holding water and nutrients in the soil profile. There are four types of soil colloids including crystalline silicate clays, non-crystalline silicate clays, iron and aluminum oxides, and humus (organic matter). The clay minerals are a result of the weathering or decomposition and recrystallization of primary minerals into secondary minerals. The composition of these clay minerals is contingent on the weathering conditions, parent materials, and climate under which they are formed. The surfaces of soil colloids carry electrostatic charges, most of which are net negative. Colloid charge can either originate from two main sources. Charge can be constant from isomorphic substitution of a higher charged ion for a lower charged one in the tetrahedral or octahedral sheets in the layer silicates. Charge can also be pH dependent originating from humus or protonation on broken edges of the clay crystals in layer silicates and the iron and aluminum hydroxides. As the pH in soil increases, to do these pH dependent charges. Net negative charge serves as the seat of soil chemistry and fertility. The negative charges are neutralized by positive cations in the soil solution and include calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, ammonium, and hydrogen. These cations are retained in the soil solution and used for plant and microbial nutrition. The mass of exchangeable cations sorbed per unit mass of soil is the cation exchange capacity (CEC). The CEC of soils is a good indicator of soil fertility, and the capacity of a soil to sorb and make available existing and applied plant nutrients. The exchange of cations is determined by several principles:

(1.) Exchange reactions are reversible and rapid. The cations in soil are exchangeable and will move in the direction of the most available product or reactant.

(2.) The reactions are charge equivalent. Ultimately, the negative charges created on colloid surfaces will be neutralized by cations in soil solution, but they are neutralized on a

 

 

stoichiometric basis not on an ion to ion basis. The soil ions have varying levels of charge per mole, discussed below and will be satisfied on a charge to charge basis.

(3.) The law of mass action will be obeyed. If the system is flooded with a particular cation, it will move onto the exchange sites. The law of mass action is utilized in determining exchangeable cations to calculate CEC.

(4.) Size and charge dictate which ions if available will move onto the exchange site. The higher the charge and smaller the radii of the ion the stronger it will be held. The lyotrophic series lists the order in which cations will be exchanged on the soil colloid surface based on complementary ions in the soil solution. Waters of hydration around ions give rise to the formation of outer-sphere complexes where the ions are more loosely held and are easily exchangeable. Ions that form inner-sphere complexes bond directly with the colloid surface forming a stronger bond with less exchangeability.

Cation exchange capacity is quantified by measuring the amount of exchangeable ions that can be replaced on the soil colloid surface. Simply, the soil sample is flooded with a high concentration of a cation which through mass flow displaces all of the soluble cations (most common in soils are sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and in acidic soils hydrogen and aluminum) off the soil colloids and into solution. A benchtop method first uses ammonium to replace cations on the soil exchange sites, followed by a second exchange which moves another ion like sodium or potassium onto the exchange sites. The amount of ammonium can be quantified to calculate the chemical equivalent CEC (cmolc/kg) (Text Figure 8.22).

Soil testing laboratories do not generally directly measure CEC, instead CEC is estimated using the quantity of soil cations tested in a standard soil test. Soil testing facilities use standardized extractants (Meilich I or III, Bray-I) to displace the all of the exchangeable ions in soil to determine how much of those particular elements will be available for plant uptake during a crop season. Those determinations are then used to recommend a range of nutrient additions, fertilizer and lime, required to meet crop needs for an expected crop yield. Soil testing facilities routinely utilize inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP) coupled with atomic adsorption (AA) spectroscopy to determine a wide range of elemental concentrations. Inductively couple plasma technologies heat the samples to a very high degree to create ionization; individual ions emit specific wavelengths of light which are quantified downstream by various detection methods including atomic adsorption, mass spectrometry and others. These tools can analyze for multiple elements simultaneously and can also be used for several matrices including plants, soils, manures, and water. CEC can then be estimated using the by summing up the contributions from the major soil cations in the extracted solution. More traditional benchtop methods analyze the elements individually using colorimetric assays for end point quantification. Again, the mass of these soluble, exchangeable cations per unit of soil and represent the capacity of that soil to exchange cations, CEC. At pH 7, neutral conditions, some soils do not have exchangeable hydrogen ions and aluminum ions, and some soils to not exhibit exchangeable sodium ions, so caution is taken to know what exchangeable ions are in the soils which are tested, reported, and utilized for CEC calculations. CEC estimation using soil test data is easy to generate using already measured soil test nutrients, but just as the name implies, it is an estimate, and should be interpreted as such. There are various means of determining CEC beyond the scope of this exercise, but again, it is important to note the method used to determine CEC and potential pitfalls and the agronomic ramifications of over or underestimation of plant nutrients, and thus CEC. The importance and value of CEC cannot be understated. CEC is the ability of a soil to sorb

 

 

ions and molecules, making them available or not to the plant and microbial community or ultimately to leaching or runoff, and is key to managing soil fertility. Estimating CEC using Soil Test Values (ppm) To calculate the CEC using soil test values, chemistry concepts, the charge for charge neutralization rule, and the units for CEC should be reviewed. The end goal is to convert a parts per million (ppm or mg/kg) quantity from soil test into CEC which is conveyed in cmolc/kg of soil. Recall from chemistry, each ion (element, metal) has a specific atomic weight found on the periodic table in units of grams per mole (reference pg. 923 in text). We can utilize that information as well as the equivalent charge per ion to make this conversion. It is important to be aware of the units used and understand the end point unit. Ultimately, the cmolc from each cation are summed together to determine the estimated CEC. Soil labs also utilize the units of meq/100 grams of soil but cmolc/kg is the standard international unit.

Table 1: Cations, Atomic Wt, Charge Equivalence

Cation Atomic Wt (g/mol) Equivalent

Charge/Valence

Calcium (Ca2+) 40 2

Magnesium (Mg2+) 24 2

Potassium (K+) 39 1

Sodium (Na+) 23 1

Hydrogen (H+) 1 1

Example calculations: Equation 1: Determining cmolc from the calcium ion contribution from the soil test calcium values. Sum the values from the ‘top’ (above the dividing lines) then divide by the sum of the ‘bottom’ (below the dividing line) to produce cmolc for each particular ion/kg soil.

Equation 2: Review of unit cancellations. Each member of the equation is utilized to convert one unit to another to ultimately end with cmolc/kg soil. Mark-thru lines are unit cancellations; in order for a unit to ‘cancel’ it must occur in the top and bottom of the overall equation.

Equation 3: Procedure for calculating the CEC contribution from the additional ions (calcium is shown in Equation 1). You will simply use the exact same equation (Equation 1) replacing each time the ppm (mg/kg) from the soil test for each ion, the molecular weight of the particular ion, and the equivalent charge of the particular ion (provided in the table above).

 

 

Equation 4: CEC is the sum of the contribution from each individual major soil cation. Again, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus are always used and include sodium, hydrogen, or aluminum in soils with those exchangeable ions.

Calculating CEC using soil test values (lbs/acre) Many soil labs also report the various elemental analysis in terms of lbs/acre since fertilizer recommendations are still calculated in that manner. Here, the calculations for estimated CEC is still the summation of the contribution from each individual ion but using the equivalent weight in pounds per acre equal to 1 meq/100 g (older unit estimation, same as cmolc/kg soil) in one acre soil to a depth of 6 inches (Table 2). To obtain this value, divide the molecular weight by the valence (equivalent weight) and multiply by 20. To calculate the estimated CEC contribution from each ion, simply divide the lbs/acre of each ion by its meq weight in lbs/acre (far right value) from Table 2. For instance, if a soil test result is 1500 lbs/acre of calcium, its contribution to CEC would be calculated as (1500 lbs/acre / 400 meq) or 3.75 meq/100g of soil. Each of the ions would be calculated individually and summed to compute the estimated CEC using lbs/acre.

Table 2: CEC Calculations using lbs/acre

Cation Atomic Wt

(g/mol) Equivalent

Charge/Valence

Equivalent Weight

Amount in 1 acre soil 6-inch deep @ 1 meq cation/100g

Lbs/acre

Calcium (Ca2+) 40 2 20 400

Magnesium (Mg2+) 24 2 12 240

Potassium (K+) 39 1 39 780

Sodium (Na+) 23 1 23 460

Hydrogen (H+) 1 1 1 20

Estimating CEC using Soil Texture Cation exchange is based in the soil colloids, clays and humus, so CEC can actually be estimated using soil texture. Ranges of common estimates of cation exchange capacity of some of the major soil textural classes are included below. It should be apparent that increasing clays also increase CEC and thus the ability of a soil to maintain and provide soil nutrients for plants and the microbial community.

 

 

1.) Sands 1-5 cmolc/kg 2.) Sandy Loams 5-10 cmolc/kg 3.) Loams/Silt Loams 5-15 cmolc/kg 4.) Clay loams 15-30 cmolc/kg 5.) Clays > 30 cmolc/kg

Using knowledge of the clay percentage, organic matter percentage, as well as information of the parent material of the local soil type one can estimate CEC. For instance, if you have a Tennessee Alfisol known to contain 15% clay and 3% organic matter. You also happen to know the dominant clay in this area are kaolinites. At neutral pH, the CEC of kaolinite is approximately 8 cmolc/kg and OM approximately 200 cmolc/kg. Kaolinite: 15% or 0.15 kg x 8 cmolc/kg = 1.2 cmolc OM: 3% of 0.03 kg x 200 cmolc/kg = 6 cmolc Total Estimated CEC: 1.2 + 6 = 7.2 cmolc/kg

Intro Soils – Lab 3 Assignment Questions Soil Colloids – Cation Exchange Capacity

o Utilize Lecture and Text Materials: Soil Colloids (Chapter 8)

o Note: Again, if I cannot recreate how/where you came up with any calculated number in this exercise you will not get credit for that answer. If you utilize reference values for any of your calculations, please include the reference, i.e., table/figure number from the text.

1.) Farmer Brown has purchased a new area of land to add to his row crop operation. He has

collected soil samples to get a baseline assessment of the land to obtain soil test values and to determine how much lime and fertilizer will be needed for his corn crop. His soil test arrived back from Lab XX and included the amount of several soil cations in the soil, but did not estimate CEC of his new property. Below are the values reported of the soil major cations:

Calcium: 1800 ppm Magnesium: 450 ppm Potassium: 380 ppm Sodium: 25 ppm

Calculate the estimated CEC using the soil test ppm values using information from Table 1 and Equations 1 thru 4. Reminder to show your work!

2.) Farmer Brown decided his pasture was not performing very well either, so he sent this sample to another soil lab for similar assessment. This time, his pasture soil test values arrived and this lab too failed to estimate CEC, but this time, his cations were reported in lbs/acre. Below is a list of the cations and their test values:

 

 

Calcium: 2700 Magnesium: 344 Potassium: 218 Sodium: 14

Calculate the estimated CEC on this pasture soil using the above soil test values. Utilize the information from Table 2 for these calculations.

Review Questions

3.) Define what constitutes a soil colloid and list 4 main characteristics.

4.) Discuss isomorphic substitution: Include a definition, where it occurs, discuss what ions might be included in isomorphic substitution, and name three clays in which their charge is dependent on isomorphic substitution.

5.) List at least one major colloid from each of the four types of colloids, include their colloid type, and CEC; rank them in order of decreasing CEC, and include their major source of charge (constant or pH dependent).

6.) Rank the following soil orders highest to lowest based on expected CEC: Mollisols, Alfisols, Ultisols, Histosols, and Vertisols.

7.) Discuss the four main principles that govern cation exchange?

8.) Why are cations not exchanged ‘ion for ion’ but rather on charge equivalence?

9.) Clay type and amount in soils are the result of weathering of parent materials. In general, discuss how the weathering process shapes clay formation (Utilize Figures 8.16 and 8.28).

10.) When using a new herbicide, why might a famer or crop consultant want to understand the combination of the Kd or Koc and major soil characteristics (texture and CEC) prior to using this product? What information do the Kd or Koc provide?

11.) BONUS! Estimate the CEC of a Soil in Texas known for its shrinking and swelling smectititic clay. The soil contains 25% clay and 2% organic matter.

 
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Essay

BCHS3201: Microarray Paper

Background

You will be working with data generated using Affymetrix Arabidopsis thaliana (ATH1) full genome chips. Please watch the microarray lecture posted in Blackboard for information on how the chips are constructed and how they are used. Step-by-step instructions are provided here for managing the data. While I have provided details here, keep in mind that in a real research lab, you would have to decide for yourself how to organize the data and make sense of it.

Arabidopsis thaliana

Arabidopsis thaliana is a small, flowering plant found all over the world. It is commonly considered a weed in the United States and can be found in the Midwest (Texas is too hot; the plant likes temperatures around 68°F). Arabidopsis serves as a model plant because it has a number of characteristics that make it amenable to study. The plant is small, reaching only 30 cm in height when full grown. It grows well grows well in both soil and nutrient media making it easier to develop carefully controlled studies (Meyerowitz, 1989). It is easily grown indoors in a laboratory. Crop plants require much larger facilities and land to study. The life cycle of Arabidoposis is only 6 weeks from seed to seed-producing. This allows a much faster pace for experiments than most crop plants where only one generation of plants can be grown in a calendar year (unless your university is fortunate enough to have land on two hemispheres so you can get two growing seasons in). Arabidopsis plants produce thousands of seeds per plant and these seeds are tiny making them easy to store in microcentrifuge tubes in the freezer (Meyerowitz, 1989).

Arabidopsis has a haploid genome of 5 chromosomes consisting of approximately 125 megabases (The Arabidopsis Genome Initiative, 2000). This is a very small genome compared to that of crop species. Maize, for example, is around 2,500 megabases in size (Adam, 2000). Most genes in Arabidopsis exist at a single locus in the genome. Crop plant genomes are large in part because their genomes contain large sections that are duplicated. This makes creating complete knock-outs of a particular gene difficult. Arabidopsis is amenable to genetic manipulations either through traditional cross-breeding techniques or more modern genetic modification techniques (mutation through T-DNA inserts, chemical agents, or CRISPR-CAS9). Studies conducted in Arabidopsis are often directly transferable to crop species as many of the genes have homologues in crop plants. Studying them first in Arabidopsis is easier, cheaper, and faster.

Sugar and Phytohormone Signaling Pathways

Sugars have a role in basic plant metabolism as a carbon source and also play a role as signaling molecules, contributing to the regulation of a number of pathways in plants. The expression of genes involved in mobilization of starch and lipid reserves is usually repressed by the presence of high sugar levels in the plant while genes involved in storage of carbohydrates are upregulated (Jang & Sheen, 1997; Yu, 1999). Soluble sugar levels in plants also play a role in a number of developmental processes including time to flowering (Bernier et al., 1993), shoot to root ratios (Wilson, 1988), and senescence (cells stop dividing and normal biological processes begin to deteriorate) (Dai et al., 1999). The DNA chip data you will be analyzing for class is part of a larger study to elucidate the full impact of sugar signaling in Arabidopsis and to identify potential components of signaling pathways for future study.

Phytohormones are involved in a wide array of plant responses. The plant phytohormones ethylene and abscisic acid are also intertwined with the sugar response signaling pathways.

Ethylene plays a role in a plant’s development as well as its response to environmental conditions. Ethylene has a role in shoot and root elongation, sex determination, petal senescence, and fruit ripening. It also is involved in the plant’s response to flooding and pathogens.

Abscisic acid is involved in preventing pre-mature germination of seeds, root elongation, and stomatal closure. Stomata are pores in the leaf epidermis which control the rate of gas exchange. The pore is surrounded by two bean-shaped guard cells that regulate the size of the pore opening. Abscisic acid plays a critical role in the closure of the guard cells. Plants with mutations in the abscisic acid biosynthesis pathway have a “wilty” phenotype because they are unable to close their stomata during the day when loss of water to evaporative processes is high. The mutant, aba2, has been found to allelic to the glucose insensitive 1 (gin1) mutant (meaning the mutation for both aba2 and gin1 lie in the same gene).

Signaling pathways often work together to fine-tune plant development and responses. Seed germination, for example is finely controlled by antagonist interactions between sugar and abscisic acid which inhibit germination and gibberellin and ethylene which promote germination (figure 1).

Figure 1. Seed germination is controlled by a combination of signals from sugar levels, abscisic acid, gibberellin, and ethylene.

The sugar-insensitive 6 (sis6) mutant is slightly resistant to the inhibitory effects of abscisic acid on germination (Pattison, 2004). When seeds are grown in a petri plate with nutrient medium supplemented with abscisic acid, germination is delayed in wild-type plants. The sugar-insensitive 3 (sis3) mutant is slightly resistant to the effect of abscisic acid in comparison to wild-type (Columbia ecotype) seeds. The abscisic acid insensitive 4-1 (abi4-1) mutant displays precocious seed germination in the presence of abscisic acid, germinating despite the presence of exogenous ABA which should significantly delay germination (figure 2).

 

 

Figure 2. The sis6 mutant is insensitive to the inhibitory effects of ABA on germination. Seeds were sown on the indicated media and grown in continuous white fluorescent light. Germination was scored every 12 hours for four days and then every 24 hours thereafter. Error bar represent the mean ± standard deviation (n=3). This experiment was conducted three times with similar results. From Pattison, 2004.

 

How the Data was Collected for this set of Experiments

In order to conduct a chip experiment, RNA must be collected from the samples. In our experiments, Arabidopsis seeds were surface sterilized, cold treated at 4° C in the dark for three days and then plated on Nytex mesh screens placed in petri dishes containing minimal nutrient media. After 20 hour under continuous light at 21° the nytex meshes were transferred to plates containing either minimal media, or minimal media supplemented with 100 mM sorbitol, 100 mM glucose, 10 µM abscisic acid or 50 µM ACC (ethylene pre-cursor). Seeds were grown on the new media for 12.5 hours and then frozen in liquid nitrogen. RNA was extracted using a phenol/chloroform extraction (Verwoerd et al., 1989). RNA samples were sent to the Molecular Genomics Core Facility at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston for processing.

Part 1. Selecting your experimental conditions

To begin your work on the microarray project, you need to select your topic of study. You need to decide what you would like to examine and then select the appropriate control condition. Your options are in Table 1 below.

Options Topic Control Experimental Developmental Stage
1 Osmotic stress WT minimum WT sorbitol Germinating seeds
2 Osmotic stress WT sorbitol sis 6 sorbitol Germinating seeds
3 Glucose signaling WT sorbitol WT glucose Germinating seeds
4 Glucose signaling WT glucose ein2-1 glucose Germinating seeds
5 Abscisic acid signaling WT minimum WT on ABA Germinating seeds
6 Abscisic acid signaling WT glucose sis4-1 (aba2) glucose Germinating seeds
7 Abscisic acid signaling WT glucose sis5 (abi4) glucose Germinating seeds
8 Ethylene signaling WT minimal media WT ACC (ethylene) Germinating seeds

Table 1. Select your topic of study for the microarray project. Choose one option. Each row represents one possible option. Because the control must be appropriately matched to the experimental condition, you may not mix and match between rows.

Part 2. Identifying differences in gene regulation between control and experimental conditions.

1. Download the spreadsheet corresponding to your selected control and experimental conditions to your computer.

2. Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the spreadsheet layout.

Column A: AGI#. AGI stands for Arabidopsis Genome Initiative. Every gene in the Arabidopsis

was assigned a unique identifier during the genome sequencing project. The Affymetrix DNA

chip contains over 22,000 genes representing nearly every known gene in the genome of Arabidopsis.

Column B: Affy Probe Index #. The Affymetrix probe index # refers to the probe array that corresponds to each gene. Each probe array contains 11 pairs of probe to the same gene. One probe in each pair is a perfect match to the gene and the other contains a mismatch in the center of the probe. The software uses the data from the perfect match sets and the mismatch sets to subtract out signal that may have arisen from near (but not quite perfect) matches. The names of the probe sets are based on what was known about the gene sequence at the time the chip was created.

Names ending in means

_at all probes match one known transcript

_a all probes match alternate transcripts from the same gene

_s all probes match transcripts from different genes

_x some probes match transcripts from different genes

 

Notice that rows 2 through 65 do not have AGI#’s and the Probe Index #’s all begin with AFFX. These are the quality control probe arrays for the chip. They are included so that researchers know that there were not technical issues with the chip or samples. A mix of probes that will result in positive and absent calls are included.

 

Signal Columns: Each experiment in this data set was conducted between 3 and 6 times. The

columns that contain the word “Signal” in the header represent the value for the signal reads.

 

Detection Columns: The column to the right of each signal column is the Detection Column.

P= present

A=absent

M=marginal

 

Present means the gene was expressed in the sample, resulting in a measurable signal above a

minimal detection threshold. Absent means the gene was not expressed under the experimental conditions. Marginal means the expression was very near the detection threshold. Marginal calls require further investigation and experimentation to confirm.

 

Converted Detection Columns: The column to the right of each Detection Column is the Converted Detection Column. The PMA calls are converted to a numeric value which allows the researcher to average the detection calls and decide whether or not to include a particular gene in the data set.

P=2

A=0

M=1

 

Descriptions: what was known about the gene at the gene identity or function at the time the Chip was created.

 

3. Open a new Excel file and name it as follows: Lastname_firstname_microarray.

 

 

4. Change the name of Sheet 1 to “control” by right clicking on the tab and selecting “rename” from the pop up menu. Copy and paste all the data from your control sheet into the “control tab”.

 

5. Click the “+” sign to add another tab at the bottom of the Excel sheet. Rename the new sheet “experimental”. Copy and paste all the data from your experimental sheet into the “experimental tab”.

 

6. For both experimental and control conditions, delete the rows containing the controls. These will be the rows at the top (that lack an AGI#).

 

7. Scroll to the right. Skip a column after the “Descriptions” column. Label the next column to the right “AVG control PMA” or “AVG experimental PMA”. Calculate the average PMA call for each gene using the converted detection column values for each condition. For example, if converted PMA detection calls are located in cells E2, I2, M2, an Q2, the formula you enter into the cell would be “=(E2+I2+M2+Q2)/4”. Do this for both your control and experimental sheets. Enter the formula and copy/paste it down the column. The row numbers will change automatically.

 

 

8. Click the “+” sign to add another tab to the bottom of the Excel sheet. Rename the new sheet “combined”.

 

9. Copy the following columns into the “combined” data sheet. You will need to paste “values” for any columns containing formulas. It’s under paste options.

a. AGI#

b. Signal columns for the control

c. Leave a blank column

c. Signal columns for the experimental

d. Leave a blank column

d. AVG control PMA column

e. AVG experimental PMA column

 

10. In the combined data sheet, add another column to the right of your AVG control PMA and AVG Experimental PMA columns.. Label this one “final PMA call”. Type in the formula “=MAX(XX2:XY2) where XX is the column labeled “AVG control PMA” and XY is the column labeled “AVG exp PMA” (substitute your actual column letters for XX and XY). This formula will transfer the maximum value for the two columns to the new “final PMA call column”. The point of doing this is to preserve genes in the data set where there was signal in one of the two conditions. For example, you would not want to delete a gene from the data set because it had an absent call in the control but was upregulated 15 fold in the experimental conditions. By looking at the results using the final column, we can eliminate genes where the signal was not detected in BOTH conditions.

 

11. In the combined spreadsheet, highlight your entire data set. Make sure you pick up all the cells with data. Click “Sort & Filter” in the toolbar. Click custom sort. Check the box on the right in pop-up box that says “My data has headers”. Sort by the “final PMA call” column from smallest to largest. Delete all rows that have a value of zero for final PMA call. This will eliminate all genes that were not expressed in either the control or experimental condition from the data set.

 

12. Add a column to the right of the “Final PMA call” column labeled “AVG control signal” in your combined spreadsheet. Average the values for the signal columns in your control data set. Use the formula =AVERAGE(X2:Y2) where X is the first column with the control signal data and Y is the last column of control signal data. Copy and paste the formula from row 2 all the way down the column. The row numbers will automatically change in the formula.

 

 

 

13. Add a column to the right of the “AVG control signal” column labeled “AVG experimental signal” in your combined spreadsheet. Average the values for the signal columns in your experimental data set. Use the formula =AVERAGE(X2:Y2) where X is the first column with the control signal data and Y is the last column of control signal data. Copy and paste the formula from row 2 all the way down the column. The row numbers will automatically change in the formula.

 

14. Add a column to the right labeled of the “AVG experimental signal” column labeled “AVG control/AVG experimental”. You will divide the average control signal value by the average experimental value using the formula “=XX2/XY2” [where XX is your AVG control signal column (row 2) and XY is your AVG experimental signal column (row2)]. Copy the formula down the column.

 

15. Add a column to the right of the “AVG control/AVG experimental” column labeled T-test. You will calculate whether there is a statistically significant difference between the two conditions. The syntax for this formula is T.Test(array1,array2, tails, type). Array 1 will be the cells containing the signal values for the control. Array 2 will be the cells containing the signal values for the experimental samples. These are NOT the averaged signals but the original values on the left-hand side of your spreadsheet. We will use a 2-tailed T-test. The type will be a two-sample equal variance test which Excel designates as “2”. For example, if the control signal columns were B, C, D and the experimental signal columns were E, F, and G, then the formula to set up in row 2 for the T-Test would be “=TTEST(B2:D2, E2:G2,2,2). Copy the formula down the row to calculate the p-values for the T-Test for each gene.

 

16. Click the “+” sign to add another tab to the bottom of the Excel sheet. Rename the new sheet “final”. Copy all the data from the “combined” spreadsheet into your “final” spreadsheet using the copy and paste value option. This will allow you to go back to the combined sheet to relax the stringency of your data selection if you find you end up with no genes at all in your data set when you complete the following steps.

 

17. Highlight your entire spreadsheet. Click “Sort & Filter” in the toolbox. Click custom sort. Click the “my data has headers” box on the right of the pop-up box. Sort by T-test value from largest to smallest. Delete all genes that have a p-value greater than 0.05. The expression of these genes is not significantly different between the control and experimental conditions and can be eliminated from the data set.

 

18. Highlight your entire spreadsheet again. Click “Sort & Filter” in the toolbox. Click custom sort. Click the “my data has headers” box on the right in the pop-up box. Sort by AVG control/AVG experimental from smallest to largest. Delete all genes that have a fold change between 1.99999 and 0.499999. What you are looking for are genes where the change in expression is two-fold above or below the level for the control condition. You want to keep genes in the data set where the AVG control/AVG experimental value is below 0.5 or lower. These are genes that are UPREGULATED in the experimental compared to the control. The larger number is in your denominator so the numbers are less than 1. You also want to keep genes in the data set where the AVG control/AVG experimental value is 2 or higher. In this case, the genes are DOWNREGULATED in the experimental condition compared to the control condition. Since the larger number is in the numerator, the value is greater than 1. If you do not have any genes with at least a two-fold difference in expression, between control and experimental, relax your conditions and select genes with fold changes between 1.5 and 0.66.

 

19. Change the font color for all of the down-regulated genes to red [AVG control/AVG experimental values above 2 (or 1.5 if you relaxed the conditions)].

 

20. Change the font color for all of the up-regulated genes to green [AVG control/AVG experimental values below 0.5 (or 0.66 if you relaxed the conditions)].

 

21. Determine how many genes were up-regulated and how many were down-regulated.

 

Part 3. Gene Ontology (GO) Biological Process

1. Copy the first column with the AGI#’s into a new Excel sheet. Do not copy the column header. Save the file as a comma delimited file (CSV).

2. Go to https://www.arabidopsis.org/ . Click Search and select Gene Ontology annotations from the drop down menu.

 

3. Click Choose file. Select your CSV file. Click Functional Categorization.

 

4. Click Draw next to “Annotation Pie Chart”. This will generate 3 pie charts: GO Cellular Component, GO Biological Process, and GO Molecular Function. You will include the GO Biological Process chart in your paper. Copy and paste that into your Word file for your paper. When you write your paper, you should discuss anything that stands out to you as particularly interesting given your chosen topic. You do not need to discuss every single category of information appearing in these charts. You may include the other two charts in your paper if there is something in particular that you wish to highlight or tie into your discussion section of the paper but you are not required to do so.

 

Part 4.

Selecting a gene of interest for detailed study.

Information is continuously being added to our knowledge base. Many genes have been identified since the data in this particular data set was first collected. If you want to see if more information is available for a particular gene that has a particularly striking fold change, you can check TAIR, the Arabidopisis Information Resource at https://www.arabidopsis.org/.

Click Search:

 

Click Microarray Element from the dropdown box. Enter your locus identifier in the box (example: At5g01810). Make sure Affymetrix ATH1 is selected (this is the type of chip our data set is from) and click “Get Microarray Elements”.

 

To get detailed information on a gene of interest.

In this example, information about the gene can be found under the annotation.

 

 

You will want to select a gene that from your dataset that is strongly up or down-regulated (a fold change of 3 is preferred but you may go as low as 1.5-fold if necessary for the purpose of this assignment). You need to select a gene that has been studied in the past. Skip ones that are listed as unknown function in both our data set and when you look it up in the search above.

Next, click the search box in the top left corner again and this time select “Genes”. Enter your locus ID (example At5g01810) in the “starts with” box under the Search by Name or Phenotype section. Scroll to the bottom of the page and hit “Submit Query”. Select your locus from the list by clicking on the blue locus identifier.

 

If the gene has been previously studied, a wealth of information will be available on the next page. Information to include in your paper:

1. Gene locus

2. Other names for the gene:

3. Biological Processes in which the gene plays a role (GO Biological Process)

4. The cellular component in which the protein product is expressed (GO Cellular Component)

5. Growth and developmental stages when the gene is expressed

6. The plant structures where the protein product of the gene is expressed

Take a look at the BAR eFP (The Bio-Analytic Resource for Plant Biology electronic fluorescent pictograph) data. This is a browser engine that “paints” data from genomic data sets, such as microarrays, ont pictographs that repsent the experimental samples used to generat the data set. The purpose of the tool is to help researchers develop testable hypothesis based on the enormous amount of data generated by genomics projects. If you click the Data source you have options you can select that will provide you with information on experimental work others have conducted to study this gene. The informationwill be in a nicely illustrated summary form. The original reference will be included on the page as well.

Another example for the same gene:

 

This is a great place to look for information on your gene to use in your narrative. You should cite the original papers if you use the information in this section. You may need to go back to the original paper for details or clarity.

 

 

 

 

Under the Protein Data section, you will find the following information to include in your paper:

1. Protein Length

2. Molecular weight

3. Isoelectric point

4. List of InterPro domains: Create a table of the domains and their function (if the function is known). Click on the links. This will take you out to the InterPro site where you will find info on the domain. The information in the description might provide some useful information to include in your manuscript. In the table, you should indicate a very BRIEF description of whatever you think is most relevant about this particular domain (think about what your microarray experiment was to help you decide what might be the most useful information to include in the table) and the biological process, molecular function or cellular component that is applicable to the domain (see under GO terms). If no information is available, record “none” in your table. Example:

 

 

Domain Brief Description Biological Process Molecular Function Cellular Component
NAF/FISL_domain: IPR018451 Serine-threonine protein kinase that itneracts with calcineurin B-like calsium sensor proteins Signal transduction None none

 

Table 1. Domain ontology from http://www.ebi.ac.uk/interpro/entry/InterPro/IPR018451/.

 

 

All the way at the bottom of the TAIR page, you will find a list of publications related to the gene. Use these publications as references for your paper.

 

Part 4. Write your microarray paper.

Your microarray paper should contain the following components:

1. Title: The title should contain the species name of the organism (Arabadosis thaliana), your topic of experimentation, and a statement about what you were looking for or what data you were generating.

2. Introduction: Be sure to state the purpose of the study, why the experiment was conducted, review previous works of others in the field (integrated seamlessly, not one reference after another). How a microarray works is not needed here. Assume your reader is familiar with this now long-standing, common-place technique. Focus on your topic (osmotic signaling, sugar signaling, phytohormone signaling, or the interplay between sugar and phytohormone signaling).

3. Results:

a. Report the # of genes upregulated and downregulated by 2-fold or higher.

b. Include a table of top ten most highly genes up-regulated and the top ten most highly down-

regulated genes in your experimental condition compared to to control (use your combined

spreadsheet). Also include any genes that you want to discuss in your discussion section. You

may highlight genes in the discussion that show a change in regulation in your experiment

but didn’t make the top 10. Example:

 

Example:

 

AGI # Affymetrix Probe # Fold change p-value in Student’s T-Test Description
At1g20340 255886_at -4.11044 3.33E-03 Plastocyanin, putative
At1g79040 264092_at -4.02826 6.66E-04 Photosystem II polypeptide, putative
At1g32900 261191_at +3.324657 1.19E-05 Starch synthase, putative

 

 

c. Gene ontology data

 

d. All data collected from Part B about your selected gene for deeper study.

 

e. All figures should be labeled and be accompanied by figure legends. The figure should be

referenced in the text (see figure 1).

 

f. Text (in addition to the figure legends) should be present to inform the reader what you did

and to summarize the results collected. No interpretation of the data is included here. Save

that for the discussion.

 

4. Discussion:

a. Recap you results. Take a look at the descriptions for the genes that are up or down regulated. Now look at the review of literature you selected for homework. Are there genes on the list that you would expect to see based on the literature? Looking at the descriptions, are there genes that make sense to see? If you are looking at sugar, are there genes that are obviously part of sugar metabolic pathways or involved in photosynthesis? If you are looking at phytohormones, do the receptors to your chosen phytohormone appear on the list? You might want to pull up journal articles on some of the genes appearing on the list to explain why they might be appearing on your list. Include a few suggestions for future experiments that could be conducted to expand our understanding of your topic based on your results.

5. References: You should no fewer than 6 journal articles (literature review or primary literature) cited.

6. Appendix: You will upload your Excel spreadsheet separately to the Google Drive. Be sure to drop it in the folder for your TA.

General Information:

· Your paper should be in Times Roman or Calibri font, size 12. Paper margin should be 1 inch. Please double-space the paper. The paper should not contain figures or images from any published work. In order to include previously published images, not only must you cite the source, you must also seek permission from both the original authors and the publisher. Unless you are prepared to submit the documentation for these permissions, do not include figures or images that you did not generate using the TAIR page or create yourself.

· The grading rubric is in Blackboard.

 

References:

Adam, D. (2000). Now for the hard ones. Nature 408, 792-793.

The Arabidopsis Genome Initiative (2000). Analysis of the genome sequence of the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Nature 408, 796-815.

Bernier, G., Havelange, A., Houssa, c., Petitjean, A., and Lejeune. P. (1993). Physiological signals that induce flowering. Plant Cell. 5, 1147-1155.

Dai, N., Schaffer, A., Petreikov, M., Shahak, Y., Giller, Y., Ratner, K, Levine, A., and Granot, D. (1999). Overexpression of Arabidopsis hexokinase in tomato plants inhibits growth, reduces photo synthesis, and induces rapid senescence. Palnt Cell 11, 1253-1266.

Jang, J.-C., and Sheen, J. (1997). Sugar sensing in higher plants. Trends Plant Sci. 2, 208-214.

Meyerowitz, E.M. (1989). Arabidopsis, a useful weed. Cell 56, 263-269.

Pattison, D. (2004) Characterization of sugar-insensitive mutants and analysis of sugar-regulated gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana. [Doctoral dissertation, Rice University]. Rice University Graduate Electronic Theses and Dissertations.https://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/18679

Verwoerd, T.C., Dekker, B.M. M., and Hoekema, A. (1989). A small-scale procedure for the rapid isolation of plant RNAs. Nucleic Acids Res. 17, 2362.

Wilson, J. B. (1988). A Review of evidence on the control of shoot: root ration, in relation to models. Annals of Botany. 61 (4) 433-449.

Yu, S.-M. (1999). Cellular and genetic responses of plants to sugar starvation. Plant Physiol. 121, 687-693.

 
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Assessment 2 Class 8

Assessment 2 Class 8 Instructions

In a 5-7 page written assessment, assess the effect of the patient, family, or population problem you’ve previously (Ms. Shula) defined on the quality of care, patient safety, and costs to the system and individual. Plan to spend approximately 2 direct practicum hours exploring these aspects of the problem with the patient, family, or group you’ve chosen to work with and, if desired, consulting with subject matter and industry experts. Report on your experiences during your first two practicum hours.

Organizational data, such as readmission rates, hospital-acquired infections, falls, medication errors, staff satisfaction, serious safety events, and patient experience can be used to prioritize time, resources, and finances. Health care organizations and government agencies use benchmark data to compare the quality of organizational services and report the status of patient safety. Professional nurses are key to comprehensive data collection, reporting, and monitoring of metrics to improve quality and patient safety.

Preparation

In this assessment, you’ll assess the effect of the health problem you’ve defined on the quality of care, patient safety, and costs to the system and individual. Plan to spend at least 2 direct practicum hours working with the same patient, family, or group. During this time, you may also choose to consult with subject matter and industry experts.

To prepare for the assessment:

· Review the assessment instructions and scoring guide to ensure that you understand the work you will be asked to complete and how it will be assessed.

· Conduct research of the scholarly and professional literature to inform your assessment and meet scholarly expectations for supporting evidence.

· Review the Practicum Focus Sheet: Assessment 2 [PDF], which provides guidance for conducting this portion of your practicum.

Instructions

Complete this assessment in two parts.

Part 1

Assess the effect of the patient, family, or population problem you defined in the previous assessment on the quality of care, patient safety, and costs to the system and individual. Plan to spend at least 2 practicum hours exploring these aspects of the problem with the patient, family, or group. During this time, you may also consult with subject matter and industry experts of your choice. Use the Practicum Focus Sheet: Assessment 2 [PDF] provided for this assessment to guide your work and interpersonal interactions.

Part 2

Report on your experiences during your first 2 practicum hours, including how you presented your ideas about the health problem to the patient, family, or group.

· Whom did you meet with?

. What did you learn from them?

· Comment on the evidence-based practice (EBP) documents or websites you reviewed.

. What did you learn from that review?

· Share the process and experience of exploring the influence of leadership, collaboration, communication, change management, and policy on the problem.

. What barriers, if any, did you encounter when presenting the problem to the patient, family, or group?

. Did the patient, family, or group agree with you about the presence of the problem and its significance and relevance?

. What leadership, communication, collaboration, or change management skills did you employ during your interactions to overcome these barriers or change the patient’s, families, or group’s thinking about the problem (for example, creating a sense of urgency based on data or policy requirements)?

· What changes, if any, did you make to your definition of the problem, based on your discussions?

· What might you have done differently?

Requirements

The assessment requirements, outlined below, correspond to the scoring guide criteria, so be sure to address each main point. Read the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed. In addition, note the additional requirements for document format and length and for supporting evidence.

· Explain how the patient, family, or population problem impacts the quality of care, patient safety, and costs to the system and individual.

. Cite evidence that supports the stated impact.

. Note whether the supporting evidence is consistent with what you see in your nursing practice.

· Explain how state board nursing practice standards and/or organizational or governmental policies can affect the problem’s impact on the quality of care, patient safety, and costs to the system and individual.

. Describe research that has tested the effectiveness of these standards and/or policies in addressing care quality, patient safety, and costs to the system and individual.

. Explain how these standards and/or policies will guide your actions in addressing care quality, patient safety, and costs to the system and individual.

. Describe the effects of local, state, and federal policies or legislation on your nursing scope of practice, within the context of care quality, patient safety, and cost to the system and individual.

· Propose strategies to improve the quality of care, enhance patient safety, and reduce costs to the system and individual.

. Discuss research on the effectiveness of these strategies in addressing care quality, patient safety, and costs to the system and individual.

. Identify relevant and available sources of benchmark data on care quality, patient safety, and costs to the system and individual.

· Use paraphrasing and summarization to represent ideas from external sources.

· Apply APA style and formatting to scholarly writing.

Additional Requirements

· Format: Format your paper using APA style. Be sure to include:

. A title page and reference page. An abstract is not required.

. A running head on all pages.

. Appropriate section headings.

· Length: Your paper should be approximately 5–7 pages in length, not including the reference page.

· Supporting evidence: Cite at least 5 sources of scholarly or professional evidence that support your central ideas. Resources should be no more than five years old. Provide in-text citations and references in APA format.

· Proofreading: Proofread your paper, before you submit it, to minimize errors that could distract readers and make it more difficult for them to focus on its substance.

 
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Health Care Finance Models

The purpose of this assignment is to describe how health care is financed by examining both market-based and government-based approaches.

Access the “Health Care Financing” document and complete the comparison chart. Write 3–4 sentences minimum for each approach. Submit the complete document in the assignment dropbox.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

 

A COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS’ 6

 

Health Care Finance Models

There are two broad approaches to financing health care: a market-based approach and a government-financed approach. Answer the 12 questions, providing a minimum of 3–4 sentences for each approach.

 

Include any references used at the end of the chart.

 

  Market-based

(HMO, POS, PPO, etc.)

Government-financed

(Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, etc.)

Who is provided access?    
How much coverage is provided?    
How are the services paid for?    
How does reimbursement apply?    
Are there limitations of care?    
What guides care decision for patients?    
What is the quality of services (use HEDIS website for answer)?    
Are there competitive options?    
How much are prevention and wellness emphasized and measured?    
How are health care costs managed and controlled?    
How are medical advances generated?    
How is health care reform established?    

 

 

© 2020. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.

 

2

 
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All Work Solver

When responding to Taylor and Lillian post, discuss their insights and offer additional tips and support, pulling from the readings and your own experiences as guidance. Remember it’s important to be thorough and honest here

Taylor post

When reviewing each section of my draft, I feel I did particularly well with my first key point paragraph. This was a strong paragraph to make a factual argument. I feel as if the sources that I selected to use in this paragraph make it strong, as it is factual information that I am able to present to my audience. I will use this tactic in the remaining key point paragraphs to make for a stronger argument. Often times when you are able to back up your argument with factual information, it will give your audience more confidence in your argument and the sources you use to support your argument.

While reviewing my draft, I feel as if I need to improve my introduction and conclusion paragraphs. These paragraphs seem very repetitive and not very interesting. I feel as if I need guidance on how to close out these paragraphs without feeling like I have a gap that needs to be filled before jumping into the next paragraph. I am very open to any feedback that anyone can provide to help me round off these two paragraphs for my final submission.

Lillian post

I found the process of outlining and writing my rough draft to be fairly fun and interesting. All the preparation that we did in the previous modules definitely helped when it came time to put words on paper. Looking at my rough draft now, I can see certain aspects of it that were strong and other parts that can use some revision.
My introduction and my first two main body paragraphs seem strong and I feel good about the fact that they will only need minor revisions. Additionally, I think that I did a good job at clearly defining my three key points and defending them. Some parts of my draft that I would like to focus on strengthening are my citations and my counter arguments. When I go to revise my citations, I want to utilize the course resources to make sure I am properly formatting each source to APA standards. Additionally, Dr. Lakatos suggested that I work on including transitional words to provide a better tempo and strengthen my paragraph. This feedback and the feedback that I received about my counter arguments in the writing workshop will be very helpful as I work on revising my rough draft.

 

Respond to two of your classmates and provide further insight into the impacts of the economic integration on business in that region. You might want to highlight other agreements that were not mentioned by your classmates.

Kristina post

Trade Elements (World Trade Organization)

Major Trading Partners               Exports: EU, United States, United Kingdom, China, India

Imports: EU, United States, United Kingdom, China, United Arab

Emirates

Major Imports/Exports

Exports:

Agriculture 9,836

Manufacture 230,750

Fuels & Mining 8,469

Gold, packaged medicines, medical cultures/vaccines, watches,

jewelry (Central Intelligence Agency)

Imports:

Agriculture 13,384

Manufacture 185,214

Fuels & Mining 15,275

Gold, packaged medicines, jewelry, cars, medical cultures/vaccines

(Central Intelligence Agency)

Regional Trade Agreements and Member Countries

RTAs in force

EFTA – Albania, EFTA- Bosnia and Herzegovina, EFTA-Canada. EFTA-Central America (Costa Rica and Panama), EFTA-Chile, EFTA-Columbia, EFTA, Egypt, EFTA-Georgia, EFTA-Hong Kong, China, EFTA-Israel, EFTA-Jordan, EFTA-Korea, Republic of, EFTA-Lebanon, EFTA-Mexico, EFTA-Montenegro, EFTA-Morocco, EFTA-North Macedonia, EFTA-Palestine, EFTA-Peru, EFTA-Philippines, EFTA-SACU, EFTA-Serbia, EFTA-Singapore, EFTA-Tunisia, EFTA-Turkey, EFTA-Ukraine, EU, Switzerland-Liechtenstein, European Free Trade Association (EFTA), Faroe Islands-Switzerland, Japan-Switzerland, Switzerland-China, United Kingdom-Switzerland-Liechtenstein

Accessions: EFTA-Accession of Iceland

RTAs for which an early announcement has been made:

EFTA-Central America-Accession of Guatemala, EFTA-

Ecuador, EFTA-GCC, EFTA-Indonesia, EFTA-India,

EFTA-MERCOSUR, EFTA-Russian

Federation/Belarus/Kazakhstan, EFTA-Viet Nam

Business Observations:

Switzerland was the United States’ 19th largest goods export market and the 14th largest supplier of goods imports in 2019.

The United States and Switzerland have strong bilateral ties, though no formal free trade agreement has been negotiated between the two parties.

Switzerland is not a member of the EU however; they do have a series of bilateral agreements with the EU that guarantee some economic advantages.

The EU is Switzerland’s main trading partner

Switzerland is the EU’s fourth trading partner after the US, China and the UK.

Christian post

Trade Elements (World Trade Organization Country Profile, 2021):

Major Trading Partners                          Exports: United States, China, European Union, Republic of

Korea, and Chinese Taipei

Imports: China, United States, European Union, Australia,

Republic of Korea

Major Imports/Exports                      Exports:

Manufactures (611.1 million)

Fuels and Mining (31.1 million)

Agriculture (11.6 million)

 

cars and vehicle parts, integrated circuits, personal

appliances, ships (Central Intelligence Agency, 2019)

Imports:

Manufactures (424.1 million)

Fuels and mining (201.7 million)

Agriculture (82.6 million)

crude petroleum, natural gas, coal, integrated circuits,
broadcasting equipment (Central Intelligence Agency, 2019)

Regional Trade Agreements and Member Countries

ASEAN-Japan; Brunei Darussalam-Japan; Chile-Japan; Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP); EU-Japan; India-Japan, Japan-Australia; Japan-Indonesia; Japan-Malaysia; Japan-Mexico; Japan-Mongolia; Japan-Peru; Japan-Philippines; Japan-Switzerland; Japan-Thailand; Japan-Vietnam

Business Observations:

Japan is extremely fortunate to be in trade agreements with numerous countries. This expands their options for goods in exports/imports tremendously.

Most of their trade partners include countries in Asia. I believe it’s due to the fact they’re so close. Japan still has a very close relationship with the US. Japan is the 4th largest trading partner they have.

I feel Japans biggest advantage is their trade in automobiles and products like steel and other manufacture resources. They will always be needed and Japan Leads in most exports in those categories.

 

Post  replies to Anthony, Hollie, Kayla, and Ashton post and be constructive and professional.

Anthony post

 

Looking at the discussion post as an HR professional and reviewing the HR Leadership Case Study, the key components of a job ad that would attract the most qualified applicants is to create clear and engaging job description helps attract the right candidates to apply for the job ad. The other key component is to be as transparent as possible. Make sure your job ads reflect your work life by giving specific examples and sharing employees’ stories to demonstrate their positive engagement in your company. (Pavlou, 2021). The best collaborative HR practice for conducting a job analysis and design for the job ad is to collaborate ideas among the department head, departmental subordinates, and HR department to help determine detailed skills and qualification for the position.

According to University of Phoenix Collaborative Learning Task and Group Roles Quick Reference Rubric (2020), when forming a group to collaborate with you must consider the following criteria to maximize the group’s efficiency:

● Understand the value of group work among teams

● Smaller groups promote group ease

● Supports informal group learning

● Fosters social presence and engagement

Hollie post

 

  • As an HR professional, how would you go about using a more collaborative approach in gathering information for creating a job ad?

I think getting feedback from employees that have been hired recently, that are qualified and good candidates would help. Ask them what made them stop to review the job posting and apply. Focus groups also help with obtaining information.

  • In your opinion, what are the key components of a job ad that would attract the most qualified applicants?

I have been applying for jobs very recently since I was laid off from my employer. I see all types of ads for jobs ranging from little to no information to so much you lose interest in reading. I always open the posting and look first for the qualifications needed, then the actual job tasks. I feel like I want to see what the job wants and is before I read about the company and the values etc. Most ads begin with the information about the company, where personally I want to see the details about the job then I will read about the company. I feel like stating exactly what the job is about and the qualifications required specifically will attract the correct people to apply. I know that if I see a job I think I am qualified for, then I read more than a few lines that I actually do not have experience with I will not waste the employers time by applying anyway. Maybe this is not a good approach but for me it is what I prefer.

  • What are the best collaborative HR practices for job analysis and design?

I think that feedback is a very useful tool. Asking employees and staff about what type of ad would make them apply for the job they have. Currently social media is a useful tool to gain knowledge of opinions and feedback and even for advertising a job.

Kayla post

 

My most recent job was being a telephone operator for a hospital. During my shifts, it was an extremely stressful environment. From not having enough staff, issues with the hospitals and technology issues, I wanted to rip my hair out. A major issue we had with the hospitals was doctors responding to patients or families in a timely manner. If I knew about the three-step approach back when I was working at the hospital I could’ve helped the situation tremendously.

The first step in the three-step approach is gathering as much information about the situation as I can. I can gather complaints from the patients and the families and I can also speak with the doctor to see what he or she has to say. The second step of the three-step approach is to analyze the consequences for the doctor and the patients/families. If the doctors aren’t getting to their patients/families in a certain amount of time, their health could quickly decline. The last step of the three-step approach is to determine the best way to fix the main issue at hand. Going through all the information gathered and figuring out a way to meet in the middle for both the doctors and patients/families.

Ashton post

 

I have experienced many ethical problems within my professional life. Most notably was a decision I had to make while working as a certified nursing assistant. Working as a certified nursing assistant was often difficult because staffing was constantly an issue, and as a result, CNA’s often had a patient load of 10-12. When working with long-term residents, you often have to utilize machineries such as the partial lift for partial weight-bearing or full lifts for residents with no weight-bearing capabilities. Anytime these lifts were used, it was state required to have 2 CNA’s present during operation. This was sometimes an issue because 1/4 of your residents might require lifts, and you would have to partner with someone and help with their residents as well. The ethical problem came when I found that some CNAs were using lifts without another aide. A 3-step approach could be used to find the solution to this problem, and I utilized something similar at the time.

The first step was to evaluate the situation at hand. Who were the CNA’s using lifts without help? Why were they using the lifts alone? What am I morally or ethically obligated to do with this information?

The second step was to analyze the consequence at hand for both the other aide(s) and myself. On one hand, it was state regulation for aides to have assistance when operating the machinery and the facility could have legal actions if someone were to get hurt. As previously stated, it was possible for someone to get hurt if an emergency situation occurred and an aide was stuck without help. On the other hand, if I were to alert the supervisors and it was known that I was the one who alerted them, I may be disliked by the other aides and struggle to get assistance when needed.

The third step is to weigh all of the information and determine the best course of action. In my situation, the risk to residents and the facility was far greater than the repercussion I might have had. For that reason, I decided to alert a supervisor who addressed the issue and worked to make access to help easier to obtain.

 
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Statistics

On a hypothetical island virus outbreak becomes a threat of future pandemic. Researchers have narrowed down the cause of outbreak to two viruses (virus 1 and virus 2). The DNA sequencing lab receives a sample for further analysis. Unfortunately, the sample was contaminated and the removal of foreign DNA leaves the lab with a short DNA fragment: AGTAGCTTCCAG. Given all available information (provided below) how can lab determine the type of the virus that caused the outbreak.

Nucleotide probabilities of virus1
P(A)=P(T) =0.3
P(G)=P(C) = 0.2
Nucleotide probabilities of virus 2
P(A)=P(T)=P(G)=P(C)= .25

Assume:

– Virus 1 and Virus 2 are equally likely to occur in nature.
– nucleotides are independent and identically distributed.

 
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Bio

BIO 100 S-2017 Exam #1 Part two

Directions: Answer the following questions (in red) with short paragraphs. Excellence in writing and your ability to defend your answers is important (and will be rewarded!) Point value proceeds each questions. Post your response to “Tools” under the Journal Site. There are 80 points total

PLEASE NOTE : You may discuss the questions, however the submitted answers must be in your OWN words. Evidence of copying another’s work or copying from internet sites is strictly forbidden. Failure to follow these rules about sharing quiz material is evidence of academic dishonesty and has severe consequences. (Please see syllabus regarding cheating).

Part I :The Nature of Science (10 points total)

We trust the methodology of “Science” to provide us with facts that will enhance our lives and our understanding of the world around us. But, is science always right?

Modern science

1. The Nature of Science: (4 points)

In your words, describe the assumptions science makes when reaching conclusions. Do you feel there are other ways of knowing or arriving at the truth? Explain why or why not.

2. False Assumptions in Science: (6 points)

 

Image result for health ranger

Image: http://www.foodrising.org/Media/8kT1mAvc51I.jpg

 

Mike Adams is the editor of The Health Ranger. Adams has lost many family members to cancer and believes we need to reconstruct how we view science in order to heal patients or prevent disease. He proposes that we are leaving out many possibilities when it comes to “cause and effect”. Visit his Health Ranger site at:

http://www.naturalnews.com/041736_modern_science_false_assumptions_consciousness.html

Select two of the Health Ranger’s “Ten false assumptions in science”. Do you agree or disagree with his point of view? Why or why not?

Part II: The Truth in Science Changes with time…(20 points)

.

Image result for what theory replaced miasma theory Image result for black death

Image courtesy of: https://sciencecommunication425.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/miasma-theory.jpg?w=320

 

1. Miasma Theory (10 points)

 

The miasma theoryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miasma_theory  held that diseases such as cholera, chlamydia or the Black Death were caused by a miasma a noxious form of “bad air”, also known as “night air”. The theory held that the origin of epidemics were due to a miasma, emanating from rotting organic matter. Though miasma theory is typically associated with the spread of disease, some academics in the early nineteenth century suggested that the theory extended to other conditions as well, e.g. one could become obese by inhaling the odor of food. The Theory was eventually given up by scientists and physicians after 1880. for references)

Visit the following websites to assist you in answering the questions below:

 

Miasma theory http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1416&context=essai

 

 

a) The popular children’s song “ring around the rosie” refers to what practice (used to prevent transmission of disease)

b) According to the above article: Some measure of scientific progress is made by disproving an existing theory, but substantially more progress can be made by doing what?

c) Provide at least two reasons why the miasma theory was believable to those in the early 14th century (2 points)

d) What theory replaced the Miasma theory? Using the Miasma example, describe how the truth in science changed over time. (3 points)

e) Locate a website (article or other reference) illustrating another example where the truth in science changed over time. Provide your link here:_____________Briefly describe the outcome of this “change in belief” (3 points)

 

 

2. Diseases that threaten us worldwide : (10 points)

 

Should more have been done to prepare for cholera outbreak in Hati ?

Image result for cholera images Image result for cholera images

Images https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/ab/57/b7/ab57b793f1a8da2188baceff2babb1fd.jpg

imageshttp://www.choleraalliance.org/files/Zimbabwe/cholera-children-drinking-dirty-water%20Zimbabwe.jpg

 

 

Visit the following websites to explore this dangerous pathogen

 

http://www.medicinenet.com/cholera/article.htm

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3771306/

A. What organism causes cholera?

B. What are the symptoms of cholera?

C. Describe the mode of transmission and how this related to sanitary conditions -How is cholera spread?

D. What might you do to educate citizens? (2 points)

Visit the World Health Organization to learn about Diseases that threaten us worldwide http://www.who.int/csr/disease/en/ (5 points)

E. Describe two other diseases (besides cholera) that could pose a threat worldwide . What is their mode of transmission and how can we, as a society, protect our citizens?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part III: How can we recognize TRUE science? (30 points)

Image result for eating chocolate

Image: http://goenglishmagazine.es/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/chocolate-eating-baby.jpg

1. Fooling ourselves with science: hoaxes, retractions and the public (5 points) “As consumers of science we should always beware the latest and greatest study with new results.” Visit the following website to learn more.https://www.theguardian.com/science/political-science/2015/jun/02/fooling-ourselves-with-science

A. What was the hoax that John Bohannon created?

B. What did the Bohannon hoax and LaCour/Green retraction have in common?

C. Why does the author feel we can set ourselves up to be fooled by science? Explain why you agree or disagree. (3 points)

 

 

2. Vaccines – Fear and skepticism: (5 points)

Image result for vaccinationsimage: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTvlZpympZH02v9URx40C_gOWrI_0ZJvNEEBZV5haZ8y6UWx53pqQ

 

“One of the negative side effects of our totally plugged-in culture is that bad science and misinterpreted results are published quickly and persist long after something has been debunked. Almost everyone has been fooled by bad science in the past, and some bad science has had some very negative impacts…”

Visit the following website to view a few….

https://mic.com/articles/28940/5-bad-scientific-studies-that-fooled-millions#.SeZFFcJpB

a. What effect did the MMR vaccine study have on the public? (2 points)

b. What are your thoughts on vaccines? (3 points)

3. Science, pseudoscience and Quackery (10 points)

Answering the following four questions utilizing your study guide, power point #1 and chapter one of your textbook

Image result for quackery Image result for quackery

http://www.diet.com/info/img/nwaz_02_img0199.jpg

 

a) Describe the difference between real science, pseudoscience and Quackery. (3 points)

b) Search the internet for a website that is illustrating pseudo-science or Quackery. Post your website here:_________. Describe how you feel the public can be misled by this site. (3 points)

c) How do you trust internet sites for credibility and unbiased reporting? What are some warning signs that internet sites should NOT be trusted? (2 points)

d) What might politics have to do with the funding of experimental research? How do you feel this might affect the development of a hypothesis and bias? (2 points)

 

4. Has the Peer Review process in science been working? (10 points)

Image result for seralini rats

Image: https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Screen-Shot-2014-06-24-at-6.04.53-AM.png

Visit the following website:

http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/seralini-gmo-study-retracted/

a) The infamous Seralini study (November, 2012) claimed what? (2 points)

b) According to the article, anyone referencing the Seralini study as support for their position that GMO has health risks sacrifices what? (2 points)

c) According to the author, what does this study suffer from? (3 points)

d) Do you feel animal right activists would support this study? Why or why not? (3 points)

Part IV: Using Science to Live long, happy healthy lives?………(10 points)

 

More than half of American adults take some kind of herbal supplement, spending an estimated $30 billion a year in the belief that the supplements have some kind of healthful effect. And, of course, consumers think that what’s in the bottle is what the label promises…..

 

We all agree that we want to live as long as our quality of life is exceptional or at the least satisfactory. Right? How does science inform us on the effect of Nutrition and supplements in our diet?

 

1. Searching for the truth in nutrition: (4 points)

Dr. Cohen has become something of a mix of Indiana Jones and Sherlock Holmes in the supplement world. With chemist colleagues in the United States, Brazil, and Europe, he hunts for drugs illegally buried in supplements. Then he goes public. Visit the following website: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/08/feature-revealing-hidden-dangers-dietary-supplements

A. What scandal did Cohen uncover?

B. What happened in 1994 that changed the way supplements were regulated? (3 points)

 

2. Who’s at fault? Who’s to blame for the products we purchase off the shelves at our local markets? (6 points)

 

Image result for pharmaceuticals homeopathy images image courtesy of: https://media.licdn.com/media/p/7/005/06a/3f2/3dd2845.png

Please visit the following site: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/gnc-target-walmart-walgreens-selling-bogus-herbal-supplements-ny-charges-020315.html

a. According to the article, what four companies were involved in selling store brand supplements that didn’t contain the labeled substance or contained ingredients that weren’t listed on the label? (2 points)

b. What percentage of Walmart products were cited as actually having DNA from the herb listed on the label?

c. What are some of the contaminants found in these products?

d. What are some of the possible risks of contaminants in supplements? (2 points)

 
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BI101 Discussion 2 Unit 1 Post Discussion And Reply To My Fellow Students Response As Well.

UNIT 1 DISCUSSION 2


**I WILL SEND A SEPARATE MESSAGE HERE OF THE STUDENTS ANSWER THAT I NEED YOU TO REPLY TO.  THANK YOU!

DISCUSSION TOPIC

pH and the Scientific Method

pH

Your book defines pH as the “measure of the relative acidity of a solution, ranging in value from 0 (most acidic) to 14 (most basic). pH stands for potential hydrogen and refers to the concentration of hydrogen ions.” (G-12) Living organisms (e.g., plants, animals, bacteria) require careful control of their internal pH, since they are sensitive to even small changes in pH. Homeostasis is the maintenance, by living organisms, of stable surroundings; this includes pH, as well as temperature, osmolarity, and a number of other environmental variables.

1. Explain how organisms that require a neutral environment survive and function despite metabolic activities that tend to shift pH toward either acidic or basic ends of the pH scale? Be specific!

Scientific Method

You’ve read about the Scientific Method in our Unit 1 overview page and this unit’s lecture. The scientific method is used unconsciously by many people on a daily basis, for tasks such as cooking and budgeting. Understanding how to apply the scientific method to these seemingly non-scientific problems can be valuable in furthering one’s career and in making decisions. We talk about a hypothesis being used and tested, but a hypothesis is often confused with a prediction.

2. Explain what a hypothesis and a prediction are and how they are different.

3. Imagine that you notice that your neighbor’s lawn is lusher and greener than yours. You observe your neighbor for several units and it appears that he treats his lawn no different than you, except for the fact that he applies a fertilizer. Based on this observation, identify a testable hypothesis that explains your observation and provide at least one prediction based on your hypothesis.

 
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Para “For Magz64 Only”

Page 1: Feeling Detoxified” by McCallum and Prud’homme-Généreux

by Giselle McCallum and Annie Prud’homme-Généreux Life Sciences Quest University, Canada

Feeling Detoxifi ed: Expectations, Eff ects, and Explanations

Part I – The Detoxifying Ionic Foot Bath Experience Stressed and tired, you look forward to your monthly visit at the A New You! * spa. Upon arrival, you are given an information booklet about a new treatment that is being off ered. It’s an ionic foot bath. You are seduced by the assurances that it will leave you feeling refreshed, and opt for this treatment. Th e spa’s technician tends to you, ensures that you are comfortable, and directs you to sit and place your feet in a bath of salt-water. She then switches on the electrical box connected to two metal rods that rest in the foot bath.

“Th is machine’s iron electrodes ionize the water in the bath.Th is creates a negative bio-charge in your body and draws unwanted toxins out of special pores on the soles of your feet. You’ll actually see it working,” the attendant explains enthusiastically.

“Oh, right,” you reply. A few minutes later, reddish-brown streaks appear in the bath water. By the time your half-hour treatment nears its end, the whole bath has a dark brown-red tinge, and bubbles cover the surface of the water, which smells faintly of chlorine. You ask the spa’s attendant about the smell.

“It’s from all the chlorine that we consume in our tap water. It can also be leftover in your body from swimming pools. Th e foot bath pulls it out of your feet. It detoxifi es your body.”

You leave the spa feeling refreshed. When you return home, you are intrigued. You read with interest the pamphlet that the spa provided you:

Electricity is used in this treatment to create positive and negative ions from the water molecules in the foot bath. Th ese ions can penetrate your body. Th eir positive and negative charge allows them to act as a molecular sponge to soak up and sequester particles of opposite charge. Th ese neutralized toxins then leave the body through the surface of the feet that are in contact with water in the foot bath, leaving you cleansed and refreshed.

Questions 1. Why might you be tempted to believe what the pamphlet and spa attendant say? What aspects are convincing? 2. Why might you be skeptical? What are some of the problems with the explanation provided? 3. Design an easy experiment to test whether the explanations provided by the spa are accurate.

* Note: A New You! is a fi ctional spa invented for the purpose of this case study (with a nod to Margaret Atwood’s book Year of the Flood ). Th e explanation for the mechanism of action of the ionic foot bath was inspired by the descriptions provided by the many companies that off er ionic foot bath services.

Photo credit: Public domain photo of “aqua detox” by Wikipedia user Jason7825, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aqua_Detox.jpg.

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Page 2“Feeling Detoxifi ed” by McCallum and Prud’homme-Généreux

Part II – A Proposed Chemistry of Foot Baths After your spa foot bath, you feel refreshed. You are mentally alert, and that persistent pain in your right knee has faded considerably. Despite your skepticism about the scientifi c explanation behind it, you feel so fantastic that you sign up for another foot bath the following week.

Over lunch one day, you tell your friends about this experience. Your friends question your foot bath experience.

“But how does it actually work? How do you know it’s working? Have you tried taking your feet out and seeing what happens?”

Th ose questions nag at you when you visit the spa the next time. You resolve to do the experiment that your friends suggest. You are comfortably seated with your feet in the ionic foot bath. Th e attendant turns the machine on. However, this time, when she leaves the room, you look around cautiously and then slowly slide your feet out.

As time passes, the water slowly turns brown, the faint chlorine smell becomes detectable, and bubbles appear in the water. Hmmm. Your feet are not in the water, so obviously the bath is not drawing unwanted toxins out of your feet. Where do the chlorine smell, the reddish-brown color, and the bubbles come from?

Determined to solve the mystery, you call your friends for their help. Michael starts things off by drawing on Figure 1 as he says:

“Well, let’s start with the salty water. Th e most common salt is table salt, sodium chloride (NaCl), so let’s assume that’s the salt used in the foot baths. When it is dissolved in water, the two atoms in salt dissociate into their constituent ions: Na+ and Cl-. Th ere always exists a small number of water molecules (H2O) that are dissociated into H

+ and OH- ions. So, in other words, you have the following ions in the foot bath: H+, OH-, Na+, and Cl-.”

Allison, a chemistry major, thinks she holds another piece of the puzzle.

“What you have here is a simple electrochemical cell where oxidation and reduction reactions take place. Don’t panic about the jargon: let me explain. Th ere were two rods made of metal that were plunged into the water, and through which an electrical current was running. An electrical current means that electrons (e-) were fl owing in one direction through the wires. In solution, the current is carried by migrating ions. Th e electrons are induced to move by a force that is provided by the power supply that the foot bath is connected to.”

“Metals conduct electricity because they have electrons that can be freed from their atoms to move to other atoms. If we follow the path of an electron through the system, it might look like this. An electron starts in the metal of one of the rods; we’ll call this rod the anode. As the anode loses electrons, the metal acquires a positive charge (because it lost some negatively-charged electrons). Th e electrons fl ow through the wire and end up in the other metal rod (the cathode), which has a negative charge (because it accepted negatively-charged electrons).”

You and Michael nod in agreement. Allison continues as she draws on Figure 1.

“Th e spa attendant told you the metal rods are made of iron.* When an electrical charge is run through the cell, the anode loses electrons in the following reaction:

Figure 1. Proposed reduction-oxidation reactions in the ionic footbath. Anode: Fe(s)  Fe

+2 + 2e-

2Cl-  Cl2(g) + 2e –

Cathode: 2H+ + 2e-  H2(g) In the bath: Fe+2 + 2OH-  Fe(OH)2

* Note: As proposed by Lower (n.d.).

 

 

NATIONAL CENTER FOR CASE STUDY TEACHING IN SCIENCE

Page 3“Feeling Detoxifi ed” by McCallum and Prud’homme-Généreux

Fe(s)  Fe +2 + 2e-

In other words, the electrode dissolves over time. While the Fe found in the electrodes cannot dissolve in water, the Fe+2 ions that are being created by the current are able to interact with other ions in the water.”

“In the foot bath, some of the positively charged Fe+2 ions react with negatively-charged OH- ions to form Fe(OH)2(s), which is reddish- brown in color (see Figure 2). You may also have seen fl ecks of rusty metal fl oating in the water.”

Fe+2 + 2OH-  Fe(OH)2(s) Allison continues this idea, as she adds to Figure 1.

“Th e negatively charged cathode attracts the positive H+ and Na+ ions in the water. Because H+ accepts electrons more easily than Na+, the Na+ ions do not react at the cathode. Th ey stay in the solution. Th e H+ ions, however, do react. Th ey gain electrons to become hydrogen gas:

2H+ + 2e-  H2(g) Following the same line of thought, you tentatively propose the following explanation.

“Another reaction occurs at the anode. Its positive charge attracts negatively charged ions. Th us, Cl- ions are drawn to this electrode. Once they reach the anode, they donate their extra electron, and combine to form chlorine gas:

2Cl-  Cl2(g) + 2e –

“Wow!” interjects Allison. “Did you know that chlorine gas is poisonous, and was used during World War I as a chemical weapon?”

Questions 1. What causes the red-brown color that you saw in the foot bath? Th e chlorine smell? Th e bubbles? 2. Should you be concerned about your foot bath’s production of a chemical used in warfare? 3. If simple chemistry in the foot bath (that does not involve changes to your body) can explain what you

observed, then why do you feel so much better after the treatment? Th ink of as many possibilities as you can to explain this phenomenon.

Figure 2. Fe(OH)2 is a red-brown substance that forms in the bath.

Credit: Reprinted with permission of James P. Birk, Arizona State University, http://www. public.asu.edu/~jpbirk/qual/qualanal/iron.html.

 

 

NATIONAL CENTER FOR CASE STUDY TEACHING IN SCIENCE

Page 4“Feeling Detoxifi ed” by McCallum and Prud’homme-Généreux

Part III – Feeling Better After Treatment A few weeks go by. Despite being able to explain everything that you observed in the foot bath as a phenomenon that did not involve your body, you defi nitely felt better after the treatment. You wonder why.

One day over lunch, you share these concerns with Michael. He immediately becomes excited.

“We just read a landmark paper in my psychology class on a phenomenon that may shed some light on your question. In this experiment, two hundred patients with symptoms that could not be diagnosed because they had no obvious physical signs were selected for the study. Th ey were divided into four groups.

• One group received a “positive consultation” with an empathetic doctor, but received no treatment. • One group received a “positive consultation” with an empathetic doctor and received treatment. • One group received a “negative consultation” with an unfriendly doctor and received no treatment • One group received a “negative consultation” with an unfriendly doctor and received treatment.

When a treatment was provided, it was in the form of a pill containing no medicinal ingredient (a “sugar pill”). All patients were surveyed two weeks later to determine the outcome on their symptoms. I happen to have a copy of this article right here. Take a look at the results table.”

Positive consultations Negative consultations Treated (n=50)

Not treated (n=50)

Treated (n=50)

Not treated (n=50)

How much better do you feel having seen the doctor? Completely 7 (15) 10 (21) 2 (5) 3 (6) Much 21 (44) 18 (33) 12 (30) 10 (21) A little 14 (29) 18 (37) 15 (38) 12 (25) No better 6 (12) 2 (4) 11 (27) 22 (47)

Have you been helped by seeing the doctor? A lot 23 (79) 35 (73) 13 (52) 10 (30) A little 4 (14) 10 (21) 7 (28) 10 (30) Slightly 1 (3) 3 (6) 2 (8) 8 (24) Not at all 1 (5) 3 (12) 5 (15)

Table 1. Eff ect of compassion on treatment. Note that not every patient responded to all sections of the post-doctor-visit survey.

Credit: Data extracted from rows 3 and 4 of Table 2 from:Th omas, K.B. (1987). Practice research: General practice consultations: Is there any point in being positive? BMJ 294(6581): 1200–1202.

Questions 1. What do the two columns of numbers for each experimental group represent (the numbers and the numbers in

parentheses)? 2. How do you propose to analyze the data (i.e., how will you compare the treatment groups)? Defend why you

think your method is the best way of analyzing the data. 3. Based on this table, what do you suspect that the researchers were investigating? What was their hypothesis? 4. Which group(s) is/are the control? Explain your answer. 5. Complete the following form. Repeat as many times as necessary: When I compare Group ___ with Group ___, I learn that _____________. 6. Which of the two variables tested in this study appears to have the largest eff ect on improved health? 7. What can you conclude from this experiment? 8. Based on these results, propose a mechanism that might explain your improved health upon leaving the spa.

 

 

NATIONAL CENTER FOR CASE STUDY TEACHING IN SCIENCE

Page 5“Feeling Detoxifi ed” by McCallum and Prud’homme-Généreux

Part IV – The Eff ect of Expectations After you have absorbed the data in the table, Michael looks at you expectantly. To recap, he adds:

“Empathy is a big part of receiving an eff ective treatment. Feeling catered to and pampered can go a long way towards making you feel refreshed and de-stressed, independently of any form of treatment.”

Pondering these thoughts, you ask: “OK, I buy that, but is there anything else that might be at work here?”

“Well, there is the placebo eff ect, as it is classically defi ned.”

“I’ve heard about this. Isn’t it when patients are given a sugar pill and it cures them?”

“Th at’s one form of it. Placebos are sham treatments that mirror the experience of undergoing a treatment but do not provide the active ingredient or therapy. In other words, it’s the part of the treatment that causes an eff ect based on human expectations.”

“So… If I believe I am receiving a treatment that can make me feel refreshed, that’s enough to make me feel refreshed?” you ask, a bit incredulously.

“Yes! Th e placebo eff ect does not work for all conditions, but anxiety, depression, pain, swelling, and stomach ulcers all seem to respond to a placebo (Evans, 2004).”

“I guess in my situation I was feeling stressed, which is a form of anxiety, right?”

“Sure. Th e placebo eff ect is bizarre. We studied it in class. Did you know that the color of the pill, the presence of a brand name on it, the number of doses to take each day, the route of administration (e.g., orally or intravenously) all aff ect the size of the placebo eff ect (reviewed in Goldacre, 2009)? Even more striking, the eff ectiveness of a treatment seems to decrease as new (and, people believe, more eff ective) treatments become available (Moerman & Harrington, 2005). Th ere is even evidence that the placebo eff ect shows diff erences in strength within diff erent geographical regions, and that in recent years the strength of the placebo eff ect is increasing (Silberman, 2009).”

Questions 1. Describe a situation where the placebo eff ect may have played a part in your response to a treatment (other than

your experience at the A New You! spa). 2. What’s the diff erence between (1) conventional and (2) complementary and alternative medicine? What role

does the placebo eff ect play in each type of therapy? 3. Propose a hypothesis to explain why the strength of the placebo eff ect might be increasing in recent years. 4. You were inclined to accept the spa attendant’s explanations for the foot bath on your fi rst visit, but you felt

diff erently during your second visit. If you had soaked your feet in the bath, should you still expect to feel better after your second treatment? Do you expect the placebo eff ect to work when you know it’s a placebo?

5. If the placebo eff ect is real, where’s the harm in letting people remain uninformed (or falsely informed) about the mechanism of action of ionic foot baths?

6. Why do people sometimes turn away from evidence-based medicine and scientifi cally trained experts in the treatment of their health?

References Evans, D. (2004). Placebo: Mind Over Matter in Modern Medicine. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Goldacre, B. (2009). Chapter 5: Th e placebo eff ect. In: Bad Science. London: Fourth Estate. pp. 63–85. Lower, S. (n.d) Detoxifying foot bath quackery. Retrieved from http://www.chem1.com/CQ/FootBathBunk.html on

April 20, 2010. Moerman, D.E., and Harrington, A. (2005). Making space for the placebo eff ect in pain medicine. Seminars in Pain

Medicine 3(1): 2–6

 

 

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Page 6“Feeling Detoxifi ed” by McCallum and Prud’homme-Généreux

Credit: Licensed illustration in title block of stones and grass © SSilver | Foltoia, ID #16587035.

Case copyright held by the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science, University at Buff alo, State University of New York. Originally published January 10, 2012. Please see our usage guidelines, which outline our policy concerning permissible reproduction of this work.

Silberman, S. (2009). Placebos are getting more eff ective. Drugmakers are desperate to know why. Wired Sept 2009: 128–136. Retrieved June 22, 2011 from http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/magazine/17-09/ff _placebo_ eff ect

Th omas, K.B. (1987). Practice research: General practice consultations: Is there any point in being positive? BMJ 294(6581): 1200–1202.

 

 
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