Writing Assignment #5
Writing Assignment #5
“Medicines cure diseases, but only doctors can cure patients.” This quote is credited by Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist who is credited for his findings of analytical psychology. From such a young age, I always found joy in helping others, whether it is babysitting, volunteering in homeless shelters, or looking after a sick family; I’ve always found my way to care and comfort those who are around me. At a young age, when asked, “What did you want to be when you grow up?” Without hesitation, I always answered, “A teacher.” I always had a love for looking after younger infants and toddlers; but as for me personally, I felt as though I had much more to offer than becoming a teacher. As I became older and became more exposed to other options based on my characteristics, I decided I wanted to become a nurse, more specifically, a pediatric nurse, considering my love for kids. Going into my freshman year at Old Dominion University in the year of 2019, I quickly recognized the amount of competition that was present within the nursing field. It was not long before COVID-19 made its way into the United States, and the state of Virginia immediately fell into a state of emergency. Because in person classes, and many, if not all, volunteering opportunities were on stand-by; I decided not to apply to the nursing program at ODU, instead I spent many weeks in quarantine deciding in which field could I confidently continue my studies to lead me into a career that I am strongly connected to. I began researching several different branches within the medical field, connecting with individuals within the medical fields who could give me more perspective, and obtained a position volunteering in the PICU Department within my local hospital.
Towards the end of 2021, going into post COVID-19, I decided that I would further my education in hopes to become an Occupational Therapist in Pediatrics, so I made the decision to major in Bio-Med and minor in Psychology. For months, I searched looking for graduate schools and programs that offered OT programs, but unfortunately, I never found a program that caught my eye or that I was so thrilled about. Just recently, my advisor informed me with the information that Old Dominion University, would soon be offering an Occupational Therapy program in the year of 2023. I immediately began contacting all the advisors and staff that I could who could provide me with more information and a deeper insight of what is to be expected within this program. Considering that I am currently finishing up my fourth year at Old Dominion University, I have grown a strong love for both the Norfolk area and Old Dominion University as a community. For three years I have been a part of the Housing and Residence Life here at ODU.
Being a part of the HRL team, I have met so many welcoming individuals and students; some in which find the same interests within the medical field. I am always getting involved in campus wherever I can, whether it is clubs/organizations, study groups, or going to support ODU Sports. I believe that I am a great candidate for Old Dominion University’s OT program because as a student and individual, I am determined, studious, and trustworthy. I vow to give my full potential to this program when accepted, and make the program feel like a community more than anything. Over the years here at ODU, I have maintained a 3.4 GPA, along with working 2 part-time jobs; and being involved with clubs on ODU campus. I have such a deep passion for this career because as a younger child, I regularly would meet with an OT due to my struggle of speech to language development. Although I was young, I am more than grateful for the woman who devoted her time and gave me the motivation that I longed for to be successful today. Being able to continue my education and the next chapter within in my life here at Old Dominion University would be both a blessing and an unimaginable feeling. Because of my personal experiences during my younger years, I’m extending myself to be rewarded with the opportunity to help other infants/toddlers, as well as their families, who experience such development situations the same as me. In the words of Carl Jung, I would not want anything more than to build a personal relationship, motivate, and cure my patients.
Writing Assignment #4
New Identified Genetic Link to Schizophrenia
In The Washington Post, an article was developed surrounding the topic of schizophrenia. Researchers have created a study and have reported a new gene link within the mental condition that develops within humans. It was stated within the article that, “less than one percent of the United States population is believed to have Schizophrenia.” For years, scientists have analyzed and recognized hereditary components within this disease from several angles within genetics. Because of the advances made within technology, researchers have been able to further their research within mutations and gene links. It has been reported that researchers have found several genes that rapidly increase the development of schizophrenia within humans. To begin, Schizophrenia is a very serious mental disorder in which people can often interpret reality abnormally, many times they experience such episodes of hallucinations and delusions. In the study that took place, those who are more likely to have this mutation within their genes, can be up to fifty times greater to develop this mental condition. This new study of these genes in connection with Schizophrenia is very important today because the information found opens doors to further treatment to for this disease and brings advancements to those who are diagnosed. Although it is a great start to research and advances within the community of those who have Schizophrenia, it is only the beginning; it will still take some time for advances and reasonable and effective treatments to be put into play. Because of the number of advancements that have taken place within technology, this mutation finding would not have been possible. Within the actual study, researchers found rare variations on ten genes that were present and hinted at about twenty-two more. Some showed involvement with Autism disorder, as well as other intellectual development disorders. The disruption of one way that neurons within the brain communicate across synapses is said to be affected within the mutation that was found. The mutations that were found within these ten genes, was said to result in the development of schizophrenia. Researchers are credited with the amount of progress that has taken place within this study; however, as said in the newspaper article they are still in the “early stages of discovery.” There is many more studies and information to run by, but the research that was found within these most recent studies gives more opportunity to finding advances to treatments and diagnosis. Researchers and scientists will further their studies within mechanistic studies that will lead to unanswered questions within disease biology.
Citation of the source:
Bernstein, L. Researchers identify new genetic link to schizophrenia. The Washington Post (2022).
Writing Assignment #3
Writing Assignment #3
Within this primary article, a few characteristics that were found in the process of crossing over within wheat and rye were studied and reported. Researchers studied a wheat that have a chromosome set that’s composed of either two or more chromosomes sets that were derived from either more or less complete from other species; this is what we consider allopolyploid. It was reported that three pairs of homoeologous genomes were what this allopolyploid wheat carried during this experiment; however, the meiotic pairing that it contained was more diploid-like, 2n. As a result, the pairing homoeologous (Ph) system is held to a tight restriction when it comes to chromosome pairing. This Ph1 that was researched, is located at a locus, in which if this pairing homoeologous were to be disabled and not active, it would allow a successful pairing between homoeologous. It is quite often that this process is used within certain tasks, such as chromosome engineering, in order to transfer genetic information from one species to another that would result in hybridization.
Looking further into the study that was performed, researchers recorded and analyzed four crossing over points within four sets of the Ph1b between the allopolyploid wheat, and three wheat and rye homoeologous chromosomes as well. Once all the correct data was collected, the four crossing over points were compared to homologues of wheat that were used a standard.
After the experiment was thoroughly completed, it was analyzed that Ph1 locus has control over homologues going through the process of crossing over. Also, it was observed that the general patters that the homologues with the Ph1 locus and homoeologous with the Ph1b crossing over are identical.
When comparing the four checkpoints that were analyzed to the wheat standard that was used, the homoeologous crossovers occurred in the correct range of frequency. Although researches did not find any DNA sequence characteristics by the locus; there was a difference of frequency that was found between the two pairing homoeologous that were studied. By the conclusion of this report, it was found that the homoeologous with the Ph1b had the ability to recognize similarities within the DNA sequences of the chromosomes, while the process of crossing over was seen as inactive in DNA sequences that were similar.
Writing Assignment #2
Writing Assignment #2
Primary Peer-Reviewed Article: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tpj.15140
Citation: Fan Chaolan, Hao Ming, Jia Zhenyu, Neri Christian, Chen Xuem Chen Wenshuai, Liu Dengcai, Lukaszewski Adam J. Some Characteristics of crossing over in induced recombination between chromosomes of wheat and rye. The Plant jounal: for cell and molecular biology. 105, 1665-1676 (2020).
Writing Assignment #1
Primary vs. Review Articles
When it comes to researching, especially as a college student, being able to refer back to multiple credible sources is sometimes, if not always required. Creating references are not recommended or required just to avoid plagiarism. Citing sources is significant not only to give to credit to such researchers and their ideas, but also to base your research or persuasive paper on credible sources and show that you’ve done proper research. However, being aware of which sources to use and when to cite them is the first step to correctly establishing credible sources.
Primary sources can be described as any authentic reading article, research, or report. Most primary sources include a summary of what the source may be about, introduce a brief preview of what to expect from that specific source, and give information on such conclusions or conversations that may have arose from the subject.
On the contrary, review articles and/or sources are classified as sources that have already been diligently reviewed, by individuals such as peers, and then has to opportunity to advance to the publication process. These types of articles are perfect for when an individual, such as a student, wants to expand their knowledge on a certain research topic that they might not be either familiar and/or confident with.
Furthering the research between primary and review articles, there was a task given to attempt to select which article could be seen as a primary article and which could be seen as a review article. After analyzing these two articles that were given; it was easy to perceive that the article entitled, “Permanent Inactivation of Huntington’s Disease Mutation by Personalization Allele-specific CRISPR/Cas9,” could be labeled as the primary article. It was pretty unchallenging to recognize that the second article that was given was seen as a primary article simply because there was more of an “overview” of the article. It included such headings as “introduction,” and “results,” which are great indicators of primary articles that were previously discussed. On the other hand, the first article entitled, “Huntington’s Disease: Mechanisms of Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Strategies,” could be perceived as the review article. This article could be seen as a review article because not only does the reading give much more information of the subject, but also gives insight to other discussions and perspectives that were given.