Bioinformatics and molecular modelling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Bioinformatics and molecular modelling - Essay Example Plant lipases are often considered to be involved in regulating certain plant growths and developments (Bos and Laxminarayan, 2011; 42). They are mainly found in seeds where triglycerides are stored in the form of intracellular structures or the oil bodies. Lipases usually hydrolyze triglycerides to fatty acids and glycerol that produces energy needed for seed germination. The plant lapses are usually classified into three main groups with the first group consisting of the triacylglycerol hydrolases that are mainly found in seeds. Their study is vital since they are responsible for seed alteration especially during storage. The second group is the acylhydrolases that are found in various plant tissues. They often exhibit limited specificity for their substrates; therefore, they are unable to hydrolyze triglycerides. However, they are cable to catalyze some esterification processes or reactions (Appel and Feytmans, 2009; p. 68). The profound acylhydrolases include phospholipases A and B, sulfolipases, glycolipases, and monoglyceride lipases. The last group in this category is the phosphorlipases that involve plant metabolism, degradation, and rearrangement. Other than the above classification, the recent studies have led to different classification of lipases based on comparison of the sequences of their amino acid among other fundamental biological and physicochemical properties (Gupta, 2007; 34). This modern classification led to eleven subfamilies. Despite being a member of many protein families, the lipases often have similar architecture that is described by the ?-hydrolase fold. The activities of all lipases often rely on the catalytic triad that is usually fromed by the Asp, Ser, and His residues. In the sequence of the amino acid especially involving ?/? hydrolases, these three residues often follow the user-Asp-His order. Additionally, lipases often share the consensus sequence defined by the Gly-Xaa-Ser-Xaa-Gly where X may be a residue of an amino acid (Bos and Laxminarayan, 2011; p. 33). The three dimensional structure of any protein molecule often provides valuable insight into the molecular function, organization, docking stimulation, and the effective designing of drug experiments. The lack of an experimentally determined crystal structure, the homology modeling may be used to provide an opportunity in obtaining a reasonable 3D model. Currently, the 3D models often provide a perfect means of predicting the structure of biomolecules since it yields models that are suitable for a wide application spectrum that are structurally based thereby providing molecular design for mechanism investigation. The 3D approach is capable of providing a reasonable structure model that is often related to template that shares more than 25 percent sequence identity. An Arabidopsis thaliana lipase model is greatly proposed to investigate the model organism mainly in the plant biology since it is relatively small and and it is genetically tractable genome. Methods The Target and Template Proteins The model is perfect in determining adequate template for the homology modeling for the Arabidopsis thaliana. This sequence allows the alignment of amino acid sequence against the protein data bank (PDB) and this is performed by means of BLAST algorithm. According to the sequence algorithm, both the template (1HLG) and the target share 31 percent of the sequence identity.

Unethical Business Research Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Unethical Business Research Practice - Essay Example Unethical Business Research Practice The application of moral and ethical principles sin business is vital for organizational success. Background to the Trovan Case In 1996, Nigeria encountered an outbreak of Cerebral Spinal meningitis, the worst public health crisis that the country has ever faced (Edwards par 1). During the crisis, 1500 people succumbed to the disease. A number of non-governmental organizations including Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) reached out to the people in need faced (Gupta par 1). The organization treated well over 11500 infected individuals. A few weeks following the outbreak, Pfizer, the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, sent its employees to conduct clinical trials with its newly developed brand of antibiotics Trovafloxacin (Trovan ®). Pfizer’s intention seemingly was upright. It sought to provide Nigeria with a life saving, cheap, innovative and less painful antibiotic to counter the dreadful disease. The company stated that the medicine could effectively treat mening ococcal meningitis in adults and children. The company engaged a sample of the affected population in a study, featuring about 200 children (Gupta par 2). During the study 50% of the children sampled were treated with Trovafloxacin while the rest were treated with Ceftriaxon, the ‘best practice medication’. The study saw the death of 11 children, members of the study group. Several others suffered physical and mental disorders in the course of or after receiving treatment. What Unethical Research Behavior was involved? Pfizer in seeking to find a solution to the problem facing Nigeria, failed to observe crucial research requirements. For one, the organization did not pay attention to the issue of informed consent. The company involved a sample of children in the study without having their parents or guardians consent to their research activities. This for a fact goes against ethical standards when carrying out studies that involve children or people who are mentally ret arded. Who Were the Injured Parties? In the Trovan case, the injured persons were the children who were subjected to the clinical trials without parental (and guardian) consent. All the children who were included in the study, in this respect suffered injury although those who received the â€Å"best practice† medicine may not have suffered physically or mentally. Effects of the Unethical Behavior on the Organization, the Individual, and Society As previously noted, the Pfizer study resulted in the death of 11 children. Many other children suffered physical and mental disorders following the study. Parents and relatives to the children suffered great loss having lost their loved ones. Others possibly incurred more medical costs and suffered psychologically from the results of the study. Pfizer as a company on the other hand has suffered loss in respect of the litigation. The Nigerian government launched a suit against Pfizer claiming a total of seven billion US dollars (Edwar ds par 1). This amount is demanded in compensation for the victims and their relatives. The company is bound to lose a lot of cash after the case, pending in court to-date, is concluded. Yet again, the company’s reputation was negatively affected with many customers losing favour with the company. In fact, the drug has been banned in Europe and is restrictively used in North America. How Could the Unethical Behavior be Avoided or Resolved? The damage caused to the children and their relatives related mainly to lack of informed conse

Case study Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Case study - Research Paper Example ng to firing of Ron Johnson, CEO within the first 17 months of operation the company is disturbed by trying to reorganize as it strives to remain relevant which has not been very easy. The company has been in operational for over 100 years. Its YOY revenues showed a 12% decline from USD 3.02 billion in 2012 to USD 2.66 billion in 2Q2013. The reason behind the declining trend is pegged on an unsuccessful strategy to change the business model. The company attempted to replace frequent discounts and promotions that were being offered and this was immediately followed by sharp lower sales, job cuts and high cash burns (Gilbertson, Mark & Daniel 142). The company default probability has sharply risen based on its weaker operating performance. The year probability of default rose to 8.5% from 0.4% in October 2012 showing a 2000% rise. JC Penny is ranked top as the riskiest Company based on the comparison of its 8.5% EDF measure that is calculated to be 101 times the median of the USD department Stores industry sector. This increase in the Company’s one year EDF is attached to the increases in financial risk or market leverage and its business risks also referred to as asset volatility (Gilbertson, Mark & Daniel 156). Its market leverage is analyzed to have more than doubled in the previous years with current figure estimated to be 69.2% which further affirms its riskiness. The failed attempted transformation of the model by the then company CEO, Johnson resulted into a sudden rise in business risks. The firm’s asset volatility rose to 24.4% from 19.5% between 2013 April and July 2012. From the IFE chart above we realize that the company scores about 2.52 which is almost the normal average requirement of 2.50. This means that the company is internal position is not good because it ought to have above the average (Gilbertson, Claudia, Mark, and Daniel 91). This further retaliate the earlier revelation by the growth ratios that the J.C Company is heading for bad

Group WIKI Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Group WIKI - Assignment Example Prevention includes recreational treatment methods that will teach them on how to be much more in control of their lives and choices they make including the friendship they keep. The case study of the 12 year old girl with substance abuse problem will also benefit more from having a strong social support system from the parents and guardians as the girl has the mother, she should try to provide a social support after the rehabilitation (Gregg, 2012). According to the journal article, nurses are the first to discover about older people that may be undergoing domestic abuse without them even having the knowledge about it taking place. The best way to handle such situations is for the one that discovers the domestic violence to find ways to address it as soon as they can to protect the one being abused with or without their knowledge. In this case about the elderly couple, the man needs help from the lady as he seems to be undergoing domestic violence (McDowall, 2010). Aradilla-Herrero, A., Tomas-Sabado, J. & Gomez-Benito, J. (2014, April 23). Associations between emotional intelligence, depression and suicide risk in nursing students. Nurse Education Today, 34(4):

Vehicle Steering Wheel Heart Rate Monitor Assignment

Vehicle Steering Wheel Heart Rate Monitor - Assignment Example The system would be configured to contact emergency medical services providing the location of the patient and it can apply brakes to vehicle to prevent an accident. This system will require the following components for its successful implementation. The first one is a device that reads the driver’s heart rate from the grip of the steering wheel. These devices function by either counting pulses or recording the electrocardiogram signal. Secondly, it will be necessary to have a microcontroller for purposes of analyzing and processing signals from the device that records the heart rate. Thirdly, a device for providing voice alerts to the drowsy driver would be necessary. Similarly, a system mean for use by persons with medical conditions would require a GSM gadget for making calls to the emergency doctor would be required. It is also possible to have the alerting and medical emergency systems integrated into a single system. Figure 1: A block diagram for a vehicle’s steer ing wheel with a heart rate monitor The core of this system is the microcontroller. For the microcontroller to provide the intended functionalities, it has to be loaded with appropriate software. Such software can be written in a programming language such as C or C++. The program will be checking the input from the heart rate monitoring device and determining the appropriate output for the system if any output is required. For instance, if the heart beat reaches a level indicating that a driver is asleep, the microcontroller should send the appropriate signal to the voice alert system. This system has the benefit of saving lives in various ways. Firstly, the system reduces the chances of an accident due to a driver sleeping while driving. Without this system, there are chances of the driver causing an accident, which can result in the loss of his life, the lives of other people such as pedestrians or his life with that of another person. Secondly, the system, if implemented to monit or cardiac arrests, can help save the life of a patient by contacting a doctor immediately on behalf of the driver. Moreover, this system could also act on the brake system of the vehicle, hence preventing an accident from occurring. As a result, this would save lives and prevent of damage to property. Problems The two major problems that can be associated with drowsy drivers are the possibility of freewheeling as he or she falls asleep and the variation of blood pressure with different drivers, who use such a vehicle, during sleep. Considering that the heart beat can reduce with a percentage between ten and twenty, the system can provide wrong outputs for different drivers using the same car. For instance, this system could be installed on a car whose normal blood pressure is 130/80 mmHg, which reduces by 20% when he is drowsy. Therefore, the blood pressure for this driver when he is asleep would be 104/64 mmHg. The system could be configured to alert this driver that he is dosing off when his blood pressure reduces by about fifteen percent, whose numerical value is 111/68 mmHg. However, if a different person drives the car that has this system installed, the system could provide false outputs. For example, let us assume that the new driver has his blood pressure

Developing work with children and young people Essay

Developing work with children and young people - Essay Example .. is underpinned in working with the youth. Compassion entails the possession of both sympathy and empathy; sympathy makes the compassionate worker deeply aware of the plight of others, while empathy is the aspect of willing to relieve the plight. This study will discuss this quote in relation to the values central to working with children and the youth. This will be in terms of both theory and practice in several aspects of child and youth work. One of the values of modern care work with children and youth is the person-centered practice (National Services Framework 2004). This value is a response towards the failures in previous welfare and social services work which approached the practice from a top-down approach. In the previous approach, all the power rested in the care system and policy makers, with the service users themselves relegated to mere recipients. Decision making and execution alongside policy formulation happened without their input. However, contemporary care work appreciates the importance of making services more responsive to the user’s needs. Hence, empowering the service user - in this case children and youths - to contribute constructively is essential. This shift involves gathering insight from the user and providing them with the relevant information. The shift towards person-centered practice places a great deal of weight on the interaction happening between the worker and the child/youth; i t is the point of interaction that proves indispensable for the success of the person-centred approach. The worker has to discern the needs, challenges and strengths from the perspective of the user. Hence, it is absolutely necessary for the care worker to be compassionate so as to maximise the value of the interaction and understand the child’s world. As already stated, compassion involves being aware of the experiences of others; hence the compassionate worker is a strength to the

The reforms made during the reign of terror helped france. Essay Example for Free

The reforms made during the reign of terror helped france. Essay Maximilien Franpis Marie Isidore Robespierre (PA: [ma. ksi. mi. lJE fBd. swa ma. Bi i. zi. d0B da BO. bES. pJEB]; 6 May 1758 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and politician, and one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Estates-General, the Constituent Assembly and the Jacobin Club Oacobin leader during the Reign of Terror), he advocated against the death penalty and for the abolition of slavery, while supporting equality of rights, universal suffrage and the establishment of a republic. He opposed war with Austria and the possibility of a coup by the Marquis de Lafayette. As a member of the Committee of Public Safety, he was an important fgure during the period of the Revolution commonly known as the Reign of Terror, which ended a few months after his arrest and execution in July 1794. Influenced by 18th-century Enlightenment philosophes such as Rousseau and Montesquieu, he was a capable articulator of the beliefs of the left- wing bourgeoisie. His supporters called him The Incorruptible, while his adversaries called him dictateur sanguinaire (bloodthirsty dictator). His reputation has gone through cycles. It peaked in the 1920s when the influential French historian Albert Mathiez rejected the common view of Robespierre as demagogic, dictatorial, and fanatical. Mathiez argued he was an eloquent spokesman for the poor and oppressed, an enemy of royalist intrigues, a vigilant adversary of dishonest and corrupt politicians, a guardian of the French Republic, an intrepid leader of the French Revolutionary government, and a prophet of a socially responsible state. l] In recent decades his reputation has suffered from his association with radical purification of politics by the killing of his Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 Early politics 3 Jacobin Club 4 Opposition to war with Austria