Anti-aging Pathway Questioned - BioSc200

http://the-scientist.com/2011/09/21/anti-aging-pathway-questioned/

            At one point, it was concluded with research that sirtuins were a large part in the ability to increase a lifetime. Different experiments with worms and flies showed that with an increase in the protein, the length of their lifetime was expanded. The question has now arisen that this was a false find. When researchers went back to expand on the earlier find, similar results cannot be produced. Many agree that the increase of sirtuins does in fact assist in the longing of the lives of the animals, however, question the actual importance of the proteins. Other variables have been found to help – such as diet, lower numbers of calories, genetic background – so the question as to where sirtuins actually is needed is now coming about. Another worry that researchers have gained is, even if the finding is true, is it going to be the same for humans. With the majority of the tests done on worms and flies, the comparison for human life is difficult. Because of this, the need of more tests on mice is raised.  If such results can in fact be proven, scientists hope to eventually create pills for humans to take that will increase the daily production of sirtuin proteins and will lead to longer lives.

            Even if it cannot be fully proven that an increase in sirtuin pills increases the longetivity of a human life, I think that the finding that they are at least helping SOMETHING could be quite helpful. The proteins may not be the actual reasoning for the longer lives, but they obviously have something to do with it. All of the other possibilities that the researchers are questioning have been related to or coinciding with the higher number of proteins, which I think says something! Research could be continued and moved to mice so there can be a conclusion made. Even if it just increases health, it could be very beneficial to the human race. The conclusion should be sure however, so there are no harmful effects if the proposed anti-aging pill is produced. Again, this pill could be an interesting aid to humans. Although the pills would not be a mandatory buy, they could be there for those who wish to live longer. The average life of a human has decreased drastically from earlier years, so it would be interesting to see what such pills could do to the average. Age is something that I think many people fear and attempt to stall, so such research could be helpful to many people. Different from other research areas that are much more of a choice (genetics, etc.), this could be something to benefit a much larger audience. I am personally very interested to see what it found in later months/years about such a hypothesis.

The Crying...Chapters 2&3

Chapters 2 and 3 continued Chapter 1's trend of foreshadowing. As seen in the first chapter, Oedipa is once again seen being tempted to be unfaithful in her marriage - this time, however, is with another lawyer that is helping her go through Pierce's stuff. The affair with Metzger (the lawyer) is a large part of both chapters. It begins with the two watching a movie that Metzger was in as a boy. Oedipa begins to ask questions about the outcome of the movie to Metzger, who in return turns the questions into a strip game. Oedipa enters the game with much hesitation, even going to the bathroom to put on extra layers. This could possibly be compared to her life. It has been noticed that Oedipa has a suffering self esteem and lives a life that is not necessarily first choice to her. This is exemplified by both the continuing reference to her locked away like Rapunzel and her comparison to the LA interstate as a vein. She thinks to herself that the town would "be no less turned on for her absence." Oedipa has so far been pictured as a character of several internal struggles. Her relationship with Pierce is one thing that is still a mystery to me, but is something that i can see being a large cause for all of her unhappiness. When she asks Metzger about things that Pierce told him about her, he responds with the statement of "you wouldn't be easy." This causes Oedipa to become very upset and left me with several questions. Why did her and Pierce not work out? What led her to be with Mucho instead? It is apparent that Pierce is a part of Oedipa's past that was attempted to be shut up, but is not impossible to do so with her being now in charge of his will. Other questions arise in the next chapter as well. The meeting of Mike Fallopian and the talk about his group kind of confused me. I am interested to see both what all his group has of importance to other findings that Oedipa runs into with Pierce's leaving as well as the mystery of the Trystero.

rapier (p 52) - a small sword, especially of the 18th century, having a narrow blade and used for thrusting
"With the tongue impaled on his rapier Ercole runs to a burning torch set in the wall, sets the tongue aflame and waving it around..."  

Cloned Fathers/Insects - BioSc200

Cloned Fathers Mate with Insect Daughters – From Inside

A pest has recently been found in which, during development in the egg, the father’s sperm of the animal is embedded into the eggs tissue. What does this mean? Basically it means that the father is fertilizing the daughter’s eggs internally and without any form of actual sex occurring. This also causes the father to become “both the grandfather and the father of [the daughter’s] offspring.” Scientists worry that this happening will end in almost a domino effect of the pest’s population, which would eventually lead to really having no need for the male population of the species. Although this could be a bad occurrence for later on, studies show that the females of the species could actually benefit for the decreasing needs of males. Again, however, the outcome will have the most effect in later years. Although unknown as to when the spread of such declining of the males will happen, scientists fear that it will cause the species to suffer due to the asexuality – commonly seen to earlier extinction.

I found this topic to be overly interesting. For starters, I am NOT a fan of bugs of any sort – insects being included. My biggest fear for this occurrence is that the population of insects will begin to increase. I am really not very knowledgeable in the insect or reproductive field, however, if something such as this could be found with one species, does it mean that it will become more of a trend in other species? If the way this is happening according to scientists is actually true, I do not see how it really could not happen in every species.  I think the whole process of sex is something that is unbelievable and is such a large branch of science. Without reproduction, think how much less of everything there would be! I think that the part of a newborn (of anything) that is so cool is that two separate individuals created it. If this same instance began spreading, the whole concept of a new creation would be completely altered.

This topic did not necessarily seem to be a huge concern for those studying it quite yet. As of right now, they are all more intrigued as to finding out both how this is happening and how commonly it is happening. One worry that the ones studying it did have was the earlier extinction for the species. If the different animals begin to die off, the food web will be drastically messed up and could become a large chain reaction. It could also result in defects in the species population with possible outcomes affecting anyone encountering them. Who knows what all could spin off? The declined need of males could also become an issue. Although males would not necessarily be needed anymore for the sexual favors in the species, I would think that they would still be needed in order for the animal’s community to work.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/08/110817-insects-sex-hermaphrodites-science-evolution-clones-mate-fathers/

"Fences" - August Wilson

I have actually read "Fences" for another class and have personally enjoyed the play both times. This play is one that I think hits on an area that is in the everyday world, but is attempted to keep quiet and subtle -- the feeling of inadequacy and jealousy. Troy is the main representation in this play of inadequacy. As learned throughout the play, Troy had dreams of becoming a baseball legend and was not given the opportunity to fulfill those dreams. I think that this can be relatable to all. It is a frustrating circumstance to be held back from a dream by obstacles that can really not be removed. Sadly in life, sometimes a different route must be chosen because of the inability to physically accomplish the goals. It is not necessarily always because we are not good enough for the goal but that instead instances keep us from being able to show that we indeed are. Troy is a character that has several interpersonal problems. Like mentioned earlier with this baseball dream failing, he also grew up in a family that was not the most stable and experienced many things in which no child should be introduced to. Troy's past causes him to be a man with much perseverance, however, a man who does not necessarily know how to divide such perseverance. Although Troy tries very hard to be a good provider for his family, he does not see his constant pressure of gratitude in return. He constantly reminds Cory that he gave him life and that "[no]one can else give him that." He does the same thing to Rose using lists of all of the things that he so calls "gives up" for her and their family. In reality though, I think that this is done as a defense mechanism. I think that Troy knows that he is not living up to the potential that he should be and tries to cover up that knowledge with hopes of fooling others around him of how much he helps. 

 A reoccurring situation I have noticed in several of our stories so far in the semester is the role of parents and their individual struggles and impact on the family. Like in many of the other stories, the parents in "Fences" are definitely far from winning any applause. The parent's relationship in the book is not necessarily a bad one (of course other than Troy's cheating), but it is one that more so butts heads. I saw Troy and Rose being a couple that truly did try to find the best in one another and love each other as best as they knew how. This "trying" however, was not successful and caused the two to have several fights. In return, the kids were almost forced to become more distant and the family soon faltered. Unlike Troy, Rose really tries to be a good mother and wife. She is constantly telling the boys that "supper is in the kitchen" or that she'd cook them up something. When not cooking, she is often seen just doing laundry or things around the house. Rose is not heard of complaining about anything until after Troy reveals his cheating to her. After that it is like she just lets go. The audience is then seen that she was also struggling with the same things that Troy was, only in her own ways. She too felt trapped and was using happiness as a daily goal. 

The idea of "Fences" as the title is one that was very well thought out. Fences, as often heard, can be used to either keep people in, or to keep people out (pg 61). The fence in this story I think could be used in both ways. Troy uses even the building of the fence to trap Cory. He constantly tells Cory to help with it, but I felt like as soon as Cory would start to help, Troy gave him another task to delay the project. I can only see this as Troy's attempt to keep Cory at home so he can not become more successful than himself. He also uses the fence to keep things out however. Troy is heard threatening the devil to stay out towards the end of the play. At this point in the play, Troy has just lost his newborn's mother. Like Bono mentions, he thinks that the fence was Rose's way of keeping the family in. As learned later in the story, she most likely could feel Troy slipping away from her. Between that and Cory getting older, I could see her trying to keep things in tact and in an area that seemed reachable to her. 

We all have things that we try to keep hold on to in life. I think that "Fences" recognizes the negative effects that doing so ends up having, which is a very valuable life lesson to learn. Many times, by holding things with a tighter grip, we end up pushing it even farther away in the end. This is seen by several characters in the play - Rose losing Troy, Troy losing everything. 

commenced (p 52) - a small sword, especially of the 18th century, having a narrow blade and used for thrusting.
"He had them leather straps off the mule and commenced to whupping me like there was no tomorrow..." 

Sharks - BioSc200

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/science/06scibooks.html?_r=1&ref=science

Why Vanishing Sharks Deserve Attention, and Even Affection

           Sharks are the stars in shows such as “Shark Week” and movies such as “Jaws” and Into the Blue.” Difference between the shark “stars” and the stars of our human world – the treating of them is just a little different. While our stars are pampered and put on high pedestals, shark stars are tagged, caught, and put in large dinner soups. While sharks are animals that are well recognized and highly heard of, they are not acknowledged as animals in danger. Instead, we see the reverse and consider ourselves in danger when compared with the animal. According to the article, “Why Vanishing Sharks Deserve Attention, and Even Affection,” we as humans may just be in the wrong.

In this article, Sandra Blakeslee distributes her fear for the lowering number, as high as 90 percent, of sharks. This fear held by Blakeslee is followed him a fear of an emotion that rarely comes to mind to most with thought of sharks – affection. She argues that the negative connotation held by many people of sharks is instead a fear that they hold due to images of sharks given off in movies such as “Jaws.” Blakeslee once again sides with the sharks with the fact that only very few species of sharks are actually a threat to humans and that shark attacks are actually very rare. Sharks are given the credit of being the leader of the food chain for the ocean. Because of this, worries arise that with their disappearing, other fish will either multiply to unwanted numbers, such as jellyfish, and others will die off due to an organized food chain and increase of disease. Blakeslee challenges all to understand that the possible endangering of the sharks is an effect that has cumulated from people all over the world. She uses the act of fishing as an example. While as an individual we may only go fishing once every few weeks, several other individuals around the world are doing the same. It is urged for everyone to understand that it all adds up and that the people of the world are hurting themselves by doing this. 

            I found this article very interesting. I personally do not fish, however, I know countless friends of mine that do. I had never thought about the point that Blakeslee makes about everything adding up. Although she does make a good point about the connotation of sharks really being only an outlet of peoples’ fears, I have to slightly disagree with her about them really not being that dangerous. I am a dedicated watcher of Shark Week. I know that this does kind of go back to her insisting that movies and shows are what causes such fears of sharks, however, it is really the only way people are taught about them. I know I have personally never heard anything with sharks in a good connotation. You do not hear of them doing anything, even within the waters, except for eating. This is a situation however, that somewhat puts me on the line. In the real world, we really do need sharks in order to keep the food chain in line. Without sharks, many fish will get to numbers that are excessively high and can ruin the beautiful beaches of our world and make the oceans only the fish’s territory. This could also always create a domino effect and cause other things in the ecosystem to become out of order. As I said before, although I am not big into the fishing and such, I would highly recommend this article to anyone I know that does and really anyone. It is so true in our world that people do not realize the collective effect that we have as humans. Whether it is recycling, hunting, etc., it all will eventually add up and end up only hurting us later on.

           

The Glass Menagerie

I personally enjoyed reading this play. The plot was one that was somewhat foreshadowing, however, never letting a complete guess for the end of the plot to be suspected. One of the main characters of the play, Amanda, is a true depiction of a woman back in the 30's. Amanda's focus is on the attention both her daughter and her family receives from men. I found Amanda's character very intriguing. It is revealed at the beginning of the play that Amanda has been left by her former husband. This happening's effects are shown through all characters of the play. Although Amanda is never shown breaking down or seeming really upset about the rifted marriage, I found her almost like a puzzle with her actions in relevance to this. She is always reminiscing about her past gentleman, which I feel was a way for her to remind both herself and acquaintances that she was capable of being found worth wanting. She is also very controlling again, I feel, in order to try to control things so they can not get out of her grasp. I think the controlling tendency of Amanda is done out of a fear of losing more things. Another character that was greatly affected by the father's leaving, is Amanda's son, Tom. He deals with his father leaving in a complete opposite way of Amanda. Tom is very laid back, not hard working, and does all he can (such as going to the movies, drinking, smoking) to escape from reality. He actually ends up doing the same thing as his father and leaves the family at the end of the play. Without a real authoritative figure, it is his go to.

A question that I did not fully figure out was the choosing for the name of this play. It is revealed towards the end of the play that Amanda's daughter, Laura, makes these glass menageries for fun. I saw this very symbolic. Laura's favorite was one of a unicorn. She talks about she likes that it was different. This is one that is broken (the horn coming off to make it now like all the other horses) after meeting a hopeful gentleman for Laura that turns out to be a let down. After finding out that her hopeful gentleman was actually already involved with someone, Laura gives him the broken glass as a departing gift. I saw this for different possible reasons. One thought I had was almost sarcastic on Laura's part, indicating that he just the same as all other men. After being so nervous about meeting him, it turned out to be something she shouldn't have had to worry about. Another reason was her thanking him for allowing her to see that although she was crippled (symbolized possibly by the unicorn's horn), that that did not make her have to be different from everyone else (symbolized by the normal horses that the broken glass is later put with) with activities she was involved in or with who liked her.

This play could be related to most with the three very diverse main characters. I think we have all been an Amanda at some point, trying to control everything because of fear to lose something we find important. I think we have all experienced Tom moments where we are confused, fed up, and disappointed, so we make ourselves almost numb to as much as possible. Finally, I think we have all been Lauras in the fact of all feeling left out or not good enough at times. A writer who can relate to so many people is, in my opinion, a talented one. Reading this, I could personally think of times where I would have loved to know each of these characters so I had someone to relate to.

"In Dreams Begin Responsibilites" - Schwartz

Delmore Schwartz's short, "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities," was honestly a little difficult for me to fully understand. Although the concept seems to be one that is not too in depth. In this short, the nararrator is "at" a movie theater watching a movie on his parents' lives. At the beginning, the narrarator is describing every small detail of his father - his emotions, his location, his attire - as if he is trying to understand what his father is really all about. I also noticed the repetition of "my father" at the beginning of multiple paragraphs. I think this emphasizes the boy's watching him and attempt of understanding him as an authoritative figure. The short eventually moves on to explain more on the topic of his mother and father together, however still focusing slightly on his father more. He focuses on where his parents go and what they do. He also repeatedly compares his parents' insights to his own. For example, right before the movie messes up it it noted that his father says something that makes his mother giggle, which happens to be the same time that his unhappiness becomes greater. The same happens in other parts of the short, such as when they are on the boardwalk with the sunlight. These emotions shown by the writer hint to the reader that an unhappy ending may be approaching. It is obvious that these, what seem "happy" occurances, are nothing more than a bad memory and forewarning to the nararator. As the movie progresses, the parents' relationship seems to flounder. Their moods become more hostile and they seem less happy to be with one another. Twice, the boy yells out during the movie, warning the parents to leave while they can or "it's not too late to change [their] minds." These yell-outs during the movie hint at the boy's insecurities that his parents' (obviously failed) marriage caused him to have. I would take from his actions that the ending of the marriage was not one with a peaceful ending and that caused the son's life to be completely changed.

From the last paragraph and the boy awakening on his 21st birthday, it can be assumed that the boy had possibly passed out due to a drunken evening. With the dream ending with the boy being yelled at about all of his actions affecting everyone around him, it made me wonder if maybe he had been living life in the wrong in order to possibly have an excuse for any failures (in which he maybe feared due to his parents' lives).

I am fortunate enough to have a family that is still all together. I'd be lying if I said that my parents never have their share of arguments, but none are drastic enough to have led to a bad ending of their marriage. I have, however, had friends who have had to experience their parents getting divorced. I think that is truly does take such a toll on kids' lives when that happens. Having to go back and forth between the parents and sometimes even having to choose which one they would rather live with does nothing but add stress and insecurities into the child's life. I may have misunderstood the point of this short, but I think that the way in which the boy wakes up is something that can really be relative to others. I think that it is very easy to get off the correct path and get into situations that we know are not the best. I know that I have personally been in situations before that you really don't see the effect of them until watching a show involving it or, in this case, having a dream. I think either can end up being a major wake up call and can really affect how you see the situation. Going back to the parents' roles in the short, I think it is once again a wake up call to how much adults influence a child's behavior and outlook on life and love. 

paragon (p 63) - a model or pattern of excellence or of a particular excellence
"I finally said to him, Tom - good gracious! - why don't you bring this paragon to supper?"