Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Sickle Cell Disease Essay Example for Free

Sickle Cell Disease Essay Sickle-Cell Anemia is a genetic blood disorder caused by the presence of an abnormal form of hemoglobin. These hemoglobin molecules tend to aggregate after unloading oxygen forming long, rod-like structures that force the red cells to assume a sickle shape. Unlike normal red cells, which are usually smooth and malleable, the sickle red cells cannot squeeze through small blood vessels. When the sickle cells block small blood vessels, the organs are deprived of blood and oxygen. This leads to periodic episodes of pain and damages the vital organs. Sickle red cells die after only about 10 to 20 days. Instead of the usual 120 days because they cannot be replaced fast enough, the blood is chronically short of red cells, causing anemia. The gene for sickle cell anemia must be inherited from both parents for the illness to occur in children. A child with only one copy of the gene may have sickle-cell traits but no symptoms of illness. Normally healthy blood cells are round shaped blood cells, they move through small blood vessels to carry oxygen to all parts of the body. People with sickle-cell disease their blood cells are not round they are become hard and sticky and look like a C-shaped farm tool called a â€Å"sickle†. The sickle cells die early, which causes a constant shortage of red blood cells. Also, when they travel through small blood vessels, they get stuck and clog the blood flow. This can cause pain and other serious problems like infection, acute chest syndrome and stroke. Some of the common names for sickle-c ell disease are HbS disease, Hemoglobin S Disease, SCD, Sickle cell disorders, Sickle disorder due to hemoglobin S, and Anemia-Sickle Cell; Hemoglobin SS Disease (Hb SS). Sickle-cell disease is mostly inherited by African Americans, Mediterranean countries; Greece, Turkey, and Italy; the Arabian Peninsula, India, and Spanish-speaking regions; South America, Central America, and parts of the Caribbean. The three most common forms of the disease in the United States are Hemoglobin SS or sickle cell anemia, Hemoglobin SC disease, and Hemoglobin sickle beta-thalassemia (a form of Cooleys anemia). â€Å"Sickle cell disease is the most common inherited blood disorder in the United States, affecting 70,000 to 80,000 Americans. The disease is estimated to occur in 1 in 500 African Americans and 1 in 1,000 to 1,400 Hispanic Americans.† A person with the sickle cell trait does not have (and will never have) sickle cell disease. However, the presence of the trait may impact his/her children. A person with the trait carries one abnormal  hemoglobin gene inherited from one parent (S, E, C, etc.) and one normal hemoglobin gene from the other parent (type A ). Typically, sickle cell trait is the presence of hemoglobin AS.Sickle cell disease is not contagious; you cannot catch it. You inherit it from your parents. If, for example, one parent has normal hemoglobin ( type AA) and the second parent has abnormal hemoglobin ( type AS, or the sickle cell trait), there is a 50% chance that each child will have the sickle cell trait, but they will not have sickle cell disease ( type SS). The symptoms of sickle-cell disease usually occur after the age of 4 months. Painful episodes called crises- lasting hours to days; cause pain in the bone of the back, long bones, and chest. When the anemia becomes more severe, symptoms may be fatigue, paleness, rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, and yellowing of the eyes and skin (jaundice). Younger children with sickle cell anemia have attacks of abdominal pain. Abdominal pain is pain that you feel anywhere between your chest and groin. This is often referred to as the stomach region or belly. These are the symptoms, and sometimes crises can happen once a year or few times every year. The following symptoms may occur because small blood vessels may become blocked by the abnormal cells painful and prolonged erection (priapism), poor eyesight or blindness, problems with thinking or confusion caused by small strokes, and Ulcers on the lower legs (in adolescents and adults). Over time, the spleen no longer works. As a result, people with sickle cell anemia may have symptoms of infections like Bone infection (osteomyelitis), Gallbladder infection (cholecystitis), Lung infection (pneumonia), and Urinary tract infection. Other symptoms may include delayed growth and puberty, and painful joints caused by arthritis. Tests commonly performed to diagnose and monitor patients with sickle cell anemia are Bilirubin, Blood oxygen, Complete blood count (CBC), Hemoglobin electrophoresis, Serum creatinine, Serum potassium, and Sickle cell test. The treatments for people with sickle-cell disease are blood transfusions (may also be given regularly to prevent stroke), pain medicines, plenty of fluids, and Hydroxyurea (Hydrea). Hydroxyurea is a medicine that may help reduce the number of pain episodes (including chest pain and difficulty breathing) in some people. Antibiotics to prevent bacterial infections, which are common in children with sickle cell disease dialysis or kidney transplant for kidney disease, counseling for psychological complications,  gallbladder removal in people with gallstone disease, hip replacement for avascular necrosis of the hip, surgery for eye problems, treatment for overuse or abuse of narcotic pain medicines, and wound care for leg ulcers. For treatment some of the vaccinations are Haemophilus influenza vaccine (Hib), Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), and Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV). There are a few common organizations that support sickle-cell they are American Sickle Cell Anemia Association, National Heart, Blood and Lung Institution, Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, U.S Center of Disease Control Prevention. Many people have been affected by S ickle-Cell Anemia and only a couple are cured. Although African Americans have a high occurrence of Sickle-Cell Anemia (1 in 500 African Americans), many other nationalities suffer from the disease. Sickle-Cell Anemia affects 8 out of 100,000 people worldwide. Sickle-Cell Anemia should start to be noticed, if not throughout the entire world, then at least America. The more awareness there is for this disease, the fewer death rates we will have as a country. Bibliography http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000527.htm http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003120.htm http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/sickle-cell-disease http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/heart/sickle_cell_anemia.html#a_Causes_of_Sickle_Cell_Disease http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/treatments.html

Monday, January 20, 2020

Garage Fraud Essay -- essays research papers

Garage Fraud and How to Prevent It   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Have you ever wondered why it cost you hundreds of dollars to get a belt changed on your car? The answer is simple: Auto-repair fraud. According to Norris and Engel’s book Auto Repair Fraud, the number one consumer complaint in the country is auto repair fraud. Americans pay more than 29 billion dollars a year to service and repair vehicles. According to a three year U.S. Senate sub-committee investigation into the auto repair industry, one-third of all car repair dollars, ten-billion dollars a year, is wasted on inadequate, inept, or corrupt service.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many people are unaware just how much auto-repair fraud, or â€Å"garage fraud† takes place. It can take place anywhere from service stations who may perform light mechanic work, to a Garage which may fix tires, brakes, shocks, or transmissions. People can be taken advantage of in â€Å"garage fraud† in many ways. One way this can happen is by an attendant lying about labor, or the actual amount of time he spent on your vehicle. Another method is by huge markups on replacement parts, or cleaning and painting your old part and selling it back to you. Lastly, the attendant may lie about what is actually wrong with your car and charge you for something far more expensive.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   These frauds take place because many people leave their vehicles unattended at shops or can’t see what is going on inside the garage. Many times a p...

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Guidelines for Proposal Writings

When it comes to the human service field grant funding and the funding programs are both very important to the different organizations and agencies. In the paper it will provide the reader with the different definitions of a needs statement, grants or proposals and quantitative and qualitative data. It will also state what the purpose of a needs assessment is. Further along in the paper the basic format for writing a proposal or grant will be explained. There then will be steps explaining why each of the elements is important. How and where do you use quantitative and qualitative data in a proposal will conclude the paper. A need statement sets the framework for the entire proposal, as it will describe a critical set of conditions or a social need affecting people or things in a specific place at a specific time (Carlson& O’Neal- McElrath, 2008). One of the main purposes of a need assessment is to help assist with some agencies planning. A need statement can be the turning point that will help the funder to give thought on a non- profit request. When it comes to developing a need statement the writer has to address the organization purpose and mission statement. Within the need statement it should generally approach what type of clients their specific organization will or already serving. When there is a need for your specific organization you and the organization have to be well supported and have evidence to back it up. The facts can be on the views or trends found in the experience of doing the work (Carlson & O’Neal- McElrath, 2008). The statement should be easy to understand, by keeping it sweet and simple you can accomplish the goal of making sure the reader understand your true need. When stating your agency need the writer has to make sure there are true facts and good sources. Also never assume and use documents that do not have those legitimate facts. Make sure you state who have spoken on your specific topic, also make sure all data are documented, use touching stories of different individuals for an example and give the funder a clear view of the urgency of your request (Carlson & O’ Neal- McElrath, 2008). When using people to provide the different touching stories within the grant, you have to make sure the agency and the specific individual have data to back up the story. By giving the funder a clear view of your need they will then see how urgent your request is for funds for your specific agency. There is a difference between an assessment and a needs assessment in the examination of learning. A regular assessment will move you forward to academic or professional awards which normally will include measurement of the performance, adequacy by an accessor and information that has been gathered. As for the needs statement it may have some similarities but once again it is mainly based off of professional judgment and data. The need assessment methods are limited by the standards of the assessment but it will eventually fall into the trap of assessing only a narrow range of needs (Learning Needs Assessment, 2013). After you have your need assessment and other things such as the mission and vision statement, you then go on to create the grant or proposal. A grant is an award made to an individual or an institution to support the specific costs of the project implementation or continuation (Grant Writing Guidelines, 2013). Every grant has to make a compelling case. The presentation of the grant must be well spoken on as well as the ideas of the organization. The grant should also be clearly organized, well planned and goal oriented. When the grant has these in order the chance of getting accepted is higher. The basic format for writing a standard grant or proposal includes the following: cover letter, proposal summary or abstract, introduction describing the grant seeker or organization, problem statement or need statement, project objectives, methods or design project evaluation, the future funding and project budget (How to Develop and Write A Grant Proposal, 2007). To start the grant you have the cover letter. On the cover letter it will include who the letter will be addressed to at the funding source. The cover will have the mission of the agency and discuss in which ways their project can add asset to the current goals. Also within the cover letter you should limit the paragraphs to no more than four. In a federal or state grant a cover letter is normally not needed unless they ask for one. The cover letter is important in the grant writing process due to it is your chance to let the funder know up front about the agency goals and to let them know the grant will fulfill the requirements. The introduction of the application will let the agency describe their organization and demonstrate that they are qualified for the project at hand (How to Develop and Write a Grant Proposal, 2007). In this section the history of the organization, goals and mission, how significant it is and the accomplishments and any success stories will be inserted. If the agency have received any endorsements, press coverage or previous grants it should be used as a reference with supporting documents. You also will need to speak on the staff and the list of board directors. The summary part is important due to it is the part where the agency can establish their credibility and get their point across (How to Develop and Write a Grant Proposal, 2007). The next section of the proposal would be the need statement. The need statement is important due to it states the problem that you are addressing and the main reason of your proposal. The need statement which was previously discussed covers the areas as follows: recipients, who they are and how they benefit and receive services, social economic cost, the problem at hand with facts to support, stress what gaps exist in addressing the problem that is talked about in the proposal (How to Develop and Write a Grant Proposal, 2007). Also at the end of the need statement you should explain the time frame of the program to the funder and why securing the funds is critical to your organization. The goals and objective is important to the proposal because it states what your organization hope to achieve. It will also help when you use powerful language that will be persuasive to the reader. The agency should always make sure that all goals and objectives are measureable. Also make sure the objective explains who and what you will be serving. The next part of the grant is the program design. This section shows how the project will work and solve the current problem at hand (How to Develop and Write a Grant Proposal, 2007). Within this section you will have to be explicit, and be able to explain why the methods that you have chosen are the best and how they will make your objectives reachable. Within the program design you will state the supplies such as the equipment services required and the resources for this project. An evaluation plan should be a consideration in every stage of the proposal development (How to Develop And Write a Grant Proposal, 2007). Sometimes the evaluation is where some organizations fall short. The evaluation is important to the proposal due to this is the main part where grant reviewers will look. The evaluation states how you will measure your results for your project. You also as an organization have to make sure methods and the objectives are consistent and explain how you will use the findings. The project sustainability is where the grant funder has funded the agency and now wants to see the results through the project sustainability (How to Develop And Write A Grant Proposal, 2007). In the project sustainability section you and the agency should restate the goals or plans for the project that you are trying to promote. You should also as an agency state how funds will continue to flow in the future for the program. Some of the plans for the agency future could be things such as blueprints of how the plans will work, and include the hiring staff and other contractors if needed. The budget section is very important due to this is where you ask for the money for your organization program. The format of the budget should be clear for the funder to understand. In the budget section it will include personal expenses and project expenses. The budget section should always start with a proposal statement. Generally budgets are divided into two categories one being the personnel cost and the second being the non-personnel cost (How to Develop And Write A Grant Proposal, 2007). In the personnel cost this is where the salaries on the employees come in and the health care as well. The non-personnel section will include utilities, equipment and the rental or the cost of leasing you agency building. When writing a grant you will always use quantitative and qualitative data within your research. Quantitative methods will output hard numbers while qualitative methods use descriptive data (Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation Methods, 2013). Qualitative data can sometimes include audio recordings, photos and other data. Qualitative methods have been used in research to explain specific methods, but can also show examples of the different applications at the same time. Qualitative method can be used in many complex settings for different interactions. Some of the interactions can be among professional groups and different organizations. Qualitative data will help clarify values, language and meanings attributed to people who play different roles in organizations and communities (Qualitative Methods, 2013). Qualitative data are gathered by interviews and observations. The qualitative involve small numbers and can use open ended questionnaires when needed. A strength that qualitative data has is it can gather multiple methods and provide information on more difficult issues. Some of the limitations could be the time it would take to collect the data. Another limitation is it can sometimes be difficult to analyze. As an organization you can collect qualitative data by observation, interviews and focus groups (Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation Methods, 2013). Quantitative data can be analyzed by using statistical methods. Some census, government statistics can include quantitative evaluations. Quantitative can have strengths and weakness as well as Qualitative did. A strength that it has is data that is usually collected is efficient and easy to analyze. One limitation that is has is sometimes the data can be too large to explain some of the complex that issues that will arise. Within the grant for the organization the quantitative can come in handy when it comes to surveys or questionnaires, post-test, existing databases and statistical analysis. Qualitative data will be used for observations, interviews and non- statistical focus groups (Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation Methods, 2013). In the paper it provided the reader with the different definitions of a needs statement, grants or proposals and quantitative and qualitative data. It also stated what the purpose of a needs assessment is. Further along in the paper the basic format for writing a proposal or grant was explained. There then were steps explaining why each of the elements of the grant is important. Then to conclude there was how and where you use quantitative and qualitative data in a proposal. With this information provided in the paper the reader would now be able to complete a successful proposal. References Carlson, M., & O'Neal- McElrath, T. (2008). Winning Grants. Step by Step (3rd ed.). San Francisco, California: Jossey- Bass. How to Develop and Write a Grant Proposal. (2007). Retrieved from http://www.mikulski.senate.gov Grant Writing Guidelines. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.web.riverdeep.net Qualitative Methods. (2013). Retrieved from http://www/ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation Methods. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.civicpartnerships.org

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Into the Wild Chris McCandless- Couragous and Noble Idealist

â€Å"One who formulates, strives after, or attempts to live in accordance with, ideals† is what Funk and Wagnalls Standard College Dictionary describes an idealist as. It is evident that Christopher John McCandless fits this definition in every way: he constructed his own ideals and principles, dreamt up what his consummate existence would pertain, and went for it...head first. This on its own is exceptionally noble, because in order to live out this utopia he envisioned he willingly cut off all of the stability and security that his life at home provided. Contrary to popular belief McCandless was not insane, was not arrogant and seeking praise for his actions, nor did he have a death wish; in actuality he was a noble idealist that acted†¦show more content†¦So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which m ay appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a mans living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. (56-57)† This is what was at the core of McCandless initiative to seek out a simpler life, one free of all of the burdening problems of society. Another key factor was certainly escaping his family, namely his parents, and their ways. Their materialistic ways—which strongly opposed his beliefs—and inability to see eye-to-eye with McCandless had always irked him (108-110). He was surely angry at his parents for being so attached to materialism and their stiff ways; it was no surprise that they had never understood their son. Evidence of his despise for society and cause of yearning to leave it shows when he told Ron: â€Å"Mr. Franz, I think careers are a 20th Century invention and I dont want one. You don’t need to worry about me; I have a college education. I’m not destitute. Im living like this by choice (103).† With this statement one comes to understand