Food Irradiation Essay Example for Free

Food Irradiation Essay Food irradiation has the longest history, more than 40 years, of scientific research and testing of any food technology before approval. Research has been comprehensive, and has included wholesomeness, toxicological, and microbiological evaluation. Worldwide, 38 countries permit irradiation of food, and more than 28 billion lb of food is irradiated annually in Europe. It is important to note that food irradiation has a pretty remarkable list of national and international endorsements: ADA, American Council on Science and Health, American Medical Association, Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, International Atomic Energy Agency, Institute of Food Technologists, Scientific Committee of the European Union, United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), and the World Health Organization (WHO). Although the US food supply has achieved a high level of safety, microbiological hazards exist. Because foods may contain pathogens, mishandling, including improper cooking, can result in food-born illness. Irradiation has been identified as one solution that enhances food safety through the reduction of potential pathogens and has been recommended as part of a comprehensive program to enhance food safety. However, food irradiation does not replace proper food handling. So the handling of foods processed by irradiation should be governed by the same food safety precautions as all other foods. Food irradiation cannot enhance the quality of a food that is not fresh, or prevent contamination that occurs after irradiation during storage or preparation. But, treating foods with the irradiation of gamma rays offers benefits to consumers, retailers, and food manufacturers such as improved microbiological quality, replacement of chemical treatments, and extended shelf life. The spices and fumigant sprays used on fruits can be limited and eliminated through the use of irradiation. This improves the quality of the fruit. Pathogens in raw poultry or meat can be reduced by a dose of radiation. Also, smaller doses can disinfest grain and produce and can slow down the natural aging of fruit and vegetables. This all results in the reduced use or elimination of chemical treatments and proves that irradiated foods closely resemble foods in their fresh state. Irradiation has been compared with pasteurization because it destroys pathogenic bacteria. Because irradiation does not greatly raise the temperature of the food being processed, nutrient losses are small and are often much less than nutrient losses associated with other methods of preservation, such as canning, drying, and heat pasteurization and sterilization. Proteins, fats and carbohydrates are not notably affected by irradiation. But certain vitamins are sensitive to food irradiation. Yet, nutrient losses can be minimized by irradiating food in an oxygen-free environment or in a frozen state. According to the Ames, Iowa Council for Agriculture Science and Technology Task Force Report No. 115, consumers consistently rate irradiated fruit as equal or better than non-irradiated fruits in appearance, freshness, and taste. With all of the facts listed above, it is obvious that irradiated foods are the best option instead of harmful chemical products. These chemicals usage and harm are a result of not using food irradiation to benefit consumers. And in an era of increasing concern about food safety, consumers must understand that irradiation is one method of enhancing an already safe food supply.

The Greatest Medical Breakthrough?the use of Pluripotent Stem Cells Ess

An Assessment of The Greatest Medical Breakthrough the use of Pluripotent Stem Cells A critical review of the pro and con analysis, of arguably, the most controversial issue of the 21st century—the use of pluripotent stems cells. In addition, the ensuing synthesis and prescription based upon empirical data and critical thinking. Given the enormous promise of pluripotent stem cells to the development of new treatments for the most devastating diseases, we believe our scientific researchers and medical professionals should be permitted and encouraged to simultaneously pursue pluripotent stem cell research. Further, the ban on federal funding of research on new stem cell lines should be overturn, allowing doctors and scientists to explore their full potential with the appropriate ethical oversight. An Assessment of The Greatest Medical Breakthrough—the use of Pluripotent Stem Cells   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thesis: The greatest medical breakthrough in any lifetime—the use of pluripotent stems cells.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Background: Stem cell research continues to be a controversial issue. Stem cells are cells that have a particular function, like blood stem cells whose function is to make different types of blood cells or skin stem cells whose function is to make various types of skin cells. Stem cells evolve from pluripotent stem cells, cells that makeup the inner cell mass of the embryonic blastocell. As the pluripotent stem cells specialize, they form stem cells with the specific kinds of purposes mentioned above. Stem cells are controversial because the most useful variety of stem cells comes from embryos at the blastocyst stage, meaning the cells are taken from embryos of aborted fetuses or from surplus embryos left over from In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Despite such controversy, many researchers and medical professionals argue that pluripotent embryos have â€Å"the potential to revolutionize the practice of medicine and improve the quality and length of life† for m illions of individuals (NIH, 2002, p. 1). For these reasons, the use of pluripotent stem cells potentially represent the greatest medical breakthrough of any era in history and federal funding for such research must be approved.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pro Analysis: The unique ability of embryonic pluripotent stem cells shows tremendous medical prom... ...al, critical and necessary. Grigg, W. N. (2002). Embryonic stem cell research could have dangerous   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  consequences. Medicine. Retrieved Aug 13, 2004, from Opposing   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Viewpoints Resource Center, 1-4. Discusses the nuances, implications and basis for President Bush’s position on harvesting of organs and tissues. Explains President Bush’s cautionary approach to stem cell research and the use of federal funding. Confirms that there is no proven, scientific advantage of using embryonic stem cells instead of pluripotent adult cells. National Institutes of Health (NIH). (2002). Embryonic stem cell research is beneficial. Human Embryonic Experimentation. Retrieved Aug 13, 2004, from Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center, 1-6. Discusses the importance of pluripotent stem cells and how they are derived. Analyzes how pluripotent stem cells can be potentially applied. Evaluates the inherent limitations associated with adult stem cells. Explains how isolating pluripotent cells offer useful insight into cell processes, such as cancer and birth defects and will lead to the fundamental errors that cause debilitating illnesses.

As sociology coursework – effects of a fatherless childhood

I chose this area of study because I noticed that compared with personal knowledge, the New Right Ideology appears to exaggerate how fatherless upbringings affect children. Amongst my peers there are people raised in lone parent and nuclear families, and members of both groups experience similar amounts of problems and share similar social values, unlike Rebecca O'Neill's conclusion that children from lone parent families are more likely to have underage sex due to a lack of parental control. (100 words) Contexts and Concepts In 1993, Olson and Haynes conducted a study of American lone parent families. The results led to them identifying seven strengths of these families, six were relevant to my research. The first was that lone parents accepted the responsibilities of their roles and problems were always solved. The second was prioritisation of the parental role, meaning parents did not have to split attention. The third strength was discipline, proving children did not go without discipline and they knew how to behave in society. The fourth was open communication, meaning children would feel able to talk to parents, preventing long term emotional problems. Parental self nurturance was the fifth strength. The final relevant strength was the rituals and traditions which meant the children's lives had structure and they did not miss out on things that nuclear families are thought to have more of, such as family holidays. Olson and Hayes proved the lone parent family to be beneficial to both parents and children, showing no deprivation of a second role model in the home to instil things such as social values and discipline. This is very relevant to what I aim to prove. In September 2002, Rebecca O'Neill conducted the study, â€Å"Experiments in Living: The Fatherless Family†, concerning lone-mother parenting, as a result of birth outside marriage, divorce or changes in marriage or cohabitation. She researched the effects of a fatherless upbringing on the children of fatherless families and adults who had been raised in fatherless families. When studying the effects on children, O'Neill found they were likely to suffer emotional problems. She found that young teenagers were likely to take illegal substances, commit crimes and have sex before marriage, activities linked to socialisation and discipline in the home. O'Neill's study of adults raised by lone mothers showed them to be less likely to gain qualifications and become employed, meaning they were more likely to be unemployed and depend on the state for benefits, therefore continuing the dependency culture and socialising children to think it is okay to depend on the state. O'Neill's resu lts also showed adults from lone-parent families were less likely to marry and more likely to commit crimes. The conclusions of this study are very supportive of the New Right ideology, in that the best environment for a child to be raised in is the traditional nuclear family including mother and father, I seek to prove this wrong. (400 words) Main Research Method My interviews will be unstructured, as it would be the most relevant way of gaining qualitative results, which are useful for finding out the opinions and emotions of interviewees, leading to a conclusion about personal social values. Using unstructured interviews would be significant because each person would have individual values, ones which they may not be able to fully express with structured interviews. Unstructured interviews would also mean the interviewees could talk about things that are relevant which I had not thought about prior to the interviews. The interviews will still have slight structure, in that I will be taking an active approach in engaging the interviewees in conversation about points I would like to cover for my research. I feel that an active approach would be useful as an interviewee engaged in conversation would probably be more likely to talk about their opinions and create a sense of friendship and trust. These may be needed to allow the interviewee to feel comfortable about topics such as sex, intoxicant use and criminal activity, things which they may otherwise consider as taboo. These topics are relevant to the social values outlined by O'Neill, but if they are not probed about, they could easily go unmentioned. I will operationalise concepts by explaining their definitions, which will avoid responses being affected by lack of understanding. My sample will be of 140 students at my school, 20 from each year group, half of whom will be from lone parent families and half of whom will be from nuclear families. Doing a split sample will allow me to show the similarities between the groups in terms of social values, emotional stability and educational attainment. The sample will be of pupils at my school, as finding interviewees will be easier and it would be cost efficient, with less travelling needed, also leading to a saving of time. My sample will be voluntary, perhaps through advertisement. I would ask for voluntary interviewees who would openly talk about family matters. This sampling method would be suitable for my research because the interviews will be about some family matters, illegal activities and emotional subjects. These things can be hard for some people to talk about, so asking people to volunteer would be better than producing a random sample of which some people would feel uneasy talking about the covered issues. (391 words) Potential Problems As with any study, potential problems can be found in using unstructured interviews. Ethical issues can cause problems such as privacy being invaded. Some interviewees may reveal information they did not intend to reveal at first, due to the informal nature of the interviews. Another problem is the moral dilemma I will be faced with if an interviewee reveals information that indicates they are at risk of harm or that they are committing serious crimes. Would it be right for me to breach confidentiality and get local authorities involved? I will also need to find ways of ensuring my interviewees come to no emotional harm as a result of the interviews. Validity may be difficult to ensure. Due to my method's informal nature, I may find myself making comments or asking questions that are biased, influencing interviewee responses. Also affecting validity is the interviewee. Some may have bad memories, and report things differently to what they are, others may conform to social desirability and make statements which are untrue, just to have themselves perceived in a certain way. This may also affect how reliable responses are when coming to a conclusion. The research method will be free in terms of money, but not time. Realistically, for me to get the maximum information out of interviewees, I would need to spend at least an hour with each. But, that would take at least a month if all were to be done in school hours. Therefore, I will only probably get half an hour with each interviewee. My method also has the disadvantage that general conversing in unstructured interviews could lead to the discussion of irrelevant topics. My sample could cause a problem of the small group I use not being representative of youths of other ages or social backgrounds.

What Is Real Analysis in Economics

What do you learn in a real analysis course? What do you need to know before you take a real analysis course? Why is taking a real analysis course helpful if you’re planning to do graduate work in economics? There are a lot of questions that might be running through your head if youre unfamiliar with real analysis or havent actually taken a real analysis course. What Is Taught in a Real Analysis Course We can get a feel for what is taught in a real analysis course by taking a look at a couple of real analysis course descriptions. Here’s one from Margie Hall at Stetson University: Real analysis is a large field of mathematics based on the properties of the real numbers and the ideas of sets, functions, and limits. It is the theory of calculus, differential equations, and probability, and it is more. A study of real analysis allows for an appreciation of the many interconnections with other mathematical areas. A slightly more complex description is given by Steve Zelditch at Johns Hopkins University: Real Analysis is an enormous field with applications to many areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, it has applications to any setting where one integrates functions, ranging from harmonic analysis on Euclidean space to partial differential equations on manifolds, from representation theory to number theory, from probability theory to integral geometry, from ergodic theory to quantum mechanics. As you can see, real analysis is a somewhat theoretical field that is closely related to mathematical concepts used in most branches of economics such as calculus and probability theory. Common Prerequisites of Real Analysis To be comfortable in a real analysis course, you should have a good background in calculus first. In the book Intermediate Analysis John M.H. Olmstead recommends taking real analysis fairly early in one’s academic career: ...a student of mathematics should properly begin to make his acquaintance with the tools of analysis as soon as possible after the completion of the first course in calculus There are two key reasons why those entering a graduate program in economics should have a strong background in real analysis: Topics covered in real analysis, such as differential equations and probability theory are used extensively in economics.Graduate students in economics will commonly be asked to write and understand mathematical proofs, skills which are taught in real analysis courses. Prof. Olmstead saw practicing proofs as one of the core objectives of any real analysis course: In particular, the student should be encouraged to prove (in full detail) statements which previously he has been persuaded to accept because of their immediate obviousness. Thus, if a real analysis course is not available at your college or university, we highly recommend taking a course in how to write mathematical proofs, which the mathematics departments of most schools offer.