HPV & Cervical Cancer Essay -- HPV Cancer, Cervical Cancer

HPV & Cervical Cancer - What Every Woman Should Know   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I was eighteen years old when I had my first abnormal pap smear. I received a call from my OB/GYN's office and was informed that I had the Human Papilloma Virus show up on my pap smear. This was the first pap smear I had ever had, and I was terrified. The news got worse. I researched this virus and learned that it was actually a sexually transmitted disease that could either cause cervical cancer, or genital warts! I didn’t understand, I had been with my boyfriend for five years and he was my first partner. How could I have contracted a sexually transmitted disease?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I had a biopsy done to test my cervix for cancer. The results were normal, and I was told I would need to have a pap smear done every three months. I followed the doctor’s orders, and within six months had a normal pap smear. At that point, I was nineteen years old. Things resolved and my annual pap smears were normal. That was up until a year ago.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once again, I had an abnormal pap smear. This time however, I was 30. The same procedure was followed, another biopsy of the cervix. This showed no invasive cancer. Three months later I had yet another abnormal reading. This time the results were worse. I was puzzled, and I didn’t understand why after eleven years my problem came back. After researching the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and cervical cancer, I finally found the answers to my questions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, authors of Our Bodies, Ourselves indicates that cervical cancer is the second most common cancer of all women, and the most common cancer in younger women. Women between the ages of 35-55 are the highest group diagnosed. This type of cancer has been linked to the HPV virus. Other risk factors of cervical cancer include the younger your age of your first sexual experience, and the number of sexual partners one has. (634).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cervical cancer can be prevented and treated early by finding pre-cancerous cell changes within the cervix. These cell changes can be found during routine pap smear exams. A pap smear is an exam where a medical instrument called a speculum is inserted into the vagina. The provider then collects cells from the cervix by gently swabbing i... ...;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I am angry at myself for not being more careful when I was younger. Although I was not promiscuous, and I did participate in safe sex with my first boyfriend - I learned the hard way that it only takes one time of unprotected sex to contract HPV. Now, eleven years later I am paying the price for my carelessness. It is my hope that women will learn the seriousness of HPV before they become infected and suffer the consequences for a lifetime.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bibliography American Cancer Society. â€Å"What Causes Cancer of the Cervix?† 22 Aug 05.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.cancer.org Beers, Mark H. MD., Berkow, Robert MD., and Bogin, Robert M. MD. eds. The   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Merck Manual of Medical Information. New York: Pocket Books, 1997. Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, The. Our Bodies, Ourselves - A New   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Edition for a New Era. New York: Touchstone, 2005. United States. Center for Disease Control. STD Facts - Human Papilloma Virus   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  HPV). Washington: 2005. 22 Aug 05.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.cdc.gov/std/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm

Coconut- Tree of Life Essay

The Coconut Tree (Cocos Nucifera L.) is called â€Å"The Tree of Life† because of the endless list of products and by-products derived from its various parts. Food, shelter, fuel – name it, the coconut has it. The coconut industry is considered a major dollar earner that provides livelihood to one-third of the country’s population. Coconut Meat From coco meat can be obtained coco flour, desiccated coconut, coconut milk, coconut chips, candies, bukayo or local sweetened shredded coconut meat, latik copra and animal feeds. Coco chips, which are curved and wrinkled coconut meat, is crisply toasted and salted. It is very popular in Hawaii. Coconut flour can be used as a wheat extender in baking certain products without affecting their appearance or acceptability. The coconut milk is a good protein source. Whole coco milk contains about 22% oil, which accounts for its laxative property. Coconut Oil Copra is dried coconut meat that has a high oil content, as much as 64%. Coconut oil is the most readily digested of all the fats of general use in the world. The oil furnishes about 9,500 calories of energy per kilogram. Its chief competitors are soya bean oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil. Coconut oil retards aging. It counteracts heart, colon, pancreatic and liver tumor inducers. And it is easy to digest. In the detergent industry, coconut oil is very important. Its most outstanding characteristic is its high saponification value in view of the molecular weight of most of the fatty acid glycerides it contains. An advantageous utilization of the coconut oil as a detergent was discovered in a May 1951 study wherein a formulation using coconut oil was found to be an effective sanitizer. Other products from coco oil are soap, lard, coco chemicals, crude oil, pomade, shampoo, margarine, butter and cooking oil. Coconut Leaves Cocnut leaves produce good quality paper pulp, midrib brooms, hats and mats, fruit trays, waste baskets, fans, beautiful midrib decors, lamp shades, placemats, bags and utility roof materials. Coconut Fruit The coconut fruit produces buko, often used for salads, halo-halo( crushed ice with sweetened fruit), sweets and pastries. Buko is of three kinds: mala-kanin, or having the consistency of boiled rice; mala-uhog, mucus-like consistency and ready for eating; and mala-katad, or like leather. The last kind is the one used for making sweets. A mature coconut, or niyog is used in making sweets and special Filipino dishes. The â€Å"sport fruit† of the coconut is the makapuno. Considered a delightful delicacy and largely used for making preserves and ice-cream, it cannot be kept in storage and will not germinate. It has three layers: semi-acid, soft and hard meat. Coconut Water Coconut water is also called liquid endosperm. It is thrown away during copra making and becomes a great waste. Uses of coconut water include: coconut water vinegar; coconut wine; production of the chewy, fiber-rich nata good as a dessert and as alaxative; as a growth factor; and as a substitute for dextrose. Another breakthrough use is in coconut water theraphy to cure renal disorders. â€Å"Bukolysis†, as it is also called, is the medical process of reducing or dissolving urinary stones of the urinary tract systems using buko water from 7 to 9 months old coconuts. Bukolysis is the brainchild of Dr. Eufemio Macalalag Jr., a urologist. For preventive medication, water from one mature coconut consumed daily, could almost guarantee that the formation of stones in the urinary tract will be avoided. To those already afflicted, the coconut water theraphy has been proven to be an inexpensive and effective cure. Coconut water is commonly promoted as an economical thirst quencher, hunger satisfier and medical cure for renal disorders all in one. Using coconut water, a nata de coco-like growth produced after 14 days which, when cooked in syrup, is apopular dessert. When mixed with other ingredients, like the making of fruit salad, it will enhance the flavor of the dish. And whoever said that nata de coco is just for food was wrong. This nata-like growth is dextran and can be made to comply with the specifications for clinical dextran, then we have in the coconut water an important contribution in the atomic defense against radiation sickness. Coconut Husk Coconut husks are made of bristle fiber (10%), mattress fiber (20%) and coir dust and shorts or wastes (70%). The abundance of fiber nakes it good, stable supply for cottage industries that make brushes, doormats, carpets, bags, ropes, yarn fishing nets, and mattresses, etc. Coir fiber can also be used as substitute for jute in making rice, copra, sugar, coffee, bags and sandbags. It is also suitable for making pulp and paper, etc. For the first time, the Philippines can export coir fiber to Japan, Germany and the United States with the proper assistance extended by the government, the industry being new. The well board is manufactured from coir dust and short fibers. No binding materials are needed as lignin is inherent in the coconut husk. Also it is termite-proof because creosote is present in the new material. The board produced is as good as narra, plywood or masonite. Coir yarn, coir rope, bags, rugs, husk decor, husk polishes, mannequin wig, brush, coirflex, and fishnets are other products that can be obtained from coco husk. Out of coir dust can be obtined coco gas, lye insulator, insoflex and plastic materials. Coconut Pith Out of its pith can be produced coco pickles, guinatan and lumpia. Its guinit can produce helmets, caps, wooden shoe straps, handbags, fans, picture and house decor like lamp shades and guinit flowers for the table. Ever heard of the â€Å"Millionaire’s Salad†? It’s fit for any ordinary man though, it is made up of â€Å"palmetto cabbage† which, when translated properly, is simply the local ubod or the â€Å"heart† of the coconut. Actually, ubod is considered one of the finest vegetables in the Philippines. It can be served in many appetizing ways. Cubed in fairly large bits, it makes wonderful addition to Spanish rice, or in their long strips, to Arroz a la Cubana. As a salad, it is mixed with mayonnaise or thousand island dressing and heaped onto lettuce leaves, red pepper, chopped spring onions, paprika, or a combination of some of those may be used to garnish this all-white salad. Crab meat with ubod in lumpia can prove to be very delicious. Infloresence Out of the bud of the coconut tree’s infloresence is a juice called coconut toddy or tuba. The fermented juice is the common alcoholic drink in the coconut region. The fermented tuba would be a good drink even to those who enjoy the finer things. The principal uses of the toddy are: as fresh beverage; for producing alcoholic beverages; for producing vinegar; for making sugar; and as a source of yeast for making bread. Coconut toddy, after being left for five days then distilled, produces an alcoholic spirit known locally as lambanog which is more or less 98% proof. In its taste, sweet toddy is a liquid containing essentially 12 to 18% sugar (sucrose). Other products from the coconut tree’s infloresence are gin, vinegar, candy trays, Christmas and wall decor. Coconut Shell Coconut shell produces the core of the most saleable household products and fashion accessories that can be turned into lucrative, wide-selling cottage industries. Among them are shell necklaces, shell bags, cigarette boxes, shell ladles, buttons, lamp shades, fruit and ash trays, guitars, placemats, coffee pots, cups, wind chimes, â€Å"coco banks†, briquetted charcoal and activated carbon. The most important use of coconut shell is activated carbon produced from its charcoal. It is utilized in air purification systems such as cooker hoods, air conditioning, industrial gas purification systems, and industrial and gas masks. Coconut Trunk & Roots Out of the coconut trunk, hardy and durable wood is obtained to make benches, tables, carvings, picture frames, tables, tool boxes, and construction materials, among many others. Paper pulp can also be extracted from the coconut trunk and other woody parts of the tree. Among the woody parts of the tree, the trunk gives the highest pulp yield of 43%; the midribs, 41%, and the petiole or the slender stop that support the leaf, 32%. Tests also show that coconut coir (80%) and abaca bleached sulfate pulp (40%) are a good combination in the production of offset bookpaper. Medicine, beverages and dyestuff are obtained from the coconut roots.

Zealandia The Drowned Continent of the South

Earth has seven continents. Thats something we all learn in school, as quickly as we learn their names: Europe, Asia (really Eurasia), Africa, North America, South America, Australia, and Antarctica.  But these arent the only ones our planet has hosted since it formed. As it turns out, theres an eighth continent, the drowned continent of Zealandia. It cant be seen from the surface of Earth, but satellites can spot it, and geologists know about it. They confirmed its existence early in 2017, after years of mystery about just what was going on deep beneath the waves of the South Pacific near New Zealand. Key Takeaways: Zealandia Zealandia is a lost continent beneath the waves of the South Pacific Ocean. It was discovered using satellite mapping.Geologists found rocks in the region that were continental-type rocks, not oceanic rocks. That led them to suspect a drowned continent.Zealandia contains rich plant and animal populations, as well as minerals and other natural resources. Uncovering the Mystery The clues to this lost continent have been tantalizing: continental rocks where none should exist, and gravity anomalies surrounding a large chunk of underwater territory. The culprit in the mystery? Huge slabs of rock buried deep beneath the continents. These huge conveyor-belt-like subsurface chunks of rock are called tectonic plates. The  motions  of those plates have substantially changed all the continents and their positions since the time Earth was born, some 4.5 billion years ago. Now it turns out they also caused a continent to disappear. It seems incredible, but Earth is a living planet, changing constantly through the motions of tectonics. Thats the story geologists are uncovering, with the revelation that New Zealand and New Caledonia in the South Pacific are in fact the highest points of long-lost Zealandia. Its a tale of long, slow motions over millions of years that sent much of Zealandia plummeting below the waves, and the continent wasnt even suspected to exist until the twentieth century. The Story of Zealandia So, whats the scoop about Zealandia? This long-lost continent, sometimes also called Tasmantis, formed very early in Earths history. It was part of Gondwana, a huge supercontinent that existed as early as 600 million years ago. Earths very early history was dominated by large single continents that eventually broke up as the slow motions of plates moved land masses around. As it, too, was carried by tectonic plates, Zealandia eventually merged with another primordial continent called Laurasia to form an even larger supercontinent called Pangaea. Zealandias watery fate was sealed by the motions of two tectonic plates that lay beneath it: the southernmost Pacific Plate and its northern neighbor, the Indo-Australian plate. They were slipping past each other a few millimeters at a time each year, and that action slowly pulled Zealandia away from Antarctica and Australia, beginning some 85 million years ago. The slow separation caused Zealandia to sink, and by the late Cretaceous period  (some 66 million years ago) much of it was underwater. Only New Zealand, New Caledonia and a scattering of smaller islands remained above sea level. Geological Features The motions of the plates that caused Zealandia to sink continue to shape the underwater geology of the region into sunken regions called grabens and basins. Volcanic activity also occurs throughout the areas where one plate is subducting (diving under) another. Where the plates compress against each other, the Southern Alps exist where uplifting motion has sent the continent upward. This is similar to the formation of the Himalaya Mountains where the Indian Subcontinent meets the Eurasian plate. Zealandias oldest rocks date back to the Middle Cambrian period (about 500 million years ago). These are mainly limestones, sedimentary rocks made of the shells and skeletons of marine organisms. There is also some granite,  an igneous rock made up of feldspar, biotite, and other minerals,  that dates back to about the same time. Geologists continue to study rock cores in the hunt for older materials and to relate Zealandias rocks with its former neighbors Antarctica and Australia. The older rocks found so far are underneath layers of other sedimentary rocks that show evidence of the breakup that began to sink Zealandia millions of years ago. In the regions above water, volcanic rocks and features are evident throughout New Zealand and some of the remaining islands. Discovering the Lost Continent The story of Zealandias discovery is a sort of geological puzzle, with the pieces coming together over many decades. Scientists knew of the submerged areas of the region for many years, dating back to the early part of the 20th century, but it was only about twenty years ago that they began to consider the possibility of a lost continent. Detailed studies of the ocean surface in the region showed that the crust was different from other ocean crust. Not only was it thicker than oceanic crust, but the rocks also brought up from the ocean bottom and drilling cores were not from the oceanic crust. They were the continental type. How could this be, unless there was actually a continent hidden beneath the waves? Then, in 2002, a map taken using satellite measurements of the gravity of the region  revealed the rough structure of the continent. Essentially, the gravity of oceanic crust is different from that of continental crust, and that can be measured by satellite. The map showed a definite difference between the regions of deep-ocean bottom and Zealandia. That was when geologists began to think that a missing continent had been found. Further measurements of rock cores, subsurface studies by marine geologists, and more satellite mapping influenced geologists to consider that Zealandia actually is a continent. The discovery, which took decades to confirm, was made public in 2017 when a team of geologists announced that Zealandia was officially a continent. Whats Next for Zealandia? The continent is rich with natural resources, making the land of special interest to international governments and corporations. But it is also home to unique biological populations, as well as mineral deposits that are actively under development. For geologists and planetary scientists, the area holds many clues to our planets past, and may help scientists understand landforms seen on other worlds in the solar system.