Lizeth Orozco
Writing 2 MW 3:00
Dr. Emmerling

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea is when the soft palate at the base of the tongue relaxes to the point where the airway collapses. When the airway closes, the person sleeping stops breathing and must awaken in order to open the airway once again. Recent studies have shown that obstructive sleep apnea can lead to stroke and death. In a cohort study cunducted, patients underwent polysomnography. This is a test done in order to monitor respiratory effort. The diagnosis was based on an apnea-hypopnea index. An apnea-hypopnea index higher than 5 was considered severe. Among the patients enrolled, 68% had obstructive sleep apnea. The final results were that obstructive sleep apnea syndrome significantly increases the risk of stroke or death from any cause. It was also found to be independent from other risk factors. Although hypertension has also been known to lead to stroke and heart attack, there has been no connection found between obstructive sleep apnea and hypertension.

Article From New England Journal of Medicine

Clarissa Esteves
Writing 2 - 3-5PM
Dr. Emmerling
November 16,2005

Cancer Calling: Cellular Phones Are Convenient, But At What Price?

Objective: Microwave radiation from cellular phones harms the human body, causing serious internal injuries like tumors to the brain.

Method: Laboratory research and epidemiological studies (the branch of medicine that deals with the causes, distribution, and control of disease) exposed lab animals to cellular phone-emitted microwave radiation over long periods of times to gauge the long-term effects of these cellular phones as it influences human brain.

Result: The FDA's (The Food and Drug Administration) and CTIA's (Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association) studies on the hazard of celluar phone-emitted microwave radiation showed damaged brain cells and cancerous risks in the tested animals.

Conclusion: With the explosion of celluar phone usage in the past few years, not enough time has gone by to measure the damage that this microwave radiation will eventually cause. Despite the FDA's warnings about this hazard, no action can be taken to reduce the usage of celluar phones.

Key Terms:
brain tumor
epidemiological
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA)

Erica Liu
Writing 2 3:00 PM
Dr. Heidi Emmerling
11/15/2005
Abstract

Malaria Vaccine Proves Effective in Clinical Trial

Objective: The objective of the research is to find a new vaccine that stimulates human immune cells to recognize and kill malaria parasite.
Methods: Pierre Druilhe who led the study said that Malaria is a parasite carried by mosquitoes. Druilhe and his colleagues used merozeoite surface protein 3 (MPS-3) identified in adults who had proven resistant to the disease. They paired antibodies to MSP-3 and were able to clear a blood sample of the parasite.
Result: Every vaccinated sample produced immune response to malaria, and 77 percent produced anti-MSP-3 antibodies. These antibodies worked as well as the antibodies in the immune adults and in some cases even better.
Conclusion: This vaccine shows long-lasting promise, and it is proven effective in mice experiments.

Keywords:
Malaria
Parasite
Vaccine
Merozoite surface protein (MPS-3)

Matt Mirau
11/14/2005
Writ 2 Emmerling
MW 3-4:50
Abstract

Clam Enhancement Trials in the Bay of Fundy

The objective of this research is to examine techniques used to harvest the soft-shelled clam, Mya arenaria, in the Bay of Fundy in order to determine ways to increase productivity. Rotational digging, using a biennial harvest, showed a two-fold increase in catch-per-unit-effort over the annual harvests (13.9 kg/digging vs. 6.5 kg/digging). The process of brushing, placing artificial barriers on the beach to increase the natural rate of spat settlement and survival, is successful in some habitats but cannot be used to restock a barren beach. Relaying clams from high density beaches to those depleted from harvesting resulted in favorable economic conditions; the ratio of the resource to the cost of relaying the animals ranged from 2:1 to 3:1. The conclusion derived from these experiments show that the enhancement efforts all seemed to work to a certain extent. This was achieved on an experimental scale, so the next step is to perform the trials at a larger pilot scale.

This was from an article from The Science Review of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Gulf Fisheries Centre, Halifax Fisheries Research Laboratory, and the St. Andrews Biological Station.

Jose Calvillo
Writing 2; 3pm
Dr. Emmerling
Abstract

Getting Rid of Glasses for Good

Lasik has become very popular over the past decade, mainly by young adults. But as they get older, many former Lasik patients start developing presbyopia. Presbyopia is the inability to read or focus close up. This inability makes most of them go back to wearing glasses again. However, the Irvine company Refractec Inc is studying whether conductive keratoplasty, a radio wave treatment for presbyopia, can be conducted to on people who have had Lasik. It is executed by using a probe, a string thinner than a strip of hair that releases radio frequency energy. The radio waves are applied to the cornea in a circular pattern to shrink small areas of the collagen, this brings near vision back to focus. In the study 22 out of 23 patients were able to read phone size prints and still maintain their distance vision. This study was presented at the Annual Academy of Ophthalmology in Chicago and the results were a positive. After this research went out to the public, more than 50% of former Lasik patients went on to doing the Keratoplasty. Being one of the safe and effective one can do for their eyes.

Key Terms:
-Lasik
-Keratoplasty
-Presbyopia

Eric Canton
Writing 2: 3-450
Dr. Heidi Emmerling
Rough Draft
Abstract:

The purpose of the following study was to determine why seatbelt compliance is relatively low among motor vehicle collision patients. It has been proven that seat belt compliance trauma patients involved in MVCs is relatively low when compared to the general public. To determine what factors caused that relatively low comparison, patients involved in an MVC within a certain two year period were contacted and surveyed, in order to seek what independent variables caused that non compliance among those involved in a MVC. Variables such as Patients ISS (Injury severity score), HAIS (Abbreviated Injury score (head)) length of hospitalization, and amount of blood transfused were also taken and used to compare those who used seatbelts and those who didn’t. From there, determinants for seat belt non- compliance were compared with the occurrence of a. MVC by using multiple logistic regression: A method in where researchers were able to define the predictive ability of risk factors for seat-belt non compliance in MVC trauma patients, while controlling for confounding covariates. After determining what variables caused non-compliance among seat belt users, it was determined that factors that indicate poor driving habits such as alcohol, speeding, previous MVCs and driving offenses also predict seatbelt non compliance.
Key Terms: MVC, ISS, HAIS, trauma, transfuse, multiple logistic regression.

Any suggestions????? Anything will greatly be appreciated, I am really not too familiar or do not know too much about abstracts and it would be great if you guys could help me so I can see where I need work.

Martín Speer
11/06/2005
W2 Emmerling
M W 3-450PM

Lets go back, we’re not done yet.

(Insert Star Trek theme here) Space, the final frontier, yada yada yada. To tell you the truth don’t mind the show, but I’ve seen better current day sci-fi shows and old school ones with better special effects. I digress though. The now approximately 2 year aftermath of Space Shuttle Columbia has spurred many arguments for proponents for continued space exploration and those against it.
I will say one simple thing to this entire whiny, Landlubbers out there: Shite happens. The reason there is no real commercial agency out there for space is that there is no one out there dedicated enough except for those X-Prize people. Plus it is an über undertaking in technology and resources to actually put that much equipment to equal or surpass to that the shuttle has in to orbit.
I say we keep the shuttle going until the ISS is built, or at least bring back its work schedule back to being the trash ferry. The Shuttle is an aging machine, with parts on it from the seventies and nothing that is current on it, except for what equipment is on the Discovery Shuttle and other shuttles that have received upgrades form time to time. Its guaranteed that at least 2 to three little parts will fail or work anomalously every launch, and to have at least one catastrophic anomaly every 96-97 launches.
We need to finish what we have up there, or its going to be merely a sophisticated ISS with the façade of the MIR Space Station in its appearance, (and the MIR did look pretty sad before they brought it down to burn). The shuttle is one the best vehicles in payload capacity per launch, and it has the best method of transferring crews in good size numbers. I personally don’t mind the Russians help out in sending parts and supplies and crew up while NASA is still chasing its own tail in what to do with the shuttle, but the aeronautic engineers in Russia make less that a cabbie in red square in a year, and that is sad.
Debris that caused the anomaly of Space Shuttle Columbia is what is floating in space in many smaller pieces. The shuttle is guaranteed to hit any of these billions of small pieces every time it goes in to space. Does that mean we should stop going in to space? No. We should finish our job in completing that space mission, and begin on making that aloof proposal by our Red-Neck In Chief President a reality, (Just not during under his administration). We should give NASA more funding, and we should invest our patience and money and time in to making a new vehicle that is safer, as reliable and better than the shuttle, and is cheaper per launch. Sure the overall payload vehicle may be smaller in some designs but we need something to act as a multipurpose launch vehicle for maintenance and re-supply of the ISS.
To the ones that oppose returning to space, your plastic bags with vacuum seal will have probably not have come out until some time later. Satellites and Dish network customers would still be on cable-based providers, or their service would be a bit more expensive than it is now. Users of the personal computer will probably not have the same kind of portability as they do now. If we abandoned that drive to space that started nearly 50 years ago, and has been a dream for at least a few centuries, we will be turning our back on every astronaut, cosmonaut, teacher that has ever died for us to be able to understand that black ocean.
Houston we want a green, and we are ready for it.
This editorial is meant for really in support with keeping the current shuttle program and also in support of finishing the ISS and continuing the exploration of space, accepting the fact that there’ll be death in the program and that it is necessary.

Dear Mr. Mark Bechtel,
In the September issue of Sports Illustrated as I read through it like any other issue a story jumped ou at me. The piece was on Warrick Dunn a highly decorated runningback since 1997, asking for the NFL to to give back to the victims of huricane Katrina. This piece was different because it did not show a normal football story of toughness or of glory. No, it spoke of the compassion of a man for another. We forget sometimes that athletes are just like us, real people. This crisis shows us that after such devastation we should not seperate but unite as Americans no matter what job you hold or the amount of money in your bank account!
-- Carlos Calderonccalderon@umail.ucsb.edu

Sabrina McCarley
58508 Francisco Torres
Santa Barbara, California 93106
(951) 565-7885
smccarley@umail.ucsb.edu

Att: Kristina M. Johnson
Women's Health
733 Third Avenue
New York , NY 10017

October 29, 2005

Dear Ms. Johnson,

I absolutely adored your article in the September/October issue called Take a Flying Leap. I love the fact that you are telling women to get out and take risks instead of staying cooped up in the house all the time. I also appreciated the fact that you provided scientific evidence of the consequences of not taking chances. It seems sort of ironic that being so cautious can actually cause you to die sooner. I believe that taking risks is an important part of life but it can be very hard to get into the rhythm of doing such things. Sometimes it's hard to get out there and be spontaneous as you mentioned in the article. Once you get the hang of it though, it's wonderful and I'm really glad you conveyed that in this article. Thanks again for such a wonderful piece and I am looking forward to reading more articles that are similar in content.

Sincerely,

Sabrina McCarley

Jeff Lamb

The Los Angeles Times
oped@latimes.com



Dark Days Ahead for the Dodgers?

Welcome to Dodger Baseball. The Los Angeles Dodgers have had post-season drama that can only rival a storyline from “The O.C.” In the short time since the end of the regular season, the Dodgers are now without a manager, general manager, and, to be honest, a happy fan base. I really do not know what has been going on in Frank McCourt’s brain lately. Sure, the Dodgers ended up placing third in the pathetic National League West, a year after taking first and winning a playoff game for the first time since 1988. So they finished with their worst record since moving to LA; you can’t win them all. But all of these changes need to stop.


Is Frank McCourt trying to make his life a living hell this off-season? Manager Jim Tracy was gone on October 3, and eight days later becomes manager of the Pittsburg Pirates. McCourt cannot possibly blame Tracy for the Dodgers woes this past season. You can’t be expected to contend for the division when you lose a Cy Young winner and two of your offensive stars. Not to mention that at one point in the season, the Dodgers had nine rookies on the roster and were fielding an all rookie outfield. Tracy was successful as Dodger skipper, as he turned the Dodgers around after years of falling up short. He got Los Angeles to “Think Blue” again.


The recent firing of Paul DePodesta is a completely different story. I will admit that, even though I am a diehard fan, I was getting a little sick of Paul’s off and even mid-season mindset. Acquiring J.D. Drew was a good move, that is, until Drew goes 0 for 22 to start the season, then gets hurt after 3 months. Former Giant Jeff Kent was the Dodgers most productive hitter, but he and Milton Bradley clashed over race issues. DePodesta had an entire season and all he can manage to do is pick up Jose Cruz Jr., a career .250 hitter. Dodger fans, just for a minute think of what it would be like to have Vladimir Guerrero starting in right field. I guess that’s too much dreaming. And as a side note, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth to think of the names Pedro Martinez and Paul Konerko, the ones that we gave away. But that issue, is for another day. A part of me is glad that DePodesta is gone, but the other part is upset that now the search for a new skipper must be put off to find a GM.


Even after all of this madness, I still believe the Dodgers can find a solution and once again contend for the NL West. Hopefully McCourt will find a GM that is willing to go out and get the tools the Dodgers need to win. DePodesta liked to look within the team’s farm system, and look where that got him. Odds are that either Bradley or Kent will be gone when the season starts, and in the hopes of the Dodgers, sorry Milton but Kent puts up better numbers. McCourt needs to be willing to actually pay some money to get the talent to win. The Red Sox may be tired of Manny and could be looking to deal, and I can definitely see Manny in Dodger blue next year. Konerko, Johnny Damon, Rafael Furcal, and AJ Burnett are all big name players that are free agents this winter. A Dodger team featuring one of these superstars wouldn’t be too shabby. On the other hand, the Dodgers can always take a look at the farm. The Dodgers’ Minor league system was ranked second in the Major Leagues, but the question is, are the young players ready?


Regardless of how this off-season plays out, I will be where I have been for the past nineteen years, watching Dodger baseball. I just hope that this year, the Dodgers will have something to show me. And if that doesn’t happen, I can still take comfort listening to good ole Vinny’s play-by-play.

Tyler Watkins

Writing 2 3:00

Climate Friendly Emmerling

11-14-05

Editorial

Technology will play a huge role in the solution to global warming, but we cannot rely solely on it. In Tony Blair’s speech at the G8 summit of energy and environment ministers in London. He focused on simply changing technology over a period of time in order to hinder the progress of global warming. There are many, including myself, who do not feel that that may be enough.

When developing new technology it could take decades in order to achieve anything. If you look over most of human history a lot of major inventions were all created during the World Wars. This was because the people who created those inventions all had deadlines. Without a big enough incentive, a lot of technology is slow to be created.

To curb climate change by changing technology over time is like throwing pebbles to dam the Mississippi. It is just not going to happen, and if it does it will certainly be too late. The only way to gain any progress is to set binding deadlines for every country to follow.

While this has been attempted before in the Kyoto Protocol, only two major nations did not approve of it. Out of those two nations only one really mattered, the United States. The United States is the biggest contributor of CO2 gas into the atmosphere, and in order for us to achieve the limits set by the Kyoto Protocol we would have had to install scrubbers on our industry’s exhaust outlets. A scrubber is a machine that removes CO2 out of air; a commonly seen scrubber is a rebreather on Scuba gear.

The reason that companies do not want to fit scrubbers onto their exhaust outlets is because scrubbers are expensive. Republicans deem them so expensive that they would cripple our economy if we required every business to install them.

Many people do not realize the potential danger of global warming. It is not simply that you will have to wear shorts everyday instead of pants but rather will require many people to have to adapt to a new lifestyle. When the temperature rises the ice caps will start to melt. This will cause sea levels to rise and reduce the amount of useable land for humans; it will also put more water into the atmosphere. With more water into the atmosphere storms will become stronger. Scientists have already noticed a trend that storms are now stronger and more frequent than they were 30 years ago. Water is good at retaining heat and with it in the air the temperature will be on the rise. This rise of temperature will then help in the process of melting more ice, adding more water into the air and ocean. I also must comment on how only 1% of the water on Earth is freshwater and drinkable, and that most of it is located in the polar icecaps. When this happens, it will be the cost of converting saltwater to freshwater that will cripple our economy.

-Some more ideas, include them in editorial? Audience is BBC Newsreaders-

Habitat change

Speciese die out, unable to adapt.

Ex. Gas crisis in 19_ European car maker creates the first hybrid car. But fails to catch on because gas was cheap again.