In his funeral oration, Pericles described Athens as the "school of Hellas." What did he mean?

To many in Pericles’ time, Athens was the center of the universe, not in a literal astronomical sense, but in their perception of Athens as being the finest of Greece’s centers of learning and culture. “Hellas” simply means “Greece,” and is used by Pericles and others as reference to a greater Greece, or the sum of its parts. Pericles, a prominent Greek general and orator, played a major role in Thucydides’ The History of the Peloponnesian Wars, the main source of information on that period, and the author and historian’s admiration for Pericles is clear. Writing about the “Lacedaemonian (i.e., Spartan) ultimatum” issued to Athens, Thucydides notes that this ultimatum precipitated a spirited debate among Athenian generals and diplomats, including, in his words, “the most powerful man of his time, and the leading Athenian statesman,” Pericles. Pericles, in short, was totally dedicated and committed to Greece, and to Athens in particular. Further emphasizing his respect for the esteemed general, Thucydides goes on to refer to Pericles as “the first man of his time at Athens, ablest alike in counsel and in action.”

In offering his now-famous funerary oration, Pericles once again, and for the ages, expressed his love for Athens and his enduring belief that this one city was, intellectually and culturally, the center of the universe. In the following passage from his speech, he calls Athens “the school of Hellas”:

 “To sum up: I say that Athens is the school of Hellas, and that the individual Athenian in his own person seems to have the power of adapting himself to the most varied forms of action with the utmost versatility and grace. This is no passing and idle word, but truth and fact; and the assertion is verified by the position to which these qualities have raised the state. For in the hour of trial Athens alone among her contemporaries is superior to the report of her. No enemy who comes against her is indignant at the reverses which he sustains at the hands of such a city; no subject complains that his masters are unworthy of him.”

This was, remember, a funeral oration intended to commemorate the Athenian soldiers who fell in the early phases of the Peloponnesian Wars. Pericles associated those soldiers killed in battle with the greatness that was Athens itself. His oration commemorates Athens as much or more as it memorializes those who died in its defense. This dedicated general and statesman revered the idea of Athens, and he viewed, as did most Athenians, his city as the finest of Greece and the model to which the rest of Greece should aspire. That was his purpose in referring to Athens as “the school of Hellas.” Athens could teach the rest of Greece about culture, erudition, bravery, and, now, sacrifice.

Why does Mr. Jamison stand out as an exception to the rule in Mildred Taylor's Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry?

Mr. Jamison is one of the few white people in the novel who treats the Logan family and other African-American people with respect. As Cassie says in Chapter 4 about Mr. Jamison, "He was the only white man I had ever heard address Mama and Big Ma as 'Missus,' and I liked him for it." When Mr. Jamison deals with the Logan family in business, he is straightforward and honest. He tries to help Papa and Uncle Hammer, for example, when they want to get credit at a new store and to withdraw their business from the Wallace store. When Papa and Uncle Hammer wonder if they should trust Mr. Jamison, he tells them, "I'm a Southerner, born and bred, but that doesn't mean I approve of all that goes on here." Mr. Jamison does not believe in treating African-American people with unfairness or prejudice, even though most of the white community around him thinks that is acceptable.

At the end of the novel, Mr. Jamison even puts his life on the line when trying to protect T.J. from the white mob that is gathering. He tells the white mob, "Y'all let the sheriff and me take the boy. Let the law decide whether or not he's guilty." Later, he shields T.J. with his own body, and he gets T.J. away from the white mob. Perhaps one of the reasons Mr. Jamison is different from many of the white people in his Mississippi community is that he attended law school in the north. 

How does Anne Frank describe her hair?

Anne calls her hair a “mass of curls.” 

Many teenagers are unhappy with their appearance. Anne is no exception.  She tries to make her hair something to be proud of, but she often feels she comes up short.

Anne describes her procedure for getting ready, which includes curling her hair and bleaching her face.  It is normal teenage stuff. 

I brush my teeth, curl my hair, manicure my nails and dab peroxide on my upper lip to bleach the black hairs -- all this in less than half an hour. (Wednesday, August 4,1943) 

Even though they are in hiding, Anne likes to look out for her appearance.  The families have limited bathroom time, and of course they never go out, but Anne still wants to look nice. 

She is obsessed with movie stars, and tries to make her hair look like theirs.  Anne’s family and the Van Daans do not approve. 

Whenever I come sailing in with a new hairstyle, I can read the disapproval on their faces, and I can be sure someone will ask which movie star I'm trying to imitate. My reply, that it's my own invention, is greeted with skepticism. … By that time I'm so sick and tired of their remarks that I race to the bathroom and restore my hair to its normal mass of curls. (Friday, January 28, 1944) 

Soon, Anne is getting herself ready and trying to make herself look nice for Peter.  She goes from finding him annoying to becoming his friend, and then finally something more.  Now Anne has a reason to primp.  It is a small bit of normalcy in a very abnormal situation.

What is a sunburn?

Causes and Symptoms

Sunburn is caused by overexposure to ultraviolet light coming directly from the sun or from artificial lighting sources, as well as from reflected sunlight from snow, water, sand, and sidewalks. Scattered rays may also produce sunburn, even in the presence of clouds, haze, or thin fog. Symptoms include red, swollen, painful, and sometimes blistered skin; chills; and fever. In severe cases, nausea, vomiting, and even delirium may be present. Depending on the severity of the burn, tanning and peeling may occur during recovery.

Treatment and Therapy

To reduce the heat and pain of sunburn, towels or gauze dipped in cool water can be carefully laid on the burned areas. Once the skin swelling subsides, cold cream or baby lotion can be applied to the affected areas. If the skin is blistered, a light application of petroleum jelly prevents anything from sticking to the blisters. Nonprescription drugs, such as acetaminophen, can be used to relieve pain and reduce fever. If necessary, a medical doctor can prescribe other pain relievers or cortisone drugs to relieve itching and aid healing.

Perspective and Prospects

A number of risk factors can greatly intensify the effects of sunburn, including such genetic factors as fair skin, blue eyes, and red or blond hair; the use of certain drugs, particularly sulfa drugs, tetracyclines, amoxicillin, or oral contraceptives; and exposure to industrial light sources, such as arc welders. For outdoor activities, a sunscreen or sunblock preparation should be applied to exposed areas of the body. Baby oil, mineral oil, or cocoa butter offer no protection from the sun. Brilliant colored and white clothing that reflect the sun into the face should be avoided. If tanning is a must, sun exposure should be limited to five to ten minutes on each side the first day, adding five minutes per side each additional day. Severe sunburn in childhood can lead to skin cancer later in life.

Bibliography

Grob, J. J., et al., eds. Epidemiology, Causes, and Prevention of Skin Diseases. Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell Science, 1997.

Hellwig, Jennifer. "Sunburn." Health Library, March 15, 2013.

Kenet, Barney, and Patricia Lawler. Saving Your Skin: Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment of Melanoma and Other Skin Cancers. 2d ed. Chicago: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1998.

Litin, Scott C., ed. Mayo Clinic Family Health Book. 4th ed. New York: HarperResource, 2009.

Siegel, Mary-Ellen. Safe in the Sun. New York: Walker, 1995.

"Sunburn." Mayo Clinic, April 14, 2011.

"Sunburn." MedlinePlus, May 13, 2011.

How does Mendeleev's Periodic Table relate to the modern one?

One could argue that our current periodic table began with Mendeleev's.  Although the information found on today's table (like average atomic radius, electronegativity, etc.) is outside of Mendeleev's scope, designing the table on repeated patterns that become apparent when you arrange the elements in order of increasing atomic mass is exactly how we do it today (well, increasing atomic number).  Mendeleev's table is a classic example of how the scientific process can work beautifully.  He predicted not only the presence of yet-to-be discovered elements, but did a fairly decent job of predicting what characteristics they should have.

The neat part is that there are elegant patterns (in things like atomic radius, reactivity, types of ions formed, etc.) that can be seen in today's table that Mendeleev would have had no inkling about.

To be clear though, the feature that connects Mendeleev's table to today's is arranging the elements in increasing order of mass (Mendeleev's) or ultimately atomic number (today).

How much did U.S. trade with the Allies increase from 1914-1916?

U.S. trade with the Allies increased significantly from 1914-1916. Despite President Wilson’s attempt to keep us neutral, we found ourselves trading more with Great Britain, France, and Italy than we did Germany. We had more similarities with the Allies than we did with the Central Powers. For example, our governmental system and our judicial system had much in common with Great Britain’s governmental system and judicial system. The British blockade also helped to greatly restrict our trade with Germany. Our trade with the Allied countries more than tripled during this time period.

The Germans saw this huge increase in our trade with the Allies. This helped to encourage the Germans to start using the submarine to attack our ships. Even though this was a violation of our rights as a neutral nation, the Germans believed such a huge increase in American trade with Germany’s enemies was anything but neutral. It was this attack on American shipping that played a big role in the United States entering World War I on the side of the Allies.

Our trade with the Allies increased dramatically between 1914 and 1916.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, on what page are Atticus's kids in danger?

Different publications of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird may have different page numbers, but the scene in question is found in chapter 28. This is the chapter where Jem and Scout are in danger because Bob Ewell follows them home after the Halloween festivities at the school. The children stay behind after everyone leaves because Scout is embarrassed for having missed her cue during Mrs. Merriweather's presentation of Maycomb's history. As a result, Scout forgets her shoes and has to walk home with bare feet and still dressed in her ham costume. Fortunately, she has her big brother, Jem, with her and he hears someone following them. Scout describes being in danger when they hear the stranger's footsteps:

"Our company shuffled and dragged his feet, as if wearing heavy shoes. Whoever it was wore thick cotton pants; what I thought were trees rustling was the soft swish of cotton on cotton, wheek, wheek, with every step" (261).

Soon after this passage, Jem tells Scout to run because the sound of slow footsteps turn to fast-paced running towards them. Everything happens pretty quickly once Ewell attacks the children; and because of Scout's costume, she can only perceive what is going on through sound, mostly. The description of the attack takes about three paragraphs. The full description of Bob Ewell's attack is on page 262 in the Warner Books publication. If you don't have that edition, start in chapter 28 to find the scene.

What are some of the ways that people try to reduce cognitive dissonance? Describe them and describe how they might be used when a person who...

Cognitive dissonance is the painful tension we feel when our beliefs or actions conflict with one another. It is stronger when the beliefs are important to us, when the contradiction is clearer, and when we have a harder time resolving it.

There are three basic ways one can reduce the cognitive dissonance of engaging in some behavior that seems contrary to our beliefs:

1. Change the behavior.
2. Change the belief.
3. Find a way to reconcile the two.

So, let's consider a person who believes it is important to give money to charities, but has just passed by a charity volunteer without giving anything.

Option 1 would be to reaffirm their belief in donating to charities, and vow that the next time a charity asks them, they're going to give money.

Option 2 would be to change their belief about donating to charities, and decide that maybe it's not so important to give to charities after all.

Option 3, which I think is the most likely in this case, would be to find some way of reconciling the action with the belief: Maybe there's something about this charity that is unappealing, and they'd rather donate somewhere else. Maybe they're really broke right now, and will donate once they have more money. Maybe they don't have time to stop and donate today, but could some other day.

These justifications could be legitimate, or they could just be excuses; either way they will tend to reduce the cognitive dissonance, though the more convincing the justification is the more likely it is to be effective. People also seem to vary in their willingness to accept excuses and rationalizations, both from themselves and from others.

What is a scalar quantity and a vector quantity?

A scalar quantity is one which is described by its magnitude. It has no direction or it does not require a direction for its complete description. The speed of a body is an example of a scalar quantity. That is why we always mention that the speed of an object is, for example, 30 m/s (magnitude). One can also think of a scalar quantity as having a one-dimensional description or measurement.

A vector quantity, in comparison, requires both magnitude and direction for its complete description. Velocity is an example of a vector quantity. Thus, we need to say "velocity of a body going north (direction) is 30 m/s (magnitude). A vector quantity has more than one dimension of description. A vector quantity can also be resolved into 2 components, like x and y components of velocity.

Hope this helps.

What are mycobacteria?

Definition

Members of the bacterial genus Mycobacterium are widely
distributed in nature. Mycobacteria, which cause noteworthy diseases such as
tuberculosis and leprosy, affect healthy humans,
nonhuman animals, and persons with compromised immune systems.

Natural Habitat and Features

Members of the genus Mycobacterium are widely distributed, rod-shaped bacteria. Many are free-living and are found in soil, water, and marshes and in association with various animal species; a few can live only in or on animals. In culture, mycobacteria cells can vary from spherical (cocci) to ovoid (coccobacilli) to rods (bacilli) to branched rods to long cordlike rods. They are nonmotile, with the exception of marinum.

When grown on artificial media, mycobacteria form flat, dry, scaly colonies. Some Mycobacterium spp. are pigmented. Photochromogens, such as kansasii, marinum, and simae, form pigmented colonies only when grown in the light. Scotochomogens, such as scrofulaceum, gordonae, and szulgai, form yellow to orange colonies when grown in the dark or in the light. Tuberculosis, bovis, ulcerans, and fortuitum nonchromogens produce dull-colored colonies that are white or cream-colored, pale yellow, or tan if grown in the light or in the dark.

The growth rates of mycobacteria differ wildly. Those mycobacteria that can form colonies within seven days are classified as rapid growing, and those that require more time to form colonies are called slow growing.

All members of the genus Mycobacterium are surrounded by a rather thick cell wall that is waxy. Bacteria typically contain a cell wall composed of a polymer called peptidoglycan, but mycobacteria have a modified peptidoglycan layer that is cross-linked to polysaccharides called arabinogalactans and unusual lipids known as mycolic acids. These mycolic acids form a waxy layer outside the peptidoglycan layer with a poorly characterized outer lipid layer. Mycobacteria do not stain when subjected to a Gram’s stain, but are, instead, successfully stained by an acid-fast stain that uses carbolfuschin, which stains members of the Mycobacterium red.

Mycobacteria were formerly identified by biochemical tests, but methods of
identification, now more rapid, include the separation of cell-wall mycolic acids,
in which mycolic acids from mycobacterial cell walls are separated by high
performance liquid chromatography and compared with a database of known standards
to identify specific Mycobacterium spp. Another way to identify
members is through nucleic acid sequencing, which uses gene sequencing systems to
sequence the 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (RNA) genes and compare them with
published sequences to rapidly identify mycobacterial isolates.

Pathogenicity and Clinical Significance

The most clinically significant disease caused by mycobacteria is tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis causes the vast majority of tuberculosis cases,
but members of the tuberculosis complex, which include
bovis, africanum, canetti,
caprae, and microti, can also cause
tuberculosis, or tuberculosis-like diseases, especially in persons whose immune
systems are compromised.

When tuberculosis-causing mycobacteria are inhaled, they settle deep within the lungs and are engulfed by a lung-based white blood cell called an alveolar macrophage. The organisms can survive and divide within the macrophages. Other uninfected macrophages surround the infected cell, fuse, and then engulf the cell to deprive the bacterial cells of oxygen. This type of response is called a granuloma, which produces a bump or tubercle in the lung. These tubercles can last the remainder of a person’s life; they constitute pulmonary tuberculosis.

Many cases of pulmonary tuberculosis cause no visible symptoms, and so are
asymptomatic, but one system that does commonly appear is a cough. Additional
symptoms include trouble breathing (dyspnea) and coughing up blood
(hemoptysis). Chest X rays show middle and lower lung
infiltrates. The tuberculin skin test is the most reliable way to diagnose
tuberculosis.

If the infected person becomes weakened, these tubercles can break open, and the mycobacterial cells can disseminate to any organ of the body. This represents disseminated or extrapulmonary tuberculosis. The main sites of dissemination are the lymphatic system and the pleural membranes of the lungs, but the organism can spread to other organs as well. The wasting caused by disseminated tuberculosis is popularly known as consumption.

Leprosy (Hansen’s disease), a chronic, progressive disease that can permanently damage the nerves, skin, eyes, and limbs, is caused by leprae and lepromatosis. This disease results from granulomas of the peripheral nerves and mucosae of the upper respiratory tract. The primary external sign of this disease is a skin lesion.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) or environmental or atypical mycobacteria,
cause neither tuberculosis nor leprosy. NTM cause lung diseases, lymph node
infections (lymphadenitis), skin and soft tissue infections, and
disseminated disease in persons with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
(AIDS).

Drug Susceptibility

Combination drug treatments are the rule when treating mycobacterial
infections. Because mycobacteria are resistant to
antibiotics typically used to treat bacterial
infections, separate groups of antibiotics have been designed
especially for these infections.

First-line treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis consists of daily isoniazid,
rifampin, ethambutol, and pyrazinamide for two months followed by four months of
isoniazid and rifampin three times per week. Alternative treatment regimes exist,
and if first-line drugs do not work or are not tolerated, available second-line
drugs include cycloserine, ethionamide, fluoroquinolones (levofloxacin,
moxifloxacin, and gatifloxacin), p-aminosalicyclic acid, aminoglycosides
(streptomycin, kanamycin, and amikacin), and capreomycin.

Treatment of extrapulmonary tuberculosis extends the second phase of treatment for seven months, but treatment of tuberculosis of the central nervous system extends the second phase of treatment for ten months. Steroid drugs are also given to reduce the swelling and inflammation associated with extrapulmonary tuberculosis.

Mycobacteria that are resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin are termed multi-drug-resistant (MDR). Those mycobacteria that are resistant to isoniazid, rifampin, fluoroquinolone, kanamycin, capreomycin, or amikacin are designated as extensively drug-resistant (XDR). To treat MDR- or XDR-tuberculosis, the infecting Mycobacterium is isolated from the infected person and are laboratory tested for drug sensitivities, after which the infected person is given a combination of five drugs, against which the infecting Mycobacterium is sensitive for at least eighteen months.

Leprosy is treated with a combination of rifampin, dapsone (a sulfa drug),
and clofazimine for twelve months. NTM infections require a combination of
macrolides, ethambutol, and rifamycin for up to one year.

Bibliography

Dormandy, Thomas. The White Death: A History of Tuberculosis. London: Hambledon & London, 2001. A pathologist traces the impression left by tuberculosis on human history, examines the suffering the disease has caused, and discusses how Western countries mitigated its effects.

Gandy, Matthew, and Alimuddin Zumia, eds. The Return of the White Plague: Global Poverty and the “New” Tuberculosis. New York: Verso, 2003. An engrossing analysis of the social and economic impacts of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis.

Hopewell, Philip C., and Robert M. Jasmer. “Overview of Clinical Tuberculosis.” In Tuberculosis and the Tubercle Bacillus, edited by Steward T. Cole et al. Washington, D.C.: ASM Press, 2005. A clear and magisterial treatment of the clinical features of tuberculosis.

LaBombardi, Vincent J. “The Genus Mycobacteria.” In Practical Handbook of Microbiology, edited by Emanuel Goldman and Lorrence H. Green. 2d ed. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, 2009. A brief, informative summary of the clinical aspects of the genus Mycobacterium in a standard medical microbiology reference book.

Madigan, Michael T., and John M. Martinko. Brock Biology of Microorganisms. 12th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2010. This text outlines many common bacteria and describes their natural history, pathogenicity, and other characteristics.

How are layers of sediment laid down in water?

In water systems, sediment is the unconsolidated mineral matter carried by wind, water, or ice. In some settings, organic material may also be considered to be sediment. Mineral sediments are mostly a result of erosional processes - in a river. For instance, the water will carve material away from the river bank and river bed and transport it downstream. Other material is blown into the river, adding to the sedimentary load. On the other hand, organic material is often the result of the decay of dead organisms. Algae, for instance, will die and add to the sediment load. 

Using a river as an example, consider material deposited upstream. As the river flows, it will carry this material downstream. Along the way, some of the material will remain suspended in the water - if it's light enough, the river can continue to carry it. Other materials are carried and dropped before reaching a terminal location downstream. The stream capacity is the factor that determines how much of a sediment is transported and where it will be dropped. As a stream picks up sediment, the total load of material gets heavier. Although the river may be able to sustain the load for some time, it will eventually become too heavy to move. At some point, enough material will be added to the load to overwhelm the river and the river will leave some material behind.

Over time, the deposited sediments will build onto the river bed in layers. Since the eroded and deposited material will differ over time with seasonal changes, wind changes, and material changes, the sediment layers will be identifiably different. For more information on sedimentary processes, check out the included link.

What are Mendelian genetics?

Early Life

Born Johann Mendel on July 22, 1822, the future teacher, monk, abbot, botanist, and meteorologist grew up in a village in Moravia, a province of the Austrian Empire that later became part of Czechoslovakia (1918) and the Czech Republic (1993). His parents were peasant farmers and belonged to the large, German-speaking minority in this predominantly Czech province. Like most places in Moravia, Mendel’s hometown had two names: Hynčice in Czech and Heinzendorf in German.

Johann Mendel was an exceptional pupil, but no local schooling was available for him beyond the age of ten. In 1833, he persuaded his parents to send him to town to continue his education. They were reluctant to let him go because they could ill afford to dispense with his help on the farm or finance his studies. In 1838, Mendel’s father was partially disabled in a logging accident, and Johann, then sixteen and still at school, had to support himself. He earned just enough from tutoring to get by. At times, however, the pressure became too much for him. He suffered a breakdown in 1839 and returned home for several months to recuperate. He was to have several more of these stress-related illnesses, but no precise information is available about their causes and symptoms.

In 1840, Mendel completed Gymnasium, as the elite secondary schools were called, and entered the University of Olomouc for the two-year program in philosophy that preceded higher university studies. He had trouble supporting himself in Olomouc, perhaps because there was less demand for German-speaking tutors, and his Czech was not good enough for teaching. He suffered another breakdown in 1841 and retreated to Hynčice during spring exams.

That summer, Mendel decided once more against staying and taking over the farm. Since his father could not work, the farm was sold to his elder sister’s husband. Johann’s share of the proceeds was not enough to see him through the Olomouc program, especially since he had to repeat a year because of the missed exams. However, his twelve-year-old sister sacrificed part of her future dowry so that he could continue. (He repaid her years later by putting her three sons through Gymnasium and university.)

Upon finishing at Olomouc in 1843, Mendel decided to enter the clergy. The priesthood filled his need for a secure position and held out possibilities for further learning and teaching, but Mendel did not seem to be called to it. Aided by a professor’s recommendation, Mendel was accepted into the Augustinian monastery in Brno, the capital of Moravia, where he took the name Gregor. In 1847, after four years of preparation at the monastery, he was ordained a priest.

Priesthood and Teaching

The Brno monastery was active in the community and provided highly qualified instructors for Gymnasia and technical schools throughout Moravia. Several monks, including the abbot, were interested in science, and they had experimental gardens, a herbarium, a mineralogical collection, and an extensive library. Mendel found himself in learned company with opportunities for research in his spare time.

Unfortunately, Mendel’s nerves failed him when he had to minister to the sick and dying. Assigned to a local hospital in 1848, he was so upset by it that he was bedridden himself within five months. However, his abbot was sympathetic and let him switch to teaching. A letter survives in which the abbot explains this decision to the bishop: “[Mendel] leads a retiring, modest and virtuous religious life . . . and he devotes himself diligently to scholarly pursuits. For pastoral duties, however, he is less suited, because at the sick-bed or at the sight of the sick or suffering he is seized by an insurmountable dread, from which he has even fallen dangerously ill.”

Mendel taught Latin and Greek, German literature, math, and science as a substitute at the Gymnasium and was found to be very good at teaching. Therefore, he was sent to Vienna in 1850 to take the licensing examinations so that he could be promoted to a regular position. These exams were very demanding and normally required more preparation than Mendel’s two years at Olomouc. Mendel failed, but one examiner advised the abbot to let him try again after further study. The abbot took this advice and sent Mendel to study in Vienna for two years (1851–53). There he took courses in biology, physics, and meteorology with some of the best-known scientists of his day, including physicist Christian Doppler and botanist Franz Unger.

For unknown reasons, Mendel returned to Moravia to resume substitute teaching and did not go to Vienna for the exams until 1856. This time he was too nervous to finish. After writing one essay, he fell ill and returned to Brno. Despite this failure, he was allowed to teach regular classes until 1868 even though he was technically only a substitute.

Scientific Work

During his teaching career, Mendel performed his famous experiments on peas in a garden at the monastery. He published the results in an 1866 article, which introduced fundamental concepts and methods of genetics. The first set of experiments involved fourteen varieties of pea plant, each with a single distinguishing trait. These traits made up seven contrasting pairs, such as seeds that were either round or wrinkled in outline or seed colors that were green or yellow. Upon crossing each pair, Mendel obtained hybrids identical to one parent variety. For example, the cross of round with wrinkled peas yielded only round peas; the cross of green with yellow peas yielded only yellow peas. He referred to traits that asserted themselves in the hybrids as “dominant.” The others were “recessive” because they receded from view. The effect was the same regardless of whether he fertilized the wrinkled variety with pollen from the round or the round variety with pollen from the wrinkled. This indicated to Mendel that both pollen cells and egg cells contributed equally to heredity; this was a significant finding because the details of plant reproduction were still unclear.

Mendel next allowed the seven hybrids to pollinate themselves, and the recessive traits reappeared in the second generation. For instance, the round peas, which were hybrids of round and wrinkled peas, yielded not only more round peas but also some wrinkled ones. Moreover, the dominant forms outnumbered the recessives three to one. Mendel explained the 3:1 ratio as follows. He used the symbols A for the dominant form, a for the recessive, and Aa for the hybrid. A hybrid, he argued, could produce two types of pollen cell, one containing some sort of hereditary element corresponding to trait A and the other an element corresponding to trait a. Likewise, it could produce eggs containing either A or a elements. This process of dividing up the hereditary factors among the gametes became known as segregation.

The gametes from the Aa hybrids could come together in any of four combinations: pollen A with egg A, pollen A with egg a, pollen a with egg A, and pollen a with egg a. The first three of these combinations all grew into plants with the dominant trait A; only the fourth produced the recessive a. Therefore, if all four combinations were equally common, one could expect an average of three plants exhibiting A for every one exhibiting a.

Allowing self-pollination to continue, Mendel found that the recessives always bred true. In other words, they only produced more plants with that same recessive trait; no dominant forms reappeared, not even in subsequent generations. Mendel’s explanation was that the recessives could only have arisen from the pollen a and egg a combination, which excludes the A element. For similar reasons, plants with the dominant trait bred true one-third of the time, depending on whether they were the pure forms from the pollen A and egg A combination or the hybrids from the pollen A and egg a or pollen a and egg A combinations.

Mendel’s hereditary elements sound like the modern geneticist’s genes or alleles, and Mendel usually receives credit for introducing the gene concept. Like genes, Mendel’s elements were material entities inherited from both parents and transmitted to the gametes. They also retained their integrity even when recessive in a hybrid. However, it is not clear whether he pictured two copies of each element in every cell, one copy from each parent, and he certainly did not associate them with chromosomes.

In a second set of experiments, Mendel tested combinations of traits to see whether they would segregate freely or tend to be inherited together. For example, he crossed round, yellow peas with wrinkled, green ones. That cross first yielded only round, yellow peas, as could be expected from the dominance relationships. Then, in the second generation, all four possible combinations of traits segregated out: not only the parental round yellow and wrinkled green peas but also new round green and wrinkled yellow ones. Mendel was able to explain the ratios as before, based on equally likely combinations of hereditary elements coming together at fertilization. The free regrouping of hereditary traits became known as independent assortment. In the twentieth century, it was found not to occur universally because some genes are linked together on the same chromosome.

Mendel’s paper did not reach many readers. As a Gymnasium teacher and a monk in Moravia without even a doctoral degree, Mendel could not command the same attention as a university professor in a major city. Also, it was not obvious that the behavior of these seven pea traits illustrated fundamental principles of heredity. Mendel wrote to several leading botanists in Germany and Austria about his findings, but only Carl von Nägeli at the University of Munich is known to have responded, and even he was skeptical of Mendel’s conclusions. Mendel published only one more paper on heredity (in 1869) and did little else to follow up his experiments or gain wider attention from scientists.

Mendel pursued other scientific interests as well. He was active in local scientific societies and was an avid meteorologist. He set up a weather station at the monastery and sent reports to the Central Meteorological Institute in Vienna. He also helped organize a network of weather stations in Moravia. He envisioned telegraph connections among the stations and with Vienna that would make weather forecasting feasible. In his later years, Mendel studied sunspots and tested the idea that they affected the weather. He also monitored the water level in the monastery well in order to test a theory that changes in the water table were related to epidemics. A common thread that ran through these diverse research interests was that they all involved counting or measuring, with the goal of discovering scientific laws behind the numerical patterns. His one great success was in explaining the pea data with his concepts of dominance, segregation, and independent assortment.

Mendel felt pleased and honored to be elected abbot in 1868, even though he had to give up teaching and most of his research. He did not have the heart to say good-bye to his pupils. Instead, he asked the school director to announce his departure and give his last month’s salary to the three neediest boys in the class. As abbot, Mendel had a reputation for generosity to the poor and to scientific and cultural institutions. He was also an efficient manager of the monastery and its extensive land holdings and a fierce defender of the monastery’s interests. From 1874 on, he feuded with imperial authorities over a new tax on the monastery, which he refused to pay as long as he lived. Mendel’s health failed gradually in the last years of his life. He had kidney problems and an abnormally fast heartbeat, the latter probably from nerves and nicotine. (A doctor recommended smoking to control his weight, and he developed a twenty-cigar-a-day habit.) He died January 6, 1884, of heart and kidney failure.

Impact and Applications

Years after Mendel’s death, a scientific colleague remembered him saying, prophetically, “my time will come.” It came in 1900, when papers by three different botanists reported experimental results that were similar to Mendel’s and endorsed Mendel’s long-overlooked explanations. This event became known as the rediscovery of Mendelism. By 1910, Mendel’s theory had given rise to a whole new field of research, which was given the name “genetics.” Mendel’s hereditary elements were described more precisely as “genes” and were presumed to be located on the chromosomes. By the 1920s, the sex chromosomes were identified, the determination of sex was explained in Mendelian terms, and the arrangements of genes on chromosomes could be mapped.

The study of evolution was also transformed by Mendelian genetics, as Darwinians and anti-Darwinians alike had to take the new information about heredity into account. By 1930, it had been shown that natural selection could cause evolutionary change in a population by shifting the proportions of individuals with different genes. This principle of population genetics became a cornerstone of modern Darwinism.

Investigations of the material basis of heredity led to the discovery of the gene’s DNA structure in 1953. This breakthrough marked the beginning of molecular genetics, which studies how genes are copied, how mutations occur, and how genes exert their influence on cells. In short, all genetics can trace its heritage back to the ideas and experiments of Gregor Mendel.

Key terms



gametes

:

reproductive cells that unite during fertilization to form an embryo; in plants, the pollen cells and egg cells are gametes




hybrid

:

a plant form resulting from a cross between two distinct varieties




independent assortment

:

the segregation of two or more pairs of genes without any tendency for certain genes to stay together




segregation

:

the process of separating a pair of Mendelian hereditary elements (genes), one from each parent, and distributing them at random into the gametes





Bibliography

Carlson, Elof Axel. Mendel’s Legacy: The Origin of Classical Genetics. Cold Spring Harbor: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 2004. Print.

Corcos, A., and F. Monaghan. Mendel’s Experiments on Plant Hybrids: A Guided Study. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 1993. Print.

Edelson, Edward. Gregor Mendel and the Roots of Genetics. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. Print.

Henig, Robin Marantz. The Monk in the Garden: The Lost and Found Genius of Gregor Mendel, the Father of Genetics. Boston: Houghton, 2000. Print.

Iltis, Hugo. Life of Mendel. Translated by Eden Paul and Cedar Paul. 1932. Reprint. New York: Hafner, 1966. Print.

Klug, William S., et al. Essentials of Genetics. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print.

Korf, Bruce R., and Mira B. Irons. Human Genetics and Genomics. Chicester: Wiler-Blackwell, 2013. Print.

Krimsky, Sheldon, and Jeremy Gruber. Genetic Explanations: Sense and Nonsense. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2013. Print.

Mawer, Simon. Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics. New York: Abrams, in association with the Field Museum, Chicago, 2006. Print.

Olby, Robert. The Origins of Mendelism. 2d ed. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1985. Print.

Orel, Vítezslav. Gregor Mendel: The First Geneticist. Trans. Stephen Finn. New York: Oxford UP, 1996. Print.

Tudge, Colin. In Mendel’s Footnotes: An Introduction to the Science and Technologies of Genes and Genetics from the Nineteenth Century to the Twenty-second. London: Cape, 2000. Print.

Wood, Roger J., and Vitezslav Orel. Genetic Prehistory in Selective Breeding: A Prelude to Mendel. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.

How do the characters Tom and Jeff change in Firegirl?

Although the narrator, Tom, changes significantly over the course of the novel, his best friend Jeff does not change--in fact, Jeff loses his chance to change, and the fact that Tom proves to be a dynamic (developing, changing) character while Jeff remains static helps illustrate one of the novel's main ideas. That is, when you have the chance to make friends with someone very different, or someone who's suffering, like Jessica in this story, you can either take advantage of that chance and grow from it (like Tom does) or you can let that opportunity pass you by and learn nothing as a result (like Jeff does).

Let's take a closer look at how Tom changes while Jeff remains the same.

Both boys start off being obsessed with classic sports cars from the sixties. They anxiously await the chance to ride in Jeff's uncle's Cobra, a snakelike machine that's all about speed and flash. But by the end of the novel, after Tom has befriended Jessica despite her disfiguring burns, Tom doesn't care much about that Cobra anymore. He chooses to spend time with Jessica instead, even when he finally gets the chance to ride in that incredible machine. Jeff, however, scoffs at Tom and his decision. Jeff doesn't understand that friendship and helping others in need may actually be more important than taking an exciting ride in an expensive car. Tom, however, does understand this.

Speaking of helping others, Tom also learns to become less selfish, while Jeff never learns this lesson. At the beginning of the story, when Tom's mother suggests that he go over to Jessica's house to befriend her, he wonders how that could possibly help him. You can just see Tom's mom roll her eyes at him when she tells him that it won't, but that it will help Jessica. At that point, it's as if Tom only cares about himself. But by the end of the story, after making friends with Jessica and listening to her as she works through her grief and pain, Tom learns to sacrifice his own comfort and his free time (and his time with his best friend Jeff) to help Jessica. He understands that helping others is worthwhile, and the right thing to do.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, why does Tom run after Mayella jumps on him, even though it is a sign of guilt?

Tom runs because he is afraid of being seen with a white woman. 

Tom Robinson never did anything to Mayella Ewell. He felt sorry for her because she was alone and had a lot of younger siblings to take care of, so he tried to help her. During the cross-examination when Tom Robinson testifies, the prosecutor Mr. Gilmer tries to convince the jury that Tom Robinson ran because he had done something wrong.

Robinson admits Mayella Ewell kissed him and he ran, but he says he never did anything to her. He certainly never raped her. Atticus establishes that Robinson could not have caused the injuries to her face because he had no use of his left arm and the injuries were done by a left-handed person. 

When Mr. Gilmer asks Tom Robinson if Mr. Ewell ran him off, Robinson responds that he “didn’t stay long enough” for Ewell to run him off. He says he ran because he was scared. Gilmer tries to use that against him. 

“If you had a clear conscience, why were you scared?”

“Like I says before, it weren’t safe for any nigger to be in a — fix like that.”

“But you weren’t in a fix — you testified that you were resisting Miss Ewell. Were you so scared that she’d hurt you, you ran, a big buck like you?”

“No suh, I’s scared I’d be in court, just like I am now” (Chapter 19).

Mr. Gilmer tries to take Tom Robinson’s running away as a sign of guilt. He asks him if he was actually afraid of facing the court. Robinson responds that he was “scared I’d hafta face up to what I didn’t do.” Mr. Gilmer calls him impudent. He can’t get Robinson to admit that he raped or assaulted Mayella, because he didn’t. 

Dill is sickened by this exchange and has to be removed from the courtroom. He is upset Mr. Gilmer is patronizing Tom Robinson and calling him “boy.” Gilmer focuses on the fact that Robinson is black, and implicitly arguing that should be enough evidence for the jury. In fact, it turns out it is. Despite the fact that there is no evidence, Robinson is convicted.

Write a summary on improving a company's customer service.

A summary on improving a business's customer service would logically begin with a brief description of that company's perceived weaknesses or shortcomings that could be responsible for impeding progress. For example, a pattern of complaints from customers regarding the quality of one's product or services, or a series of complaints concerning unprofessionalism on the part of sales staff or management would clearly indicate a need to address such areas. Perhaps the quality of product is fine, but the manufacturer or outlet has experienced difficulties shipping products on schedule, or maintaining adequate inventory to meet demand. Maybe customers do not feel that their concerns are being taken seriously or are being adequately addressed. No business is perfect, and there is certainly some area that holds room for improvement.

Efforts to improve customer service would follow logically from the above discussion of identified weaknesses. Even in the unlikely event that there is no identified shortcoming, there is usually some room for improvement in the area of customer service. Any business, whether wholesale or retail, manufacturer or provider of services, requires a positive perception on the part of its intended clientele. Proper training of staff, therefore, is essential to ensure that each member of the staff--or, at a minimum, those who come into direct contact with the customer--is instructed in how to deal with unsatisfied clientele. The old adage "the customer is always right" remains appropriate. While the customer might be completely wrong on the facts, and while that customer might simply be unreasonable and excessively demanding, the business that pursues customers must be prepared to convince even the unreasonable clients that it is sensitive to their needs and concerns. This does not come naturally to all individuals. Those whose job descriptions include direct contact with customers must be periodically reminded of the need to assuage customer concerns.

A positive reputation for customer service can go a long way towards impressing potential customers who might otherwise choose a competitor. A reputation for honesty and integrity (i.e., the customer has confidence that the company's staff means what it says and will do its best to meet conditions of any agreement) can help to compensate for disadvantages in other areas, such as cost to the customer in those cases where the competitor's price is lower. Many individuals and businesses will factor into their equation when comparing options the quality of customer service they can expect. Individuals will pay a higher cost to have their car repaired if they are confident that the mechanic is honest and capable. Companies seeking vendors to supply parts for a larger item will look more favorably upon those vendors that are known to be responsive to their clientele and to act with the appropriate level of professionalism.

A summary on improving a company's customer service should include a discussion of existing issues that may exist such as those described above. It should then offer measures intended to improve existing policies and practices, such as training of staff with an emphasis on timely responses to customer concerns or complaints and an appreciation for the need to be sympathetic to those concerns or complaints, even when they are without merit.

What is the role of trade and trade cities in Italy?

One could claim that the entire Italian Renaissance can be traced back to the influence of trade and trade cities within Italy. Although Italy didn't necessarily have greater assets or resources than most other parts of Europe, it was able to thrive thanks to the fact that many of its cities were on major trade routes.

One example of how trade positively affected the country could be found in Florence. Because Florence was an important player on the trade route, it became one of Northern Italy's wealthiest cities. It subsequently became a major hub for the financial industry.

With the free flow of goods and services moving about Italy to locations as far as the Mediterranean and beyond, prosperous cities and more cultured people resulted. Many merchants became rich and founded schools and universities, which led to more free-flowing thinking and allowed for cultural ideas to spread. This created the perfect atmosphere for the flourishing of the Italian Renaissance.

What are some ideas for a costume inspired by botany?

Botany is the study of plants and their biology. Lucky for you, plants take many shapes, forms, and colors, which offers you some flexibility in coming up with costume ideas.

To help get some ideas, I recommend looking at photographs of plants and trying to relate the images to shapes one might find in clothing. Consider how the petals of flowers drape over one another like the layers of a skirt or dress. The branches of trees and saplings may be reminiscent of arms and legs. Be sure to look at photos of plants from various stages in their life cycle--some plants are most interesting or beautiful at their peak of growth, while others are more interesting during the growth process. Do you have a favorite plant, or one you are interested in?

You might even consider going outdoors to gather some pieces of plants--blooms, leaves, bark, moss. Use these as inspiration while sketching a design for a costume. 

This website offers stock photos of a wide variety of plants.

With reference to William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily," can some people love another so much that they simply cannot bear for that...

There can be a very fine, and dangerous line between love and obsession, and the protagonist of William Faulkner’s short story "A Rose for Emily" clearly falls into the latter category. She was sheltered during much of her life by an over-protective father (“. . .her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip . . .” whenever young men came to the house to meet Emily). Is it possible for somebody to love another person so deeply that they cannot bear for that person to leave? Absolutely. Most people have experienced a break-up in a relationship or loss of a loved one due to illness or accident. In fact, it is the rare and probably socially- and physically-isolated individual who has not loved another person so much that he or she could not bear for that person to leave. Having a hard time accepting the loss of a loved one, however, is not necessarily the same as being obsessed with that person to the point of kidnapping and murdering him or her. There is a word for such obsessive people: stalkers. And, stalkers are dangerous, known to violently attack the objects of their obsession.

Such is the case with Emily, the central figure in Faulkner’s story. Emily, as noted, has been sheltered to such a point that she has never experienced a relationship with a man. When a construction crew arrives in town to repave sidewalks, “in the summer after he father’s death,” Emily is attracted to the crew’s foreman, “. . .Homer Barron, a Yankee—a big, dark ready man, with a big voice and eyes lighter than his face.” For the first time in her life, Emily is not prevented by her father from pursuing a romantic relationship, and she is blind to Homer’s preference for spending time with men. When the construction is finished, however, and the crew departs town, Emily, it will be revealed in the story’s resolution, prevented Homer from leaving with his crew, apparently poisoning him for the purpose of doing so, and sleeping next to his decomposing remains for years afterward.

It is, as stated, possible to be deeply hurt by the departure, for whatever reason, of a loved one. People commit suicide over their despondency when confronted with a request or demand that a romantic relationship be terminated. And, they have been known to kill the other party over a deeply-psychotic fear that the now-former lover will be with somebody else. Most, the overwhelming majority, of people, however, do not go to such extremes. They hurt internally for some time, and then move on. It is a healing process that Faulkner’s troubled protagonist has never learned due to the sheltered existence she had led.

In The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier, why does Jan need to steal? Is he justified in stealing?

Jan’s involvement in theft first emerges when he meets with Joseph Balicki. Joseph recognizes that Jan is a pickpocket. He, however, benefits from Jan’s theft when the boy gives him food stolen from the Nazis.

Joseph meets with Jan when he traces his way back home after escaping from the German prison. He tries to obtain information about his children, but Jan has not met them yet. Joseph hands Jan the silver sword he finds among the rubble of his old house after the boy asks for it. In exchange, Joseph requests Jan to inform the Balicki children to go to Switzerland if he meets them. Joseph decides to go to Switzerland, and Jan helps him get onto a train. Jan gives Joseph food that he had stolen from the Nazi barracks for the trip.

Jan is again involved in theft while on his way to Switzerland together with the Balicki children. Edek suspects Jan of theft when the boy shows up with strange food cans. Edek trails Jan and sees him meet with an accomplice; after they talk, Jan climbs up a train signal tower and begins tampering with it. Edek thinks Jan is trying to wreck the train and pursues him. Jan runs away, and Edek is arrested by American soldiers. Ruth intervenes, and Jan is forced to say the truth. Jan, in his defense, states that he did it for food. He is, however, remorseful, and serves his time in jail.

It is important to acknowledge that Jan is a young orphan boy trying to survive through a war. He steals for food, and he feels justified because he has limited options for his survival. In my opinion, Jan is justified because if he registered for food rations, he would have exposed himself to forced labor. In addition, food is hard to come by in times of war, and for young children, it gets difficult to secure any work in such conditions.

What remedy does Benvolio suggest for Romeo's problem?

Benvolio is the play's peacemaker. His first words in Romeo and Juliet are "Part, fools! Put up your swords; you know not what you do" as he attempts to stop a fight. Benvolio learns Romeo is lovesick because he is in love with Rosaline, but "out of her favor." We find out that Romeo, in fact, is lusting after Rosaline, and grieving her "chastity." He calls it a "huge waste" that someone so beautiful is so chaste. Benvolio tells him to forget her and "examine other beauties."

A short time later, Benvolio and Romeo learn of the Capulets' party, which Rosaline will attend. Benvolio advises Romeo to go to the party and compare Rosaline with the other beauties of Verona who will be there. Once Romeo sees some of the other lovely young women of Verona, Benvolio believes Rosaline won't seem so beautiful to Romeo:

She shall scant show well that now seems best.

Benvolio knows his cousin well; it doesn't take Romeo long to find another love interest.

Why does Pa say "it's purty near time to get out a stick" when Ma decides the family will move out of the camp in The Grapes of Wrath by John...

One of the ways The Great Depression upsets the traditions and expectations of the Joad family — and many other families — is through gender roles. Pa says this line as a bit of a joke about getting a stick to beat Ma, as punishment for her stepping out of her traditionally subservient role as wife. Because she has made the decision that the family will leave the government camp, and because she was so confident and direct in her delivery of this pronouncement, Pa feels she is usurping his role as the head of the household and decision-maker. 

He is teasing her a bit, as he also says, "Now, Ma, don' think I don' wanta go. I ain't had a good gutful to eat in two weeks." Still, Ma drives the point home, saying: 

"You get your stick, Pa, [...] Times when they's food an' a place to set, then maybe you can use your stick an' keep your skin whole. But you ain't a-doin' your job, either a-thinkin' or a-workin'. If you was, why, you could use your stick, an' women folks'd sniffle their nose an creep mouse aroun'. But you jus' get you a stick now an you ain't lickin' no woman; you're a-fightin' cause I got a stick all laid out too."

Pa doesn't get angry at this, though. He and Ma both need to be fighters and tough to survive their circumstances. 

Over what period of time does Macbeth take place?

The exact length of time spanned by the events of Macbeth is unclear and is open to the interpretation of readers, audiences, directors, and actors. The 11th century Scottish king Mac Bethad, the nominal inspiration for Shakespeare's Macbeth, reigned for almost exactly 17 years following the death of his cousin and predecessor Duncan. But Shakespeare's play diverges from the historical chronicles in many major respects. The historical Duncan, for instance, was killed in battle against Macbeth's forces, not murdered in his bedchamber, and it seems clear that the events of Macbeth are meant to cover a much, much shorter duration than 17 years.

What we know for certain is that Macbeth reigns long enough for Malcolm and later Macduff to flee from Scotland to England and then return to Scotland accompanied by the English forces, and for Macbeth himself to perpetrate a considerable amount of harm and violence; he is referred to many times in the latter part of the play as a "tyrant," and in Act IV Scene 3, Malcolm laments "I think our country sinks beneath the  yoke; / It weeps, it bleeds; and each new day a gash / Is added to her wounds." The play is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy, and a guiding principle of its construction is one of terrifying economy and velocity, collapsing the thought and the action, the event and the consequence, into one. The Hungarian film director Bela Tarr conveyed this sense of nightmarish compression by staging almost the entirety of his TV production of the play in a single, highly mobile take, telescoping intervals in the story through cleverly executed in-camera time jumps. I'm linking to a detailed analysis of the play's temporal cues, which estimates the maximum duration of its narrative at several weeks. But it's important to remember that Shakespeare was notoriously free and haphazard about matters of chronology and narrative precision, and the textual clues of Macbeth offer at times contradictory indications about the time scheme of the play. The literal "in-world" duration of the action is of secondary importance to the creeping, dreamlike atmosphere of unreality, of time rapidly running out and the walls of the world closing in, created in the minds of both characters and spectators.

What are muscles that you cannot control consciously?

These muscles are called "involuntary" muscles, because you cannot consciously control them. The most well-known of these muscles is the heart, but involuntary muscles control the digestive process (peristalsis-- moving food through your system) as well. You can't consciously make your heart stop or start, and you can't control the process by which food moves through the digestive tract. Some functions, like breathing, are controlled by both voluntary and involuntary muscles. You can breathe, in fact almost always breathe, without thinking about it. But you can also hold your breath, like when you are underwater. So the process of breathing, which is controlled in part by a large muscle known as the diaphragm, is both voluntary (because you can stop it to a point) and involuntary (because it goes on unconsciously). Involuntary movements of voluntary muscles can also occur during some stages of sleep.

How are like and equal different things in A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle?

Alike and equal are not the same, because people should have equal rights without being forced to be like everyone else.

On Camazotz, conformity is the rule.  The kids should all bounce the ball the same way.  Anyone who does not do things exactly like everyone else is re-educated.  The populace is controlled by fear.

When Meg is trying to prevent herself from being brainwashed by IT, she tries reciting nursery rhymes, and when that doesn't work, the “Declaration of Independence.”  The concept of people being equal appeals to IT, and Meg ends up arguing with IT about the difference between “equal” and “alike.” 

"But that's exactly what we have on Camazotz. Complete equality. Everybody exactly alike."

For a moment her brain reeled with confusion. Then came a moment of blazing truth. "No!" she cried triumphantly. "Like and equal are not the same thing at all!" (Ch. 9)

If people have equal rights, that means they can make their own choices.  On Camazotz, people have no rights at all.  If they do not want to do things like everyone else, they are out of luck.  You can have different concepts that are equal, but still different.  For example, if someone wanted to bounce a ball on the ground, and someone else wanted to bounce it off a wall, both of these are equally good ways to use a ball.  They are not the same.

The concept of uniqueness is an important one in this book.  Before her journey, Meg was frustrated because she felt that she did not fit in.  As she went along, she came to see how her unique skills and personality traits made her special.  On Camazotz, being strong-willed and independent saved her from IT. Charles Wallace was not so lucky.  He was more easily taken in by the seductive nature of IT's message.

What happens to chromosomes during prometaphase?

Mitosis is the process by which cells other than egg and sperm cells divide. The stages of mitosis are as follows:

Interphase (occurs prior to mitosis): The cell is metabolically active and preparing for mitosis.

• The chromosomes are not distinct.


• The nucleolus may be visible.

Prophase

• The chromatin begins to condense into visible chromosomes.


• The nucleolus disappears.


• The centrioles begin to move to opposite sides of the cell.


• The mitotic spindle begins to form.

Prometaphase

• The nuclear membrane dissolves at the beginning of prometaphase.


• The kinetochores are formed.


• The microtubules attach to the kinetochore.


• 
  The chromosomes begin moving. 

Metaphase

• The chromosomes are completely condensed and aligned along the metaphase plate. 

Anaphase

• The chromatids separate and move along the spindle fiber to opposite poles of the cell.

Telophase

• The nuclear membrane reforms.


• The chromosomes become indistinct.


• The spindle fibers break down.

Cytokinesis

• The cell divides into two daughter cells. 

What are three examples of personification in the second stanza of "To Autumn"?

Personification is the literary device in which a non-human object or animal is represented as having human qualities. In “To Autumn” by John Keats, the second stanza constructs the idea that the very season of autumn itself has the human qualities of “sitting” (line 14), sleeping (demonstrated in line 16), and also gazing with a “patient look” (line 21). More interesting is the quality of idleness autumn seems to possess while it is “sitting careless on a granary floor” (line 14) and watching the “last oozings hours by hours” (line 22).  The season is revealed as a kind of day-dreamer, one that is often reposed in moments of stillness rather than active (as it appears in the first stanza). After the work of ripening and collecting the harvest of the first stanza, the season becomes pensive. This constructs the meaning that towards the end of autumn, after all the hard work of bringing in the harvest, there is a natural inclination to contemplate time and the transience of each moment and season. So the poem reveals the season of autumn as having the human quality of being able to contemplate the finitude of life and of one’s own being.

In Chapter 8 of Lord of the Flies by William Golding, after Jack calls a meeting, what does Simon suggest they do and why?

In Chapter 8 of William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies, Jack angrily calls a meeting after Ralph insults the "hunters." At the meeting, Jack is further humiliated during a vote for the chief. Ralph wins this position unanimously, causing Jack to storm away. 

After this, Simon suggests that the boys climb the mountain. This suggestion is met with stunned shock, which Piggy voices: "What's the good of climbing up to this here beast when Ralph and the other two couldn't do nothing?" Piggy, and the rest of the boys, believe that their options have been exhausted since their leaders could not defeat the beast. 

Simon's justification, however, presents an interesting and different perspective. He asks, "What else is there to do?" Given Simon's insight into the beast, which he believes may actually be the boys themselves, this is fascinating response. He wants to confront their fears head on and united as one against something mysterious, dark, and terrifying.

The fact that this suggestion is met with such a negative reaction reveals an interesting facet to the boys' society: their decisions and behavior are crippled by assumptions and adopted weakness. 

What kind of government did England have during World War II?

During World War II, Great Britain had a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system in place.  The role of Parliament in Great Britain was to make primary legislation.

The political leader of the country was the Prime Minister.  During World War II, there were three Prime Ministers of Great Britain.  When the war began, Neville Chamberlain was the Prime Minister.  He resigned and Winston Churchill took on his role.  Churchill was the most famous Prime Minister from this period of time.   He was very involved in the British war effort during his time in office.  Clement Attlee became Prime Minister after Churchill, and he was in office for less than two months before VJ Day and the end of the war.  The monarch of Great Britain, who at the time was George VI, usually did not make political decisions.  Instead, he relied heavily on the decision-making of the country's Prime Minister.

`int_(pi/4)^(pi/2) cot^5(x) csc^3(x) dx` Evaluate the integral

`int _(pi/4)^(pi/2) cot^5(x)csc^3(x)dx`

To solve, apply the Pythagorean identity  `1+cot^2(x)=csc^2(x)`      to express the integral in the form `int u^n du.`      

`=int _(pi/4)^(pi/2) cot^2 (x) cot^3(x) csc^3(x)dx`

`=int_(pi/4)^(pi/2) (csc^2(x)-1) cot^3(x)csc^3(x)dx`

`=int_(pi/4)^(pi/2)( csc^5(x)cot^3(x)-csc^3(x)cot^3(x) )dx`

`=int_(pi/4)^(pi/2) ( csc^5(x) cot(x) cot^2(x) - csc^3(x) cot(x)cot^2(x) )dx`

`=int_(pi/4)^(pi/2) ( csc^5(x) cot(x) (csc^2(x)-1) - csc^3(x) cot(x) (csc^2(x) -1)) dx`

`=int_(pi/4)^(pi/2) (csc^7(x)cot(x)-csc^5(x)cot(x)-csc^5(x)cot(x) +csc^3(x)cot(x)) dx`

`=int_(pi/4)^(pi/2) (csc^7(x)cot(x) -2csc^5(x)cot(x) +csc^3(x)cotx) dx`

To take the integral, apply u-substitution method. So, let u be:

     u=csc(x) dx

Then, differentiate u.

     du = - csc(x) cot(x) dx

To be able to apply this, factor out -csc(x) cot(x).

`=int_(pi/4)^(pi/2) ( -csc^6(x) +2csc^4(x) -csc^2(x)) (-csc(x) cot(x) dx)` 

Then, determine the value of u when x=pi/2 and x=pi/4.

     `u=csc (x)`

     `u= csc(pi/2)=1`

     `u=csc(pi/4)=sqrt2`

Expressing the integral in terms of u, the integral becomes:

`=int _sqrt2^1 (-u^6 +2u^4-u^2) du`

`=( -u^7/7 +(2u^5)/5 -u^3/3 )_sqrt2^1 `

`=(-1/7+2/5-1/3) -(-(sqrt2)^7/7+(2(sqrt2)^5)/5-(sqrt2)^3/3)`

`=0.2201`

Therefore, `int _(pi/4)^(pi/2) cot^5(x) csc^3(x) dx=0.2201`  .

Provide a quote from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird that depicts Atticus accepting Tom Robinson’s case even though he knows he will not win.

At the beginning of Chapter 9, Scout asks Atticus why Cecil Jacobs said that he defended niggers. Atticus explains to Scout that he will be defending a Negro named Tom Robinson and encourages her to keep her cool and not react with violence when provoked. Scout then asks Atticus if he is going to win the case, and Atticus responds by saying, "No, honey" (Lee 49). Scout is confused at his answer and asks why he chooses to defend Tom. Atticus says,

"Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win" (Lee 49).

Towards the end of Chapter 9, Atticus has a conversation with his brother, John Hale Finch, about accepting the Tom Robinson case. Uncle Jack asks Atticus how bad the case is going to be because Atticus hadn't said much about it. Atticus tells Jack that it couldn't be worse. He says that there is no evidence, and it is simply a black man's word against the Ewells'. Atticus comments, "The jury couldn’t possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson’s word against the Ewells'" (Lee 55). Atticus knows that he doesn't have a chance to win the case, but mentions that he wants to "jar the jury a bit" before the trial is over. However, Atticus does think he has a reasonable chance on an appeal.

Atticus then mentions that he hoped to get through life without a case like this, but he was chosen to defend Tom and plans on representing him to the best of his ability. Atticus says, "I’d hoped to get through life without a case of this kind, but John Taylor pointed at me and said, ‘You’re It.’" (Lee 56). When Jack asks if Atticus will let the case pass from him and not defend Tom, Atticus responds by saying,

"Right. But do you think I could face my children otherwise? You know what’s going to happen as well as I do, Jack, and I hope and pray I can get Jem and Scout through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb’s usual disease" (Lee 56).

What do you think attracts Stephen to the priesthood? Why do you think he rejects it? In what ways is his later vocation (or "calling") as an...

In James Joyce’s influential modernist bildungsroman A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Joyce portrays the life of young Stephen Dedalus as he struggles with his simultaneous religious and sexual awakenings. Stephen is attracted to the priesthood because he pictures the respect and gravitas that is associated with the position. Indeed, a priest actively attempts to convince Stephen to consider priesthood:

“To receive that call, Stephen, said the priest, is the greatest honour that the Almighty God can bestow upon a man.... What an awful power, Stephen!” (158).

However, as the novel progresses, it becomes clear to Stephen that he is not meant to be a priest. As the title suggests, he instead has a calling to be an artist. This calling is similar to how religious leaders describe their initiation into their respective religious orders. It is unavoidable, and cannot, and will not, be ignored. Later in the novel, when Stephen is roughly 18, Stephen’s friend Cranly quotes him and his thoughts on the importance of artistic expression:

“What you said, is it? Cranly asked. Yes I remember it. To discover the mode of life or of art whereby your spirit could express itself in unfettered freedom” (246).

For Stephen, his desire to express himself as an artist becomes more of a driving force in his life than his desire for religious expression; art supplants religion for him, and art becomes his religion.

Why did Nagania try to attack Rikki-tikki?

Nagaina wanted to get rid of Rikki-tikki because he was a threat to her family. 

Nag and Nagaina were the cobras that lived in Rikki-tikki’s family garden.  Nagaina tried to attack Rikki-tikki at several points during the story, because she knew that he was a great danger to her entire family.  Nagaina had a group of eggs getting ready to hatch. 

Nag tries to distract Rikki-tikki so that Nagaina can attack him.

Nag was thinking to himself, and watching the least little movement in the grass behind Rikki-tikki. He knew that mongooses in the garden meant death sooner or later for him and his family, but he wanted to get Rikki-tikki off his guard.

Rikki-tikki is too smart for this though.  He turns just as Nagaina appears, because Darzee warns him that she is coming.  He bites her, leaving her “torn and angry,” but it is a stalemate.  Neither wins, and they must return to fight later. 

After Rikki-tikki fights and kills Nagaina’s husband, Nag, she is even more desperate.  When she learns that Rikki-tikki killed all of her eggs except one, she has no choice but to go after him.  She wants to kill him, and save her baby. 

Nagaina gathered herself together, and flung out at him. Rikki-tikki jumped up and backward. Again and again and again she struck, and each time her head came with a whack on the matting of the verandah, and she gathered herself together like a watch-spring. 

Rikki-tikki had to put down the egg to fight her, so Nagaina took it and went into her hole.  She was running for her life.  It is very dangerous for a mongoose inside a cobra's hole, because she knows it better than he does, so she probably thought he would not follow.  Rikki-tikki did follow her  though, and killed her in the hole.

What are St. John's wort's therapeutic uses?

Overview

St. John’s wort is a common perennial herb of many branches and bright yellow
flowers that grows wild in much of the world. Its name derives from the herb’s
tendency to flower around the time of the feast of St. John. (“Wort” simply means
“plant” in Old English.) The species name perforatum derives from
the watermarking of translucent dots that can be seen when the leaf is held up to
light.

St. John’s wort has a long history of use in treating emotional disorders. During
the Middle Ages, St. John’s wort was popular for “casting out demons.” In the
nineteenth century, the herb was classified as a nervine, or a treatment for
so-called nervous disorders. When pharmaceutical antidepressants were invented, German researchers began to
look for similar properties in St. John’s wort.

Therapeutic Dosages

The typical dosage of St. John’s wort is 300 milligrams (mg) three times a day of an extract standardized to contain 0.3 percent hypericin. Some products are standardized to hyperforin content (usually 2 percent to 3 percent) instead of hypericin. These are usually taken at the same dosage. Two studies found benefits with a single daily dose of 900 mg.

Another form of St. John’s wort has shown effectiveness in double-blind studies. This form contains little hyperforin and is taken at a dose of 250 mg twice daily. There is some evidence that this form of St. John’s wort may be less likely than other forms to interact with medications.

Therapeutic Uses

In Germany, other parts of Europe, and the United States, St. John’s wort is now a
widely used treatment for depression. The evidence base for its
use approaches that of many modern prescription drugs at the time of their first
approval.

Most studies of St. John’s wort have evaluated individuals with major depression of mild to moderate intensity. This contradictory-sounding language indicates that the level of depression rises to greater severity than simply feeling “blue.” However, it is not as severe as the most severe forms of depression. Typical symptoms include depressed mood, lack of energy, sleep problems, anxiety, appetite disturbance, difficulty concentrating, and poor stress tolerance. Irritability can also be a sign of depression.

Taken as a whole, research suggests that St. John’s wort is more effective than placebo and approximately as effective as standard drugs. Furthermore, St. John’s wort appears to cause fewer side effects than many antidepressants. However, the herb does present one significant safety risk: It interacts harmfully with a great many standard medications.

St. John’s wort has also shown promise for treatment of severe major depression. St. John’s wort alone should never be relied on for the treatment of severe depression. Persons who are feeling suicidal or who are unable to cope with daily life or who are paralyzed by anxiety, incapable of getting out of bed, unable to sleep, or uninterested in eating should consult a physician or other health practitioner.

St. John’s wort has been tried in the treatment of many other conditions in which
prescription antidepressants are thought useful, such as attention deficit
disorder, anxiety, insomnia, menopausal symptoms, premenstrual syndrome (PMS),
seasonal affective disorder (SAD), and social phobia. However, there is no
convincing evidence that it offers any benefit for these conditions. One
substantial double-blind study did find St. John’s wort potentially helpful for
somatoform disorders (commonly called psychosomatic illnesses).

Standard antidepressants are also often used for diabetic neuropathy and other forms of neuropathy (nerve pain). However, a small double-blind, placebo-controlled trial failed to find St. John’s wort effective for this purpose. Another study failed to find St. John’s wort helpful for obsessive-compulsive disorder.

St. John’s wort contains, among other ingredients, the substances hypericin and
hyperforin. Early reports suggested that St. John’s wort or synthetic hypericin
might be useful against viruses such as HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), but
these have not panned out. However, there is some evidence that hyperforin may be
able to fight certain bacteria, including some that are resistant to
antibiotics. This evidence is far too preliminary for any
conclusions to be drawn regarding the effectiveness of St. John’s wort as an
antibiotic. Based on weak evidence that hypericin might have anti-inflammatory
properties, St. John’s wort cream has been tried as a treatment for eczema, with
some promising results.

One interesting double-blind study evaluated a combination therapy containing St.
John’s wort and black cohosh in 301 women with general menopausal symptoms
as well as depression. The results showed that use of the combination treatment
was significantly more effective than placebo for both problems.

In a small placebo-controlled trial, hypericin extract showed no benefit for burning mouth syndrome, a poorly understood condition in which a person experiences ongoing moderate to severe pain in the tongue or mouth, or both.

Scientific Evidence

Depression. Two main kinds of studies have examined the use of St. John’s wort for depression: those that compared St. John’s wort to placebo and others that compared it to prescription antidepressants. A 2008 detailed review of twenty-nine randomized, placebo-controlled trials found that St. John’s wort was consistently more effective than placebo and just as effective as standard antidepressants.

St. John’s wort versus placebo. Studies of St. John’s wort (and other antidepressants) use a set of questions called the Hamilton Depression Index (HAM-D). This scale rates the extent of depression, with higher numbers indicating more serious symptoms.

Double-blind,
placebo-controlled trials involving a total of more than
fifteen hundred participants with major depression of mild to moderate severity
have generally found that use of St. John’s wort can significantly reduce HAM-D
scores compared with placebo. In addition, continued treatment with St. Johns wort
over six months may be effective at preventing a relapse of moderate depression in
patients who recover from an initial acute episode. For example, in a six-week
trial, 375 persons with average seventeen-item HAM-D scores of about 22
(indicating major depression of moderate severity) were given either St. John’s
wort or placebo. Persons taking St. John’s wort showed significantly greater
improvement than those taking placebo.

Three double-blind, placebo-controlled trials evaluating individuals with a similar level of depression failed to find St. John’s wort more effective than placebo. However, three studies cannot overturn a body of positive research. It should be noted that 35 percent of double-blind studies involving pharmaceutical antidepressants have also failed to find the active agent significantly more effective than placebo. As if to illustrate this, in two of the three studies in which St. John’s wort failed to prove effective, a conventional drug (Zoloft in one case, Prozac in the other) also failed to prove effective. The reason for these negative outcomes is not that Zoloft or Prozac does not work. Rather, statistical effects can easily hide the benefits of a drug, especially in a condition such as depression, where there is as a high placebo effect and no really precise method of measuring symptoms. Thus, unless a whole series of studies find St. John’s wort ineffective, especially trials in which a comparison drug treatment does prove effective, St. John’s wort should still be regarded as probably effective for major depression of mild to moderate severity.

St. John’s wort versus medications. At least eight double-blind trials enrolling a total of more than twelve hundred people have compared St. John’s wort with fluoxetine (Prozac), citalopram (Celexa), paroxetine (Paxil), or sertraline (Zoloft). In all of these studies, the herb proved as effective as the drug and generally caused fewer side effects.

In the largest of these trials, a six-week study of 388 people with major depression of mild to moderate severity, St. John’s wort proved just as effective as the drug citalopram (Celexa) and more effective than placebo. Additionally, Celexa caused a significantly higher rate of side effects than St. John’s wort. There were also significantly more side effects in the placebo group than in the St. John’s wort group, presumably because treatment of depression reduces physical symptoms of psychological origin. St. John’s wort also has been compared with older antidepressants, with generally favorable results.

How does St. John’s wort work for depression? Like pharmaceutical
antidepressants, St. John’s wort is thought to raise levels of neurotransmitters in the brain, such as serotonin,
norepinephrine, and dopamine. The active ingredient of St. John’s wort is not
known. Extracts of St. John’s wort are most often standardized to the substance
hypericin, which has led to the widespread misconception that hypericin is the
active ingredient. However, there is no evidence that hypericin itself is an
antidepressant.

Another ingredient of St. John’s wort, hyperforin, has shown considerable promise as the most important ingredient. Hyperforin was first identified as a constituent of Hypericum perforatum in 1971 by Russian researchers, but it was incorrectly believed to be too unstable to play a major role in the herb’s action. However, subsequent evidence corrected this view. It now appears that standard St. John’s wort extract contains about 1 percent to 6 percent hyperforin. Evidence from animal and human studies suggests that it is the hyperforin in St. John’s wort that raises the levels of neurotransmitters. Nonetheless, there may be other active ingredients in St. John’s wort also at work. In fact, two double-blind trials using a form of St. John’s wort with low hyperforin content found it effective. More research is necessary to discover just how St. John’s wort acts against depression.

Polyneuropathy. A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of fifty-four people with diabetic neuropathy or other forms of neuropathy (pain, numbness, or tingling caused by injury to nerves) did not find St. John’s wort effective for this purpose.

Safety Issues

St. John’s wort taken alone usually does not cause immediate side effects. In a study designed to look for side effects, 3,250 people took St. John’s wort for four weeks. Overall, about 2.4 percent reported problems. The most common complaints were mild stomach discomfort (0.6 percent); allergic reactions, primarily rash, (0.5 percent); tiredness (0.4 percent); and restlessness (0.3 percent). Another study followed 313 individuals treated with St. John’s wort for one year. The results showed a similarly low incidence of adverse effects.

In the extensive German experience with St. John’s wort as a treatment for depression, there have been no published reports of serious adverse consequences from taking the herb alone. Animal studies involving enormous doses of St. John’s wort extracts for twenty-six weeks have not shown any serious effects.

However, there are a number of potential safety risks with St. John’s wort that should be considered. These are outlined in the following sections.

Photosensitivity. Cows and sheep grazing on St. John’s wort have
sometimes developed severe and even fatal sensitivity to the sun. In one study,
highly sun-sensitive people were given twice the normal dose of the herb. The
results showed a mild but measurable increase in reaction to ultraviolet (UV)
radiation. Another trial found that a one-time dose of St.
John’s wort containing two or six times the normal daily dose did not cause an
increased tendency to burn, nor did seven days of treatment at the normal dose.
However, there is a case report of severe and unexpected burning in an individual
who used St. John’s wort and then received UV therapy for psoriasis. In addition,
two individuals using topical St. John’s wort experienced severe reactions to sun
exposure.

Persons who are especially sensitive to the sun should not exceed the recommended dose of St. John’s wort and should continue to take the usual precautions against burning. Individuals receiving UV treatment should not use St. John’s wort at all, and those who apply St. John’s wort to the skin should keep those parts of their bodies shielded from the sun.

In addition, combining St. John’s wort with other medications that cause increased
sun sensitivity, such as sulfa drugs and the anti-inflammatory
medication piroxicam (Feldene), may lead to problems. The medications omeprazole
(Prilosec) and lansoprazole (Prevacid) may also increase the tendency of St.
John’s wort to cause photosensitivity.

Finally, a report suggests that regular use of St. John’s wort might also increase the risk of sun-induced cataracts. Although this information is preliminary, it would be prudent for persons taking the herb on a long-term basis to wear sunglasses when outdoors.

Drug interactions. Herbal experts have warned for some time that
combining St. John’s wort with drugs in the Prozac family (SSRIs) might
raise serotonin too much and cause a number of serious problems. Recently, case
reports of such events have begun to trickle in. This is a potentially serious
risk. St. John’s wort should not be combined with prescription antidepressants
except on the specific advice of a physician. Because some antidepressants, such
as Prozac, linger in the blood for quite some time, persons who
have been taking such drugs should exercise caution when switching from these to
St. John’s wort. Antimigraine drugs in the triptan family (such as sumatriptan, or
Imitrex) and the pain-killing drug tramadol also raise serotonin levels and might
interact similarly with St. John’s wort.

However, perhaps the biggest concern with St. John’s wort is that it appears to
decrease the effectiveness of numerous medications, including protease
inhibitors and reverse transcriptase inhibitors (for
HIV infection), cyclosporine and tacrolimus (for organ transplants), digoxin (for
heart disease), statin drugs (used for high cholesterol), warfarin
(Coumadin, a blood thinner), chemotherapy drugs, oral contraceptives,
tricyclic
antidepressants, protein pump inhibitors (such as Prilosec),
atypical
antipsychotics such as olanzapine or clozapine (for
schizophrenia), anesthetics, and the new heart disease drug ivabradine. In fact,
there are theoretical reasons to believe that this herb might reduce the
effectiveness of, or otherwise interact with, about 50 percent of all medications.
Problems could arise, for instance, if a person is taking St. John’s wort while
also working with a physician to adjust the dosage of a particular medication to
obtain an optimum balance of efficacy and side effects. If the person subsequently
stops taking the herb, blood levels of the drug may then rise, with potentially
dangerous consequences.

Note that these proposed interactions are not purely academic; they could lead to
catastrophic consequences. Indeed, St. John’s wort appears to have caused several
cases of heart, kidney, and liver transplant rejection by interfering with the
action of cyclosporine. The herb also appears to decrease the
effectiveness of oral contraceptives and by doing so is thought to have led to
unwanted pregnancies.

On a less dramatic level, one study showed that among people taking a cholesterol-lowering medication in the statin family, use of St. John’s wort caused cholesterol levels to rise. (The same would be expected to occur if a person were using red yeast rice to treat high cholesterol, as red yeast rice supplies naturally occurring statin drugs.)

Finally, some people with HIV take St. John’s wort in the false belief that the herb will fight AIDS. The unintended result may be to reduce the potency of standard anti-HIV drugs.

There is some evidence that low-hyperforin St. John’s wort may have less potential for drug interactions than other forms of St. John’s wort. Nonetheless, it is recommended that people taking any oral or injected medication that is critical to their health or well-being entirely avoid using any form of St. John’s wort until more is known; those who are already taking the herb should not stop taking it until they can simultaneously have their drug levels monitored. It is also recommended that persons who are soon to undergo general anesthesia avoid use of the herb.

Safety in special circumstances. One animal study found no ill effects of St. John’s wort on the offspring of pregnant mice. However, these findings alone are not sufficient to establish the herb as safe for use during pregnancy. Furthermore, the St. John’s wort constituent hypericin can accumulate in the nucleus of cells and directly bind to DNA. For this reason, pregnant or nursing women should avoid St. John’s wort. Furthermore, safety for use by young children or people with severe liver or kidney disease has not been established.

Case reports suggest that, like other antidepressants, St. John’s wort can cause
episodes of mania in individuals with bipolar disorder (manic-depressive
disease). There is also one report of St. John’s wort causing temporary
psychosis in a person with Alzheimer’s disease.

Other concerns. Certain foods contain a substance called
tyramine. These foods include aged cheeses, aged or cured meats, sauerkraut, soy
sauce, other soy condiments, beer (especially beer on tap), and wine. Drugs in the
MAO
inhibitor family interact adversely with tyramine, causing
severe side effects such as high blood pressure, rapid heart rate, and delirium.
One case report suggests that St. John’s might present this risk as well. However,
other studies suggest that normal doses of the herb should not cause MAO-like
effects. Until this issue is sorted out, it is recommended that individuals taking
St. John’s wort avoid tyramine-containing foods. Since MAO inhibitors react
adversely with stimulant drugs such as Ritalin, ephedrine (found in the herb
ephedra), and caffeine, St. John’s wort should not be combined with these.

One small study suggests that high doses of St. John’s wort might slightly impair mental function. Another case report associates use of St. John’s wort with hair loss; the authors note that standard antidepressants may also cause hair loss at times.

One study raised questions about possible antifertility effects of St. John’s wort. When high concentrations of St. John’s wort were placed in a test tube with hamster sperm and ova, the sperm were damaged and less able to penetrate the ova. However, since it is unlikely that such a large amount of St. John’s wort can actually come in contact with sperm and ova when they are in the body rather than in a test tube, these results may not be meaningful in real life.

In one reported case, St. John’s wort may have interacted with the menopause drug tibolone to produce severe liver damage.

Transitioning from medications to St. John’s wort. For persons who are taking a prescription drug for mild to moderate depression, switching to St. John’s wort may be a reasonable idea if they prefer taking an herb. To avoid overlapping treatments, the safest approach is for an individual to stop taking the drug and allow it to wash out of his or her system before starting St. John’s wort. The individual should consult with his or her doctor regarding how much time is necessary.

For persons taking medication for severe depression, however, switching over to St. John’s wort is not a good idea. The herb is unlikely to work well enough for such a use, and depression could worsen to a dangerous level.

Important Interactions

Persons who are taking antidepressant drugs, including MAO inhibitors, SSRIs, and tricyclics, or possibly the drugs tramadol or sumatriptan (Imitrex), should not take St. John’s wort at the same time. To switch from such medications to St. John’s wort, individuals should let the medications flush out of their systems for a while (perhaps weeks, depending on the drug) before they start taking the herb.

Individuals who are taking digoxin, cyclosporine and tacrolimus, protease inhibitors or reverse transcriptase inhibitors, oral contraceptives, tricyclic antidepressants, warfarin (Coumadin), statin drugs, theophylline, chemotherapy drugs, newer antipsychotic medications (such as olanzapine and clozapine), anesthetics, or, indeed, any critical medication should be aware that St. John’s wort might cause such drugs to be less effective. Those who have been taking St. John’s wort while adjusting medication dosages to achieve proper blood levels should not suddenly stop St. John’s wort, as this could cause the drugs in the body to rebound to dangerously high levels.

Persons who are taking medications that cause sun sensitivity, such as sulfa drugs
and the anti-inflammatory medication piroxicam (Feldene), as well as omeprazole
(Prilosec) or lansoprazole (Prevacid), should keep in mind that St. John’s wort
might have an additive effect. Those who are taking stimulant drugs or herbs such
as Ritalin, caffeine, or ephedrine
(ephedra) should be aware that St. John’s wort might interact adversely with these
substances.

Bibliography

Bjerkenstedt, L., et al. “Hypericum Extract LI 160 and Fluoxetine in Mild to Moderate Depression: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Multi-center Study in Outpatients.” European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience 255 (2005): 40-47.

Fava, M., et al. “A Double-Blind, Randomized Trial of St. John’s Wort, Fluoxetine, and Placebo in Major Depressive Disorder.” Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology 25 (2005): 441-447.

Hebert, M. F., et al. “Effects of St. John’s Wort Hypericum perforatum on Tacrolimus Pharmacokinetics in Healthy Volunteers.” Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 44 (2004): 89-94.

Kasper, S., et al. “Continuation and Long-Term Maintenance Treatment with Hypericum Extract WS 5570 After Recovery from an Acute Episode of Moderate Depression.” European Neuropsychopharmacology 18 (2008): 803-813.

Sardella, A., et al. “Hypericum perforatum Extract in Burning Mouth Syndrome.” Journal of Oral Pathology and Medicine 37(2008): 395-401.

Uebelhack, R., J. U. Blohmer, et al. “Black Cohosh and St. John’s Wort for Climacteric Complaints.” Obstetrics and Gynecology 107 (2006): 247-255.

Uebelhack, R., J. Gruenwald, et al. “Efficacy and Tolerability of Hypericum Extract STW 3-VI in Patients with Moderate Depression.” Advances in Therapy 21 (2004): 265-275.