Biology assignment 2011

Question:

1. What is coeliac disease? Relate your answer to the function of the villi and how they are adapted for their function.


First things first, what is coeliac disease?

• Coeliac disease (pronounced see-liac, spelt celiac disease in other countries) is an autoimmune disease.
• Gluten, which is found in wheat, barley and rye triggers an immune reaction in people with coeliac disease.
• This means that eating gluten damages the lining of the small intestine. Other parts of the body may be affected.

what are the symptoms in coeliac disease?

Possible symptoms may include:

• diarrhoea, excessive wind, and/or constipation
• persistent or unexplained gastrointestinal symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting
• recurrent stomach pain, cramping or bloating
• any combination of iron, vitamin B12 or folic acid deficiency
• tiredness and/or headaches
• weight loss (but not in all cases)
• mouth ulcers
• hair loss (alopecia)
• skin rash (dermatitis herpetiformis (DH))
• tooth enamel problems
• osteoporosis
• depression
• infertility
• repeated miscarriages
• joint and/or bone pain
• neurological (nerve) problems such as ataxia (poor muscle co-ordination) and neuropathy (numbness and tingling in the hands and feet).

Children can also get coeliac disease!

In babies, symptoms may develop after weaning onto cereals which contain gluten.

Other symptoms in young children include:

• muscle wasting in the arms and legs
• bloated tummy
• irritability
• failure to gain weight or lose weight after previously growing well

Secondly, what is villi?

• Vili are folds in the walls of the gastrointestinal tract (intestines) which increasesurface area.

Thirdly, let's understand what is the function of villi?

• Basically, as food and stuff you've ingested is pushed past, all these little folds (vili and microvili), they absorbs the nutrients you need in your body.
• And being folded lots of times means greater surface area and therefore its easier to get the nutrients!

Lastly, how can villi adapt to it's function?

3. Treatment - how do we deal with coeliac disease?

• The small intestine lining is covered by millions of villi, finger-like projections, which act to increase the surface area of the intestine allowing increased absorption of nutrients.
• The villi are damaged by the inflammation in CD, which results in a decrease in the absorption of food.
• When gluten is removed from the diet inflammation is reduced and the intestine begins to heal.
• The time when a patient develops symptoms varies from patient to patient after their first contact with the gluten protein.
• In many cases is may be decades before symptoms and signs develop, often precipitated by a trigger.

Interesting facts about celiac disease~

The following grains contain Gluten and are NOT ALLOWED IN ANY FORM:

• Barley
• Einkorn
• Kamut
• Rye
• Spelt
• Triticale
• Wheat

Is there any other ways to treat celiac disease??

• No. There is no other treatment currently available.
• All patients with CD must remain on a strict gluten free diet.
• Medications are not normally required. Supplemental vitamins, calcium and magnesium may sometimes be recommended but patients are advised to check with their physician about these supplements.
• Rarely steroids or other drugs are used to suppress the immune system but only in the most severe of cases.

Source: http://www.acg.gi.org/patients/gihealth/celiac.asp

11. Where can I find more information on Celiac Disease?

http://www.celiac.org/
http://www.csaceliacs.org/
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/gui/action/FindCondition?ui=D002446&recruiting=true
http://www.naspghan.org

• What is MTV?
  

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981.^[1] The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs.^[2]

• Influence of MTV on the youths today?

1. MEDIA INFLUENCE
2. BODY IMAGE

• Young girls are being deluged by media images of skinny models:

  Girls are becoming weight conscious as young as 8 years old
  80% of 9 year olds are on diets
  Eating disorders have grown 400% since 1970

• In a recent survey by Teen People magazine, 27% of the girls felt that the media pressures them to have a perfect body.
• A 1996 poll conducted by Saatchi and Saatchi found that ads made women fear being unattractive or old.
• By the time a young person is 17 years old, they have received over 250,000 commercial messages through the media.
• 69% of girls in one study said that magazine models influence their idea of a perfect body shape.
• Many males are becoming insecure about their physical appearance as advertising and other media images raise the standard and idealize well-built men.
• Researchers are seeing an alarming increase in obsessive weight training and the use of anabolic steroids & dietary supplements that promise bigger muscles and more stamina for lifting.
• Studies are finding that boys, like girls, may turn to smoking to lose weight

• why do you like or dislike MTV?

I like MTV's because their graphics are really nice and the dance steps are really unique.

• how does MTV change your life?

Allows me to learn different dance steps based on their choreographed dance moves.

Assessment Task 2

I am researching on the endangered species called: Black Footed Ferrets.

• The endangered black-footed ferret is a member of the weasel family.
  
• It is the only ferret who lives in north america.
  
• It's 6 inches tall.
• 1.5-2.5 lbs; males are slightly larger than females.
• Black footed ferrets can live up to 3-4 years in the wild, 7-8 years in captivity.
  
• The domestic ferret is a different species of European origin, the other group of white weasel. and has been domesticated for hundreds of years.

• It can be kept as a home domestic pet and it currently a trend in china!
  
• It has a tan body with black legs and feet, a black tip on the tail and a black mask.
  
• It has short legs with large front paws and claws developed for digging.
  
• Its large skull and strong jaw and teeth are adapted for eating meat. Which means it's a carnivore.

The diet of a black footed ferrets:

The ferrets are carnivores, thus they feed on animals such as:

• Prairie dogs. (make up 90% of a black-footed ferret's diet)
  
• A ferret may eat over 100 prairie dogs in one year.
  
• Black-footed ferrets are also known to eat ground squirrels.
• small rodents, rabbits and birds.

Sample food chain:


The breeding habits and it's habitats:

• They are usually found on shortgrass and midgrass.
• Anywhere that is close in association with prairies dogs, which is their main diet.
• The ferret lives in prairie dog colonies and spends most of its time underground in prairie dog burrows.
  
• The black footed ferret only spends a few minutes above ground each day.

• It burrows to sleep, catches it food, avoids predators like wild foxes and harsh weather.
• The black footed ferret does not hibernate, but in winter, the amount of time it is active decreases substantially.
  
• It's secretive and primarily nocturnal.

The female black-footed ferret usually bears 3 - 4 young per litter. The young emerge from the burrow in July and leave their mother in September or October. The black-footed ferret is solitary, except during the breeding season, and males apparently do not help to rear the young.

Read more: http://www.animalinfo.org/species/carnivor/mustnigr.htm#ixzz144YMkQ5T

Why is the black footed ferrets endangered?

• Killing of prey.

1. Massive hunting and poisoning campaigns against the prairie dog, its the black footed ferrets main food source, caused the ferret to decline.
2. Since the pioneers arrived on the Great Plains, ranchers and farmers have conducted an extensive campaign to get rid of prairie dogs, which were considered pests.

With patches of prairie becoming fewer and farther between, ferret habitat became increasingly fragmented. The remaining black-footed ferrets became more isolated, and unable to reproduce.

• Habitat loss.

1. Crowding wildlife into smaller islands of habitat causes inbreeding.
   

2. The lowered immune responses of inbred animals increases the likelihood of epidemic disease.

3. In 1984, an outbreak of canine distemper brought by domestic dogs and coyotes devastated the already-precarious ferret population

4. By 1985, there were just 10 known black-footed ferrets in the wild

Climate change could affect prairie dog habitat as well by increasing the intensity and duration of droughts, which reduce the availability of the grassland plants they need for food, and can increase the frequency of fires and the threat of invasive species.

What are the current conservation efforts?

• The Wyoming Department of Game and Fish coordinates the Species Survival Plan (SSP) for black-footed ferrets. Captive breeding populations are maintained at the Sybille Wildlife Research Station in Wyoming and several zoos.
• After the black-footed ferret population was decimated by disease, biologists determined that the remaining wild ferrets were not a viable breeding population.
  
• The last 12 ferrets were captured and combined with 6 ferrets already in captivity to bring the world total to 18 ferrets, all in captivity, in 1987.
• Defenders is working toward black-footed ferret recovery in the field in many different ways, including working with public land agencies, private landowners, and Native American tribes to reintroduce black-footed ferrets in as many viable locations as possible.

What can we do to conserve them?

• Help black-footed ferrets and other wildlife by adopting an animal at our Wildlife Adoption Center.
• Take Action for Wildlife at our Wildlife Action Center.

More interesting facts about the Black Footed Ferret:

• The black-footed ferret is one of the world's rarest mammals.
• Baby ferrets are called "kits."
• They do not appear to be numerous in any part of their range and little is known concerning their habits.
• The ferret's long slender body allows it to slip down burrows to find its prey while they sleep. This reduces the ferret's risk of injury when attacking prey the same size as itself.
  
  
  Read more: http://www.animalinfo.org/species/carnivor/mustnigr.htm#ixzz144VZkeoM

Videos:

The differences between prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells.

A Eukaryotic cell:


A Prokaryotic cell:


Graphic of two of the cells:



Short comic picture and the difference between the two cells:


Two cells wanted to find out the differences in them.....



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Here are the notes as to the differences between the prokaryotic cell and the Eukaryotic cell.








And in the end: