Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Importance of Natural Product Synthesis

Importance of Natural Product Synthesis History of medicine dates back practically to the existence of human civilization. Historically, the majority of new drugs have been generated from natural products and from compounds derived from natural products. Natural products, including plants, animals and minerals have always been a source of therapeutic agents for many years. Natural products sometimes exhibit pharmacological or biological property that can be of therapeutic benefit in treating diseases. As such, natural products are the active components not only of most  traditional medicines  but also of many newer medications. Furthermore, synthetic analogs of natural products with improved potency and safety can be prepared and therefore natural products are often used as Lead Copmpounds for  drug discovery. In fact, natural products are the inspiration for approximately one half of U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs. The birth of the natural product synthesis dates back to 1828 when Friedrich Wà ¶hler synthesized urea, a naturally occurring substance from ammonium cyanate. This event as trivial as it may seem by today’s standards not only gave birth to a boundless science called organic synthesis but also contributed to a demystification of mother Nature by burying the fact that synthesis of nature’s molecules is her exclusive domain. The second major achievement in the field of organic synthesis is the synthesis of acetic acid from elemental carbon by Kolbe3 in 1845. It is historically significant because Kolbe coined the word Synthesis for the first time to describe the process of assembling a chemical compound from other substances. The total synthesis of naturally occurring pigments alizarin in 1869 by Graebe and Liebermann and indigo in 1878 by Baeyer represent landmark accomplishments in the field. Probably, after urea, the most spectacular total synthesis of the nineteenth c entury was that of Emil Fischer’s (†¡)-glucose not only for the complexity of the target but also for the considerable stereochemical control that accompanied it. Figure 1: Although the precedent was set in the nineteenth century, it was only in the twentieth century the field of total synthesis started to flourish when Robert Burns Woodward synthesized Quinine. This event ushered in the modern era of total synthesis and Woodward who received the 1965 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for several brilliant examples of total synthesis such as his 1954 synthesis of strychnine, cholesterol5 is regarded as the father of modern organic synthesis. Figure 2: Today the art of organic synthesis has improved to astoundingly high levels of sophistication. Through its practice, chemists are able to synthesize organic molecules of all types of structural motifs and for all intents and purposes. Some modern classical examples of total synthesis include the synthesis of prostaglandin PG2ÃŽ ± and Ginkgolide by E. J Corey, Ingenol by Wood, Brevetoxin by Nicolaou, Vancomycin by Evans, Taxol by Holton6, Nicolaou7, Wender and Danishefsky8 groups independently. The discipline of natural product synthesis today, is an important field of investigation whose dividends stretch from new scientific knowledge to practical applications. Considered by many as the flagship of organic synthesis, natural product synthesis symbolizes the power of chemical synthesis at any given time and defines its scope and limitations. It also serves to improve chemical synthesis by attempting to push its frontiers into higher molecular complexity, diversity, and efficiency. they can synthesize not only the molecules of nature and their analogues, but also myriad other organic molecules for potential applications in many areas of science, technology and everyday life Introduction to THF-containing natural products Tetrahydrofuran (THF)-containing natural products widely occur in several important families of biologically active compounds, such as the annonaceous acetogenins [1] and polyether antibiotics isolated from Streptomyces organisms (ionomycin, lonomycins A–C, or monensin) [2]. It’s worthwhile at this juncture to discuss few THF ring containing natural products such as which have been of paramount importance to the mankind and also to the researchers who have been actively involved in the synthesis and isolation of these natural products. Acetogenins Acetogenins abbreviated as AAGs are a group of THF-Containing natural products isolated from Annonacae species which are vastly distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. They exhibit different biological activities such as antitumor, ant-imalarial, anti microbial, anti protozoal, pesticidal activities2. The common structural features of acetogenins include several free hydroxy groups with various stereo centers, differently located oxygenated functional groups and tetrahydrofuran (THF) ring(s) along the long hydrocarbon chain with an ÃŽ ±, ÃŽ ²-unsaturated ÃŽ ´-lactone moiety at the end. Uvaricin, a bis THF acetogenin was the first of the AAGs isolated from Uvaria acuminata in 1982. It exhibited potent anti-cancer activity by inhibiting NADH cells in the mitochondrion. The total synthesis of Hexepi-Uvaricin was published by Hoye in 1994 and subsequently first total synthesis was achieved by Keinan in 1998. Montanacin D is a non classical acetogenin isolated from the ethanolic extract of the leaves of Annona Montana16 by Qin group in 1999, possessing a 4,8-cis THP ring along with a 16,19-trans THF ring. Ionomycin Amphidinolides Amphidinolides constitute a series of unique cytotoxic polyketide macrolides obtained from marine symbiotic dinoflagellates of the genus Amphidinium, which are symbionts of Okinawan marine flatworms Amphiscolops spp.1 They exhibit potent cytotoxic activity against murine lymphoma L1210 cells and human epidermoid carcinoma KB cells. Given below are some important Amphidinolides that incorporate a THF-ring in their structure Pectenotoxins Pectenotoxin (PTX)-group toxins are a group of polyether macrolide compounds found in microalgae and bivalve molluscs of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and some parts of Europe. Their presence in shellfish was discovered due to their high acute toxicity in the mouse bioassay after intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of lipophilic extracts of shellfish. Pectinotoxins are exclusively produced by Dinophysis species. In shellfish they are always accompanied by closely related okadaic acid (OA)-group toxins. The common structural features of (PTX)-group toxins include a spiroketal group, three THF-rings, a bicyclic ketal and a six-membered cyclic hemiketal (Allingham et al., 2007). PTX2 is beleived to be the main precursor, from which many PTX-group toxins are derived through biotransformation during metabolism in the gut of bivalves. It is suggested that an oxidation of PTX2 occurs, leading to the formation of other PTX-group toxins, including PTX1, PTX3, and PTX6 PTX-group toxins have been shown to cause cell cycle arrest, cell death and apoptosis. The wide range (10-9 and 10-6 M) of effective concentrations of PTX-group toxins as well as the apparent resistance of some cell lines to the cytotoxic effect of PTX-group toxins indicate the existence of cell-specific factors affecting the sensitivity of biological systems to this group of natural compounds. Studies have confirmed that PTX2 induces apoptosis in several cell lines through multiple mechanisms, involving the perturbation of the cell cycle machinery, inhibition of mitotic separation and cytokinesis through the depolymerization of actin filaments. Oscillariolide and Phormidolide Oscillariolide is a halogenated macrolide isolated from a marine blue-green alga Oscillatoria sp. from Gokashowan-Bay, Mie Prefecture. It exhibits significant cytotoxic activity in the echinoderm egg assay. Phormidolide, a closely related macrolide was isolated from the extract of a laboratory culture of an Indonesian isolate of the cyanobacterium Phormidium sp. It displayed cytotoxicity towards drine shrimp with a LC50 of 1.5  µM. The characteristic features of both oscillariolide and phormidolide include a trisubstituted bridged THF macrolactone with a long polyhydroxy chain containing a unique terminal bromo diene. Structural elucidation revealed that the polyhydroxy side as well as THF ring of both compounds have same stereochemistry Chagosensine Chagosensine is a sixteen-membered chlorinated macrolide isolated from the methanolic chloroform extract of a bright yellow sponge Leucetta chagosensis usually found in the coral reefs of Red Sea, Aqaba Gulf (Israel). the extract of the Leucetta sp. sponge exhibited potent ability to inhibit the epidermal growth factor receptor signaling pathway. A new mechanism for the action of naamidine A and inhibition of tumor cells was shown.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Anti-semitism Essay -- essays research papers fc

For more than two thousand years anti-Semitism has plagued the Jews, however, the term has only been around for about thirty years (Strack 594). Due to the hateful accusations and of those who did not understand their religion, Jews, as a scorned people, gradually became more exclusive and intolerant of other religions. Because of Judaism’s strict adherence to their own beliefs and unwillingness to consider any alternatives, Muslims and Christians have scorned and persecuted Jews.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First, the Muslim’s basis for anti-Judaism rests primarily on religious beliefs. Islam teaches that Allah, the Muslim god, requires that a good Muslim pray a ritual prayer five times per day, give a token of their income to charity, and if possible a pilgrimage to Mecca, their Holy City (â€Å"The Rise and Spread of Islam†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). â€Å"Muhammad himself was hostile to the Jews† (Rivkin 25) because he believed Allah to be the one true God and saw the Jewish Doctrine of the Trinity to be polytheistic. The Jews, however, rejected all divine worship except their own. Also, Jews had certain laws and customs concerning food and circumcision which further segregated them from the Muslims. All these differences gave rise to mutual rejection between these two groups. As part of his rejection of the Jews, Muhammad abandoned certain Jewish customs, for example, Saturday as the Muslim holy day and Jerusalem as the Muslim holy city (Davies 329). The conve rsion of a Muslim to any other religion was strictly forbidden and punishable by death. The Jews were given the dhimmi status â€Å"meaning that they were not deserving of slaughter and could retain their religious practices in a limited form† (â€Å"The Spread of Islam to India†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). Just as slaves, the Jews did not possess full legal rights (â€Å"The Rise and Spread of Islam†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). These dhimmis were merely tolerated and forced to pay special taxes and wear yellow badges as a means of public identification (Davies 329). Evidence presented by a Jew in court against a Muslim would not be accepted. Dhimmis had to obtain permission before building new places of worship or repairing old ones, and they could never construct worship cites that overshadowed Muslim places of worship. Jews were also prohibited from carrying arms, riding horses or camels, or inheriting from a Muslim (â€Å"The Rise and Spread of Islam†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). In addition, Jews killed ani mals only a... ... labor by the Christians of the tenth century.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Finally, Muslims and Christians detested the Jews for being different than them. Anti-Semitism still exists today in many countries. For example, in Syria the government denies Jews the right to vote and restricts their emigration (Levanon 559). As Christians, it is our duty to refrain from slander and false accusations of Jews. Should we only show love to those who share our religious beliefs? Even the pagans love those who love them. (Luke 6:32) Are we not called to be different than the world and show the love of God to all? Bibliography Davies, Alan. â€Å"Anti-Semitism.† The Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan, 1995. Levanon, Yosef. â€Å"Anti-Semitism.† The World Book Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Chicago: World Book Inc., 1993. â€Å"The Rise and Spread of Islam, 570-1258.† http://galenet.gale.com Rivkin, Ellis. â€Å"Jews.† Encyclopedia International. Vol. 10. Philippines: Lexicon Publications, 1980. â€Å"The Spread of Islam to India and Southeast Asia, 711-1400.† http://galenet.gale.com Strack, Hermann L. â€Å"Anti-Semitism.† Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, [n.d.]

Saturday, January 11, 2020

The Host Chapter 59: Remembered

The beginning would feel like the end. I'd been warned. But this time the end was a greater surprise than it had ever been. Greater than any end I'd remembered in nine lives. Greater than jumping down an elevator shaft. I had expected no more memories, no more thoughts. What end was this? The sun is setting-the colors are all rosy, and they make me think of my friend†¦ what would her name be here? Something about†¦ ruffles? Ruffles and more ruffles. She was a beautiful Flower. The flowers here are so lifeless and boring. They smell wonderful, though. Smells are the best part of this place. Footsteps behind me. Has Cloud Spinner followed me again? I don't need a jacket. It's warm here-finally!-and I want to feel the air on my skin. I won't look at her. Maybe she'll think I can't hear and she'll go home. She is so careful with me, but I'm almost grown now. She can't mother me forever. â€Å"Excuse me?† someone says, and I don't know the voice. I turn to look at her, and I don't know the face, either. She's pretty. The face in the memory jerked me back to myself. That was my face! But I didn't remember this†¦ â€Å"Hi,† I say. â€Å"Hello. My name is Melanie.† She smiles at me. â€Å"I'm new in town and†¦ I think I'm lost.† â€Å"Oh! Where are you trying to go? I'll take you. Our car is just back -â€Å" â€Å"No, it's not far. I was going for a walk, but now I can't find my way back to Becker Street.† She's a new neighbor-how nice. I love new friends. â€Å"You're very close,† I tell her. â€Å"It's just around the second corner up that way, but you can cut right through this little alley here. It takes you straight there.† â€Å"Could you show me? I'm sorry, what's your name?† â€Å"Of course! Come with me. I'm Petals Open to the Moon, but my family mostly calls me Pet. Where are you from, Melanie?† She laughs. â€Å"Do you mean San Diego or the Singing World, Pet?† â€Å"Either one.† I laugh, too. I like her smile. â€Å"There are two Bats on this street. They live in that yellow house with the pine trees.† â€Å"I'll have to say hello,† she murmurs, but her voice has changed, tensed. She's looking into the dusky alley as though she's expecting to see something. And there is something there. Two people, a man and a boy. The boy drags his hand through his long black hair like he's nervous. Maybe he is worried because he's lost, too. His pretty eyes are wide and excited. The man is very still. Jamie. Jared. My heart thumped, but the feeling was peculiar, wrong. Too small and†¦ fluttery. â€Å"These are my friends, Pet,† Melanie tells me. â€Å"Oh! Oh, hello.† I stretch my hand out to the man-he's the closest. He reaches for my hand, and his grip is so strong. He yanks me forward, right up to his body. I don't understand. This feels wrong. I don't like it. My heart beats faster, and I'm afraid. I've never been scared like this before. I don't understand. His hand swings toward my face, and I gasp. I suck in the mist that comes from his hand. A silver cloud that tastes like raspberries. â€Å"Wha -† I want to ask, but I can't see them anymore. I can't see anything†¦ There was no more. â€Å"Wanda? Can you hear me, Wanda?† a familiar voice asked. That wasn't the right name†¦ was it? My ears didn't react to it, but something did. Wasn't I Petals Open to the Moon? Pet? Was that it? That didn't feel right, either. My heart beat faster, an echo of the fear in my memory. A vision of a woman with white-and-red-streaked hair and kind green eyes filled my head. Where was my mother? But†¦ she wasn't my mother, was she? A sound, a low voice that echoed around me. â€Å"Wanda. Come back. We aren't letting you go.† The voice was familiar, and it was also not. It sounded like†¦ me? Where was Petals Open to the Moon? I couldn't find her. Just a thousand empty memories. A house full of pictures but no inhabitants. â€Å"Use the Awake,† a voice said. I didn't recognize this one. Something brushed my face, light as the touch of fog. I knew that scent. It was the smell of grapefruit. I took a deeper breath, and my mind suddenly cleared. I could feel that I was lying down†¦ but this felt wrong, too. There wasn't†¦ enough of me. I felt shrunken. My hands were warmer than the rest of me, and that was because they were being held. Held in big hands, hands that swallowed them right up. It smelled odd-stuffy and a little moldy. I remembered the smell†¦ but surely I'd never smelled it before in my life. I saw nothing but dull red-the insides of my eyelids. I wanted to open them, so I went searching for the right muscles to do that. â€Å"Wanderer? We're all waiting for you, honey. Open your eyes.† This voice, this warm breath against my ear, was even more familiar. A strange feeling tickled through my veins at the sound. A feeling I'd never, ever felt before. The sound made my breath catch and my fingers tremble. I wanted to see the face that went with that voice. A color washed through my mind-a color that called to me from a faraway life-a brilliant, glowing blue. The whole universe was bright blue†¦ And finally I knew my name. Yes, that was right. Wanderer. I was Wanderer. Wanda, too. I remembered that now. A light touch on my face-a warm pressure on my lips, on my eyelids. Ah, that's where they were. I could make them blink now that I'd found them. â€Å"She's waking up!† someone crowed excitedly. Jamie. Jamie was here. My heart gave another fluttery little thump. It took a moment for my eyes to focus. The blue that stabbed my eyes was all wrong-too pale, too washed out. It wasn't the blue I wanted. A hand touched my face. â€Å"Wanderer?† I looked to the sound. The movement of my head on my neck felt so odd. It didn't feel like it used to, but at the same time it felt the way it had always felt. My searching eyes found the blue I'd been looking for. Sapphire, snow, and midnight. â€Å"Ian? Ian, where am I?† The sound of the voice coming out of my throat frightened me. So high and trilling. Familiar, but not mine. â€Å"Who am I?† â€Å"You're you,† Ian told me. â€Å"And you're right where you belong.† I pulled one of my hands free from the giant's hand that held it. I meant to touch my face, but someone's hand reached toward me, and I froze. The reaching hand also froze above me. I tried to move my hand again, to protect myself, but that moved the hand above me. I started shaking, and the hand trembled. Oh. I opened and closed the hand, looking at it carefully. Was this my hand, this tiny thing? It was a child's hand, except for the long pink-and-white nails, filed into perfect, smooth curves. The skin was fair, with a strange silvery cast to it and, entirely incongruous, a scattering of golden freckles. It was the odd combination of silver and gold that brought the image back: I could see a face in my head, reflected in a mirror. The setting of the memory threw me off for a moment because I wasn't used to so much civilization-at the same time, I knew nothing but civilization. A pretty dresser with all kinds of frilly and delicate things on top of it. A profusion of dainty glass bottles containing the scents I loved-I loved? Or she loved?-so much. A potted orchid. A set of silver combs. The big round mirror was framed in a wreath of metal roses. The face in the mirror was roundish, too, not quite oval. Small. The skin on the face had the same silver undertone-silver like moonlight-as the hand did, with another handful of the golden freckles across the bridge of the nose. Wide gray eyes, the silver of the soul shimmering faintly behind the soft color, framed by tangled golden lashes. Pale pink lips, full and almost round, like a baby's. Small, even white teeth behind them. A dimple in the chin. And everywhere, everywhere, golden, waving hair that stood away from my face in a bright halo and fell below where the mirror showed. My face or her face? It was the perfect face for a Night Flower. Like an exact translation from Flower to human. â€Å"Where is she?† my high, reedy voice demanded. â€Å"Where is Pet?† Her absence frightened me. I'd never seen a more defenseless creature than this half-child with her moonlight face and sunlight hair. â€Å"She's right here,† Doc assured me. â€Å"Tanked and ready to go. We thought you could tell us the best place to send her.† I looked toward his voice. When I saw him standing in the sunlight, a lit cryotank in his hands, a rush of memories from my former life came back to me. â€Å"Doc!† I gasped in the tiny, fragile voice. â€Å"Doc, you promised! You gave me your oath, Eustace! Why? Why did you break your word?† A dim recollection of misery and pain touched me. This body had never felt such agony before. It shied away from the sting. â€Å"Even an honest man sometimes caves to duress, Wanda.† â€Å"Duress,† another terribly familiar voice scoffed. â€Å"I'd say a knife to the throat counts as duress, Jared.† â€Å"You knew I wouldn't really use it.† â€Å"That I did not. You were quite persuasive.† â€Å"A knife?† My body trembled. â€Å"Shh, it's all okay,† Ian murmured. His breath blew strands of golden hair across my face, and I brushed them away-a routine gesture. â€Å"Did you really think you could leave us that way? Wanda!† He sighed, but the sigh was joyful. Ian was happy. This insight made my worry suddenly much lighter, easier to bear. â€Å"I told you I didn't want to be a parasite,† I whispered. â€Å"Let me through,† my old voice ordered. And then I could see my face, the strong one, with the sun-brown skin, the straight black line of the eyebrows over the almond-shaped, hazel eyes, the high, sharp cheekbones†¦ See it backward, not as a reflection, the way I'd always seen it before. â€Å"Listen up, Wanda. I know exactly what you don't want to be. But we're human, and we're selfish, and we don't always do the right thing. We aren't going to let you go. Deal with it.† The way she spoke, the cadence and the tone, not the voice, brought back all the silent conversations, the voice in my head, my sister. â€Å"Mel? Mel, you're okay!† She smiled then and leaned over to hug my shoulders. She was bigger than I remembered being. â€Å"Of course I am. Wasn't that the point of all the drama? And you're going to be fine, too. We weren't stupid about it. We didn't just grab the first body we saw.† â€Å"Let me tell her, let me!† Jamie shoved in beside Mel. It was getting very crowded around the cot. It rocked, unstable. I took his hand and squeezed it. My hands felt so feeble. Could he even feel the pressure? â€Å"Jamie!† â€Å"Hey, Wanda! This is cool, isn't it? You're smaller than me now!† He grinned, triumphant. â€Å"But still older. I'm almost -† And then I stopped, changing my sentence abruptly. â€Å"My birthday is in two weeks.† I might have been disoriented and confused, but I wasn't stupid. Melanie's experiences had not gone to waste; I had learned from them. Ian was every bit as honorable as Jared, and I was not going to go through the frustration Melanie had. So I lied, giving myself an extra year. â€Å"I'll be eighteen.† From the corner of my eye, I saw Melanie and Ian stiffen in surprise. This body looked much younger than her true age, hovering on the edge of seventeen. It was this little deception, this preemptive claiming of my partner, that made me realize I was staying here. That I would be with Ian and the rest of my family. My throat thickened, felt oddly swollen. Jamie patted my face, calling my attention back. I was surprised at how big his hand felt on my cheek. â€Å"They let me come on the raid to get you.† â€Å"I know,† I muttered. â€Å"I remember†¦ Well, Pet remembers seeing you there.† I glared at Mel, who shrugged. â€Å"We tried not to scare her,† Jamie said. â€Å"She's so†¦ kind of fragile-looking, you know? And nice, too. We picked her out together, but I got to decide! See, Mel said we had to get someone young-someone who had a bigger percentage of life as a soul or something. But not too young, because she knew you wouldn't want to be a child. And then Jared liked this face, because he said no one could ever dis†¦ distrust it. You don't look dangerous at all. You look the opposite of dangerous. Jared said anyone who sees you would just naturally want to protect you, right, Jared? But then I got the final say, because I was looking for someone who looked like you. And I thought this looked like you. Because she sort of looks like an angel, and you're good like that. And real pretty. I knew you would be pretty.† Jamie smiled hugely. â€Å"Ian didn't come. He just sat here with you-he said he didn't care what you looked like. He wouldn't let anyone else put a finger on your tank at all, not even me or Mel. But Doc let me watch this time. It was way cool, Wanda. I don't know why you wouldn't let me watch before. They wouldn't let me help, though. Ian wouldn't let anyone touch you but him.† Ian squeezed my hand and leaned in to whisper through all the hair. His voice was so low that I was the only one who could hear. â€Å"I held you in my hand, Wanderer. And you were so beautiful.† My eyes got all wet, and I had to sniff. â€Å"You like it, don't you?† Jamie asked, his voice worried now. â€Å"You're not mad? There's nobody in there with you, is there?† â€Å"I'm not mad, exactly,† I whispered. â€Å"And I-I can't find anybody else. Just Pet's memories. Pet's been in here since†¦ I can't remember when she wasn't here. I can't remember any other name.† â€Å"You're not a parasite,† Melanie said firmly, touching my hair, pulling up a strand and letting the gold slide between her fingers. â€Å"This body didn't belong to Pet, but there's nobody else to claim it. We waited to make sure, Wanda. We tried to wake her up almost as long as we tried with Jodi.† â€Å"Jodi? What happened to Jodi?† I chirped, my little voice going higher, like a bird's, with anxiety. I struggled to get up, and Ian pulled me-it took no effort, no strength to move my tiny new body-into a sitting position with his arm supporting me. I could see all the faces then. Doc, no more tears in his eyes. Jeb, peeking around Doc, his expression satisfied and burning with curiosity at the same time. Next, a woman I didn't recognize for a second because her face was more animated than I'd ever seen it, and I hadn't seen it much anyway-Mandy, the former Healer. Closer to me, Jamie, with his bright, excited smile, Melanie beside him, and Jared behind her, his hands around her waist. I knew that his hands would never feel right unless they were touching her body-my body!-now. That he would keep her as close as he could forever, hating any inch that came between them. This caused me a fierce, aching pain. The delicate heart in my thin chest shuddered. It had never been broken before, and it didn't understand this memory. It made me sorry to realize that I still loved Jared. I wasn't free of that, wasn't free of jealousy for the body he loved. My glance flickered back to Mel. I saw the rueful twist of the mouth that used to be mine, and knew she understood. I continued quickly around the cluster of faces circling my bed, while Doc, after a pause, answered my question. Trudy and Geoffrey, Heath, Paige and Andy. Brandt, even†¦ â€Å"Jodi didn't respond. We kept trying as long as we could.† Was Jodi gone, then? I wondered, my inexperienced heart throbbing. I was giving the poor frail thing such a rough awakening. Heidi and Lily, Lily smiling a pained little smile-none the less sincere for the pain†¦ â€Å"We were able to keep her hydrated, but we had no way to feed her. We were worried about atrophy-her muscles, her brain†¦Ã¢â‚¬  While my new heart ached harder than it had ever ached-ached for a woman I'd never known-my eyes continued around the circle and then froze. Jodi, clinging to Kyle's side, stared back at me. She smiled tentatively, and suddenly I recognized her. â€Å"Sunny!† â€Å"I got to stay,† she said, not quite smug but almost. â€Å"Just like you.† She glanced at Kyle's face-which was more stoic than I was used to seeing it-and her voice turned sad. â€Å"I'm trying, though. I am looking for her. I will keep looking.† â€Å"Kyle had us put Sunny back when it looked like we would lose Jodi,† Doc continued quietly. I stared at Sunny and Kyle for a moment, stunned, and then finished the circle. Ian was watching me with a strange combination of joy and nervousness. His face was higher than it should have been, bigger than it used to be. But his eyes were still the blue I remembered. The anchor that held me to this planet. â€Å"You okay in there?† he asked. â€Å"I†¦ I don't know,† I admitted. â€Å"This feels very†¦ weird. Every bit as weird as switching species. So much weirder than I would have thought. I†¦ I don't know.† My heart fluttered again, looking into those eyes, and this was no memory of another lifetime's love. My mouth felt dry, and my stomach quivered. The place where his arm touched my back felt more alive than the rest of my body. â€Å"You don't mind staying here too much, do you, Wanda? Do you think that maybe you could tolerate it?† he murmured. Jamie squeezed my hand. Melanie put hers on top of his, then smiled when Jared added his to the pile. Trudy patted my foot. Geoffrey, Heath, Heidi, Andy, Paige, Brandt, and even Lily were beaming at me. Kyle had shuffled closer, a grin spreading across his face. Sunny's smile was the smile of a coconspirator. How much No Pain had Doc given me? Everything was glowing. Ian brushed the cloud of golden hair back from my face and laid his hand on my cheek. His hand was so big just the palm covered from my jaw to my forehead; the contact sent a jolt of electricity through my silvery skin. It tingled after that first jolt, and the pit of my stomach tingled along with it. I could feel a warm flush pinking my cheeks. My heart had never been broken before, but it had also never flown. It made me shy; I had a hard time finding my voice. â€Å"I suppose I could do that,† I whispered. â€Å"If it makes you happy.† â€Å"That's not good enough, actually,† Ian disagreed. â€Å"It has to make you happy, too.† I could only meet his gaze for a few seconds at a time; the shyness, so new and confusing to me, had my eyes dropping to my lap again and again. â€Å"I†¦ think it might,† I agreed. â€Å"I think it might make me very, very happy.† Happy and sad, elated and miserable, secure and afraid, loved and denied, patient and angry, peaceful and wild, complete and empty†¦ all of it. I would feel everything. It would all be mine. Ian coaxed my face up until I looked him in the eyes, my cheeks flushing darker. â€Å"Then you will stay.† He kissed me, right in front of everyone, but I forgot the audience quickly. This was easy and right, no division, no confusion, no objection, just Ian and me, the molten rock moving through this new body, melding it into the pact. â€Å"I will stay,† I agreed. And my tenth life began.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Racial Profiling Or Prejudice Based Upon Race - 970 Words

American Heritage dictionary states that racism is â€Å"Discrimination or prejudice based upon race. That is exactly what racial profiling is. I am not however arguing that if a person is robbed says the criminal who robbed them was an adult black male that the police should look for everyone other than an adult black male for that crime, but also not try and use that information to persecute younger black males. However, that is not considered profiling in that instance, it is not based on demographics or statistics, and it is based upon actual information about the specific person who did the crime. A report in 2005 by the Missouri attorney general is evidence to the unsuccessfulness of racial profiling. White drivers, who were pulled over and searched on the basis of suspicious behavior, were found to have illegal materials 24% of the time. Black drivers that were searched in a way that reflected an order of racial profiling were discovered to have drugs or other illegal substances 19% of the time. From The Leadership Conference, on the problem of racial profiling, states, â€Å"A study in Arizona shows that during 2006-2007, the state highway patrol was significantly more likely to stop African Americans and Hispanics than Whites on all the highways studied, while Native Americans and persons of Middle Eastern descent were more likely to be stopped on nearly all the highways studied. The highway patrol was 3.5 times more likely to search a stopped Native American than a White,Show MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Richard Wright s Black Boy 1116 Words   |  5 PagesEthan Davis Fabiano 14 October 2015 Race Relations Since 1945 The life one will lead is predetermined by the color of their skin, the god they believe in, and the place they were born. A message not unlike this reverberated through society and government in the United States not 70 years ago. Discrimination and prejudice ran rampant throughout all of American society in 1945. Richard Wright as a black author in 1945, a true anomaly for this time, eloquently brought forth this idea inRead MoreRacial Profiling â€Å"Racial Profiling? We don’t do that here. Now Let’s go get that brown fucker!†1200 Words   |  5 PagesRacial Profiling â€Å"Racial Profiling? We don’t do that here. Now Let’s go get that brown fucker!† â€Å"Racial profiling at its core concerns the invidious use of race or ethnicity as a criterion in conducting stops, searches and other law enforcement investigative procedures. It is premised on the erroneous assumption that any particular individual of one race or ethnicity is more likely to engage in misconduct than any particular individual of another race or ethnicity. Racial profiling in law enforcementRead MoreRacial Profiling And The Justice System994 Words   |  4 Pagesstarted to see a world that judge people based off their ethnic background, not the content of their character. For year’s people of all colors, nationalities and genders have been targeted due to fitting a certain description. This behavior is referred to as racial profiling and it is killing, wrongfully accusing and creating division amongst the people and justice system. The justice system m ust redesign the policy and procedures, which relate to racial profiling, because it is not protecting the rightsRead MoreRacial Profiling By Scott Johnson945 Words   |  4 Pages According to Scott Johnson, â€Å"racial profiling is the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having committed an offense† (Scott Johnson). The United States Supreme Court has ruled that racial profiling violates the constitutional requirement that all persons should be accorded equal protection of the law. However, is this requirement defensible in public policy? It has been proven in previous research studies that racial profiling, if applied correctly, can be a useful defensibleRead MoreThe Difference Between Race And Racism Essay1037 Words   |  5 Pages Understanding the difference between race and racism is a very controversial topic. Even I am trying to understand the difference between the two words. When individuals think about race the first word that c omes to mind is racism, I would think its the same, but it’s not. When exploring the web to differentiate the meaning of these two words, one-word that keeps popping up is â€Å"racism†. The words are so similar which makes this topic difficult to write about, but as my English teacher CoarleeRead MoreRacial Profiling, An Unjust Act And A Big Problem1452 Words   |  6 PagesAccording to the 11 Facts about Racial Discrimination, â€Å"The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics concluded that an African American male born in 2001 has a 32% chance of going to jail in his lifetime, while a Latino male has a 17% chance, and a white male only has a 6% chance† (11 Facts about Racial Discrimination 1). Racial profiling, or discriminating against a whole group of people based on their race, is an unjust act and a big problem in our society today. Arresting people because of how they lookRead MoreSociological Theories Of Prejudice And Racism1645 Words   |  7 PagesSociolo gical Theories of Prejudice and Racism Functionalist theory argues for race and ethnic relations to be functional and thus supply to the melodic conduct and strength of society, racial and ethnic minorities must assimilate into that society. Assimilation is a process by which a minority becomes socially, economically, and culturally absorbed within the dominant society. The assimilation perspective assumes that to become fully fledged members of society, alternative groups must adopt as muchRead MoreAuthoritarian Personality Is A Personality Type971 Words   |  4 PagesAuthoritarian Personality is a personality type in which an individual inhibits prejudice It is caused by a variety of certain circumstances, which were narrowed down by Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswik, Levinson, and Sanford during the year 1950. Through many tests and analysis of over 2,000 respondents from middle classes Whites to inmates of San Quentin State Prison, they were able to figure out the characteristics associated with authoritarian personality. Th e characteristics include compliance in beliefsRead MoreRacial Profiling in Canada1166 Words   |  5 PagesRacial profiling is the act of selecting targets for criminal investigation not on behavioural merit, but exclusively on markers of personal identity such as race, ethnicity, and religious orientation (Perry, 2011, p.9). In other words, racial profiling is the by-product of subjecting individuals who are from a particular racial community to a higher degree of scrutiny and surveillance by criminal justice system agents when compared to other racial communities (Wortley and Owusu-Bempah, 2011, p.135)Read MoreWhat Is Race: My Reflection Essay887 Words   |  4 Pagestoday to read the article titled â€Å"What is Race† by Victor M. Fernandez, RN, BSN and found myself agreeably intrigued and in admiration of his thoughts regarding race. Victor touched on an extremely insightful and significant topic; one that most people have sturdy opinions about. Race – what is it? What does this mean to you? What does it mean to our upcoming careers in the nursing field? I trust that how we characterize and assess our awareness of race is due exclusively to how we were raised. I