Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa)

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (abbreviated as ELISA), is a kind of immunoassay technique to detect the presence of a specific antibody or antigen in the test samples. This method principally make use of both immunological reaction (the antibody-antigen reaction) to detect the present of specific antibody or antigen) and biochemical reaction (the enzyme substrate reaction) to produce a visible signal for both qualitative and quantitative measurement. The ELISA method used in this experiment is an example of indirect ELISA method. The ELISA plate wells are coated with optimized concentration of antigens before hand by means of charge interaction or with the help of a spacer coating (eg. L-lysine). Then the plate wells are washed with buffer solution, and a blocking step is preformed by adding bovine serum albumin or casein, to block any uncoated space in the well before using to detect antibodies in sample serum. Then the sample serum is added to detect the present of specific antibody, the antibodies will bind to the antigens in the well (in this experiment is the anti-DNA antibody). Then a secondary antibody (usually raised from a species against the antibody of the sample) with enzyme-linked (called conjugate) was added to bind. The enzyme used may be Alkaline phosphate or Horseradish peroxidase (in this experiment is Alkaline phosphate); this also serve as signal amplification step as the enzymes conjugate chose used usually have more than one binding sites for the substrate added subsequently. Then a substrate is added for the enzyme to produce a color reaction (in this experiment is the PNPP which produce a yellow color) to indicate the present of the specific antibody in the sample. The higher the concentration of the antibody in the test sample, the stronger the color developed. We can use a spectrometer (an ELISA reader in this experiment) to measure the color quantitatively instead of using our eye, which is more objective and accurate. Washing with buffer (usually a mild detergent) is applied between steps to remove unbind antibodies to avoid non-specific binding of antibodies. Usually positive and negative controls will be paralleled run with the test sample to validate the result. The cut-off point between a positive or negative result is usually determined statistically with known standards. In additions, with a serial dilution of a known standard (known concentration of the specific antibody want to detect in the test), we can also find the amount of the specific antibody in the test sample from the graph of absorbance against concentration of the known standard. Thus, the ELISA method can produce both qualitative and quantitative result in detecting the specific antibody in test sample. ELISA is a relatively high sensitive and specific test for detecting serum protein, the presence of specific antibody or antigen; and also considers as a high-throughput immunoassay. The use of ELISA also includes hormones and infectious antigens (including virus and bacteria). The most common example is detecting HIV in patient samples. In addition, it has the advantage of using non-radioactive substances, is safer than those radio-immunoassays. Other ELISA methods: Sandwich ELISA (or direct ELISA) is used to detect antigen in sample serum, is less-common. With known quantity of capture antibodies coated to the well, the antigens in the sample will bind to the antibodies to form complex. Then enzyme-linked primary antibodies will be applied to detect the present of the antigens. Competition ELISA is a different method from the indirect and sandwich ELISA, in which the kit contains enzyme-linked antigen rather than enzyme-linked antibody. The labeled antigen will compete with the antigen in the sample for the antibody binding sites in the well. Thus, more antigens in the sample will give weaker signal as less labeled antigen can bind to the antibody binding sites in the well. The advantage of this method is can be used to detect antigen in impure samples. Reverse ELISA is a new technology using immunosorbent polystyrene rod with protruding ogives. This ogives will dipped into the sample, thus a higher sample volume can be used to improve the sensitivity. Moreover, the ogives can be sensitized with different reagent to detect different antibodies or antigens simultaneously for multi-target assays.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Dangers of a Totalitarian Society Exposed in Brave New World :: Brave New World

Dangers of a Totalitarian Society Exposed in Brave New World On a superficial level Brave New World is the portrait of a perfect society. The citizens of this Utopia live in a society that is free of depression and most of the social-economic problems that trouble the world today. All aspects of life are controlled for the people of this society: population numbers, social class, and intellectual ability. History is controlled and rewritten to suit the needs of the state. All this is done in the name of social stability. When one looks beneath the surface of this "perfect' society it becomes evident that it is nothing of the sort. Eugenics, social conditioning, and anti-depressant drugs have solved many of the problems faced by many modern societies; poverty, class tensions and overpopulation; but at the costs of individuality and with that their humanity. The citizens of "brave new world" are engineered to suite the needs of the state. Individual expression is impossible because everyone is conditioned to think alike. Brave New World is a book about a future that seems more viable and less brave with each passing day as our values become more materialistic and as our faith in God dwindles slowly to be replaced by technology. Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World to increase our awareness of this frightening future we seem to be progressing towards so we can prevent it from happening. In the futuristic society of the novel, God has been replaced by science and technology as a source substance and meaning in life. As a consequence the words "Christ" and "God" are replaced with "Ford." This is done because Huxley believed that the shift in emphasis from God to technology occurred, to a large extent, with Henry Ford's introduction of the Model-T.1 Instead of using the Christian calendar this date is used as the opening date of a new era; the date is After Ford (A.F.) 632. This shift in importance is symbolized by substituting the Christian Cross with the Ford T.2 The motto of the new World State that now controls the world is "Community, Stability, Identity." This motto emphasizes the importance of the society over the individual. Community emphasizes the importance of the individual as a contributor to society.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Meeting at Night/Parting at Morning Appreciation

Meeting At Night/ Parting At Morning – Appreciation Meeting at Night and Parting at Morning, composed by Robert Browning, are two poems that represent the personal morality and paradigms associated with an individual living in the early 19th Century. Meeting at Night tells the tale of a young lover travelling a long distance to meet up with his lover whilst it also metaphorically recounts a sexual encounter. Browning chooses to represent society’s repressive nature by portraying a secretive relationship (reflective of his own relationship with Elizabeth Barrett).In, â€Å"And the startled little waves that leap/ in fiery ringlets from their sleep†, Browning uses personification in conjunction with a metaphor to portray that it is late at night and no one knows of their secret meeting. The setting, being very late at night, also symbolises the secrecy and deceit of their relationship. Browning uses onomatopoeia in â€Å"A tap at the pane† to also portray th e silence and secrecy of the scene. The values and morals of the 19th century were predominately those of the church as religion was paramount in this time period.This means that love, desire and sex were often regarded as forbidden or taboo ideas and so were rarely discussed in society. That is why Browning chooses to portray sex in a metaphorical sense rather than a literal. Browning uses imagery to vividly illustrate this concept such as in, â€Å"As I gain the cove with pushing prow†. The use of alliteration in â€Å"pushing prow† emphasises the ‘p’ sound which allows the reader to make associations with a phallic symbol. The rhyming scheme also creates an escalating pace which complements the text, allowing it to convey a fuller understanding of the sexual encounter.The 19th century, being very conservative and strict, was a patriarchal society where societal gender roles defined your place in the world. Browning highlights this by only portraying the poem in the perspective of a male and his own desires and attitudes. This symbolically represents a relationship in this time period as women were seen as insignificant and so only the male was regarded and considered in a relationship. Also, only the male in a relationship will be working.This is seen in Parting at Morning, where the lover leaves the scene with longing to return to his business and career. â€Å"And straight was a path of gold for him,/ And the need of a world of men for me. † Browning uses a metaphor in conjunction with high modality in ‘need’ to represent the lover’s desire to return to his job. â€Å"world of men† is a metaphorical representation of the working class which was dominated by males. Meeting at Night and Parting at Moring are two poems composed by Robert Browning that represent the values and attitudes of society of the 19th century.

Friday, January 3, 2020

All over history, is written the advancements of medicine...

All over history, is written the advancements of medicine and technology through the involvement of animal experimentation. Aristotle (384-322 BC) and Erasistratus (304-258 BC) both performed numerous experiments on live animals for the advancement of human intellect. Helpless animals had to suffer through surgeries and multiple experiments for the benefit of human knowledge. Today, there are certain laws that have been set by the United States legislature that â€Å"insure that certain animals intended for use in research facilities are provided humane care and treatment† (Animal Welfare Act). The distinction between â€Å"humane care and treatment† on paper, and â€Å"humane care and treatment† in reality, has such a magnanimous boundary, that on†¦show more content†¦One of these groups is the PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Founded by Alex Pacheco and Ingrid Newkirk in 1980, this organization is one of the largest animal rights acti vists in the world. Though is it is well-known, this organization of activists is often persecuted for its tenacious movements and defiant civic manifestations. The goals of the PETA mainly focuses on stopping animal use in research laboratories, the fur industry, sports, entertainment, and factory farms. It also believes in moral consideration for animals and that these creatures shouldn’t have to endure such agony to benefit human inclinations. In the process of protecting these defenceless animals, the PETA constantly makes efforts to expose and eliminate animal experimentation all together. Research facilities, universities, hospitals, contract laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, and government agencies are their preeminent objectives, in accomplishing this goal. The procedures that take place are undeniably horrid and barbaric. 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