disease

brain tumor

Brain tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in the brain. Unlike other tumors, brain tumors spread by local extension and rarely metastasize outside the brain. A benign brain tumor is composed of non-cancerous cells and does not metastasize beyond the part of the brain where it originates. A brain tumor is considered malignant if it contains cancer cells, or if it is composed of harmless cells located in an area where it suppresses one or more vital functions. Each year, more than 17,000 brain tumors are diagnosed in the United States. About half of all primary brain tumors are benign, but in life-threatening locations. The rest are malignant and invasive.

causes and risk factors:

No one knows the exactcauses of brain tumors. It is clear that brain tumors are not contagious. Research has shown that people with certain risk factors are more likely than others to develo a brain tumor.

The following risk factors are associated with an increased chance of developing a primary brain tumor:

• Being male - In general, brain tumors are more common in males than females.
• Race - Brain tumors occur more often among white people than among people of other races.
• Age - Most brain tumors are detected in people who are 70 years old or older. However, brain tumors are the second most common cancer in children. Brain tumors are more common in children younger than 8 years old than in older children.
• Family history - People with family members who have gliomas may be more likely to develop this disease. 
• Radiation - Workers in the nuclear industry have an increased risk of developing a brain tumor.
• Formaldehyde - Pathologists and embalmers who work with formaldehyde have an increased risk of developing brain cancer. Scientists have not found an increased risk of brain cancer among other types of workers exposed to formaldehyde.
• Vinyl chloride - Workers who make plastics may be exposed to vinyl chloride. This chemical may increase the risk of brain tumors.
• Acrylonitrile - People who make textiles and plastics may be exposed to acrylonitrile. This exposure may increase the risk of brain cancer.
• cell phones-  Scientists are investigating whether cell phones may cause brain tumors. Studies thus far have not found an increased risk of brain tumors among people who use cell phones.

symptoms:

• Headaches 
• Nausea or vomiting
• Changes in speech, vision, or hearing
• Problems balancing or walking
• Changes in mood, personality, or ability to concentrate
• Problems with memory
• Muscle jerking or twitching
• Numbness or tingling in the arms or legs

diagnoses of brain tumors:

• Physical exam - The doctor checks general signs of health.
• Neurologic exam - The doctor checks for alertness, muscle strength, coordination, reflexes, and response to pain. The doctor also examines the eyes to look for swelling caused by a tumor pressing on the nerve that connects the eye and brain.
• CT scan - An x-ray machine linked to a computer takes a series of detailed pictures of the head. The patient may receive an injection of a special dye so the brain shows up clearly in the pictures. The pictures can show tumors in the brain.
• MRI - A powerful magnet linked to a computer makes detailed pictures of areas inside the body. These pictures are viewed on a monitor and can also be printed. Sometimes a special dye is injected to help show differences in the tissues of the brain. The pictures can show a tumor or other problem in the brain.
• Angiogram - Dye injected into the bloodstream flows into the blood vessels in the brain to make them show up on an x-ray. If a tumor is present, the doctor may be able to see it on the x-ray.
• Skull x-ray - Some types of brain tumors cause calcium deposits in the brain or changes in the bones of the skull. With an x-ray, the doctor can check for these changes.
• Spinal tap - The doctor may remove a sample of cerebrospinal fluid. This procedure is performed with local anesthesia. The doctor uses a long, thin needle to remove fluid from the spinal column. A spinal tap takes about 30 minutes. The patient must lie flat for several hours afterward to keep from getting a headache. A laboratory checks the fluid for cancer cells or other signs of problems.
• Myelogram - This is an x-ray of the spine. A spinal tap is performed to inject a special dye into the cerebrospinal fluid. The patient is tilted to allow the dye to mix with the fluid. This test helps the doctor detect a tumor in the spinal cord.
• Biopsy - The removal of tissue to look for tumor cells is called a biopsy. A pathologist looks at the cells under a microscope to check for abnormal cells. A biopsy can show cancer, tissue changes that may lead to cancer, and other conditions. A biopsy is the only sure way to diagnose a brain tumor. 

methods of treatment: 


There are several treatment options depending on the tumor type and stage, patients may be treated with surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy.
Surgery is the usual treatment for most brain tumors. It is performed under general anesthesia. The surgeon then makes an incision in the scalp and uses a special type of saw to remove a piece of bone from the skull. After removing part or all of the tumor, the surgeon covers the opening in the skull with that piece of bone or with a piece of metal or fabric. The surgeon then closes the incision in the scalp.
Radiation therapy
It uses high-energy rays to kill tumor cells. The radiation may come from x-rays, gamma rays, or protons. A large machine aims radiation at the tumor and the tissue close to it. Sometimes the radiation may be directed to the entire brain or to the spinal cord. The radiation kills tumor cells that may remain in the area.
Fractionation - Radiation therapy usually is given five days a week for several weeks. Giving the total dose of radiation over an extended period helps to protect healthy tissue in the area of the tumor. Hyperfractionation - The patient gets smaller doses of radiation two or three times a day instead of a larger amount once a day.
Stereotactic radiation therapy - Narrow beams of radiation are directed at the tumor from different angles. For this procedure, the patient wears a rigid head frame. The therapy may be given during a single visit or over several visits.
Chemotherapy
The use of drugs to kill cancer cells, is sometimes used to treat brain tumors. The drugs may be given by mouth or by injection. Either way, the drugs enter the bloodstream and travel throughout the body. 
For some patients with recurrent cancer of the brain, the surgeon removes the tumor and implants several wafers that contain chemotherapy. Each wafer is about the size of a dime. Over several weeks, the wafers dissolve, releasing the drug into the brain.

after treatment:

Regular followup is very important after treatment for a brain tumor. The doctor checks closely to make sure that the tumor has not returned. Checkups may include careful physical and neurologic exams. From time to time, the patient may have MRI or CT scans.

enviromental group and their operational area

Oilsands in Canada

 

About 15 years ago nobody knews where the little city called Fort McMurray was located or even if it existed. It is situated in Canada in the Athabasca oil sands and consits of a mixture of crude bitumen, silica sand, clay minerals and water. It is one of the largest reservoir in the world and the third major oil sand deposit in Alberta. It enfolds an area about 141,000 square kilometers and lies under a sparsely populated boreal forest and contain about 1,7 trillion barrels of bitumen in-place. With modern unconventional oil production technology you can filtrate at least 10% of the oil. But in this industry several serious enviromental problem rise. First of all they had to slash and burn the boreal forest, which is very important for clean air and of course for the animals living there. As a consequence they destroyed the habitat of the species and some animals died during this. Moreover the city is along nearby the peace river and cold lake deposits. So the garbadge and  the chemicals run into this river and polute it. From this it follows that the area around the river is polutet and the fish become deform. In addition the drinking water is poisioned and the people suffer from diseases like cancer while drinking it or eating the fish. A good impact is that a lot of people around this area find a new job but a bad fact is that more and more people from all over the world come there so that the city is crowded and burstet at the seams. It follows that the living area becomes bigger and so the habitats of the animals shrink. The more people in this city the more garbadge they produce the more enviromet is polutet and the more global warming is supportet because of traffic and industry. But the envirometal defence organisation trys to solve the river and air polution by install some filters in the oilmachines. Today there is less contamination and they do everything to save the surrounding world.

a recent natural disaster

Haiti- a massive earthquake destroys millions of life

On of the world poorest and least developed countries in world is Haiti. On Tuesday afternoon January 12, 2010 a big natural catastrophe happend there. The Caribbean slab, on which Haiti is located, is moving to the north American slab and as a consequence a massive earthquake with the magnitude of 7,0 occured. Besides this local tsunamies appeared as well. The initial quake was later followed by 12 aftershocks higher than the magnitude 5,0. It struck about 15 km south of the capital Port-au-Prince and wrecked the presidential palace, UN HQ and other buildings. About three million people were affected by the quake. The Haitian government reported that an estimated 316,000 people had died and 300,000 had been injured. About 100,000,000 people laying on the ground searching for food or water and want to be hospitalized. They have no home maybe lost family members, friends or relatives and are even badly wounded by there own.  You have to imaging that everything had been damaged Communication systems, air, land, and sea transport facilities, hospitals, and electrical networks which hampered rescue and aid effort. As another consequence 4000 schools were damaged or destroyed and 600,000 people left their home area in Port-au-Prince and mostly statyed with host families. One and a half million people were living in camps, thousands of people were killed by cholera and 200,000 were infected. Many countries responded to appeal for humanitarian aid. Rescue teams are arriving, aid groups are trying their best, bodies are being identified, and some medical care is being given. Rescue teams from all over the world have joined the recovery effort, as the United States pledged $100 million in relief efforts. The Red Cross ventured an estimate of up to 50,000 deaths, as bodies at the local morgues overflowed into the streets. Most of the people got first aid, clean water and medical consultations. In the end about 40 new schools were built up and are running within 6 months. But you cannot say now that the people living there have started a normal live again.

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo

On July 6, 1907 in Coyacan a special artist come into the world. Her name is Frida Kahlo and perhaps best known for her self-portraits. Her mother was Mexican and her father German. That is whay she is realy  

influenced by indigenous Mexican culture, which is apparent in her use of bright colors and dramatic symbolism. Her work has been celebrated in Mexico as national and idigenous.
She had contracted polio in her early years at the edge of 6 which left her right leg thinner than the left. participatet in boxing and other sports. When she was only 18 years old sche had a very bad accident while riding a bus when a trolley car crashed it. As a consequenz she suffered serious injuries and had about 35 operations and had to spend 3 months in hospital to recover in a full body. The injuries also prevented Kahlo from having a child because of the medical complications and permanent damage.
After this accident she began a career as a painter. She painted to occupy her time during her temporary immobilization. She made a lot of self-portraits which became a dominant part of her life when she was immobile for three months after her accident. Kahlo once said, "I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best."
Moreover she had a volatile marriage with the famous Mexican artist Diego Rivera. She admired his work asked him for some advice about pursuing art as a career. But the marriage was often troubled and both had irritable temperaments and numerous extramarital affairs. Frida has affairs with men as well as with women. Riovera knwe of and tolerated her relationships with women but relationships with men made him jealous. Some other reasons began to rise and so they get divorced in 1939 but remarried in 1940. But their second marrrigae was as troubled as the first. 

Frida Kahlo died on July 13, 1954 a few days before her death she wrote in her diary: "I hope the exit is joyful — and I hope never to return — Frida". The official cause of death was given as a pulmonary embolism, although some suspected that she died from an overdose of painkiller that may or may not have been accidental. She had been very ill throughout the previous year and her right leg had been amputated at the knee. She made about 143 paintings. 55 are self-portraits which often incorporate symbolic portrayals of physical and psychological wounds.

Animal Farm - George Orwell

 

The novel Animal Farm was published in 1945 by an English author and journalist called George Orwell. It deals with the story of communism in the setting of Manor Farm, a typical English farm. The animals want to take over the farm from a human called Mr. Joneswho slights and exploits the animals. They start a successful rebellion and after a while classes develop and the pigs become the leadership. Besdies this they begin to manipulate and brainwash the others while turning into human beings and start a dictatorship and the farm starts rather unpleasant downfall at the end of the book.

The two main characters and leaders of Animal Farm respectively are Snowball and Napoleon. Snowball is a young pia, Napoleon's rival and the originals head of the farm after Jones' overthrow. He visualizes Old Major's dream and is a brillian orator. He is very clever and aims to improve the farm with a windmill and other technological advances. Besides this he is ambitious and plays an important role in the rebellion and helps to set up the Seven Commandements and leads the animals to victory at The Battle of Cowshed. But he does also reduce the commandements to the simple lines " four legs good,. two legs bad". He is a forward thinking pig, intellectual, very smart, has good ideas and long term planning for the good of the farm and good community respectively. In addition to that, he gains the trust of the animals by leading a very successful first harvest. ASccording to this he does all in his power to make it a reality and support sending "out more and more pigeons to stir up rebellion among the animals on other farms". Moreover he devises plans to help the animals achieve their vision of an egalitarian utopia. Furthermore he is disposed of by Napoleon and the animals hold him responsible for all  misfortunes, for example the destruction of the windmill. Moreover the other animals blame him for spying and stealing food in the night from their farm. Therefore he becomes a symbol of an enemy and a scapegoat.
In contrast, Napoleon is introduced with Snowball as the most intelligend pig around. He is a " large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar" the only Berkishire boar on the farm. From the start he is make out to be a villain. First he fights along with Snowball to free the farm from human control but afterwards he breaks off, expels Snowball from the farm and takes over. As an example of his cruel behavior he first started drinking the milk the animals had gathered. he orders execution of the other animals and started a personal cult. According to that he spreads rumors to make Snowball seem evil and corrupt, even claiming that he sabotaged the animals efforts to improve teh farm. Besides this he has "a reputation for getting hos own way" and he is cunning e.g. firstly he urinates on Snoeball's plans for the windmill that means he destroyed them and then he shows the other animals that he could be as inventive as Snowball by ordering the construction again. When the primitive windmill collapses due to Nap[oleon's poor planning he blames Snowball and starts a wave of terror. During this period he severely cuts the ration of the animals except those of pigs and dogs. He also secretly changes the Seven Commandements' prohibition against killing, drinking, and sleeping in beds, allowing him and his followers to break those commandments while claiming that the commandments were justified. Moreover he has a strategy and "is not muich of a talker". That is why he uses a proxy who is Squealer, imposing his will though force. Besides this he uses false propaganda from Squealer and threats and intimidation from the dogs to keep the other animals in line. He does not play an important role in the initial rebellion. He modifies his opinion and policies to rewrite history continually to benefit the pigs. He awards special privileges to them and especially to himself e.g. he wears Mr. Jones cloths, smoking a pipe ans sleeps in the bed. In addition to that, he creates a trade with the neighboring human farmer called Frederick, making just a few public appearances and more distant from the rest of the animals. He becomes a cruel dictator, seeking more ans more power to create his own regime. In addition he knows that he is the leader and he will not let abyone forget it. He takes nine puppies from Jessie and Bluebell, begins raising them himself and uses the dogs for his own security and secret police.At the end, he and yhis felow pigs have learned to walk upright and started to behave mich like the humans against whom they originally revolted.
Napoleon and Snowball are both very interesting characters. The main similarity is the leadership posotion on the farm but their tactics are completely different. Snowball is a better public speaker and he is also better at winning popular favor. Napoleon in contrast, ia more treacherous and cunning and manages to get his own way. Of course he is not so strong as Snowball but he has got a taste for power and protects himself on all front with the help of Swuealer, the dogs, Moses and the other pigs. Moreover Napoleon is a cruel, brutal, selfish, devious, corrupt his ambition is for power. As a consequence, he is just caring for himself and not for the common good of animals farm like Snowball. Whereas Snowball is idealistic and relly wants to make life mich better instead of Napoleon who just want to have more power. Snowball is the more innovative one e.g. " he had studied an old book of Julius Caesar campaigns which he had found on the farmhouse, was in charge of the defensive operations.". Finally he educated himslef, taking the responsibility on himselfto defend the farm. Napoleon increases his power, becoming a cruel dictator and killed innocent animals to ephnazise his power. Whereas Snowball has not anything of this cruelty, the only thing he mentioned is " a good human, is a dead human". Furthermore he is the one who is extremely active in The Battle of Cowshed. He attacks first " Snowball launched his first attack", was heading the attack and got hurt.He gave verything he had and become the hero of the day. Slthough Napoleon was nowhere to be found at the time of the battle he was praised later as the "Hero". Another important fact is that Snowball was always organizing the commetees to involve abd educate the other animals. moreover he was encouring the animals to wortk together for the benefit of their own and the farm. Whereas Napoleon brought terror and excluded the pigs from the rest of the animals.

All in all Snowball and Napoleon are both pigs with leadership but they use them in different ways. Napoleon wants to increase his power, just caring for himself and not for the benefit of the other animals and farm respectively. He becomes a cruel dictator and reinforces his power ny using the dogs as his secret police and Squealer as his proxy and for propaganda. Moreover he blames Snowball for his own failure and the abuses on the farm. By contrast Snowball has great rhetorical skills and follows utopia to benefit the other anilmals and i prove the common well-being. Finally you could say one would rule and one would be ruled.