Outside Reports for Physiology
12
Human Physiology
This component of the human physiology course is to get you the student involved in the
importance of physiology in our everyday lives. I am asking that you take time out of
your busy schedules to look at newspapers, popular press magazines, etc. for
articles dealing with human physiology.
Everyday there are numerous articles (some more obscure than others)
discussing the hazards of chemical on the body, air quality problems, and stress
effects. It is not necessary to
pull these topics only from written sources. The topic you are interested in could
come from something you saw on TV or is happening in your life right now! (illness of
family member or yourself) Or it
could be just a topic that is just of interest to you. As long as physiology is talked about,
it can be a topic. All of these are
important for you to understand and to relate to the concepts that I will be
presenting in class.
There are 2, 25 point assignments involved. Each assignment will be graded using the
following criteria:
1)
It is not required, but it may possibly help me to understand what the
topic is if you take the first page of the article, cut it out and tape it to a
single sheet of paper.
2)
As stated above, the article can come from the newspaper, popular
magazines, journal articles, ect. If
you need help please talk to the instructor.
3)
On a separate page, an explanation/association should be written on the
article. This written page should
include:
a)
A brief summary of the article (2-5 point)
b)
An explanation of how specifically this article relates to human
physiology and why. This means detail about the relationship and comments
expressing your thoughts on the article future directions of research. Also, you will need to pull in
references from peer-reviewed literature to discuss the topic (15
point)
c)
There must be references supporting any
statements/conclusions/hypotheses you make in the explanation. These references
must be from refereed (peer-reviewed) journals. These
references must be cited in the body of the paper and in the bibliography (using
the correct formatting)(2-5
point)
4)
This explanation page can be no longer than one (1) page. Must have your name, Physio 12 section (i.e. MWF 8am) and date at the top of the
page. It must be typed
(computer/typewriter). Single or
double spaced with a font size no larger than 12 pt and no smaller than 10
pt.
5)
They can only be turned in on
the set due dates and no more than one (1) can be turned at a
time.
On the following page is an example of an Outside
Report turned by a former student.
Check it over and read the comments in the
margin.
Sample Outside Report
I had heard of cancer growing up, but I didn’t develop a personal interest in the little understood form of illness until I was 21 years old and was diagnosed with stage 1B Nonbulky Nodular Sclerosing Hodgkin’s Disease. Hodgkins Disease is a lymphoma that is among the more common cancers in young adults—males more than females—and is hypothesized to be linked to Epstein-Barr (E-B) virus. Leading up to and following my own diagnosis I did some research into E-B virus and Hodgkin’s Disease, finding only a frustrating lack of insight into what had made my healthy body turn on itself.
A decade
later, the etiology of lymphomas still appears mysterious. However, a resurgence
of research into the relationship between inflammatory responses and
carcinogenesis is showing promise, suggesting important clues about the
mechanisms of cell mutation and subsequent reproduction. I became aware of this
research when Dr. Toebe assigned an article (attached) from Time
Magazine (
Three reviews of research (Coussens 2002; Hussain & Hofseth 2003; Nathan 2002) indicated that a connection between inflammation and cancer has been hypothesized numerously over the past 150 years, and in each epoch has been tested in accord with the most promising technology of the day. Among the many connections that the authors examined, all discussed the role of free radicals in damaging DNA molecules. Peroxynitrate (ONOO-) and nitric oxide (NO•) are both reactive species of molecules that are released by leukocytes and lymphocytes during an innate immune response, often to viral, bacterial and parasitic infections; both have been shown in vitro and in vivo (in mice) to affect the division of epithelial cells, causing genetic mutations that are known to cause cancers (Hussain & Hofseth 2003, p.277).
For the purpose of containing this paper I narrowed the focus of my investigation to the better researched area of the etiologies of gastrointestinal cancers, the incidence of which is known to increase as a result of chronic inflammation (Coussens 2002; Hussain & Hofseth 2003; Frommel 1999; Motorna 2001; Nathan 2002). [JAR3] T.O. Frommel’s paper (Medical Hypotheses 1999, 52(1):27-30) on the relationship between gastrointestinal inflammation and cancers looks specifically at a gene whose expression is paradoxical when viewed from the perspective of cancer research: it protects cells from outright destruction by free radicals while it also prolongs the life of those same protected cells and makes them more prone to mutation. While its focus is on liver cells and not the GI tract per se, Motorna, et.al.’s study of lacI gene mutations resulting from the innate immune response to parasitic infections (Mutation Research 2001, 484:69-76) chronicles the range of lacI mutations that occur in liver cells and suggests the findings as a pointer to research into mutagenic pathways of the known gastric carcinogen Helicobacter pylori.
The great promise of research into the relationship between chronic inflammation and cancer is the possibility for preventative therapies. Rather than targeting “stress” as a cause of gastric ulcers and subsequent gastric cancers, for example, medicine might find a way to manage immune responses to H. pylori, the bacterium that causes gastric ulcers, and circumvent the chain of events that results in tumors. Management of the myopic inflammatory responses that, when sustained, lead to tissue damage, appears to be among the current focal points of cancer research[JAR5] ..
Coussens, L. & Z. Werb. 2002. Inflammation and cancer. Nature 420:860-867.
Cunliffe, R &
Y. Mahida.
2004. Expression and
regulation of antimicrobial peptides in the gastrointestinal tract. Journal
of Leukocyte Biology 75:49-58.
Frommel, T. &
E.J. Zarling. 1999. Chronic inflammation and cancer:
potential role of Bc1-2 gene family members as regulators of cellular
antioxidant status. Medical Hypotheses 52(1):27-30.
Hussain, S. P., L.J. Hofseth & C. C. Harris. 2003. Radical causes of cancer. Nature Reviews 3:276-285.
Motorna, O, et.al. 2001. Analysis of lacI mutations in Big Blue® transgenic mice subjected to parasite-induced inflammation. Mutation Research 484:69-76.
Nathan, C. 2002 Points of control in
inflammation. Nature 420:846-852.
Yu, Q., S. J. Cok, C. Zeng & A. R. Morrison. 2003. Translational repression of human matrix metalloproteinases-13 by and alternatively spliced form of T-cell restricted intracellular antigen-related protein. The Journal of Biological Chemistry 278(3):1579-1584.[JAR6]
[JAR1]Relevance of the topic from the writers view point. Why is this topic important to the writer and the reader.
[JAR2]What is the specific question you want to better understand.
[JAR3]Narrowing of the topic down to something that can be talked about in one page. You can actually write about the same topic in both “outside reports”. However, it needs to be of different aspects of the topic.
[JAR4]Relevant literature to help explain the points of the topic.
[JAR5]Excellent summary of findings and what was learn by the writer about the topic.
[JAR6]Excellent bibliography, relevant literature, correct formatting. Remember, there needs to be at least 3 peer-reviewed citations per outside report.