Animals and the Myriad Ways They Can Kill or Heal Us Essay

Animals and the Myriad Ways They Can Kill or Heal Us - Essay Example Bee venom is also referred to as apitoxin or bee sting venom. Scientifically, it is also known by such names as apis venenum and apitoxine among others (Stearns, 2012). As the name suggests, bee venom is a product of bees. As a matter of fact, it is the venom that makes it painful when a person is stung by bees. Nonetheless, bee venom should not be confused with honey, bee pollen or royal jelly. Basically, bee venom is a major product of the bees. These insects use it as a defense mechanism or a weapon to protect their territory. This article reveals that bee venom is not only feared but also does magic within human body. Bee venom contains some wonderful substances. In fact, it contains up to forty pharmacologically active ingredients. Some of them include mellitin, apamin, adolapin, dopamine and others. Each of these active substances has a different effect on our bodies. This means that once a bee stings a person, the pain dies after about one hour, and the venom left behind begin s to do wonders. Of course, the introduction (actual insertion of the bee sting into human body) is painful and feared by almost everyone. On the other hand, bee venom can be used to combat a number of ailments including insomnia, headache, inflammation, osteoarthritis, skin problems and others. In fact, it has been said that when a person has severe headache, he or she could have a quick relief via a bee sting. This practice is normally referred to as BVT (bee venom therapy). Astonishingly, bee venom has recently been found to contain a key ingredient that destroys HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). Perhaps, this is a breakthrough, especially considering that HIV/AIDS has continually killed millions of people without cure (Saini & Peterson, 1999). Bee venom has not only been shown to destroy HIV cells, but it also does so without harming other cells. This is very important in treatment of any other disease because the aim is not just to kill the bacteria but also to protect other body cells. Researchers have loaded the toxin (referred to as melittin) onto nanoparticles styled with bumpers that normal cells bounced off unaffected. According to the researchers, HIV cells are small enough and can fit between bumpers. This means that they can make contact with the surface of the nanoparticles where bee venom awaits (ScienceDaily, 2013). Consequently, melittin on these nanoparticles fuses with viral envelopes and ruptures them. Of course, this strips the virus’s shell thereby killing it. The difference between the bee venom technique and existing HIV treatment drugs is that the latter techniques attempt to slow down the virus’s ability to duplicate. It is worth noting that the virus has also evolved to evade most of these anti-HIV drugs. What is more, bee venom ingredients (in particular melittin) attack the virus’ natural structure. There is theoretically no mechanism to grow adaptive evasion responses to this. Altogether, ingredients found in bee venom are strategically placed to destroy HIV. The bee venom antiviral therapy has propositions for areas rampant with HIV. For instance, it can be used by women together with vaginal preventative gel. This prevents the initial infection. In addition, treatments could be devised for drug resistant HIV. Such treatments can be delivered intravenously, potentially clearing the blood of the virus. Let us not forget the possibility for this type of treatment being applicable for couples in

Higher Education in England Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Higher Education in England - Term Paper Example Higher Education Institutions make significant contributions to the local economy, directly through the labor market and, indirectly, through student spending in the community, and also contribute to the social and cultural life of their regions through support for minority communities, theatre, cinema, and the arts. The higher education sector consists of some 170 institutions catering to a rich diversity of students from both local as well as overseas. The student body is growing in size and character with an increase of over 39% between 1995 and 2003 to a current total of 2.2 million students. Such growth is unprecedented and has been managed against a steadily declining unit of resource for teaching which only leveled off in 2002. Unprecedented increases in the teaching function have presented universities with a range of financial and academic challenges during the last decade and have stimulated widespread curriculum renewal, new modes of teaching and learning, and significant investment in the professional development of all categories of staff. The most recent challenge with respect to students will be the introduction from 2006 of differential fees for full-time students from the European Union. This is likely to stimulate an even more customer and client-responsive culture in the sector. Even so, some institutions and courses make a loss on every student they teach; hence cross-subsidy is necessary and much teaching and research have been at the expense of investment in infrastructure. Margins across the sector are paper thin. Many of the students now entering the English universities come from family backgrounds and geographical regions which have been traditionally under-represented in higher education. Despite the increasing and more diverse student population course completion rates continue to be high and record numbers graduate with a gradient of awards from foundation to doctoral levels. England completion rates are amongst the highest in the world Universities derive their income from a number of sources with the bulk coming from the Funding Councils (39%) and grants from the UK Research Councils (17%).