The Pathophysiology of Hepatitis B Essay -- Health, Diseases

Introduction Hepatitis B, an infectious disease caused by the Hepatitis B virus (HBV, a DNA virus), was formerly called serum hepatitis, inoculation hepatitis and post-transfusion hepatitis. Infection with HBV may result in acute, fulminant or chronic hepatitis, sometimes even resulting in a chronic asymptomatic carrier state, apart from hepatocellular carcinoma and liver cirrhosis (Davis 179). The disease is transmitted when an individual comes in contact with infected blood or objects. It may also be transferred from an infected mother to her infant either during or after birth (Zuckerman et al. 211). Transmission may also occur by accidental inoculation from infected needles and hospital equipment, intravenous drug abuse, body piercing, tattooing, and mouth-mouth kissing (Zuckerman et al. 210). The risk of Hepatitis B is particularly high in individuals with multiple sex partners, and in homosexuals. The HBV virus occurs in morphologically different forms in the serum of infected individuals. HBV infection has an incubation period of about 75 days. Systemic symptoms of the disease include fatigue, fever, dyspepsia, arthralgia, malaise, and rash, while local symptoms include hepatomegaly, jaundice, dark urine, and pale stools (Davis 179; Zuckerman et al. 210). Anatomical/physiological/biochemical changes that lead to the disease Hepatitis B results from cellular injury to the liver, subsequently affecting its metabolic functions. However, the HBV is not cytopathic by itself. The pathogenesis of Hepatitis B occurs as a result of the interactions between the host’s immune system and the virus. The host immune system targets HBV in liver cells (hepatocytes), inadvertently causing damage to the liver. HBV derived proteins (... ...BeAg), bilirubin level, and platelet count (Pyrsopoulos and Reddy). The disease prognosis can be done by calculating the prognostic index based on the status of these six variables. Conclusion HBV infection is complex and affects a large population worldwide. The discovery of the Australia antigen (HBsAg) in 1965 by Blumberg et al. (1965) set the stage for rapid progress in understanding and counteracting the disease (qtd in Zuckerman et al. 210). Liver function tests help in estimating the extent of damage caused to the liver during HBV infection. Diagnosis is done by detecting viral specific antigens in the serum. Both active and passive immunization options exist for disease prophylaxis. However, it is always best to practice caution over the parenteral, sexual and other routes of transmission of the disease for effective disease prevention and prophylaxis.

Black Swan, Cinema Paper

Sarah Risner Dr. Foley Cinema 19 November 2012 Black Swan â€Å"Black Swan† is a movie with a dark transformation of Nina the white swan metamorphosing herself into the black swan, with symbolism and psychosis playing well within the movie. Most of this movie plays into the world the ballerina, and exposes some of the hidden motives of this world. The other world this movie plays into is the world of someone with psychosis, and the mysteries that follow between both worlds. It seems the ballerina world feeds into the patient with psychosis and feeds the mental illness.After one watches this movie they will be horrified and troubled at the same time. The character of Nina will leave one trying to figure out the mysteries of Nina’s life. It actually leaves the audience with more questions than answers after watching the movie. The questions are what give the movie great success. The setting of â€Å"Black Swan† takes place in New York at a ballerina studio where Ni na and Lily are preparing for the production of Swan Lake. The plot of the movie is about Nina and her obsession with dance. Her mother is a former ballerina and is very controlling of her daughter.The dance director by the name of Thomas Leroy decides to replace the character Beth with Nina for the new season of Swan Lake. Nina is his choice, but he also has eyes for the character Lily. Nina feels competition between herself and Lily. Nina has an obsessive view between herself and Lily. This part is complicated because it means the character has to play both the white swan and the black swan. The white swan requires the ballerina to play a part of purity and elegance. The black swan part requires the ballerina to play a part of cunning and sexuality.Nina will go to the dark side of this character and it will drive her insane. Lily and Nina form a candid friendship which seems to be insane itself. The conflict of this movie is the inner struggle of Nina with her own personality wagi ng war against itself. The character change of this movie is with the main character of Nina. Nina starts out innocent and ends up exploring her dark side in order to turn herself into the character of the black swan. Some universal symbolism found in this movie is the use of the character Lily asNina’s doppelganger. The symbol is of course is the twin/double identity of Nina’s self. This embodies Nina’s good/evil sides of herself. Mirrors are used in the film to show Nina splitting into two different personalities. The cultural symbolism in this movie is seen in black and white symbolism. Black of course shows the dark side of Nina, and white the good side of Nina. It is shown with actual color within most of the movie though. The theme of this movie is the cost of fame, along with the dark sides of show business.It also shows complexities of trying to be perfect and how the stress of perfection can be one’s downfall. According to The Sticky Shoe Review by Logan Arney, says the Black Swan having a target audience is a bold statement. The reason for this being that the movie has attracted all kinds of people to watching it due to the Oscars and so forth. It has almost created its own target, or curious on-seekers just wondering what goes on in this film. The marketing of this film has many causes to it such as big names. The big acting names are Natalie Portman who stars in this film, director Darren Aronofsky.Aronofsky himself has directed big hits such as â€Å"The Wrestler†, â€Å"The Fountain†, â€Å"Requiem for a Dream†, and â€Å"Pi†. Natalie Portman has starred in big hits such as â€Å"V is for Vendetta†, and â€Å"The Other Boleyn Girl†. Adding to this list are the other two big actors being Vincent Cassel, and Wynonna Ryder and not to mention this film being the buzz at the Venice Film Festival of 2010. There is a lot of PR when this bag of names is mentioned (Mu). The script used in this film was written by Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, and John McLaughlin. The story was written by Andres Heinz (IMDb).According to Tom Long, giving his critical response about this film, he believes the movie works due to Portman’s great commitment to character which gives the movie its greatness. He also admits this movie is not necessarily for everyone, but for anyone looking for the horror and craziness in a ballerina movie (Long). The mise-en-scene in â€Å"Black Swan† shows up as black and white color. For one, the costume of the dancers shows as black and white. The dress in the reception is black, as are the walls of the ballet company. The editing of this movie was done by Andrew Weisblum (IMDb).What made the editing so great in this movie was how the emotions were transferred on film while adeptly telling the good story. The lighting in â€Å"Black Swan† is very dramatic with tones of greens and magentas showing up within different characters, and of course the black and whites within the film. The music in this film is like any suspense thriller movie in that one knows something is about to happen when a scary tune starts to play. The sound effects seem to mimic the actual swan cry in some parts of the movie. This in effect makes the film very symbolic of the actual animal of a swan.This movie has many camera angles that clearly explore this movies symbolism. One of the high-angle shots of this film is when the character of Nina when she is dancing on stage, and she is looked down on by the audience. A good close-up shot are when it shows Nina’s feet and it shows how much control she has in her movement. A significant wide-shot in the movie is when we are in Nina’s bedroom, and there is light hitting the bed. The medium-shot in the movie that probably catches most everyone’s eye is when Nina is passing her other self on the subway.This movie uses mostly the fixed-camera. In conclusion, this movie clearly g oes beyond any limit set forth on most film. It has used more symbolism than other movies which makes it quite interesting. It also has the uncanny terroristic theme of terror imposed within it. One feels as if the ballerina world has been exposed while showing to what extremes the female ballerina will go thru to stay skinny, and be perfect. The black and whites of the film show to what extremes in which the ballerina will show herself through. Works Cited Arney, Logan. â€Å"Black Swan. The Stickey Shoe Review (2010): 1. July 19, 2012 http://stickyshoereview. com/? p=107 â€Å"Black Swan,† IMDb (2010): 1. July 20, 2012 < http://www. imdb. com/title/tt0947798/> Long, Tom. â€Å"Review: Natalie Portman soars in ‘Black Swan'† The Detroit News Opinion (2010): 1. July 19, 2012 < http://www. detroitnews. com/article/20101210/OPINION03/12100326/1034/ent02/Review–Natalie-Portman-soars-in–Black-Swan-> Mu, Jennifer. â€Å"Love this Black Swan Film Marketi ng,† Luminosity Marketing (2010): 1. July 19, 2012 < http://luminositymarketing. com/blog/? p=2616>

Macbeth The Duality Of Human Nature - 1741 Words

One of the prominent themes is appearance versus reality, the duality of human nature. In Macbeth we see this theme numerous times in many of the scenes. In act 1 scene 3 Macbeth meets the witches for the first time they give him the vision of being ‘thane of Cawdor’ and thereafter the ‘king’ himself. After the vision we begin to see that Macbeth has begun pondering whether he shall murder Duncan and taking his ‘rightful’ place as king. However at the end of this scene he begins to think in a rational manner and states â€Å"If chance may have me king, why chance may crown me without my stir† and â€Å"Come what come may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day† this shows that he believes that if it is a prophecy then it will come true without him having to do anything. Banquo had warned Macbeth that â€Å"oftentimes to win us to our harm these instruments of darkness tell us truths†¦to betray us in deepest consequen ce† although Macbeth stubbornly overlooked Banquo’s words of advice as his judgment was clouded with the with his determination and desire of the power and position he will be held in as king as well as lady Macbeth excellent persuading skills when the news reaches her Macbeth becomes more insistent to overthrow the king. Macbeth begins as a respectable soldier however when he is persuaded by his wife lady Macbeth to kill the king his mentality completely changes into a ruthless, hypocritical, evil tyrant. Macbeth is seen as ambitious and determined to do thingsShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s Macbeth And Hamlet1122 Words   |  5 Pagesperson under unlawful circumstances and not justified by the law. We don’t know what exactly makes murder, murder. 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At the start of the play Macbeth was idolised by everyone and thought to have been a man of very great power whom could be defeated by nobody: â€Å"All is too weak for brave Macbeth – well he deservesRead MoreAs is evident in the work of most writers, Shakespeare’s writing was modified and developed over1800 Words   |  8 PagesKing Lear, Goneril and Regan were created as unsympathetic female characters, essentially the antagonists of the plays. However, in Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is portrayed with many of the same characteristics of Goneril and Regan, yet is seen as a tragic character because she is later portrayed in a sympathetic light. As Goneril and Regan precede the creation of Lady Macbeth, comparing and contrasting their characteristics can then be used to identify Shakespeare’s evolution of the female roles within hisRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream And Fool1401 Words   |  6 Pagestaint their wit. (III, i, 60-68) In many cases, Shakespearean fools are downplayed by contemporary dramatists and audiences as comic characters that break up the serious content of Shakespeare’s plays. Such critics point to the porter in Macbeth who appears after Macbeth has just killed the king, or the grave diggers in Hamlet who show up after Ophelia’s suicide. While this role for fool characters has its viability and is true to a degree, the Shakespearean fool may be more complex than it is given creditRead MoreThe Character of Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth Essay examples2096 Words   |  9 PagesThe Character of Lady Macbeth  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lady Macbeth is a central character in Shakespeares play, Macbeth; she provides a link between the unnatural realm of the witches and reality. Lady Macbeth appears to become the catalyst for the predictions of the witches. Perhaps the witches planted the seeds of dreams, desire and destiny but it is the unrelenting drive of Lady Macbeth that finally cajoles Macbeth into murdering the king.    Lady Macbeth is a woman of single purpose. On receivingRead MoreWho Goes with Fergus11452 Words   |  46 Pagesthink that brazen cars is in reference to battle/warfare. Summary The poet asks who will follow King Fergus example and leave the cares of the world to know the wisdom of nature. He exhorts young men and women alike to leave off brooding over loves bitter mystery and to turn instead to the mysterious order of nature, over which Fergus rules. Analysis This short poem is full of mystery and complexity. It was James Joyces favorite poem, and figures in his famous novel Ulysses, where Stephen