Aahnaf's Online Journal

Drugs produced from plants:

• Opium poppy (heroin, morphine, codeine)
• Blue agave (Tequila)
• Coca leaves (cocaine)
• Ephedra sinica (Sudafed, meth)
• Psilocybin mushroom (shrooms)
• Willow bark (aspirin)
• Sassafras root (ecstasy)
• Penicillium mold (penicillin)

Drugs produced by microorganisms:

• Antibiotics
• Penicillin
• Alkaloids

New drugs developed always need to go through several test before they are prescribed to patients and revealed to the public. The tests are done so that scientists know that they are safe, any side effects and if the drugs have a positive affect on the patient. The drug will first be used on human cells in a laboratory. If passed it will then be tested on animals, which brings about a lot of controversy. Animals are tested on as they have similar DNA as humans. Animals such as monkeys, apes and mice have really close DNA to humans. If the drug is seemingly safe on the animals and side effects are noted down along with appropriate doses, it will be used in a clinical trial. Clinical trials are where the drug is used on healthy volunteers with very small doses, to guarantee if the drug is safe. Further clinical trials are done later. Sometimes drugs may go through all the trials until the clinical trial where it shows to be ineffective or result in serious side effects and then will need to be scrapped.

An antibody is a protein created from blood in order to fight against pathogens that have entered the body. Pathogens are microorganisms that enter the body and can cause a disease or infection. A pathogen can be bacteria or virus.

When a bacterium pathogen enter the body it will start producing antigens, which can be toxins, that will start attacking human cells. The body will then react by sending white blood cells. There are two white blood cell groups; phagocytes/macrophages or lymphocytes. These white blood cells will then either ingesting the entire pathogen, release antibodies that will destroy the pathogen or produce antitoxin (another protein) that will balance against toxins released from the pathogens. Phagocytes travel blood vessel walls and make their way to the pathogen. It will then ingest the pathogen it or produce an enzyme that will destroy them. If a phagocyte ingests a pathogen it will then examine it and send a message to the lymphocytes. A lymphocytes releases certain antibodies that will destroy a pathogen. Once received the message the lymphocytes will decide which correct antibody they need to send to attack the pathogen.

If a viral pathogen enters the body then macrophages will be sent out to destroy the germs. Macrophages will either engulf or digest the pathogen. However if the viral infection is strong enough the body will send a much stronger cell called a T Cell that will fight the viral infection. T cells are just another type of lymphocyte cell.

After the pathogen is destroyed, memory cells are created. Memory cells are created so that when the same pathogen reenters the body the memory cell will recognise it and can easily destroy the pathogen much quicker because it will remember what antibody and cells are needed. That is what immunity is. This type of immunity is acquired immunity. Acquired immunity is not inherited but is worked out by your body itself whether the pathogen enters you or you get a vaccination.

In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare presents a story about Macbeth, the protagonist of the play, and his desire to gain power, however Macbeth decided to go down the wrong path, which led him to his fall. Macbeth experienced hell through this as he was tormented by guilt and lived his life petrified of the truth. This impacted massively on his mind and as the play went on Macbeth’s mind deteriorated. However, Shakespeare doesn’t just say this or just present that simply on stage. He uses many linguistic, dramatic and figurative techniques, as well as building the structure of the speech to show Macbeth’s mind state.

Macbeth isn’t just another fictional play. Shakespeare had based the play off Macbeth an actual old Scottish king, who became a monarch by killing the previous king. Shakespeare had done this because, at the time, Queen Elizabeth I was dying and had chosen King James VI of Scotland to be her successor and become the King of England. William Shakespeare presented this play, based of the old tale, to King James since it was about his ancestors, Banquo and Fleance. Only thing is, Shakespeare presented Banquo and Fleance as good people but in history Banquo was helping Macbeth. Shakespeare clearly did that so he would not offend the King.

Transpiration is the method of that is used to get water moving through a plant in tubes and the evaporation of water on the leaves, stems and flowers. Water travels through plants by moving in tubes, which are made of dead xylem cells, from the roots all the way through the plant. Dissolved minerals also travel within the tubes along side the water. The water evaporates only if it is on palisade cells (on the edge of the leaf). Transpiration is very beneficial as it helps plants and the environment. Therefore it is very good that the rate of transpiration can be quickened. But first the process of transpiration needs to be explained.

Water enters the root hair cells by osmosis and then travels through cells until it gets to the xylem tube at the centre of the roots by osmosis. Osmosis is the movement of water from a less concentrated side to a higher concentrated side by going across permeable membranes. Using diffusion, water goes through cell walls. Diffusion is where water would move from a higher concentrated space to a lower concentrated space and so helps water go through cell walls. Gas can also diffuse since particles need to be spread out for diffusion to be carried out. Water then enters leaves through the stomata, which is a small opening that allows gas exchange and water to pass through. One entered the water moves to the palisade cells and then evaporates into the atmosphere.  Water can only travel like this as it is cohesive, meaning it can move across a different surfaces. If something was adhesive it would only be able to travel across itself.

Transpiration is vital for plants for many reasons. One being that it keeps plants cool in hot weather so it does not end up killing them. It also helps photosynthesis, therefore the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide is good. The water that evaporates from plants go back into the water cycle so it returns the water back to the environment. The water vapour evaporated can turn into fog and clouds. Transpiration also helps plants grow and their metabolism.

The rate of transpiration can change due to natural and environmental factors. Light, temperature and wind can make transpiration faster. If the plant is in bright light, transpiration quicken since the stomata opens wider meaning more carbon dioxide can be inhaled by the plant for photosynthesis. Higher temperatures mean evaporation and are faster. Windy days means that the water vapour can be taken away quickly and then the water can evaporate quicker off the palisade cells. However humidity can slow down the rate of transpiration since the water cannot evaporate if the air is already moist.

Macbeth’s Mental Stability

From Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act 5 Scene 5, it seemed as though Macbeth has begun to despair. It seems as though he has given up and has lost everything when he has almost everything. When told about his wife’s death, Macbeth isn’t upset or angry. Instead all he says is that she was she should have dies later and not now. It didn’t seem as though Macbeth felt any sadness from the news. He loved Lady Macbeth a lot and we know this since he killed the King of Scotland and acted against God, just to keep her happy. But in the end when told about her death he didn’t react.

Macbeth continued to talk about life and death. He claimed a few things about them but what stuck out was that Macbeth said life was completely worthless. ‘Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more.’ This is one of the lines where Macbeth says that life is worthless.

*NOT FINISHED*

What is Shakespeare trying to communicate about life in this passage spoken by the character Macbeth?

In Act 5 Scene 5, Macbeth preforms a brief soliloquy about life just after he is informed about his wife’s (Lady Macbeth) death. It is in these twelve lines where Shakespeare is believed to be sending messages to his audiences about life, through the mouths of the actors that play his character Macbeth. However it isn’t as simple as Shakespeare just giving his opinion of life, instead he uses many linguistic, dramatic and figurative techniques, as well as building the structure in a way to create and deliver his message.

One structural technique Shakespeare had used in the soliloquy is meter. In the lines of this soliloquy Shakespeare used iambic pentameter except for lines 1,3,5,7,8 and 12. Line 12 consisted of six syllables so instead was iambic trimeter and line 1 had seven syllables. The other lines had 11 syllables each, meaning they all had one extra syllable then they should have had. This is called weak foot or is also known as the feminine ending. Weak foot disrupts the balanced rhythm and may throw off the actors or audiences. However there is reason to it. Weak foot is usually used to signify status, characters faltering or to cause suspense. To show status, normally a characters with low statures would have it in their lines to demonstrate their insignificance. For suspense, an actor would be asked to take a break and look confused, as if they don’t know what they are about to say. Weak foot is then also used to show that a character is faltering. Meaning either their mind is shaken up and are unstable, that they are not thinking straight or that this line is really emotional, that it causes them distress. This is what Shakespeare could be doing in these lines.

NOTES

• In iambic pentameter besides few lines
• use of metaphors

• Macbeth has begun to despair
• No grief over his beloved wife
• same thing everyday
• short worthless meaningless
• work so hard, thrive, stress, panic and in the end it dies with us
• He has hit rock bottom
• broken man
• his shell has broken; is vulnerable
• ‘Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more.’
• ‘It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.’
• Shakespeare is taking to his audience
• Brings everyone out of the fictional world and back into reality
• everything happening to Macbeth can happen to anyone
• refers to himself as ‘idiot’

I believe Macbeth is an equivocator and an example of this is in Act 1 Scene 7 when Macbeth says ‘ This even-handed justice commends th’ ingredience of our poinon’d chalice to our own lips’. Here Macbeth is admitting and showing that he is aware that killing Duncan is a very bad deed by referring it as a ‘poinon’d chalice’ in the form of a metaphor. Not only that but Macbeth says that this shouldn’t even happen to Duncan but rather him instead. Macbeth is showing guilt and regret on agreeing to kill Duncan.

Eukaryotic cells have a nucleus each where as prokaryotic cells nucleoid. Prokaryotic can only be single celled, however eukaryotic cells can be single celled or multi celled. Prokaryotic also don’t have organelles where as eukaryotic have many different types with specialized cells. Prokaryotic cells are single circular double stranded DNA. Eukaryotic cells contain complex chromosomes in pairs. Eukaryotic cells are usually bigger than prokaryotic cells.

Aahnaf, Hasan, Yusuf