Healthcare and Life Sciences

Questions Answered: Biology 1 #3, Biology 2 #1, Biology 3 #4

Biology 1: Please select one of the four (4) statements below and respond in 2 paragraphs (5-6 sentences each paragraph).

1. Suppose that someone used nanotechnology to build little robots (called “nanobots”) that could make copies of themselves. Discuss whether or not you believe the nanobots would be alive. Explain why or why not?

2. Go to The Economist website to read the article titled “A Game of Cat and Mouse”, dated June 3, 2010. Discuss what you believe are the main points of the article. Explain how it relates to this week’s lessons. Give examples with your response.

3. A person is declared to be dead upon the irreversible cessation of spontaneous body functions: brain activity, or blood circulation and respiration. However, only about 1% of a person’s cells have to die in order for all of these things to happen. Explain how a person can be dead when 99% of his or her cells are still alive, and provide examples with your explanation.

4. In 2005, researcher Woo-suk Hwang reported that he had made immortal stem cells from human patients. His research was hailed as a breakthrough for people affected by degenerative diseases, because stem cells may be used to repair a person’s own damaged tissues. Hwang published his results in a peer-reviewed journal. In 2006, the journal retracted his paper after other scientists discovered that Hwang’s group had faked the data. Discuss the implications of the incident. In your brief discussion, determine if the incident shows that results of scientific studies cannot be trusted or if it confirms the usefulness of a scientific approach, because other scientists discovered and exposed the fraud.

Biology 2: Please select one of the four (4) statements below and respond in 2 paragraphs (5-6 sentences each paragraph).

1. In an essay of the universal nature of biochemistry, located at http://www.pnas.org/content/98/3/805.full), Norman Pace argues that carbon is the only chemical element that can form the backbones of molecules that make up living things. Determine what Pace’s argument is and explain why he believes this.

2. The bonding properties of water give it certain characteristics: surface tension, capillary action, universal solvent, high specific heat, and a high heat of vaporization. Indicate three reasons why you believe these properties are important to organisms that live underwater. In your own words, explain one of the following everyday phenomena in regard to the bonding properties of water, and propose one other everyday phenomenon that demonstrates the bonding properties of water:

• Why do you feel cool when you sweat?
• Why do paper towels (made of cellulose, another polar molecule) absorb water?
• How can a water strider walk on water?

3. A group working at the University of California, Berkeley has developed “nanothermometers,” little nanoparticles that can be injected into cells to measure the temperature in various places in the cell. So far, they have been used in cells growing in a culture dish. Indicate what you think the group will discover about the temperature in different parts of the cell. Discuss whether you believe it will be the same or different, and explain why.

4. The 1992 movie Lorenzo’s Oil recounts the story of six-year-old Lorenzo Odone and his battle with adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), which is caused by a malfunctioning organelle called a peroxisome. A peroxisome is an organelle that ordinarily contains enzymes capable of breaking down long-chain fatty acids. In ALD, the enzyme is missing, and when long-chain fatty acids accumulate, muscle weakness, and loss of control result. Select the organelle in the cell that is the most similar in structure and function to a peroxisome, and explain why you chose that organelle. Describe the function and structure of the organelle that you chose. Give examples of how a dietician might be able to help a person with ALD.

Biology 3: Please select one of the four (4) statements below and respond in 2 paragraphs (5-6 sentences each paragraph).

1. The breakdown of ATP releases energy, which is utilized by other reactions that require energy. Identify other examples where inventions have utilized a similar principle, where energy released during one reaction is utilized elsewhere. List three reasons why either one of the processes is more efficient than the other.

2. Go to one (1) of the Websites listed below to read the blog post of your choice. Discuss the main points of the blog post you chose to read. Explain how it relates to this week’s lessons. Give examples with your response.

• How Exercise Can Strengthen the Brain“
• Can Exercise Keep You Young?“

3. Go to the Dive Discover Website and review the Web page titled “Vent Biology: Introduction to Photosynthesis vs. Chemosynthesis”. Analyze the major similarities and differences between chemosynthesis and photosynthesis. Determine what you believe is the most significant step in regard to harnessing energy within each process, and explain why.

4. Go to The Guardian’s Website to read the article titled “GM microbe breakthrough paves way for large-scale seaweed farming for biofuels”, dated January 19, 2012. Discuss the main point of the article. Determine at least three (3) benefits of the genetically modified organism(s) described in the article. Give your opinion about what risks the genetically modified organisms pose to society, and explain how non-scientist citizens can arrive at an informed opinion in such matters.

The focus is on the regulation in your specific setting. You will also need to discuss how regulation affects your setting. In addition to your assigned readings, It is expected that you review the literature to understand how these issues have been examined and discussed by researchers and legislatures

2 pages

APA 2 references

Background:

You are a new healthcare administrator having just graduated from UCF with a bachelor’s degree in HSA. Your first job is the director of a 250 bed skilled nursing facility located in Orlando, Fl. You are really excited about your first job as a healthcare administrator and show up early on your first day. When you arrive you find the facility in complete disarray, phones are ringing, patients call buttons are going unanswered, and trash cans are overflowing. You find very few of the night shift employees are still there, those employees still in the building appear to be napping on the job.

After you help answer the phones and direct clinical staff to assist patients, you finally make it into your office where you realize that the issues do not stop on the patient care floor! Bills are unpaid, accreditation requirements are unmet, and nine notices from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are lying unopened on the desk, and you find a resignation on the desk from your administrative assistant. It is obvious that you have just walked into a disaster area.

Just then your phone rings and on the other end of the line your boss, the corporate VP for Operations, she sounds very angry. She explains that she just got a report on your facility and you are over budget, your vacancy rates are up, your predecessor did not submit any input to the capital budget process which was due two weeks ago, several employees have complained about the facility and one even suggested that she is being sexually harassed by her supervisor, in a nut shell your facility is falling apart at the seams. You try to explain that you just got to the job but she doesn’t want to hear it, instead she wants to meet with you in two weeks to hear how you are going to fix this and what progress you have made in a two week’s time.

What are you going to do? Make sure that you include your immediate response (what you have done during the first and second week), your immediate plans short term plans, your intermediate plans, and your long term goals. Prepare the report that you will present to your boss that walks her through the steps you have already taken and that you will take in the short, intermediate and long run to bring this facility back to life. Be creative about your facility and the issues that you are confronting.

Tips:

• Use theories from the book and other sources as necessary
• Cite using APA style:
• List references in APA at the end
• Make sure that you address all parts of the question and address all issues in depth, don’t skip over issues addressed above
• Follow assignment guidelines!
• Check all spelling & grammar (it sometimes help to read your presentation aloud)

I want you all to approach this case study assignment from a professional presentation view point.
By that I mean you should have your report in a format that is easy for your “new boss” to read/understand/and assess your potential for continuation in the job.
What I want to see is a power point presentation that lays out your initial reaction/observations/actions and then presents your goals and action steps (and metrics) for making the facility a good place to be a patient, to work and for making the facility profitable.

BE SURE TO READ GUIDANCE IN THE SYLLABUS CAREFULLY
You will need to develop a tactical plan and execution plan for the immediate response and a Strategic Plan to turn the organization around.  Think Product, process, metrics, and outcome.
Remember that I will grade this as if I were your new boss… I will be deciding if I am going to keep you in your position, and give you the resources and latitude to execute your plan (that will be an A for a great plan and great confidence or B for a good plan but one I have some concerns about), immediately fire you because I do not have any confidence you or your plan and do not believe you have shown that you have the managerial and leadership skills, knowledge, and planning ability to be successful (this will be a F), or send you help from my team (this is never a good thing, help from above is a statement that your supervisors don’t have faith in your plan or ability to execute it, but are not ready to just fire you and pick another leader), (this will result in a C for a plan I consider workable but needs more specifics to be successful and I will assign a more senior leader to be your consultant in the execution,  or D for a plan that is marginal but could work, but I think the corporation will be better served with someone else on site, overseeing the tactical actions and strategic planning and execution to be successful).    The grades I will assign are as follows:  200 points for an A, 170 points for a B, 150 points for a C, 125 points for a D, and 100 points or less for an F.

This assignment is worth 20% of your grade, so you should plan to invest 12 to 20 hours in the process of researching, developing, presenting and completing the assignment.
The assignment is also a dry run for something that is likely to happen to you in the first two years of your employment as a healthcare manager.  Nearly every new manager is faced with taking over from a failing manager.  You should see this as a real opportunity, not a threat.  On a personal note, I always found that going in behind a manager who had failed or taking over a troubled organization was a great position and an outstanding career opportunity.  There is only one way to go and even small improvements in the short run are likely to make you a hero in the eyes of your leaders.

Assignment Guidelines:
I want to see is a power point presentation
Cover page that includes name, class and topic of presentation.
Final page with credits, cite appropriately and list references
Typed in Times New Roman with a minimum of 12 point font, you may use bold but no italic.  Larger fonts are fine … but nothing smaller than 12 for any part of the slides.
No animation or double click formats, let the slide present in one click only.
Professional looking backgrounds, no dark colors or busy backgrounds.  Don’t need pictures that add nothing to the message.  This is a professional presentation to your boss.  Don’t let him or her think you are not very serious about your presentation.  Your job and ultimately your career depend on it.
This should be an impressive and informative presentation that will gain you the trust and confidence of your new boss that you have the planning, personnel, financial, budgeting, leadership and managerial skills to be successful and progress in the organization.
There is no page limit but follow the rule, long enough to cover the subject and short enough to still be interesting… in short, tell me what time it is, don’t tell me how to build a watch.