Effects of Exposure to UV Radiation on Both Mice and Other Mammals - Assignment Example

http m.glamour.com/beauty/blogs/girls-in-the-beauty-department 11/its-not-just-their-fair-comple.html?mbid=twitter_glamourdotcom Studies performed by such groups as the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston have suggested that the overall “fairness”(with regards to skin pigmentation or lack thereof) among natural redheads is only one of the reasons that this group is more susceptible to skin cancer. Rather, the research tends to show that the pigmentation molecule itself – melanin is a primary agent in determining the overall threat/risk that exists within a person based upon their likelihood of developing different forms of skin cancer in the future. This particular study was intended to consider the overall effects of exposure to UV radiation on both mice and other mammals. This study was meant to mimic the olive toned or ginger/albino colorings that are often evidenced in fair-skinned individuals. What was of particular interest to the researchers was the fact that half of the mice had developed melanoma prior to UV exposure. These mice that developed the melanomas prior to UV exposure were not surprisingly ginger mice. Of particular note was what the lead researcher, David Fisher, had to say with regards to the propensity of red-haired individuals to acquire various forms of skin cancer. Says Fisher, “There is something about the redhead genetic background that is behaving in a carcinogenic fashion, independent of UV. This means that simply shielding from UV itself is not enough” (CITE). However, one should not take this statement to mean that correctly applying SPF protection and shielding oneself from the harmful rays of the sun (especially if one has red hair) is pointless due to the fact that one is predisposed to cancer inherently. Instead, it should be taken as a precautionary warning by the individual that regardless of the steps that are taken, no matter how painstaking, the individual that has red hair is inherently predisposed to various forms of skin cancer as a function of their unique genetic makeup. http://www.ksl.com/?nid=235&sid=22772987 A recent determination by a Beijing government think-tank has urged Chinese leadership to begin to phase out the one-child policy that was instituted during the leadership of Mao Tse Tung. The think-tank encouraged the government to consider changing the policy as early as 2015 so that sustainment levels of the Chinese population could be achieved. The distinct problem with the approach that the think-tank has put forward is that it is too little too late as China will experience what is likely to be a debilating demographic bubble within the next 20-30 years. As the population bubble begins to age, the demographic shift could put the strain and economic hardship of up to 4 elderly parents on 2 member families. Although bold steps should be taken to ensure that this fear does not become an eventuality, the fact of the matter is that the current trend is already manifested and working to attempt to correct it at such a late stage, although laudable, will likely have little effect on the overall issue at hand. "China has paid a huge political and social cost for the policy, as it has resulted in social conflict, high administrative costs and led indirectly to a long-term gender imbalance at birth," Xinhua said, citing the report (CITE). But it remains unclear whether Chinese leaders are ready to take up the recommendations. Chinas National Population and Family Planning Commission had no immediate comment on the report Wednesday. Although the policy itself is often referred to as the one-child policy, China’s actual rules and regulations surrounding this are much more complicated. Consequently, although most urban couples are limited to one child, rural families are allowed up to two children (providing that their first one is a girl). Similarly, a level of de-regulation exists with relation to foreign families and two child limits for parents who are both single. Cai Yong, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, said the report holds extra weight because the think tank is under the State Council, Chinas Cabinet. He said he found it remarkable that state-backed demographers were willing to publicly propose such a detailed schedule and plan on how to get rid of Chinas birth limits. "That tells us at least that policy change is inevitable, its coming," said Cai, who was not involved in the drafting of the report but knows many of the experts who were. Cai is a visiting scholar at Fudan University in Shanghai. "Its coming, but we cannot predict when exactly it will come." A further complicating metric is due to the fact that once every decade, the Chinese leadership transitions. As such, the top political leaders form what can only be described as a shakeup of many of the older and existing forms of thought that the previous regime has made over the past years. Cai said the transition could keep population reform on the back burner or changes might be rushed through to help burnish the reputations of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on their way out. There has been growing speculation among Chinese media, experts and ordinary people about whether the government will soon relax the one-child policy – introduced in 1980 as a temporary measure to curb surging population growth – and allow more people to have two children. Though the government credits the policy with preventing hundreds of millions of births and helping lift countless families out of poverty, it is reviled by many ordinary people. The strict limits have led to forced abortions and sterilizations, even though such measures are illegal. Couples who flout the rules face hefty fines, seizure of their property and loss of their jobs. Many demographers argue that the policy has worsened the countrys aging crisis by limiting the size of the young labor pool that must support the large baby boom generation as it retires. They say it has contributed to the imbalanced sex ratio by encouraging families to abort baby girls, preferring to try for a male heir. The government recognizes those problems and has tried to address them by boosting social services for the elderly. It has also banned sex-selective abortion and rewarded rural families whose only child is a girl. Many today also see the birth limits as outdated, a relic of the era when housing, jobs and food were provided by the state. "It has been thirty years since our planned economy was liberalized," commented Wang Yi, the owner of a shop that sells textiles online, under a news report on the foundations proposal. "So why do we still have to plan our population?" Although this can be open to some debate, the policy has continued to thrive via the avenues of state media and the internet. As such, leadership has expressed the desire to maintain the status quo without instituting any rapid changes to a policy that they consider has worked well for them over the past 40 years time. Similarly, this viewpoint has been reiterated by President Hu Jintao and his advisors citing the fact that sudden change to a pre-existing regulation would create unnecessary shock to the system. Rather, Hu and his advisors put forward that the best way in which to affect the changes that the think-tank has alluded to would be gradually phase such a plan in over a longer period of time. In this way, the populace and the bureaucracy as well as the health care fields could slowly and gradually become accustomed to the new standards as a function of time. Read More