Essay about Parkinson’s Disease - 1304 Words

Introduction/background Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the most frequent movement disorder and the second most common neurodegenerative disease (Bueler 2009). Over 1% of the entire population over the age of 60, and up to 5% of age 80, is affected by PD (Wood-Kaczmar, Gandhi et al. 2006). The pathogenesis of PD remains unclear, but can be categorized as sporadic, being the most common form, and Mendelian, which accounts for 5-10% of all PD cases (Guo 2008). The studies of Mendelian onset of PD have lead to the identification of five genes being linked to this neurodegenerative disease (Guo 2008). ÃŽ ±-Synuclein (SNCA) and Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) mediate autosomal dominant forms of PD. PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1),†¦show more content†¦These genes have become a central theme in PD pathogenesis and may hold the key to future novel therapeutics. Using Drosophila as the study model, the Guo lab have shown PINK1 mutants exhibit vacuolations in mitochondria and aggregations of PINK1 proteins to nebenkerns, a large spherical structure composed of two intertwined mitochondria essential for proper spermatogenesis in Drosophila (Deng, Dodson et al. 2008). The Guo lab have also shown null PINK1 flies exhibit phenotypes similar to that of sporadic PD: male sterility, held-up wings due to muscle defects, features of apoptosis, reduced ATP/mtDNA, cristae fragmentation, and vacuolations of the mitochondria. From epistatic studies, the over expression of PARKIN in PINK1 mutant models caused rescue of mitochondrial defects associated to PINK1 mutants indicating the two genes are utilized in a common pathway. The reverse rescue, over expression of PINK1 to PARKIN mutants, did not show any improvement in the mutant phenotype and is suggestive that PINK1 is upstream from PARKIN (Dodson and Guo 2007). The Guo lab has also shown that the expression of human PINK1 in Drosophila PINK1 mutants restored mitochondrial defects and fertility; suggesting studies into PINK1 m ay be relevant to humans. The Guo lab also demonstrated that a downstream effectShow MoreRelatedThe Parkinsons Disease1596 Words   |  6 PagesMany people around the world today suffer from Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders. A movement disorder is a disorder impairing the speed, fluency, quality, and ease of movement. There are many types of movement disorders such as impaired fluency and speed of movement (dyskinesia), excessive movements (hyperkinesia), and slurred movements (hypokinesia). Some types of movement disorders are ataxia, a lack of coordination, Huntingtons disease, multiple system atrophies, myoclonus, briefRead MoreThe Parkinsons Disease761 Words   |  3 PagesMathur states that â€Å"Genetics loads the gun, environment pulls the trigger† (Mathur). Parkinson’s Disease (PD) exhibits this pattern, with the vast majority of PD cases being idiopathic, likely the result of combined genetic and environmental factors. While many researchers previously sought symptom-specific treatment, recent breakthroughs open the door for the discovery of genetic and environmental causes so that disease prevention, and even reversal, emerge as viable possibilities. Recent research demonstratesRead More Parkinsons Disease Essay1764 Words   |  8 PagesParkinson’s disease (PD) is a striatal dopamine deficiency disorder as a consequence of neuronal loss in the substania nigra. It is named after James Parkinson, a British apothecary, who first fully documented its physical signs in 1817. Since then, significant advances have been made in our understanding of characteristic pathophysiology as well as in the medical treatment of different stages of PD. An overview of condition features in terms of epidemiology, manifestations, diagnosis and diseaseRead MoreParkinson’s Disease Essay1446 Words   |  6 PagesParkinson’s Disease is known as one of the most common progressive and chronic neurodegenerative disorders. It belongs to a group of conditions known as movement disorders. Parkinson disease is a component of hypokinetic disorder because it causes a decreased in bodily movement. It affects people who are usually over the age of 50. It can i mpair an individual motor as well as non-motor function. Some of the primary symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are characterized by tremors or trembling in handsRead More Parkinsons Disease Essay1642 Words   |  7 PagesParkinsons Disease Parkinson’s Disease (PD), the shaking palsy first described by James Parkinson in 1817, is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder which affects in upwards of 1.5 million Americans. The disease begins to occur around age 40 and has incidence with patient age. One survey found that PD may affect 1% of the population over 60. Incidence seems to be more prominent in men, and tends to progress to incapacity and death over one or two decades. Clinical diagnosis of PD isRead MoreEssay on Parkinson’s Disease1305 Words   |  6 PagesParkinson’s Disease (PD) is a chronic neurological disease that effects about 329 per 100,000 people in the US. The average onset of this disease usually is for people over the age of 50, with the baby boomers getting older there may be an increase in this disease, as much as 9 million people worldwide. (Pawha 2010) Etiology The disease happens when the cells in the brain are damaged or stop-producing Dopamine, which helps with muscle movement, thus leaves those patients unable to control theirRead MoreParkinson’s Disease Essay1260 Words   |  6 PagesParkinson’s Disease Parkinson’s Disease (PD), known for its degenerative abilities and debilitating affects, is an illness that affects approximately 1 million Americans. The cause of this disease has not been pinpointed, although strides have been made towards a cure. As our elderly population increases, so does our overwhelming need to find a suitable cure that may one day eliminate this disease. Concepts of PD After watching the video: My father, My Brother, and Me, viewable at www.pbsRead MoreParkinsons Disease Essay1504 Words   |  7 Pages Parkinsons Disease Parkinsons is an idiopathic, multifactorial neurodegenerative disease that attacks neurotransmitters in the brain called dopamine. Dopamine is concentrated in a specific area of the brain called the substantia nigra. The neurotransmitter dopamine is a chemical that regulates muscle movement and emotion. Dopamine is responsible for relaying messages between the substantia nigra and other parts of the brain to control body movement. The death of these neurotransmitters affectsRead MoreEssay Parkinsons Disease3763 Words   |  16 PagesParkinsons Disease In 1817, James Parkinson published his famous treatise: An Essay on the Shaking Palsy, describing the symptoms which now collectively bear his name. Although many scientists before his time had described various aspects of motor dysfunction (ataxia, paralysis, tremor) Parkinson was the first to collect them into a common syndrome; one which he believed formed a distinctive condition. His sixty-six page essay contained five chapters describing symptoms, differential diagnosesRead MoreParkinsons Disease Essay784 Words   |  4 PagesDiagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease is extremely important in terms of treating the symptoms before the disease gets worse. It is common for patients with PD to have motor symptoms such as gait disorder, which comes from muscle stiffness/rigidity, bradykinesia, postural imbalance, etc. Gait disorders can generally help determine how far the neurological disorder has affected the motor function and control of the individual. Many physicians in general c linics determine if a patient has PD or if it has

John F Kennedys Assassination as the Turning Point of the...

Running Head: The Turning Point The Turning Point The Turning Point: I have chosen the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy as it proved to be a real turning point in the history of Vietnam. Kennedy, who had initially delivered 400 special advisors to Vietnam in order to train the Vietnamese soldiers against counter-insurgence, was eliminated in Dallas (Texas) on 26th November 1963. The events preceding the turning point: As mentioned earlier, J. F. Kennedy was providing the Vietnamese government with advisors. He started with the initial 400 U.S. military counselors and the number was raised to 16,300 American military advisors after his assassination. A communist takeover was to be prevented and that is why Kennedy supported Diem and his brothers government. However, Diem was a poor controller, a bad ruler. He, along with his brother, made brutal policies against Buddhists and eliminated a large amount of them in the Buddhists sanctuaries of Saigon. Diems brother Nhu was heavily involved in these activities together with his brothers full support and the army trained by American military advisors (Moss, 2010). Nhus wife even referred to the Buddhists as barbecue on a television show. All of this along with the fact that the Buddhists were denied the right to display their holy flags on the birthday of Buddha caused an immediate outburst in South Vietnam. Heavy protests started taking place and sever al Buddhist monks even burnt themselves to fatality asShow MoreRelatedTurning point of the Cold War and JKF Assassination996 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿ Turning point of the Cold War and JKF Assassination The assassination of President Kennedy was the turning point in history as many felt he and his family was American royalty, he had the ability to reach Americans through his speeches, as it helped Americans through some stressful times in cold war history, he was a catalyst in allowing Americans to be part of history from the first walk on the moon and the equality of all human rights in the United States. One of his mostRead MoreWho Killed Jfk? The Kennedy Conspiracy?1047 Words   |  5 Pagescontinuing to reverberate across the US.† I believe the John F. 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The country was able to see what was happening on the battleground. This war would have lasting effects on the United States and the nation it divided. The Vietnam war started way before America became involved (1955–1975). Indochina, which includedRead MoreThe Assassination of Jfk and His Accomplishments While He Was in Office3514 Words   |  15 PagesThe Assassination of JFK and his Accomplishments while he was in Office. The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy remains a mystery to this day. Some argue that there is more than one shooter, I personally agree with this theory. Although his presidency was very short, he made great strides in giving the people what he promised. He most likely would have helped America in more ways than one and it would have been great to have seen what he would have accomplished. John Fitzgerald KennedyRead MorePresidential Doctrines Essay1051 Words   |  5 Pagespolicy initiative of John F. 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Angels Demons Chapter 98-101 Free Essays

98 The six pompieri firemen who responded to the fire at the Church of Santa Maria Della Vittoria extinguished the bonfire with blasts of Halon gas. Water was cheaper, but the steam it created would have ruined the frescoes in the chapel, and the Vatican paid Roman pompieri a healthy stipend for swift and prudent service in all Vatican-owned buildings. Pompieri, by the nature of their work, witnessed tragedy almost daily, but the execution in this church was something none of them would ever forget. We will write a custom essay sample on Angels Demons Chapter 98-101 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Part crucifixion, part hanging, part burning at the stake, the scene was something dredged from a Gothic nightmare. Unfortunately, the press, as usual, had arrived before the fire department. They’d shot plenty of video before the pompieri cleared the church. When the firemen finally cut the victim down and lay him on the floor, there was no doubt who the man was. â€Å"Cardinale Guidera,† one whispered. â€Å"Di Barcellona.† The victim was nude. The lower half of his body was crimson-black, blood oozing through gaping cracks in his thighs. His shinbones were exposed. One fireman vomited. Another went outside to breathe. The true horror, though, was the symbol seared on the cardinal’s chest. The squad chief circled the corpse in awestruck dread. Lavoro del diavolo, he said to himself. Satan himself did this. He crossed himself for the first time since childhood. â€Å"Un’ altro corpo!† someone yelled. One of the firemen had found another body. The second victim was a man the chief recognized immediately. The austere commander of the Swiss Guard was a man for whom few public law enforcement officials had any affection. The chief called the Vatican, but all the circuits were busy. He knew it didn’t matter. The Swiss Guard would hear about this on television in a matter of minutes. As the chief surveyed the damage, trying to recreate what possibly could have gone on here, he saw a niche riddled with bullet holes. A coffin had been rolled off its supports and fallen upside down in an apparent struggle. It was a mess. That’s for the police and Holy See to deal with, the chief thought, turning away. As he turned, though, he stopped. Coming from the coffin he heard a sound. It was not a sound any fireman ever liked to hear. â€Å"Bomba!† he cried out. â€Å"Tutti fuori!† When the bomb squad rolled the coffin over, they discovered the source of the electronic beeping. They stared, confused. â€Å"Medico!† one finally screamed. â€Å"Medico!† 99 â€Å"Any word from Olivetti?† the camerlegno asked, looking drained as Rocher escorted him back from the Sistine Chapel to the Pope’s office. â€Å"No, signore. I am fearing the worst.† When they reached the Pope’s office, the camerlegno’s voice was heavy. â€Å"Captain, there is nothing more I can do here tonight. I fear I have done too much already. I am going into this office to pray. I do not wish to be disturbed. The rest is in God’s hands.† â€Å"Yes, signore.† â€Å"The hour is late, Captain. Find that canister.† â€Å"Our search continues.† Rocher hesitated. â€Å"The weapon proves to be too well hidden.† The camerlegno winced, as if he could not think of it. â€Å"Yes. At exactly 11:15 P.M., if the church is still in peril, I want you to evacuate the cardinals. I am putting their safety in your hands. I ask only one thing. Let these men proceed from this place with dignity. Let them exit into St. Peter’s Square and stand side by side with the rest of the world. I do not want the last image of this church to be frightened old men sneaking out a back door.† â€Å"Very good, signore. And you? Shall I come for you at 11:15 as well?† â€Å"There will be no need.† â€Å"Signore?† â€Å"I will leave when the spirit moves me.† Rocher wondered if the camerlegno intended to go down with the ship. The camerlegno opened the door to the Pope’s office and entered. â€Å"Actually†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he said, turning. â€Å"There is one thing.† â€Å"Signore?† â€Å"There seems to be a chill in this office tonight. I am trembling.† â€Å"The electric heat is out. Let me lay you a fire.† The camerlegno smiled tiredly. â€Å"Thank you. Thank you, very much.† Rocher exited the Pope’s office where he had left the camerlegno praying by firelight in front of a small statue of the Blessed Mother Mary. It was an eerie sight. A black shadow kneeling in the flickering glow. As Rocher headed down the hall, a guard appeared, running toward him. Even by candlelight Rocher recognized Lieutenant Chartrand. Young, green, and eager. â€Å"Captain,† Chartrand called, holding out a cellular phone. â€Å"I think the camerlegno’s address may have worked. We’ve got a caller here who says he has information that can help us. He phoned on one of the Vatican’s private extensions. I have no idea how he got the number.† Rocher stopped. â€Å"What?† â€Å"He will only speak to the ranking officer.† â€Å"Any word from Olivetti?† â€Å"No, sir.† He took the receiver. â€Å"This is Captain Rocher. I am ranking officer here.† â€Å"Rocher,† the voice said. â€Å"I will explain to you who I am. Then I will tell you what you are going to do next.† When the caller stopped talking and hung up, Rocher stood stunned. He now knew from whom he was taking orders. Back at CERN, Sylvie Baudeloque was frantically trying to keep track of all the licensing inquiries coming in on Kohler’s voice mail. When the private line on the director’s desk began to ring, Sylvie jumped. Nobody had that number. She answered. â€Å"Yes?† â€Å"Ms. Baudeloque? This is Director Kohler. Contact my pilot. My jet is to be ready in five minutes.† 100 Robert Langdon had no idea where he was or how long he had been unconscious when he opened his eyes and found himself staring up at the underside of a baroque, frescoed cupola. Smoke drifted overhead. Something was covering his mouth. An oxygen mask. He pulled it off. There was a terrible smell in the room – like burning flesh. Langdon winced at the pounding in his head. He tried to sit up. A man in white was kneeling beside him. â€Å"Riposati!† the man said, easing Langdon onto his back again. â€Å"Sono il paramedico.† Langdon succumbed, his head spiraling like the smoke overhead. What the hell happened? Wispy feelings of panic sifted through his mind. â€Å"Sorcio salvatore,† the paramedic said. â€Å"Mouse†¦ savior.† Langdon felt even more lost. Mouse savior? The man motioned to the Mickey Mouse watch on Langdon’s wrist. Langdon’s thoughts began to clear. He remembered setting the alarm. As he stared absently at the watch face, Langdon also noted the hour. 10:28 P.M. He sat bolt upright. Then, it all came back. Langdon stood near the main altar with the fire chief and a few of his men. They had been rattling him with questions. Langdon wasn’t listening. He had questions of his own. His whole body ached, but he knew he needed to act immediately. A pompiero approached Langdon across the church. â€Å"I checked again, sir. The only bodies we found are Cardinal Guidera and the Swiss Guard commander. There’s no sign of a woman here.† â€Å"Grazie,† Langdon said, unsure whether he was relieved or horrified. He knew he had seen Vittoria unconscious on the floor. Now she was gone. The only explanation he came up with was not a comforting one. The killer had not been subtle on the phone. A woman of spirit. I am aroused. Perhaps before this night is over, I will find you. And when I do†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Langdon looked around. â€Å"Where is the Swiss Guard?† â€Å"Still no contact. Vatican lines are jammed.† Langdon felt overwhelmed and alone. Olivetti was dead. The cardinal was dead. Vittoria was missing. A half hour of his life had disappeared in a blink. Outside, Langdon could hear the press swarming. He suspected footage of the third cardinal’s horrific death would no doubt air soon, if it hadn’t already. Langdon hoped the camerlegno had long since assumed the worst and taken action. Evacuate the damn Vatican! Enough games! We lose! Langdon suddenly realized that all of the catalysts that had been driving him – helping to save Vatican City, rescuing the four cardinals, coming face to face with the brotherhood he had studied for years – all of these things had evaporated from his mind. The war was lost. A new compulsion had ignited within him. It was simple. Stark. Primal. Find Vittoria. He felt an unexpected emptiness inside. Langdon had often heard that intense situations could unite two people in ways that decades together often did not. He now believed it. In Vittoria’s absence he felt something he had not felt in years. Loneliness. The pain gave him strength. Pushing all else from his mind, Langdon mustered his concentration. He prayed that the Hassassin would take care of business before pleasure. Otherwise, Langdon knew he was already too late. No, he told himself, you have time. Vittoria’s captor still had work to do. He had to surface one last time before disappearing forever. The last altar of science, Langdon thought. The killer had one final task. Earth. Air. Fire. Water. He looked at his watch. Thirty minutes. Langdon moved past the firemen toward Bernini’s Ecstasy of St. Teresa. This time, as he stared at Bernini’s marker, Langdon had no doubt what he was looking for. Let angels guide you on your lofty quest†¦ Directly over the recumbent saint, against a backdrop of gilded flame, hovered Bernini’s angel. The angel’s hand clutched a pointed spear of fire. Langdon’s eyes followed the direction of the shaft, arching toward the right side of the church. His eyes hit the wall. He scanned the spot where the spear was pointing. There was nothing there. Langdon knew, of course, the spear was pointing far beyond the wall, into the night, somewhere across Rome. â€Å"What direction is that?† Langdon asked, turning and addressing the chief with a newfound determination. â€Å"Direction?† The chief glanced where Langdon was pointing. He sounded confused. â€Å"I don’t know†¦ west, I think.† â€Å"What churches are in that direction?† The chief’s puzzlement seemed to deepen. â€Å"Dozens. Why?† Langdon frowned. Of course there were dozens. â€Å"I need a city map. Right away.† The chief sent someone running out to the fire truck for a map. Langdon turned back to the statue. Earth†¦ Air†¦ Fire†¦ VITTORIA. The final marker is Water, he told himself. Bernini’s Water. It was in a church out there somewhere. A needle in a haystack. He spurred his mind through all the Bernini works he could recall. I need a tribute to Water! Langdon flashed on Bernini’s statue of Triton – the Greek God of the sea. Then he realized it was located in the square outside this very church, in entirely the wrong direction. He forced himself to think. What figure would Bernini have carved as a glorification of water? Neptune and Apollo? Unfortunately that statue was in London’s Victoria Albert Museum. â€Å"Signore?† A fireman ran in with a map. Langdon thanked him and spread it out on the altar. He immediately realized he had asked the right people; the fire department’s map of Rome was as detailed as any Langdon had ever seen. â€Å"Where are we now?† The man pointed. â€Å"Next to Piazza Barberini.† Langdon looked at the angel’s spear again to get his bearings. The chief had estimated correctly. According to the map, the spear was pointing west. Langdon traced a line from his current location west across the map. Almost instantly his hopes began to sink. It seemed that with every inch his finger traveled, he passed yet another building marked by a tiny black cross. Churches. The city was riddled with them. Finally, Langdon’s finger ran out of churches and trailed off into the suburbs of Rome. He exhaled and stepped back from the map. Damn. Surveying the whole of Rome, Langdon’s eyes touched down on the three churches where the first three cardinals had been killed. The Chigi Chapel†¦ St. Peter’s†¦ here†¦ Seeing them all laid out before him now, Langdon noted an oddity in their locations. Somehow he had imagined the churches would be scattered randomly across Rome. But they most definitely were not. Improbably, the three churches seemed to be separated systematically, in an enormous city-wide triangle. Langdon double-checked. He was not imagining things. â€Å"Penna,† he said suddenly, without looking up. Someone handed him a ballpoint pen. Langdon circled the three churches. His pulse quickened. He triple-checked his markings. A symmetrical triangle! Langdon’s first thought was for the Great Seal on the one-dollar bill – the triangle containing the all-seeing eye. But it didn’t make sense. He had marked only three points. There were supposed to be four in all. So where the hell is Water? Langdon knew that anywhere he placed the fourth point, the triangle would be destroyed. The only option to retain the symmetry was to place the fourth marker inside the triangle, at the center. He looked at the spot on the map. Nothing. The idea bothered him anyway. The four elements of science were considered equal. Water was not special; Water would not be at the center of the others. Still, his instinct told him the systematic arrangement could not possibly be accidental. I’m not yet seeing the whole picture. There was only one alternative. The four points did not make a triangle; they made some other shape. Langdon looked at the map. A square, perhaps? Although a square made no symbolic sense, squares were symmetrical at least. Langdon put his finger on the map at one of the points that would turn the triangle into a square. He saw immediately that a perfect square was impossible. The angles of the original triangle were oblique and created more of a distorted quadrilateral. As he studied the other possible points around the triangle, something unexpected happened. He noticed that the line he had drawn earlier to indicate the direction of the angel’s spear passed perfectly through one of the possibilities. Stupefied, Langdon circled that point. He was now looking at four ink marks on the map, arranged in somewhat of an awkward, kitelike diamond. He frowned. Diamonds were not an Illuminati symbol either. He paused. Then again†¦ For an instant Langdon flashed on the famed Illuminati Diamond. The thought, of course, was ridiculous. He dismissed it. Besides, this diamond was oblong – like a kite – hardly an example of the flawless symmetry for which the Illuminati Diamond was revered. When he leaned in to examine where he had placed the final mark, Langdon was surprised to find that the fourth point lay dead center of Rome’s famed Piazza Navona. He knew the piazza contained a major church, but he had already traced his finger through that piazza and considered the church there. To the best of his knowledge it contained no Bernini works. The church was called Saint Agnes in Agony, named for St. Agnes, a ravishing teenage virgin banished to a life of sexual slavery for refusing to renounce her faith. There must be something in that church! Langdon racked his brain, picturing the inside of the church. He could think of no Bernini works at all inside, much less anything to do with water. The arrangement on the map was bothering him too. A diamond. It was far too accurate to be coincidence, but it was not accurate enough to make any sense. A kite? Langdon wondered if he had chosen the wrong point. What am I missing! The answer took another thirty seconds to hit him, but when it did, Langdon felt an exhilaration like nothing he had ever experienced in his academic career. The Illuminati genius, it seemed, would never cease. The shape he was looking at was not intended as a diamond at all. The four points only formed a diamond because Langdon had connected adjacent points. The Illuminati believe in opposites! Connecting opposite vertices with his pen, Langdon’s fingers were trembling. There before him on the map was a giant cruciform. It’s a cross! The four elements of science unfolded before his eyes†¦ sprawled across Rome in an enormous, city-wide cross. As he stared in wonder, a line of poetry rang in his mind†¦ like an old friend with a new face. ‘Cross Rome the mystic elements unfold†¦ ‘Cross Rome†¦ The fog began to clear. Langdon saw that the answer had been in front of him all night! The Illuminati poem had been telling him how the altars were laid out. A cross! ‘Cross Rome the mystic elements unfold! It was cunning wordplay. Langdon had originally read the word’Cross as an abbreviation of Across. He assumed it was poetic license intended to retain the meter of the poem. But it was so much more than that! Another hidden clue. The cruciform on the map, Langdon realized, was the ultimate Illuminati duality. It was a religious symbol formed by elements of science. Galileo’s path of Illumination was a tribute to both science and God! The rest of the puzzle fell into place almost immediately. Piazza Navona. Dead center of Piazza Navona, outside the church of St. Agnes in Agony, Bernini had forged one of his most celebrated sculptures. Everyone who came to Rome went to see it. The Fountain of the Four Rivers! A flawless tribute to water, Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers glorified the four major rivers of the Old World – The Nile, Ganges, Danube, and Rio Plata. Water, Langdon thought. The final marker. It was perfect. And even more perfect, Langdon realized, the cherry on the cake, was that high atop Bernini’s fountain stood a towering obelisk. Leaving confused firemen in his wake, Langdon ran across the church in the direction of Olivetti’s lifeless body. 10:31 P.M., he thought. Plenty of time. It was the first instant all day that Langdon felt ahead of the game. Kneeling beside Olivetti, out of sight behind some pews, Langdon discreetly took possession of the commander’s semiautomatic and walkie-talkie. Langdon knew he would call for help, but this was not the place to do it. The final altar of science needed to remain a secret for now. The media and fire department racing with sirens blaring to Piazza Navona would be no help at all. Without a word, Langdon slipped out the door and skirted the press, who were now entering the church in droves. He crossed Piazza Barberini. In the shadows he turned on the walkie-talkie. He tried to hail Vatican City but heard nothing but static. He was either out of range or the transmitter needed some kind of authorization code. Langdon adjusted the complex dials and buttons to no avail. Abruptly, he realized his plan to get help was not going to work. He spun, looking for a pay phone. None. Vatican circuits were jammed anyway. He was alone. Feeling his initial surge of confidence decay, Langdon stood a moment and took stock of his pitiful state – covered in bone dust, cut, deliriously exhausted, and hungry. Langdon glanced back at the church. Smoke spiraled over the cupola, lit by the media lights and fire trucks. He wondered if he should go back and get help. Instinct warned him however that extra help, especially untrained help, would be nothing but a liability. If the Hassassin sees us coming†¦ He thought of Vittoria and knew this would be his final chance to face her captor. Piazza Navona, he thought, knowing he could get there in plenty of time and stake it out. He scanned the area for a taxi, but the streets were almost entirely deserted. Even the taxi drivers, it seemed, had dropped everything to find a television. Piazza Navona was only about a mile away, but Langdon had no intention of wasting precious energy on foot. He glanced back at the church, wondering if he could borrow a vehicle from someone. A fire truck? A press van? Be serious. Sensing options and minutes slipping away, Langdon made his decision. Pulling the gun from his pocket, he committed an act so out of character that he suspected his soul must now be possessed. Running over to a lone Citroen sedan idling at a stoplight, Langdon pointed the weapon through the driver’s open window. â€Å"Fuori!† he yelled. The trembling man got out. Langdon jumped behind the wheel and hit the gas. 101 Gunther Glick sat on a bench in a holding tank inside the office of the Swiss Guard. He prayed to every god he could think of. Please let this NOT be a dream. It had been the scoop of his life. The scoop of anyone’s life. Every reporter on earth wished he were Glick right now. You are awake, he told himself. And you are a star. Dan Rather is crying right now. Macri was beside him, looking a little bit stunned. Glick didn’t blame her. In addition to exclusively broadcasting the camerlegno’s address, she and Glick had provided the world with gruesome photos of the cardinals and of the Pope – that tongue! – as well as a live video feed of the antimatter canister counting down. Incredible! Of course, all of that had all been at the camerlegno’s behest, so that was not the reason Glick and Macri were now locked in a Swiss Guard holding tank. It had been Glick’s daring addendum to their coverage that the guards had not appreciated. Glick knew the conversation on which he had just reported was not intended for his ears, but this was his moment in the sun. Another Glick scoop! â€Å"The 11th Hour Samaritan?† Macri groaned on the bench beside him, clearly unimpressed. Glick smiled. â€Å"Brilliant, wasn’t it?† â€Å"Brilliantly dumb.† She’s just jealous, Glick knew. Shortly after the camerlegno’s address, Glick had again, by chance, been in the right place at the right time. He’d overheard Rocher giving new orders to his men. Apparently Rocher had received a phone call from a mysterious individual who Rocher claimed had critical information regarding the current crisis. Rocher was talking as if this man could help them and was advising his guards to prepare for the guest’s arrival. Although the information was clearly private, Glick had acted as any dedicated reporter would – without honor. He’d found a dark corner, ordered Macri to fire up her remote camera, and he’d reported the news. â€Å"Shocking new developments in God’s city,† he had announced, squinting his eyes for added intensity. Then he’d gone on to say that a mystery guest was coming to Vatican City to save the day. The 11th Hour Samaritan, Glick had called him – a perfect name for the faceless man appearing at the last moment to do a good deed. The other networks had picked up the catchy sound bite, and Glick was yet again immortalized. I’m brilliant, he mused. Peter Jennings just jumped off a bridge. Of course Glick had not stopped there. While he had the world’s attention, he had thrown in a little of his own conspiracy theory for good measure. Brilliant. Utterly brilliant. â€Å"You screwed us,† Macri said. â€Å"You totally blew it.† â€Å"What do you mean? I was great!† Macri stared disbelievingly. â€Å"Former President George Bush? An Illuminatus?† Glick smiled. How much more obvious could it be? George Bush was a well-documented, 33rd-degree Mason, and he was the head of the CIA when the agency closed their Illuminati investigation for lack of evidence. And all those speeches about â€Å"a thousand points of light† and a â€Å"New World Order†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Bush was obviously Illuminati. â€Å"And that bit about CERN?† Macri chided. â€Å"You are going to have a very big line of lawyers outside your door tomorrow.† â€Å"CERN? Oh come on! It’s so obvious! Think about it! The Illuminati disappear off the face of the earth in the 1950s at about the same time CERN is founded. CERN is a haven for the most enlightened people on earth. Tons of private funding. They build a weapon that can destroy the church, and oops!†¦ they lose it!† â€Å"So you tell the world that CERN is the new home base of the Illuminati?† â€Å"Obviously! Brotherhoods don’t just disappear. The Illuminati had to go somewhere. CERN is a perfect place for them to hide. I’m not saying everyone at CERN is Illuminati. It’s probably like a huge Masonic lodge, where most people are innocent, but the upper echelons – â€Å" â€Å"Have you ever heard of slander, Glick? Liability?† â€Å"Have you ever heard of real journalism!† â€Å"Journalism? You were pulling bullshit out of thin air! I should have turned off the camera! And what the hell was that crap about CERN’s corporate logo? Satanic symbology? Have you lost your mind?† Glick smiled. Macri’s jealousy was definitely showing. The CERN logo had been the most brilliant coup of all. Ever since the camerlegno’s address, all the networks were talking about CERN and antimatter. Some stations were showing the CERN corporate logo as a backdrop. The logo seemed standard enough – two intersecting circles representing two particle accelerators, and five tangential lines representing particle injection tubes. The whole world was staring at this logo, but it had been Glick, a bit of a symbologist himself, who had first seen the Illuminati symbology hidden in it. â€Å"You’re not a symbologist,† Macri chided, â€Å"you’re just one lucky-ass reporter. You should have left the symbology to the Harvard guy.† â€Å"The Harvard guy missed it,† Glick said. The Illuminati significance in this logo is so obvious! He was beaming inside. Although CERN had lots of accelerators, their logo showed only two. Two is the Illuminati number of duality. Although most accelerators had only one injection tube, the logo showed five. Five is the number of the Illuminati pentagram. Then had come the coup – the most brilliant point of all. Glick pointed out that the logo contained a large numeral â€Å"6 – clearly formed by one of the lines and circles – and when the logo was rotated, another six appeared†¦ and then another. The logo contained three sixes! 666! The devil’s number! The mark of the beast! Glick was a genius. Macri looked ready to slug him. The jealousy would pass, Glick knew, his mind now wandering to another thought. If CERN was Illuminati headquarters, was CERN where the Illuminati kept their infamous Illuminati Diamond? Glick had read about it on the Internet – â€Å"a flawless diamond, born of the ancient elements with such perfection that all those who saw it could only stand in wonder.† Glick wondered if the secret whereabouts of the Illuminati Diamond might be yet another mystery he could unveil tonight. How to cite Angels Demons Chapter 98-101, Essay examples

Human Behaviour free essay sample

Another example is that being ‘fat’ is considered undesirable and undignified in the civilized world, but in the less civilized world, having more fat reserves and insulation could be the difference between life and death. In this research paper I will attempt to create a conclusion that shows the similarities, and differences between the behaviour of other mammals in the animal kingdom and how we humans behave in modern ‘civilized’ society. I will use both male and female test subject between the ages of 10 and 60 from middle-class backgrounds to obtain a well-balanced conclusion about both humans and animals. For the privacy of the subjects in question, I shall not refer to them by name. And I shall merely observe from afar, the experiments because if the subjects knew they were being watched, then they would not act in a natural way, their motions would be self-conscious and this would not provide the right data for from which I could draw up an accurate conclusion. We will write a custom essay sample on Human Behaviour or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Predictions: I predict that children and adolescents will follow their urges more than adults, who have had more time to learn how to suppress their animalistic instincts. Observation 1a: How do human males attract females during childhood and adolescence? In the world of animals, a mammal would fight another animal of its kind in front of the female it wishes to attract to show its strength and superiority, and then the female would mate with the male because she wishes to have the genetically strongest offsprings. In the human world, I have observed that during adolescence (between 12 and 17), the male attempts to spend as much time as possible with the female in question and tells ther males of his feelings towards this female to other males of a similar age, usually his friends, whom soon go on to tell the females and then the females inform the original female of the original male’s feelings towards her and then either: A. She makes it clear that she would like to become an item with the male, B. She informs him she just wishes to be friends. C. She does nothing. Another way that adolescent human males attract females is by a display of sup eriority, from what I have observed, this means rugby tackling another adolescent male of roughly the same age, size and height. The female then either is impressed by this or disgusted at the immaturity shown by the male. Once it has been established that the male and female have feelings for each other, and then they spend some time together then they begin to have proper relationships as they mature into adults, at the age of adolescence, males and females aren’t interested in finding the person they want to mate and have children with, they just want to have fun and learn to have adult relationships. This is different from all other mammals, because all they are interested in is mating as soon as they are of the right maturity. Observation 1b: How do human males attract females during adulthood? Judging by my observations, the adult human male attracts the adult human female by making verbal implications that he likes her and then he wait until he is sure that she likes him and is not seeing anyone else, then he asks her to spend some time with him on what is known as a ‘date’, from there the relationship usually escalates into the second ‘date’ and third until they marry and have children (not necessarily in that order). This is not always so, sometimes they are not the ‘right’ person for each other and they go their separate ways. Observation 2a: How do children and adolescents react to sharing? I have observed many situations like this even before I began this paper, where two children or adolescents want something and they end up fighting over the sought after item, as they mature, they are taught to suppress these desires and be courteous. I observed two subjects of the age of adolescence whom both wanted the last doughnut and neither would step aside, then they fought until an adult intervened and rebuked the two participants in the brawl. This very similar to what would happen in the wild except the fight would have been more serious and it would continue until either one animal backed down or was dead. There is no intervention in the animal world. Observation 2b: How to adults react to sharing? Judging from my observations, adults react in the calmest way; they offer the desired item to the other person who wants it, no matter how much the person who offered the item wants it. This may be the way humans act now, but when we were just mere animals, our instincts were hewn into our genetics, this is why we’re so selfish and immature when we’re children, but then we learn the manners and customs of the ‘civilized’ human race. Observation 3a: How do children and adolescents react to washing? From what I have observed, at first they are resistant but as they mature, they begin to wash on their own because they adopt the idea that being odiferous is considered unpleasant and disgusting to the human civilization, whereas, for example, wolves, don’t care what they smell like. Observation 3b: How do adults react to washing? My observations have revealed to me that most adults bathe or shower on a daily basis because it is expected of them, children and adolescents are expected not to cleanse their bodies frequently, so they don’t but adults who smell, or don’t wash frequently are held in contempt and disgust by the general adult public who don’t know that adult in question, as a person. As I have previously mentioned, this isn’t a problem in the animal world because the animals use their smell to mark their territories, maybe by rubbing up against a tree, for example. Conclusion: I conclude from observations 1a and 1b: that immature, adolescents attract female by reverting back to their instincts, i. e. showing displays of physical superiority over other males of a similar age, size and height. Adults however have lived their whole lives in this civilization are more careful and selective about who they choose because it has become commonplace for people to want to find the ‘right’ person for themselves, and when the do find the ‘right’ person, they initiate in the art of ‘dating’. In the world of the beasts, the only things animals are really interested in are survival and mating, and then when reproducing, having the strongest offsprings. Observations 2a and 2b inform me that children and adolescents dislike sharing and still react as if being selfish is the difference between life and death and that adults are different, that they share because over their lifetime, they have manage to quash the little voice that says: ‘If you share you die’. Observations 3a and 3b tell me that children and adolescents dislike washing and rely on others to make them wash, and that most adults wash frequently or are looked down upon by the rest of their peers. These observations just confirm my predictions, that children and adolescents go more by their animalistic instincts than adults, who have learned to suppress them. Washing is an example of what happens when you don’t follow the ‘civilized’ way, I have concluded from my observations, that adult who don’t wash are generally treated with disgust and contempt by other. My theory is that children adolescents revert back to their instincts because they are immature and have not lived long enough in the ‘civilized world to adopt the habitudes of the ‘civilized’ population.