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In addition to the opposing Republican views on universal healthcare, the American Medical Association insists that the ACA suits the American population better for low-income residents. The ACA provides affordable healthcare to patients with lower incomes and therefore wants to protect their patients from increased taxes and instead “seeks to enhance patient choice and encourage patients to be conscious of health insurance costs, while also maintaining innovation in the private sector” (McCanne, 2008). They believe the single-payer system would prevent better healthcare and decrease the quality of healthcare to its patients. Lastly, insurance and pharmaceutical companies are also against a single-payer healthcare system because they believe it could increase “wholesale bureaucratization of the health care system by the federal government”(Galea, 2017). The pharmaceutical companies are extremely involved in the U.S. healthcare because they sell drugs and treatments to patients with different insurers and consequently, based on their experience with customers, want to ensure that everyone can have access to acquiring necessary medications. As the different groups continue to assert their claims on the best healthcare method, Americans are starting to assess how other countries manage their healthcare system.

Healthcare in the United States has been an ongoing challenge for the past few decades. The U.S. has a specific way of how its organizes its healthcare compared to other countries. The health care is based on private providers and insurers paid by individual American citizens that covers them for medical fees, visits, exams, and other health-care related costs. In many other countries, such as Canada and European countries, the government provides a single-payer healthcare system. Unlike the U.S. healthcare that is based on the profits of insurers, the single-payer healthcare is controlled by the government and covers all medical costs for all citizens. Families with high or low income are guaranteed medical insurance and will receive equal medical treatment. Higher taxes and reduction in other governmental budgets allow the system to be financed and provide quality care that covers necessary medical needs.

The life-cycle of the malaria parasite begins when it bites a human and injects the parasite. Once injected into the blood, the sporozoites direct towards the liver and within 30 minutes, the parasite has successfully invaded the liver cells. The sporozoites then transform into merozoites and multiply rapidly to produce thousands of more merozoites. Shortly after, the merozoites burst out of the liver and invade red blood cells into the bloodstream where they multiply even further. After 48 hours, the amount of merozoites increases to the point that the red blood cells burst, infecting numerous red blood cells. Over the span of 10 days, some merozoites will develop into gametocytes, which are the sexual form of the parasite. When another mosquito sucks up blood from an infected human, they take up the gametocytes, which will mature into gametes in the mosquito's gut.

In this lab, several chemical tests and MP determination were performed on an unknown compound to determine the structure and the identity of the unknown. Also, an HNMR of the unknown was analyzed to confirm the identity. In the first test, unknown #36 was mixed in 2,4-DNP in a test tube. Two drops of the unknown were mixed. A yellow-orange precipitate formed, indicating the carbonyl group is not conjugated. Schiff's test was then performed where unknown #36 (1 drop) was added to the schiff's reagent (0.7 mL). A pale pink color was observed, indicating that unknown must be a ketone. The final test was the iodoform, where the unknown (1 drop) was dissolved in 1,2-dimethoxy ethane (0.5 mL), 3M NaOH (0.5 mL) and iodine solution (0.75 mL) and mixed thoroughly. A yellow precipitate formed, indicating it was a ketone. 

The structure of the human brain is one of the most complex organs in the body that is continuously researched for a deeper understanding of its function. Communication within the brain occurs between numerous neurons that transmit messages electrically within a neuron and chemically between neurons. Messages travel down a neuron from the dendrites that receive a message and then through the axon towards the synaptic cleft where the chemicals are dispensed. The synaptic cleft is a designated area for chemicals to be released from a neuron and transmitted to the next. Chemicals bind to the corresponding receptors of the upcoming neuron to be stimulated and continue its path throughout the brain. Chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine are transmitted throughout the brain via neurons. Serotonin relates to sleep, eating, and mood, which are critical for human well-being.

Insecure adolescents may lack serotonin and as a result have trouble sleeping, have disturbed eating habits, and unpleasant moods. To help with these consequences, doctors may prescribe drugs that contain selective reuptake inhibitors to allow serotonin to linger longer in the synaptic cleft. This will prevent serotonin from being reabsorbed by the previous neuron and not being able to be transmitted to the next neuron. As a result, students could slowly become in a slightly better mood and state. Selective reuptake inhibitors are a possible solution for adolescents that have a hard time dealing with their imperfections and low self-esteem. The pituitary gland, also found in the brain, is responsible for the release of hormones and consequently, important during puberty.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is characterized as a progressive weakness of muscles along with a shortened life span. As of today, there is no successful treatment. DMD is an inherited disease found on the X sex chromosome. Recently, a study demonstrated editing of the mice germline, using CRISPR/Cas9, to correct the dystrophin gene (Dmd) mutation. After monitoring muscle structure and function animals showed “2 to 100% correction of the Dmd gene”. The results reflected effective regeneration of muscle of the corrected cells, which gives hope that this could be a new treatment for disease-causing mutations in muscle cells for patients suffering by DMD.

The structure of the brain is one of the most complex organs in the human body that psychologists continue to research for deeper explanations and understanding of how it functions. Communication in the brain occurs between neurons that transmit messages electrically within a neuron and chemically between neurons. Messages travel down a neuron from the dendrites that receive a message and down the axon of the neuron down to the synaptic cleft where the chemicals are dispensed. The synaptic cleft is a designated area for chemicals to be released from a neuron and  transmitted to the next. Chemicals bind to the corresponding receptors of the next neuron to be stimulated and continue its path throughout the brain. Chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine are transmitted throughout the brain. Serotonin relates to sleep, eating, and one’s mood, which are important for proper function and well-being of a human.

Recrystallization of trimyristin was processed twice and each melting point was recorded and observed. The tert-butyl methyl ether (3 mL) and nutmeg (1.000 g) were dissolved to obtain crude trimyristin that resulted in a 57.8% recovery yield (0.578 g). After the first recrystallization, ac x 30.2% recovery yield, based on the original amount of nutmeg, was collected. The melting point of the first recrystallization was 53-54 ℃, which is 2℃ under the theoretical melting point. Therefore, we can conclude from this that the product was relatively pure. After, a sample of trimyristin from the first recrystallization (0.167 g) was dissolved in a minimal amount of acetone in the second recrystallization in attempt to obtain a more pure product. A 49.1% recovery yield was attained from the second recrystallization. The corresponding melting point recorded was 54-55℃, which is only 1℃ below the theoretical melting point and reveals that the second recrystallized product is relatively pure.

Myristic acid was produced in a 34.5% yield (0.02g)  from the once recrystallized trimyristin. To obtain the theoretical yield for myristic acid, one had to calculate the number of moles present in the hydrolysis of trimyristin and multiply that number by three. This is because one mole of trimyristin is balanced when three moles of myristic acid are present. As a result, the theoretical yield of myristic acid was 0.058 g while the actual yield for the experiment was 0.02 g, which therefore led to a percent yield of 34.5%. To improve the percent yield, the filter paper form the filtration should be allowed to dry overnight to obtain any remaining crystals that may have been stuck on the paper.

    For myristic acid, the melting point recorded was 51-52℃, whereas the theoretical melting point is 54.4℃. This demonstrates that the experimental end product was relatively pure. To improve the purity, the trimyristin from the second recrystallization should have been used to measure the melting point because it was more pure than the product from the first recrystallization and thus making the myristic acid more pure.