Smoke Signals

Journey into an Ill Mind: Hopsin’s Use of Vivid Images and Word Play “Let’s take a journey into my mind and let’s see what we find” -Hopsin Plain wooden crosses, mother Mary’s son, and paintings of Jesus Christ is all that you see in every room and on every wall, so you can say that an “Ill” mind is the last thing I have in my common religious life. At least that’s what I thought. Hopsin, a rap artist, published a song series called the “Ill Mind of Hopsin”. A series of songs that talk about…

Drive-by shootings, prostitution, rape, vandalism, and drug trafficking all sound like acts that would committed by hardened adult criminals. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Juvenile gang members are committing these terrifying acts as early as eight years of age (Bartollas & Miller, 2014). Between 1988 and the early 1990s, a drastic increase in youth gang membership occurred and is still on the rise today in the United States (Bartollas & Miller, 2014). There are several…

collective group before attacking one of their own because he was a rat. As you can see, without shouting across the street to your comrade and alerting the enemy, you do a single hand signal and they know what you want to do and can get prepared. It is an intelligent way to send messages to others. There are also hand signals to say what gang you are, but the most creative way is body art. Tattoos are done worldwide, but with gangs you can ink your gang, where you were recruited, and even if…

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) – the most common form of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia – is a chronic, progressive fibrotic lung disease that affects older adults. IPF is characterized by a continuing decline in lung function, poor survival, and limited therapeutic options. The invasive proliferation of fibrous tissue and scarring of the interstitium lead to a decline in forced vital capacity (FVC) (Richeldi et al. 2014). IPF has a poor prognosis; the median survival for the disease is…

The multifunctional protein, beta-catenin (CTNNB1) acts on many critical roles in the cell life cycle, including cell differentiation, proliferation and cell-cell contact (Ozwan et al., 1989), CTNNB1 plays a central role in canonical WNT signaling pathway to success the gene transcription process (Clevers and Nusse., 2012). Regulation and degradation of CTNNB1 take place at the cellular level through phosphorylation of serine and/or threonine amino acid residues. Specific kinase proteins…

People express themselves in a variety of different ways; whether it is through clothing, music, dance, writing or art, these forms of self-expression allow individuals to convey feelings to others. Specifically, the use of writing and art to express one’s self has been prevalent in society for centuries and is commonly conducted through graffiti. Its origins lie with our ancestors who lived during the ice age; cavemen. Modern sociologists and archeologists suggest that prehistoric graffiti…

Around May 1970 intelligence analysts detected the presence of Prisoners of War (POW) at Son Tay. On November 20th 1970 Son Tay POW camp was raided. No POWs were found at Son Tay. In the span of seven months, intelligence failed to detect the transfer of Son Tay POW’s. The Son Tay raid is regarded as a tactical success, and has largely been analyzed from a tactical standpoint. Analysis of the intellectual failure is necessary. Even in the modern era POWs still exist and rescue attempts are still…

Pathophysiology: Proteus syndrome is caused by an activating somatic mosaic mutation in AKT1, a gene which encodes the well-studied serine/threonine kinase PKB/Akt .1,2 Akt is the key mediator of the PI3K signaling pathway. In response to a growth signal (e.g. IGF, EGF) and the autophosphorylation of a receptor tyrosine kinase, PI3K is recruited and activated, generating PIP¬3 molecules at the lipid membrane. These partially activate Akt and also activate PDK1/2, which complete the Akt…

When many think of the NSA’s data collection programs, the first thought is of whistleblower Edward Snowden, who leaked classified American documents in 2013. These documents revealed to Americans the ways the NSA collected their information for investigation. The agency was found wrongfully collecting information from other countries such as China to investigate previous attacks on the U.S. Department of Defense (Cate 31). Domestically, one of the biggest things Americans learned about was…

INTRODUCTION Ca2+ as an intracellular second messenger is indispensable for the physiology of organisms and the molecular regulation of cells. The cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration is a crucial signal for a variety of neuronal processes including neurotransmitter release, control of membrane excitability, synaptic plasticity, and cognition. Ca2+ homeostasis in neurons is accurate controlled by several types of Ca2+ channels or the activity of Ca2+ transporters with either locate on the plasma…