Assignment: General Biology & Ethics Worksheet

Assignment: General Biology & Ethics Worksheet

A Case Study in the Methodology, Philosophy and Ethics in Science When asked what causes ulcers, some people will say stress, spicy food, or medication. Most will probably identify too much acid in the stomach. 1. If you wanted to test the excess acid hypothesis, which of the following experimental set ups would you use? Explain your answer. a. Examine ulcer patients of a range of ages and measure their stomach acid levels. b. Have volunteers drink alcohol and measure their stomach acid levels. c. Lower stomach acid levels of some volunteers (using drugs/antacids), and measure numbers of ulcers in all volunteers. d. Examine patients of a range of ages and measure the number of ulcers in each person. e. Put volunteers through a stress test and then measure their stomach acid levels. Consider the following experimental design to test the hypothesis: Doctors divide ulcer patients into two groups: • Group 1 received antacids and were instructed to take them 3x/day • Group 2 received sugar pills and were instructed to take them 3x/day After 3 months, the number of ulcers per patient was assessed. # of ulcers per patient 2. Predict what the results would look like if the excess acid theory was supported, and draw a bar graph below to reflect your prediction. Group 1 (antiacids) Group 2 (placebo) Treatment Group When studies like this are conducted, ulcer symptoms decrease with antacid use, but the ulcers return when patients stop taking the antacids.

Therefore this is not a cure. So what’s the cause of ulcers, and can we find a cure? By 1886, a possible association between ulcers and spiral bacteria in the lining of the human stomach was noticed. It wasn’t until 1984 that this observation was explored. Dr. Robin

Warren and Dr. Barry Marshall examined 100 ulcer patients through endoscopy. The vast majority were infected with the bacterium Helicobactor pylori. They concluded bacteria could cause ulcers and published their results in the premier medical journal, The Lancet. Their colleagues dismissed these findings. 3. Why might their findings have been criticized? One problem with Warren and Marshall’s study was they did not clearly establish “cause and effect.” To further support their hypothesis….. • Marshall swallowed a culture of H. pylori, which, after several days, caused nausea and vomiting and severe gastritis • In 1988 Marshall and Warren conducted a study where they randomly assigned 100 people with ulcers to receive one of two treatments: acid reducing drugs or antibiotics o In 90% of people treated with acid reducing drugs, ulcers eventually returned. o But ulcers returned in only 20% of those whose H. pylori infection was eliminated with an antibiotic. •

Other researchers also saw the same correlation of the bacterium and ulcers, and successful treatment with antibiotics. o In 80% to 90% of people with ulcers and H. pylori, antibiotics offer a permanent cure. 4. After these further studies, do you think cause and effect was well established? Explain your answer. And the outcome….. • Drs. Warren and Marshall had trouble getting their results published in scientific journals and presenting results at scientific meetings. • NIH guidelines recommending antibiotic treatment for ulcers were implemented in 1994. • Still, it took over 15 years and many more studies from researchers all over the world, before the “bacteria cause ulcers” hypothesis was accepted by the medical community. • Warren and Marshall received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2005 for their discovery. 5. Identify an example from this case study of the following aspects of the scientific method: a. Hypothesis: b. Testing: c. Inductive reasoning: d. Communication:

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource