Prince George's County Community Hazards Research Paper

Prince George's County Community Hazards - Research Paper Example The county has been affected by a number of hazards which has resulted of loss of property and even lives. Some of these hazards are related to weather which have caused injuries and deaths to the people. Moreover, it is evident that the public are not informed about certain hazards and how to manage the same in the places in which they live in. According to report released by FEMA higher percentage of people are likely to build in floodplains areas due to the fact that they are not aware of the risks associated with the same (Association of State Floodplain Managers, 2008). Therefore, it is important to inform the public about the risks associated with building in floodplain areas. However, it is has been noted that in some cases the public are not aware that they are residing in floodplain areas and they only become aware of the same after purchasing property in flood areas and suffer the effects of the floods (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2005). In Prince George’s C ounty the risk level of the existing hazards are described as medium high. These hazards include drought, severe storm, streambank erosion and winter storm. However, the river of risks is high when it comes to coastal floods and the Riverine flood hazards. Based on this the damages caused by the aforementioned risks are calculated using damages caused to the buildings, in addition to the value of replacing the buildings and also the age of the building. However, studies have indicated that damages which are as a result of wildland fire or drought are caused by the way human population utilize land. It has been pointed out that drought as a hazard within the county impacts negatively on the planning of the place and more specifically the agricultural sector. Nevertheless, the less it is hard to mitigate the damages that are caused to crops (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2005). Hazards such as wildland fires influence areas with grass fields, brush, crops and even tress. Apart from resulting into loss f crops the same results into economic loss not only at the personal level but also the county. Additionally, when forests are burnt the planning area of the county is interfered with and human population is likely to encroach in the land. Streambank erosion as a hazard affecting the county on an annual basis is as a result of constant and increased river discharge. This makes the hydrology of the county to change. Presently, the officials of the county have indicated that streambank erosion causes a variety of problems ranging from minor to major ones. The hazard has resulted into infrastructures an aspect that has resulted into human population encroaching land that is publicly owned. Additionally, the winter storm which is another hazard that occurs in the area on an annual basis is mostly characterized by three aspects. These are high amount of moisture, lift and cold air which not only results into precipitation but also formation of cloud. In most caus es the winter storms that affect the Maryland negatively are as a result of jet streams which are in the middle attitudes cross and move to the continental United States (Prince George's County Department of Environmental Resources, 2011). Additionally, the degree of the storm varies in addition to the impacts caused by the same. For instance within the county cases of property

Stem Cell Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 4

Stem Cell - Research Paper Example Scientifically, stem cells can be defined as primitive unspecialized types of cells that can renew themselves and develop into more mature cells with specialized functions. They are fertilized eggs that are less than a week old. The typical scientific definition of stem cells describes them as "blank cells that can be turned into specialized cells such as heart cells, or any kind of tissue in the body, such as skin, muscle, or the brain" (Gupta). One of the distinguishing characteristics of stem cells is that they have the ability to renew themselves for long periods through the process of cell division. Also, stem cells can be converted to become cells with special functions, such as the lung cells, liver cells, the beating cells of the heart muscle or any other specialized cells (Rockville). There are primarily two types of them: embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Each of these two types has its own functions and characteristics that are different from the other. Before stu dying stem cells of human beings, scientists made a lot of experiments on stem cells from mouse embryos for years. These experiments on the mouse embryos led to the successful discovery of the ways of isolating stem cells from human embryos and grow them in the laboratory. At the beginning, these human embryonic stem cells were created for infertility purposes through in vitro fertilization procedures. When they were no longer needed for that purpose, these stem cells are usually donated for research and experiment with the consent of the donor (Rockville). Due to the extreme importance of stem cells in organ transplantation and other medical purposes, it is ethical to conduct more research on stem cells, as long as these experiments do not distort any of the established religious beliefs. Objectives: Most scientists agree that stem cells have many medical advantages. Some scientists even regard stem cells as offering a great potential for the alleviation of human suffering, as they can provide cure for a number of diseases. Millions of people around the world suffer from diseases that may be treated more effectively with stem cells. These diseases include Alzheimer, Diabetes, Parkinson’s, and heart disease, and certain types of cancer (Takahashi et al.). In addition, stem cells can offer great help in many different areas of health and medical research. For example, studying stem cells helps us to understand the mechanism of their transformation into the various specialized cells that are essential for the existence of human beings. By becoming aware of the way they transform into other cells in the human body, scientists will gain better understanding of normal cell development, which will allow them to correct the errors in these sells, which cause the medical conditions from which human beings suffer. Besides, a third medical advantage of stem cells is that they provide an opportunity of making cells and tissues for medical therapies. In other words , stem cells can be used to replace those tissues or organs in the human body that are diseased or destroyed. Prior to the discovery of the stem cells technology, the only way to transplant a new organ in a human body was by donation from other persons. However, a new discovery about stem cells illuminated the scientists about the possibility of using these stem cells in transplantation. This use of stem cells in organ transplantation solves many of the problems caused by organ donation from oth