Lynn Margulis - Biography of an Evolution Scientist

Lynn Margulis was born March 5, 1938 to Leone and Morris Alexander in Chicago, Illinois. She was the oldest of four girls born to the homemaker and lawyer. Lynn took an early interest in her education, especially science classes. After only two years at Hyde Park High School in Chicago, she was accepted into the early entrant program at the University of Chicago at the young age of 14. By the time Lynn was 19, she had acquired a B.A. of Liberal Arts from the University of Chicago. She then enrolled at the University of Wisconsin for graduate studies. In 1960, Lynn Margulis had obtained an M.S. in Genetics and Zoology and then went on to work at getting a Ph.D. in Genetics at the University of California, Berkeley. She ended up finishing her doctoral work at Brandeis University in Massachusetts in 1965. Personal Life While at the University of Chicago, Lynn met the now famous Physicist Carl Sagan while he was doing his graduate work in Physics at the college. They married shortly before Lynn finished her B.A. in 1957. They had two sons, Dorion and Jeremy. Lynn and Carl divorced before Lynn finished her Ph.D. work at the University of California, Berkeley. She and her sons moved to Massachusetts shortly thereafter. In 1967, Lynn married the X-ray crystallographer Thomas Margulis after accepting a position as a lecturer at Boston College. Thomas and Lynn had two children—a son Zachary and a daughter Jennifer. They were married for 14 years before divorcing in 1981. In 1988, Lynn took a position in the Botany department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. There, she continued to lecture and write scientific papers and books over the years. Lynn Margulis passed away on November 22, 2011, after suffering a brain hemorrhage caused by a stroke. Career While studying at the University of Chicago, Lynn Margulis first became interested in learning about cell structure and function. Particularly, Lynn wanted to learn as much as possible about genetics and how it related to the cell. During her graduate studies, she studied the non-Mendelian inheritance of cells. She hypothesized that there had to be DNA somewhere in the cell that wasnt in the nucleus due to some of the traits that were passed down to the next generation in plants that did not match the genes coded in the nucleus. Lynn found DNA within both mitochondria and chloroplasts inside of plant cells that did not match the DNA in the nucleus. This led her to begin formulating her endosymbiotic theory of cells. These insights came under fire immediately, but have held up over the years and contributed significantly to the Theory of Evolution. Most traditional evolutionary biologists believed, at the time, that competition was the cause of evolution. The idea of natural selection is based on the survival of the fittest, meaning competition eliminates the weaker adaptations, generally caused by mutations. Lynn Margulis endosymbiotic theory was the opposite. She proposed that cooperation between species led to the formation of new organs and other types of adaptations along with those mutations. Lynn Margulis was so intrigued by the idea of symbiosis, she became a contributor to the Gaia hypothesis first proposed by James Lovelock. In short, the Gaia hypothesis asserts that everything on Earth—including life on land, the oceans, and the atmosphere—work together in a sort of symbiosis as if it were one living organism. In 1983, Lynn Margulis was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Other personal highlights include being the co-director of the Biology Planetary Internship Program for NASA and was awarded eight honorary doctorate degrees at various universities and colleges. In 1999, she was awarded the National Medal of Science.

U.s. Dollar Financial Crisis - 1028 Words

As the world’s largest economy, every move the United States makes has widespread effects throughout the global markets. Around the world, there has been speculation of whether the U.S. will raise interest rates by the end of 2015. With all indications pointing to a rate increase, concerns have arisen about the potential ripple effects on the rest of the world. Fundamentally, raising interest rates come hand in hand with an appreciating U.S. dollar. In many parts of the world the U.S. Dollar is used as a major benchmark of current and future economic growth. For developed countries, a strong U.S. dollar can be viewed as positive, however emerging economies will face a different fate. As the world becomes more financially intertwined,†¦show more content†¦dollar. Changes in U.S. interest rates and the dollar are tied to several economic indicators domestically and around the world including; the credit market, commodities, stocks and investment opportunities. Treasury Bonds Directly connected to changes in the U.S. interest rates are the value of U.S. Treasury Bonds. In the United States, the Treasury yield curve is the first to reflect changes in domestic interest rates. As the yield curve moves up or down, this largely dictates how global rates are set. Since Treasury bonds are considered a risk free asset, any other security must offer a higher yield to remain attractive. With interest rates expecting to increase, a great deal of pressure is put on emerging markets to remain attractive investment opportunities. Higher interest rates will likely follow with a higher dollar, and entice many global investors to park their money in the United States rather than emerging markets. This could ultimately hinder developing nation’s employment levels, currencies and exports. Dollar Denominated Debt As the U.S. economy continues to show signs of growth and QE comes to an end, increasing the interest rates may be the right move for the U.S. economy, however emerging markets will suffer. Dollar denominated debt outside the United States currently accounts for $9 trillion with emerging markets amassing $3.3 trillion. Countries such as Turkey, Brazil and South Africa, who perpetually run trade deficits, finance

Insurance and Payment Expectations Free Essays

HEALTHCARE PAYMENT EXPECTATIONS Unit 1 Individual Project Tina Nguyen HLTH420 – Healthcare Finance November 7, 2012 Abstract This research paper will explain the payment expectations of government, commercial, and liability insurances, as well as self-pay/cash pay patients. An in depth explanation of how they differ, such as rules, will be made. This report will help readers understand the different types of programs in bill collecting, and account and project financial expectations. We will write a custom essay sample on Insurance and Payment Expectations or any similar topic only for you Order Now Healthcare Payment Expectations Payment expectations are the reimbursement of the services given to patients. There are many alternatives to how healthcare organizations collect their payments or revenues. They can be handled through cash transactions or through various types of insurances, such as government-assisted, commercial, and liability insurances. Some of the health insurances that are government-assisted are Medicare, CHIP, and Medicaid. Government-assisted insurances, such as Medicare and Medicaid, are provided for low income families and adults over the age of 65 or even those under 65 that has certain disabilities (USA. gov, 2012). Medicaid’s health coverage will vary by states, as they will set their own rules and guidelines. In order to be granted for these government health insurances, an individual must meet certain criteria to be eligible, depending on which program it is catered for (New Horizons Un-Limited Inc. , 2011). Payment expectations of government-assisted health insurances, such as Medicaid, are reimbursed through co-pays, and premiums (â€Å"Medicaid Payment Expectations, â€Å" n. d. ). As mentioned before, payment expectations will vary by state but should not be much different. Co-pays are the rate at how much is to be paid for the services or a prescription a patient will be receiving (â€Å"Medicaid Payment Expectations,† n. d. ). Co-pay rates are rates that are agreed upon by the Medicaid program and type an individual has. Premiums are out of pocket expenses that need to be paid by the individual to maintain and retain medical benefits (â€Å"Medicaid Payment Expectations,† n. d. ). Premiums are a monthly expense and it also depends on each individual and will vary by state. If premiums are not paid in a timely manner, that can be considered as a non-payment and there may be a possibility that an individual may lose their insurance coverage. If that was to occur, the individual would need to reapply. Commercial health insurances are health insurances that cover medical and health expenses for those that are already insured. For example, since commercial health insurances is for profit and is not offered through a government entity, these health insurances are usually offered through group insurances (â€Å"What Is Commercial Health,† n. . ). In many instances, commercial health insurances will be offered through the individual’s employer. Typically, these insurances will have a monthly or even a bi-weekly premium that will be deducted from an employee’s paycheck. Depending on how the commercial health insurance is planned, employees will usually see a payment of the entire monthly premium or a percentage of it in their paycheck. Liab ility insurance is also known as medical malpractice insurance. Liability health insurance helps protect the insurer from lawsuits and mistakes that can or will arise from the workplace. Liability insurance can be purchased through many types of companies, such as insured insurance companies, risk purchasing and risk retention groups, and etc (Texas Department of Insurance, 2012). Payment expectations are that liability insurance information must be provided at the time of registration in order for a claim to be filed. Depending on the responsible party of paying that claim, it can either be the insured or the insurance company; it varies with each plan per individual. Self-pay or cash pay patients are usually those patients that does not have medical insurance or those who just prefer not dealing with the hassles of Medicare or insurance reimbursement or claims, will pay an out of pocket expense for the medical services they seek and get. Medical doctors and clinicians view these patients as more compliant and motivated to doctor’s orders (Carter, 2011). Without any insurance help, self-pay patients would usually get a discount percentage due to the high cost of medical services. Self-pay or cash patients will have to pay the full amount or partial before or after the service, and if a balance remains would need to pay in the next couple of months depending on the payment plan. All of these components of payment expectations of different insurances would need to familiarize with by medical business professionals in order for efficient billing, collecting, accounting, and the projection of financial expectations to occur. All health insurances, it doesn’t matter what type of insurance, has to follow basic standards of regulations of the service and product, but each state and health facility has its own discretion in how to price their services and also deciding how much a patient is responsible for their balance. There is much that needs to be considered if the payer mix is the basic determinant of the healthcare organization’s financial projections. Payer mix is a medical term of the percentage of revenues that comes into the organizations is from private to government insurances to self-pay patients (Wall, 2010). Unfortunately, revenues from government insurances, such as Medicare and Medicaid, are considered losses to healthcare organizations due to these government insurances pay less to hospitals and healthcare organizations than what they charge patients for services. Through this knowledge, healthcare organizations need to be aware of areas like this in order to compensate for what is lacking. | References Carter, J. (2011, November 7). How Self-Pay Patients Have Made Me a More Effective Clinician. Retrieved from How to cite Insurance and Payment Expectations, Essay examples

Portuguese Farm Policy and the European Union free essay sample

This paper discusses the effect of the European Union (EU) policy on Portugals agriculture. This paper states that the European Union funding programs did not improve Portugals ability to competitive with other European Countries in the agriculture market. The paper details the EU Common Agricultural Policy, the current Portuguese agriculture situation, the food retailers and the character of Portuguese Farms. It concludes that agricultural policies will not be enough to slow the transition of the younger generation from farmers into other areas. When Portugal entered the EU, it did so from a position of lagging far behind other countries in technology and production methods. Its chief agricultural exports are grain, potatoes, olives, grapes, sheep, cattle, goats, and poultry, beef and dairy products. Only 10% of the country is engaged in agriculture as compared to 60% in services and 30% in industry. As of 1999, Portugal imported more agricultural products than it produced (Eurostat, 2001). We will write a custom essay sample on Portuguese Farm Policy and the European Union or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page