brian kipkirui

Discovery of the virus The SARS is caused by the infection with a new form of coronavirus. This type of virus was first identified or discovered in countries like the United States, Hong Kong, and Germany among others although other sources point the first form of the virus to China and the other neighboring Asian countries. The SARS virus was first identified by WHO in 2003 after an outbreak of a severe atypical form of pneumonia observed in Guangdong province of China. The virus was associated with the newly emerging influenza virus which was isolated from a child in Hong Kong 1. The SARS virus isolated had similar characteristics with the influenza virus from birds and which had caused an outbreak in people in 1997 in Hong Kong. Related strains as those of influenza were therefore expected, but bird flu was ruled out as the cause of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Research and investigation were then focused on a family paramyxoviridae viruses using electron microscopy of samples from respiratory tract in Hong Kong and other places like Frankfurt. Another study was carried out on human metapneumovirus since their strains were numerous although not in SARS patients. The breakthrough to the identification of coronavirus was made in Hong Kong, Germany, and the United States by WHO in 2003 by way of isolation on cell culture and microarray technology. Other evidence of confirming the virus was also made through demonstration of some particular sequences of the genome using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique and also through a presentation by electron microscopy technique amongst other techniques like an immunofluorescent test for antibodies which is indirect 7. The WHO through collaboration with several laboratories in Geneva announced the coronavirus as being a new strain which had never been found both in humans and animals and that it was the causative agent for the SARS in humans. Thirteen participating laboratories from ten countries demonstrated that the novel coronavirus satisfied all the four postulates of Koch which are necessary for the confirmation that the strain of the virus was the reason for the outbreak of the disease (SARS). The four conditions include the need for the pathogen to be found in all aspects of the disease, isolation from the host and growth in pure culture, reproduction of the same condition when introduced into a different host which is susceptible and also be found in the experimental host that have been infected. The chemical nature of the coronavirus The genome of the SARS-causing coronavirus contains five main open reading frames. The frames (ORFs) are responsible for encoding a polyprotein replicate, membrane glycoproteins, viral envelope, nucleocapsid proteins and the spikes. The spike proteins play a significant role in binding to the receptors of specific species of the host cell hence triggering a series of fusion events between the cellular membrane and the viral envelope 6. The initial infection of the virus on the host cell depends majorly on such interactions which are species specific. The spike protein is also the primary factor facilitating virulence among many different coronaviruses. Additionally, the spike protein is the essential viral antigen required to elicit the neutralization of antibodies on behalf of the host. The membrane glycoprotein is yet another first macromolecule which constitutes the envelope of the virion. The role of the membrane glycoprotein is to determine the morphogenesis of the virion specificallyg 6. It does this activity by selecting the

In her story " the story of an hour " , Kate Chopin successfully employs sarcasm to prove the point that " true freedom can only be obtained when one sheds his/her confinements. " In the story, she uses strong kinship ties as personal confinements that must be done away with if true freedom is to be achieved. According to the story, freedom is only attained the moment one is able to break away from these strong kinship ties without any regrets whatsoever. Chopin uses irony when she explains how her protagonist Mrs. Mallard, whom she depicts to suffer from a weak heart, is able to handle news of the death of her husband well, and is killed by the realization that he was indeed alive. One can ironically conclude from the story that Mrs. Mallard is only able to handle the news of her husband's demise since at the time of her learning, she was still close to him and couldn't let go. As a matter of fact, she handle the news pretty well as she, " did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. " This suggests that the source of her strength may have been her " strong confinement " to her husband. From the story, several aspects can be identified that played a role towards the achievement of her freedom. Some of them were seemingly common occurrences but were wildly reminiscent of new beginnings. A good example is from the line, " She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. " Also, we are reminded of the proverbial silver lining for every cloud from the line, " There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window. " It is only after a deep reflection upon these seemingly common happenings that Mrs. Mallard is able to free herself from her dead husband's stranglehold. It is then that she entertains a more positive and optimistic outlook towards life. She now intends to live the remainder of her life to the fullest after she reckons that she has only herself to consider. This is when Mrs. Mallard can be said to have attained true freedom. From then on, there would be no one to dictate to her how she had to conduct herself. Here, Chopin implies that although love may be considered by most as good, it is in fact a confinement on its own. To drive her point home, the story's author kills her protagonist Mrs. Mallard with the supposed good news of her husband's survival. The fact that the protagonist could not only survive but come out stronger from the sad news of her husband's demise is the greatest irony of the story. This is notwithstanding her weak heart condition. Her death, here is to be taken as the fulfilment of true freedom, one that is free from the responsibilities and the concerns of love and married life. Although ironic, this is in fact true to some extent since in death, Mrs. Mallard was finally free from any and all of life's concerns.