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Reflective Essay – Epidemics and Society

Throughout this course on Epidemics and Society, I have learned an incredible amount about human sickness throughout history. There is much to be said about the way epidemics have shaped human history. From the infamous to the mysterious, the Black Plague to Smallpox, we have studied them all in BI-245X. The VMI ePortfolio system has…

Emerging & Re-Emerging Disease Flyer

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Ebola – Emerging Disease

Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans. The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission. The average EVD case fatality rate is around 50%. Case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in…

HIV/AIDS Response

HIV/AIDS is an issue that is near and dear to my own heart. I was fortunate enough to be able to serve around Kenya, and Zimbabwe, Africa last year, and I saw what AIDS does to a body. It is simply devastating. The number of suffering people grows daily. Like many other diseases, it can be…

Reflective Essay

Throughout this course on the History of Information Technology, I have learned an incredible amount about the history of the subject throughout the ages. There is much to be said about information technology and the way it has shaped our world and our species. From hieroglyphs to the internet, we have studied them all in…

Artifact 3 – The Search Engine in America

The Internet has been revolutionary to the world at large. It represents the culmination of the telegraph, telephone, radio, and computer. It is simultaneously a platform for world-wide broadcasts, a medium of communication, and a tool of collaboration. It is without a doubt, the most significant advance in communication technology in the history of mankind….

Artifact 2 – The History of Airmail

In the famous story, flight ironically arose out of a small town in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, December 17, 1903, when the Wright brothers figured out heavier than air flight. Aviation technology reaches back over two thousand years, from hot air balloons and kites, to heavier-than-air jets, super-sonic flight, and aerial combat. It is without…

Artifact 1 – History of the Japanese Language

The Japanese are an old and venerated people that took their small island nation into the international limelight and the forefront of technology. Before these modern accomplishments however, the “people of the sun” were very exclusive and avoided contact with the outside world. The written Japanese language is largely held as the hardest language…

King Cholera – Artifact 7

Cholera “Cholera”, from the Greek, meaning literally “gutter of a roof”. This disease is aptly named because of the dysentery-like symptoms associated with it. Victims experience muscles cramps with diarrhea and vomiting of incredibly severity. Without treatment, the victim dies of dehydration within 24 hours. The loss of water and electrolytes, but retention of protein…

The Peoples Plague – Artifact 6

Tuberculosis “TB” is an infection caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It generally affects the lungs, but can also attack the kidneys, bones (Pott’s disease), lymph nodes, and even the brain. The modern strains of M. tuberculosis seem to have originated from a common ancestor about 15-20,000 years ago. It was also documented in Egypt more than 5,000…