Limitations placed on American civil liberties during the Cold War Research Paper

Limitations placed on American civil liberties during the Cold War - Research Paper Example This conflict ranged from mere subtle espionage across in major cities to combat action in places such as the Vietnam. The Cold War was thus pegged on communist fear that ended up curtailing the America’s freedom of speech, altered the foreign policies, and discouraged the voices of dissent. The Cold War period remains one of the most repressive times in the history of the U.S. where the freedom of speech was significantly subjugated. In an effort to bring to light cases of espionage, root out disloyal citizens, and the threat of communist spreading across the world, the U.S. government rolled out a number of programs that instilled so much fear among the Americans. At the centre of the repressive policies was the anticommunist Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy was in charge of House Un-American Activities Committee whose role was to investigate acts of subversion that threatened the U.S. constitution1. This committee inadvertently began looking into suspicious cases of people within the federal government either directly or indirectly supporting communist’s agenda. Those holding public offices were thus required to take loyalty oaths as one of the measures to test or deter Communist sympathizers. The loyalty program later became part and parcel of Presidential E xecutive Orders2. The end result was of this loyalty program is that many Americans became afraid or discouraged of raising their thoughts or debating outside what was regarded as the norm. The â€Å"red scare† and fear of contradicting the norm made many Americans afraid of exercising their Freedom of speech as embodied in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The right to openly and publicly express ones idea were significantly hampered as one could easily be mistaken or linked to communist sympathizer. The Cold War equally affected the American politics to a greater extent. The U.S. presidents under the full backing of the congress set out to revise

EXPRESSION ON B CELLS IN HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS AND IN CHRONIC Literature review

EXPRESSION ON B CELLS IN HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS AND IN CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKIMIA - Literature review Example Components of the immune system such as the white blood cells protect the body through the creation of specific antigens. However, in some cases, the immune system itself can be a source of problems, such as in autoimmune diseases, where the immune system recognizes cells of the host body as invaders and attacks these. The cells that form an important part of the immune system can also function incorrectly. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is one example of a disorder where the cells of the immune system are functioning incorrectly. This is a cancer where the B cells of the immune system are highly activated, show increased levels of proliferation and decreased rates of apoptosis. This results in the accumulation of affected cells, which prevents the immune system functioning normally. This review considers the role that Toll-like receptors (TLRs) have on immune system functioning, with a specific focus on CD180 (also known as RP105) and its role on CLL. Toll-like Receptors The imm une system plays a crucial role in protecting the body against pathogens and allows the body to effectively defend itself. One class of molecules that have been shown to have an important role in the effectiveness of the immune system is Toll-like receptors (TLRs). ... Image from Akira et al. (2001) However, while the TLR pathway has been shown to be crucial for the defense and protection of the body, it also can have a significant role in immune system diseases and allergies. This can be due to high levels of signaling or deficiencies of molecules that are involved in the signaling pathway . Thus, TLRs play a significant role in the immune system and related diseases. Understanding their functions both collectively and individual is important to understand the occurrence and progression of many different diseases, as well as looking for treatment for these. Studies have revealed that one potentially important TLR in many immune system diseases is CD180, also known as RP105. This molecule is expressed on the outer membrane of B cells that is known to be a leucine-rich repeat (LLR). LLRs are known to be important in the way in which pathogens within the immune system are recognized. A homolog of the protein has been found on mouse B cells, and has b een associated with a decreased rate of cell death. Experimental evidence shows that cells that were negative for CD180 were susceptible to apoptosis induced by corticosteroids, while those that expressed CD108 were not . In mice, almost all mature B cells expressed CD180; however, this is not true in humans. For example, in individuals suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) almost 16% of patients tested were not expressing CD180 in a significant quantity. Individuals who did not have SLE had a significantly lower average level of CD180 expression than those who were affected with SLE . In humans, CD180 is involved in the recognition of B cells and signaling of lipopolysaccharides. However, little more is known about its function . In mice, almost all