Writing Assignment 2
2A) A primary research article can be differentiated from a secondary article because the former involves the researcher reporting only the findings of his or her study. Thus, a primary article can be identified because of the following unique parts: methodology, results, and discussion. A primary research article must have a “methodology “or “methods” section. This section provides further information about the subjects taking part in the study. Also, the section describes the sample size and the procedure used to place the participants in either the control or intervention group. At the same time, the methodology section describes the procedure to be carried out on the participants or subjects for the study in question to attain its objectives.
Also, a primary research article must have the results section. This is the section in which the researcher provides the findings of his or her primary study. Also, this section serves to show how the subjects in the intervention group differed from those in the control group after the end of the study in question.
The discussion section helps the researcher to demonstrate to his or her audience how his or her research helps to fill the gap that exists in the literature pertaining to the topic he or she was studying. Besides, this section gives the researcher an opportunity for him or her to explain the findings of his or her study in terms of why the participants in the intervention group differed from their counterparts in the control group. Also, this section serves to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the study that he or she carried out. This information serves to help scholars in finding a gap in the literature that they can focus on in their future studies. Also, the discussion section must be present in a primary research article since it helps the scholar demonstrate how his or her findings advance or challenges the existing literature on a certain topic. As such, a primary research article must have the methodology, results and discussion sections. A secondary article may still be complete without any of these parts.
2B) The article by Ganesh, Sheikh, Shah, Mehetre, Dharne, and Nagoba (2016) incorporated the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. It used the PCR test to amplify the DNA. Using the PCR method, short single-stranded primers of the ear extract’s DNA were elongated. The clostridium tetani-specific primers that target a section of the tetX gene helped to amplify the DNA that had been derived from the sample of ear discharge. The polymerase chain reaction contained 10 nM for each primer, DNA extracts, deoxynucleoside triphosphate, and taq polymerase. All these ingredients reacted in a 50 μL mixture. The reaction started with the initial denaturation of the mixture at 95 degrees Celsius for ten minutes. This was followed by 25 cycles of subsequent denaturation at 95 °C, 52 °C, and 72 °C for I minute, 1 minute and 1.5 minutes, respectively (Ganesh et al., 2016).
The aim of the article by Ganesh et al. (2016) was to identify Clostridium tatani in clinical samples obtained from human beings with the help of tetX-specific primers while focusing on neurotoxin. The human sample was collected from a 2-year-old male child who was not immunized against C. tatani (Ganesh et al., 2016). A DNA sample was collected from the discharge coming from the subject’s ear. The PCR method helped the researchers of the study in question to amplify the DNA of the ear extracts studied in the research under review.
The PCP method managed to successfully amplify the tetX gene portion specific to the C. tatani neurotoxin to about 1354 bp from 50 ng of the DNA extract (Ganesh et al. (2016). One of the results of the study under review is that the textX-specific markers helped in the detection of tetanospasmin from an incident involving otogenic tetanus. By aiding in the detection of neurotoxins, PCR can help in confirming the virulence as well as in the rapid differentiation of C. tetani from other chrostidia that are similar to it morphologically.
2C). Ganesh, M., Sheikh, N. K., Shah, P., Mehetre, G., Dharne, M. S., & Nagoba, B. S. (2016). Detection of Clostridium tetani in human clinical samples using tetX specific primers targeting the neurotoxin. Journal of Infection and Public Health, 9(1), 105-109.