Blogs

IFICANCE:  

    The findings of this study will be beneficial for multiple reasons. The data we collect will give us insight into the behavior and lives of the small cellar spiders that live in basements and homes right alongside humans. Today and going forward, LEDs are the new light bulb, they are more efficient, cheaper and easier to install and use. This means that the LED light will began to have a much larger presence in the outdoors as street lamps, lights in the park, etc.. With LEDs becoming more and more prominent and mixed into our surroundings, this study will show some of the effects LED lights can have on spiders creating their webs, eating, sleeping, and just their overall behavior. Comparing the results of this study to studies about regular light bulbs effects on spiders can be very useful  in helping decide where to put LEDs up, how intense to have them, and the schedule for the LEDs. Many people also face fears of spiders, both rational and irrational. Cellar spiders are one of the most common species of spiders to reside in homes and buildings. The results of this study could be helpful for people to repel spiders from making webs in their homes and other places. Depending on the results of this study, potentially, differences in color, brightness, and/or the duration of LEDs could be used by anyone who wants keep spiders away.

Carbohydrates are a major source of energy for the human body. These saccharide structures consist of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The chains of sugars are connected by glycolytic bonds and can be branched or unbranched. The branching structure of carbohydrates are dependent on the type of bonds attaching the monomers, either alpha (1,4) or alpha (1,6) bonds. The condensation reaction connects two monosaccharides to form a disaccharide. A few examples of disaccharides are maltose, lactose or sucrose. These are saccharides found in the table sugars that are used in cooking and in dairy products. Oligosaccharides, which have 3-10 connected monomers, are usually attached to other proteins in the cell and are important in cell signaling. Additionally, polysaccharides are chains of 20 or more monomers consisting of different types of glyosidic bonds (1,4 or 1,6) within the same chain or branch. 

Our chapter boasts a large enrollment size. We are proud to include over 100 total members, including 46 buddies and 52 UMass students. We have 19 active matches that are consistently enthusiastic to spend time with each other. We are aware of one-on-one time including bowling, working out, going out for lunch, hiking, etc. In addition, we are excited that Best Buddies Umass Amherst T-shirts were available to all members who were interested. These t-shirts demonstrate club members’ enthusiasm to be a part of our Best Buddies family. The shirts will also be used as part of fundraising efforts in upcoming years.

Figure 1 and 2 show the elephant seals production of offspring, female and male respectively. FIgure one which sepicts the female seal shows that they have a weak sexual selection. In figure 2 you can see that only a very little percentage of males produce a lot of offspring, and a little produce some and many produce very little to none. These two figures can show us how the elephant seals sexual selection depends entireley on males and rarely on females at all. The male elephant seal clearly has the strongest sexual selection.  Their ability to reproduce is based solely off of size and strength that is put in competition with one another during fights for the area that contains many fertile females. Figures 3 and 4 are similar to figure 2 in that it shows a gap from offspring around 10-15 off spring to around 35-40 offspring.  This is in both the vole figures and shows that not just one gender of the animal has all the strength in sexual selection but it is more base on each gender having better genes or being stronger or something, instead of elephant seals which have just the male fight over the females. In the vole species both genders compete for reproduction. This means that the best of the best from each gender mate with the best of the best and they produce a lot of offspring while the rest of the population does not produce or rarely does.

The lateral motion data suggests that mako sharks are kinematically closer to tuna than other sharks. As supported by sonomicrometry recordings, during active swimming mako sharks detach their red muscles from the neighbouring tissues and focus their motion towards the posterior region of their body. Such mechanism has been found to be reciprocal in tunas, which recruit their deep red muscles in a similar fashion to power their caudal region. Nonetheless, mako sharks rely on their hypaxial lateral tendon for producing such movement, while in tuna the tendons that perform this task are found in the horizontal septum. Thus the researchers conclude that the locomotion systems of lamnid sharks and tunas arose independently by convergent evolution.

Critique

“In the recovery period we recorded red and white muscle strain during passive, simulated swimming movements.” – data collected during surgery period

“The sharks were collected by hook and line” – sharks arrived to the experiment site with injuries…

The researchers didn’t mention the exact total number of sharks they used in the experiment, if we don’t have specific sample size information we can’t tell if the data is reliable or not.

The lateral motion data suggests that mako sharks are kinematically closer to tuna than other sharks. As supported by sonomicrometry recordings, during active swimming mako sharks detach their red muscles from the neighbouring tissues and focus their motion towards the posterior region of their body. Such mechanism has been found to be reciprocal in tunas, which recruit their deep red muscles in a similar fashion to power their caudal region. Nonetheless, mako sharks rely on their hypaxial lateral tendon for producing such movement, while in tuna the tendons that perform this task are found in the horizontal septum. Thus the researchers conclude that the locomotion systems of lamnid sharks and tunas arose independently by convergent evolution.

The movie, The Great Human Odyssey, explains how humans evolved and spread throughout every inch of the world. It starts off by describing how it was almost unheard of for a species to be able to evolve into such an advanced population and be able to adapt to almost any climate. The movie showed many artifacts that revealed the development of the Homo Sapien mind and migration. The advanced tools, culture, and communication that resulted from adapting survival behaviors to benefit in unique environments allowed our species to become superior to others. The DNA in fossils found proved that humans in North America did not come from Europe, but came from Asia. Our intelligent minds enabled us to conquer not only land, but the sea as well. The technologies created to hunt, gather, and communicate prevented Homo Sapien extinction through drastic climate changes.

Of the problems facing the world today, none may be more pressing than the rise in worldwide temperature and the ensuing difficulties that come with global climate change. All the problems that face humanity today will only be compounded by the effects of climate change. There will be increased wildfires, massive dying of coral reefs, increases in human migration and many more deaths that can be directly attributed to the increased temperatures and indirectly, through increases in famine and drought. The world’s drinkable water supply is already decreasing, with some reservoirs decreasing to the point where tap water has to be shut off completely, like in Cape Town, South Africa and the people have to wait in lines guarded by armed guards just to have access to drinkable water. It is predicted that water will be the source of conflict in the future, the way oil has been in the past.

Metabolic coupling is the process of using energy that is released from an exergonic pathway to provide energy needed for an endergonic pathway. The main goal of metabolic coupling is to end with a negative change in free energy (delta G). A negative change in free energy indicates a spontaneous reaction. Metabolic coupling can exist in three forms: between biochemical pathways, within biochemical pathways and within chemical reactions. Energy transfer within metabolic pathways involves the removal of phosphate groups through hydrolysis, thus resulting in a large negative free energy value. The amount of free energy available in the bond is called the phosphoryl group transfer potential. Phosphorylation is the reverse reaction of adding phosphate groups through the input of energy (ATP).