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Specific Aim 5. Test whether the Misumena vatia prefers a gray or white background. Gray and white are made up of the same colors. They both use red, green, and blue. The difference between the two is the intensity that each color is added. For example, white is all three colors at their highest intensity (225), while gray is all 3 colors but only at an intensity of 128 each. This experiment is designed to see if the spider will pick the color that is made up of the highest intensity colors, or pick the background that uses less of the colors

In this lab, trimyristin was isolated from ground nutmeg and recrystallized to get a percent yield of 72.91%, as well as hydrolyzed to produce myristic acid in a 79.03% yield. The ground nutmeg seeds were refluxed with tert-butyl methyl ether to extract the crude trimyristin which was then recrystallized with acetone to purify the trimyristin product. The other soluble components of the nutmeg remain in the acetone solution while trimyristin recrystallizes out. Trimyristin is a triglyceride, which is a triester of the trialcohol glycerol and a long chain, unbranched carboxylic acid. Hydrolysis of a triglyceride yields one glycerol molecule and three carboxylic acid molecules for every molecule of fat. When trimyristin is converted into glycerol and myristic acid through saponification, the addition of the sodium hydroxide creates glycerol and sodium myristate and with the addition of acid to the sodium myristate causes a change to a carboxylic acid, thus forming myristic acid in this lab. The addition of acid causes the sodium salt to leave the sodium myristate and allows for the hydration of the now unbound oxygen which provides the mechanism for the alcohol group formation on the carboxylic acid.

Rivulus, a genus of freshwater fish, has a very odd reproductive strategy. This fish is hermaphroditic, which in itself it not too uncommon among fishes. Rivulus is able to self fertilize, though not in the way that a majority of self fertilizing fish do. Most fish which reproduce by this method are females which produce fertilized eggs, more or less producing clones of itself. The drawback to the strategy is it limits genetic diversity. The rivulus however, will produce both sperm and eggs. When gametes are formed during meisos, Rivulus will therefore maintain the "crossing-over" phase which most other hermaphorditic fish lack. This gives the fish the ability to maintain some level of genetic diversity among its populations. Of course this diversity is still limited by the fact that there isn't multiple populations mixing.

After looking over three different posters, I have identified some factors that influence quality; both in positive and negative ways. One of the most important component of a poster in the inclusion of relevant imagery. Many people consider themselves to be visual learners and it is much easier to follow the logic when it is presented in a visual form rather than a large block of text. Going off that, excessive text on a poster makes it much harder for the audience to digest. It can be very difficult to retain information when it is presented only as text. However, text is an important factor in a well-made poster. Of the three posters I viewed, each had more visuals compared to text. These visuals included graphs to display relevant data collected, and images that help to demystify the mechanics of the experiment. But, these posters all had text that would add the necessary details for the researchers to convey their findings. The key thing is to find a good balance of images and text.

The goal of the experiment was to obtain a product of pure cyclohexene. The presence of cyclohexanol in the product may have been due to improper distillation and washing. There may have been too much product left in the flask after distillation or the distillation rate may have been too high. When washing, the solution could have been mixed more thoroughly in order to obtain a pure product. Two chemical tests were performed to display the presence of alkene, or cyclohexene in this case, in the product. The bromine in dichloromethane chemical test resulted in no color change in the cyclohexene product, proving that the alkene functional group was present. The potassium permanganate chemical test resulted in a dark red/brown color with suspension in the cyclohexanol product, also revealing the presence of the alkene functional group. Therefore, distillation and washing was effectively used to synthesize cyclohexane from the dehydration of cyclohexanol.

Our experiment will study cellar spider web weight and production in relation to the temperature of their surrounding environment. This experiment can be used as a microcosm for Earth and may show the effects of climate change on cellar spiders.  Globally, species are expected to shift locations in response to climate change. When the area the organisms are in becomes too hot or cold, they move towards the poles or equator accordingly to adjust for the change in temperature. If the area becomes too hot, they will generally move towards the poles in order to stay in an environment that suits their temperature needs. If the area becomes too hot, they will move to a cooler area, such as away from the equator or a higher elevation. Most of the Earth is expected to warm over the next several decades, but there are some areas that are expected to get colder. Physiological processes in the body are often influenced by temperature and the changing temperature can make survival much more challenging.

Baker’s yeast has two almost identical mating types, MATa and MATɑ, which can sexually reproduce with each other and asexually reproduce themselves.  If the environment they are in is nutrient poor, the yeast cells can exist in a haploid form of MATa or MATɑ. A colony of haploid cells can be maintained by asexual budding.  If the environment they are in is nutrient-rich, the different mating types will become shmoos, a nodule of the original cell that the cells use to join together. Once they become an a/ɑ diploid, they can bud to asexually reproduce two yeast cells, the new cell being exactly identical to the first. If a diploid cell is starved of nitrogen and also on a carbon-poor source, it will sporulate to form four ascospores within an ascus.  Those spores can be released from the ascus membrane and become four haploid yeast cells, two a and two ɑ cells.

Mutations come about by mutagenesis, which is a relatively rare event in nature.   DNA replication is a highly regulated event that rarely lets imperfections slip by. Even when a mutation occurs in DNA, it does not always lead to a change in phenotype. Mutagens such as UV light, as used in this experiment, X-Rays, and chemicals are often used to increase the frequency of mutations for scientific study. In order to successfully study mutations, the cells must live and be able to reproduce through the mutagen exposure and contain a non-lethal mutation.  

Other factors that affect drug use are personality and the type of drug. Personality and mood have an effect on drug use as people with a lack of hope, direction, or self-esteem are more likely to abuse drugs in the future. Individuals with a lack of hope for the future have a higher chance of taking drugs because they feel their life is at a standstill. For example, many people in prison or veterans have a lack of hope for the future which can cause a deep depression. These qualities make individuals turn to drugs to help them feel better. Additionally, young kids with a lack of direction or aspirations for what they want to do in life may be more likely to use drugs because it can make them feel better temporarily. This is similar for individuals with low self-esteem; these individuals believe that the drug makes them more outgoing and talkative rather than being an introvert. The type of drug has a huge effect on drug use as some drugs are more addictive than others. Addictiveness is correlated to the type of drug because the highs felt on each drug can be varying in intensity and duration. Research has indicated that drugs with an extremely intense high are more addictive. Research also shows that drugs that induce a shorter duration of the high are highly addictive compared to drugs that induce a long high. This is because it is more likely for a human to become addicted to “chasing a high” that comes in short, intense bursts. 

Whether or not someone will be a drug user in the future is not known for certain, but there are several factors that can influence drug use in teens. Drug use in teenage years make it more likely that the individual will use drugs in adult years as well. The factors including friends, biology, culture, personality, and type of drug may increase the likelihood of someone using drugs or possibly abusing drugs. Firstly, friends have a huge effect on drug use. If a teenager hangs around friends that are using or abusing drugs, it is more likely that they will join to try to fit in or find something in common with this group of people. The biological make up can also have an effect on drug use as children of drug abusers have a higher chance of becoming an addict later in life; there is a research depicting that there is a genetic predisposition to addiction. This is also seen in research on identical twins. It is likely that both twins have the same genetic predisposition as well as likely hood to become addicts. The culture in which someone lives has a huge effect on drug use. For example, the rate of alcoholism across Europe is very small compared to other countries because it is normal for alcohol to be introduced at a young age in Europe. There is little taboo about alcohol, therefore, the young drinking ages make it less likely for alcoholism to be a big problem; it is normal to drink wine at dinner as a teenager. On the other hand, there is a high rate of alcoholism amongst Amish kids that break away from their roots as they are steered away from it their whole life and then have the opportunity to try what they want when they leave their community and culture. 

Due to using intermediate flight speeds for calibration purposes, pectoralis power data for cockatiels and doves is overestimated at slow speeds and underestimated at fast speeds. A follow-up study could address this issue by using other calibration parameters that do not interfere with slow and fast speed data for pectoralis power. Apart from the pectoralis muscles, data from other relevant wing muscles was not recorded in this study, and the role of the tail in reducing power requirements at slow speeds was unaddressed. This could be easily solved by employing sonomicrometry and other techniques in the rest of the muscles involved with flight, and by analyzing the bird’s use of its tail when flying at slow speeds. Finally, the model struggled to accurately measure drag at faster speeds due to a gap in the knowledge of the components of total drag. This would require further studies in the aerodynamics of flight, perhaps by employing more advanced biophysics software or using new lab techniques that record the components of total drag.