Writing in Biology

TA – Manisha

Tuesday, 8 AM

Submitted: Oct, 30 2018

Isolation of Trimyristin from Nutmeg

Purpose:

The purpose of this experiment is to obtain a pure organic compound, trimyristin, from the natural source nutmeg. The techniques of extraction, distillation, recrystallization, and chromatography are used to isolate and purify the chemical compounds from the natural sources.

Reaction:

Trimyristin                                Myristic Acid:

MP: 56-57  ℃                                MP: 54.4 ℃

MW: 723.16 g/mol                             MW: 228.37 g/mol

Experimental Procedure:

1.0 g of nutmeg was weighed out on a scale and transferred into a round-bottomed flask using a funnel. 3 mL of tert-butyl methyl ether and 3 boiling chips were also added to the RB flask. A distillations column and air condenser were set up with the black plastic connector to yield the highest results. The flask was lowered into the sand and monitored at a very gentle boil. The mixture was heated for 10 minutes, and then allowed to settle for a few minutes. The color of the mixture changed slightly to a lighter brown. Using a pipet, as much as of the liquid as possible was transferred to a test tube to settle further. The solids were left behind in the RB flask. The liquid was allowed to settle for a few minutes for even further separation of liquid ad small remaining solids. An empty 25 mL flask was pre-weighed. The liquid was transferred via pipet from the test tube to the clean 25 mL Erlenmeyer flask.

Filtration was performed by packing a glass pipet with a plug of cotton; the solution in the 25 mL Erlenmeyer flask was transferred via pipet and filtered through the cotton filter. The solution was allowed to drain completely before a new addition was performed. A pipet bulb was used to help speed up filtration. All of the solution from the Erlenmeyer flask was transferred.

2 mL of fresh tert-butyl methyl ethyl was added to the solid in the RB flaks and warmed very briefly to allow the solids to settle and the liquid was then transferred via pipet into the test tube and allowed to settle further. The liquid was then transferred from the test tube through the cotton pipet filter using a piper and into the same 25 mL Erlenmeyer flask as before.

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 nature Misumena vatia spends a lot of time on flowers. These flowers provide a background that is complex. This experiment will allow us to test if the spiders prefer a more complex background that has definitions of shapes, like many places in nature, or a simple background. The complex shapes will be abstract in nature, but will not derive in brightness or color from the paired simple background.

Specific Aim 2. Test whether Misumena vatia prefers a cyan or green background. Cyan is created in the RGB model by putting green and blue to their highest intensities, and not adding any red. Green is created by only using green at its highest strength. This experiment will show whether the use of blue has any effect on the spiders background choice.

The excel sheet should include the distance(in cm) of the spider from the LED light (in the x,y,and z dimension), and the diameter of the web, if present at all. This will be recorded with a ruler from outside the container.  Pictures of the spider best depicting its distance from the LED can be taken for reference. Determine whether the light, time exposure, length, color, brightness, or species of spider had any effect on presence of webs in the chamber. This is done by comparing each project results to one another and deciding whether the web that was produced was influenced by the light that was exposed to the spider. If the spider was attracted to the light, then the distance of the web from the light should be smaller than if the spider was not attracted to the web.

SIGNIFICANCE  

    The findings of this study will be very 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, LED lights are the new light bulb, they are more efficient, cheaper and easier to install and use.

The final product was also qualitatively assessed for odor and compared to the odor of the other esters and the starting products used in the reaction. The esters shared a sweet-smelling, fruity odor. The 1-propyl-propionate ester formed in the final product had a smell of pineapple or pear, which was distinguishable from the other esters which had a more banana like fragrance. The product also had a slight odor of alcohol, similar to that of nail polish remover, which ma be detectable traces of alcohol which was seen present in the IR spectrum. The starting components, 1-propanol and propionic acid did not share the fruity fragrance of the final ester and were instead unpleasurable scents. Both had a rancid odor, with the 1-propanol being similar to that of ethanol, another alcohol.

During the absolute refractory period, there are no action potentials occurring in the cell. This is due to the voltage gates sodium channels being inactivated. This occurs in the time frame directly after the depolarization. Following the absolute refractory period is the relative refractory period. During this refractory period, the voltage gated sodium channels are closed, however, the voltage gated potassium channels are open. This means that an action potential will most likely not occur unless there is a huge stimulus that causes a rush of positive potassium into the cell. These refractory periods are different when muscle twitches or tetanus occurs. Following a contraction, calcium is typically pumped away from the cell when the repolarization occurs. However, in a muscle twitch, action potentials happen quickly after one another and stops the calcium from being pumped away from the cell. This means that the left over calcium adds to the following contraction, leading to more force. In muscle tetanus, these contractions continue because the fast flow of action potentials causes the calcium to be pumped into the cell as fast as it is pumped out of the cell. 

Although ecology is not typically thought of as a subject in the medical field, it can play a role in environmental medicine. This uses environmental science, environmental pathology, and the knowledge of relationships between organisms and the environment to study the individual’s physical, mental and emotional responses to them. Although this may not directly relate to my path in the medical field, it is an important topic that may affect many other branches of the field. Without ecology, we would not be able to study the environmental, or other organisms, effects on human health.

In nearly every living species, temperature influences physiological and biological processes in the body. Spiders are ectothermic organisms, meaning they are unable to regulate their body temperatures relative to their environment. Because of this, changes in temperature can have a large impact on their metabolic rate and overall activity (Barghusen et al). It has been found that even winter active spiders will make less effective webs or no webs at all at temperatures 2° colder than the temperature they are accustomed to. Having a less effective, or no, web greatly reduced feeding, which could be detrimental for spiders (Aitchison 1984). Since web production is a large part of spider activity and survival, we decided to focus our project on how varying temperatures influence web production. Past research has found that spiders in lower temperatures tend to use less spiral silk than spiders in warmer temperatures (Vollrath et al). Our project focuses on how temperature influence the weight of webs.  

There are many different checkpoints and regulations to help the cell cycle be carried out correctly and successfully. One very important regulation/mechanism used in the cell cycle is cohesion as well as the breaking down of cohesion. If cohesion does not break down properly or at the right time, it can lead to too many or too few chromosomes in a cell, which can be detrimental. I am interested in knowing what is involved with the formation of the contractile ring in animal cells and the phragmoplast in plant cells. How do these two mechanisms differ? I would assume the phragmoplast would have a method in protecting the cell wall during cytokinesis. If the contractile ring/phragmoplast doesn't function properly, then the single cell can't be divided and there would not be two identical daughter cells as the end product. We have lots of different technology and methods in viewing cells and cell processes. These images remind me of some IF imaging that occurs in the genetics lab I work in. The blue staining is most likely DAPI, which is a DNA marker. Markers can be very helpful in identifying certain structures in the cell, different stages in the cell cycle, and many other pieces of information. It is nice to be able to physically see what is happening in these cells because it gives us a better understanding.