Writing in Biology

Cell signaling is how our cells communicate. Our cells must constantly be receiving cells signals to survive, otherwise they will die. Other than signals to survive or die, our cells also receive signals to do things like differentiate, grow and to divide. Cells are not limited to receiving one signal at a time and in fact don’t, receiving multiple signal at the same time. It is possible for the same signal to be received by the same receptor on cells but depending on what the cell type is will affect the outcome in the cell. This allows for one stimulus to apply a signal that many different cells can receive and can cause different actions. Longer pathways allow for more outcomes from a signal. Signal amplification can be applied to signals that travel along multiple steps in a transduction cascade and with more components in the pathway there can be more crosstalk. However, shorter step pathways are still helpful when a signal needs to be transduced fast.

From the equation, we can interpret that this line is a linear function through its equation by following through the basic equation mx+b. Our represents the slope and is the measured steepness of a line between the original point Y which is  4 units vertically. If we had a different equation as we can also graph it as a linear function because it follows our mx+b format. We would first find our Y axis and follow the units down from 0 to negative 6. Negative 6 is our Y intercept, there are two ways we can graph this equation we can either move up three units vertically and move 9 units horizontally OR reduce our given fraction m(x) and y-intercept since they all share a common factor of 3. So our new equation can begin again as  like our previous statement this equation follows the mx+B rule 2 units down from the original negative two units we graph our second point 1 unit up and 3 units across creating a new slope. 

One way that plant life can be conserved strictly through ecology is that nature maintains a diverse, healthy environment. By maintaining a balanced environment, plants will obtain the nutrients and elements needed to complete their full life cycle and provide their benefits efficiently. Even in times of a natural disaster, plants will continue to produce the nutrients needed to sustain the environment. One way in which ecology cannot conserve plant life on it’s own is when human impact kills off populations of plants. Due to resource demand and growing architecture, forests are being destroyed. This wipes out hundreds of plant species at a time. Knowing all of the benefits plants have to nature, their absence affects multiple factors of the environment. Plants play an extremely important role in the balance of nature and it is important that we conserve their presence.

Introductory Statistics is a course that all UMass biology majors must take, but many students do not remember much from it. I took Introductory Statistics at my old school about three years ago. Thinking back, I do not remember a lot. In the class I took we were given formula sheets so a lot of the formulas we used were not necessary to remember. In addition, I remember almost everything we did was just punching things into a calculator. Some things I remember looking at were baseball stats and probability. For example, we spent some time looking at the Monte Hall problem. I also remember looking at distributions. We learned about the empirical rule and how statistics fit into it. For the empirical rule I remember 68.26% of data falls within 1 standard deviation, 95.44% in 2 standard deviations, and 99.73% in 3 standard deviations. Although I am a biology major, math has never been a really fun or interesting subject for me. 

The concept of memory is still a highly researched subject for many scientists. It is often wondered how humans can use their memory to draw details from the past. A common misconception states that memories are like playing a video back in one’s head; memories are mostly broken pieces of information stringed together. Researchers found that it is easy to skew memory or make humans remember a memory incorrectly. When asking a witness if they remember something on a scene, using the phrase “the object” versus “a object” is more likely to make them remember something that did not technically happen. For this reason, it is thought that memories are theoretical ideas that can be persuaded one way or another. These questions contain presumptions. A presumption is a way of thinking about the situation that makes the question understandable. This idea explains that the way a question is worded when asking to recall a memory is very influential in persuading an answer one way or another. The integration of new information into a memory is a tactic that can affect ethics and law. For example, prosecutors may ask questions worded a certain way that will force the witness to recall the memory incorrectly. The new information added to a memory may not be true. 

The pencil used in the replicated version is different from the pencil I used in my multi-panel figure. I noticed that the pencil in the replicated figure is a completely different pencil and it is facing a different direction than the original. My partner used a mechanical pencil while I used a ticonderoga pencil. This is most likely due to the fact that my partner did not have a ticonderoga pencil to use. Additionally, the tip of the pencil is pointed towards the radiator in my original figure while it is pointed away from radiator in the replicate. This could be because the person who replicated the photo estimated 15 degrees differently than I did.

A protein can continually react in the cell unless the cell receives a signal to stop. Then the cell is able to hinder the performance of the protein until it is needed again, thus avoiding having to waste the energy in destroying the protein when not in use and then transcribing and translating a new protein. Post-translational modifications affect an already made protein and are able to regulate that proteins function. Types of post-translational modifications include ubiquitination, phosphorylation and acetylation. Different modifications cause different results in different proteins, but the end result is a modification of the proteins original function. Post-translational modifications are not only for stopping a proteins actions, but also can also cause conformational changes and lead to active states. Nucleotide bonding and hydrolysis can work together in proteins to counterbalance each other. For instance, in the Ras protein, hydrolysis causes the bound GTP to lose a phosphate group and causes Ras to enter an inactive state. Nucleotide bonding acts to replace the now GDP with GTP when the protein needs to be active again. Regulating proteins is essential to making sure the cell runs properly and efficiently. Post-translational modifications are one of the ways this is accomplished.

Evidence for V1 in true nav. -> map info

V1: magnetosensory (long distance) + olfaction (?) at local scale?

RY -> ZV: magnetic parameter differences (intensity, inclination, and declination)

The results support the hypothesis that V1-sectioned birds would behave as if they had not been displaced and thus use vector navigation, while the sham-sectioned birds would use true navigation and readjust their orientation towards their final destination to compensate for their relocation. This experiment gives evidence for the role of V1 in providing magnetic-related map information to the avian brain during navigation. It is possible that V1 may be involved in olfaction as well, but olfactory cues are reliable on a local scale, whereas magnetic cues can be useful over large distances with changing magnetic parameters. That is the reason why the birds were displaced 1,000 km east from Rybachy (intensity 50,688 nT, inclination 70.3°, declination 5.6°) to Zvenigorod (52,175 nT, inclination 71.2°, declinnation 10.1°), where all the geomagnetic parameters differ.

Personally, I believe that the most important aspect of the biological world that should be conserved is vegetation and plant life. Plant life sustains all of nature. Plants are a source of food, create oxygen, regulate the water cycle, are the backbone of all habitats, store carbon and maintain that help maintain the climate, and can be used to make medicines. Vegetation plays a large role in almost every aspect of nature. Without plant life, there would be a scarce amount of food for many other organisms. Without oxygen, organisms that depend on oxygen intake would not be able to survive. Without a regulated water cycle, water would not be as distributed along the land and would not be as present in the atmosphere due to the lack of transpiration. Without plants, the habitat would be barren and would lack food and shelter to many populations. Without plants storing carbon, there would be copious amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Without medicines, organisms (especially humans) would die off due to the lack of protection from diseases.

The appearance of the actual photos in the multipanel scientific figure was due to the different conditions on those days.  On the day that the pictures from the original figure were taken, it had not rained in several days and was very sunny outside resulting in the bright complexion and dry stones.  On the day that the replica photos were taken, it had rained earlier and the sky was still dark.

The difference in the appearance of the photos was also due to the two photographers holding the camera in a different way.  The angle of the two close up pictures is different; it appears that the replica picture was taken straight on, while the original picture was taken from an angle to the left of the spider web.