mlabib's blog

I wanted to write about the most significant word in my life right now. This word is “counteract”. It means “to act against (something) in order to reduce its force or neutralize it.” Now you may ask why it is so significant to me, and why I think it should be significant to anyone going through a hard time right now. In my personal experience, this word has helped me push through my darkest moments, and I hope it can do the same to you. Depression makes us feel worthless and makes us feel like we are in an extremely dark place. However, what I learned recently is that to overcome it, we must do the opposite of what our mind is convincing us. We are being “hijacked” by our brain, convincing us that we cannot do things, and we cannot feel happy at that exact moment. This is where I learned the word “counteract”. When we think negative thoughts, our mind cycles into telling us to keep thinking it. I call it automatic negative thinking, or ANT. 

Phytophagy means “the eating of plants”. This can be done by animals, insects, or even humans. There is plenty of phytophagy around us, in our dining hall, on the ground or you can even spot phytophagy just by staring closely at a plant. In this project, every student will have to find proof of phytophagy, make a multipanel, create their own methods, and have someone else follow their methods. I chose a leaf that was right in front of Tobin Hall, the reason behind why I chose this leaf is because it stood out to me as it was very nicely shaped compared to the other leaves on campus. Also it was not too far from Boyden Gym, where I am most of the day. 

I have always wondered about the psychology behind dreaming. I always wake up the next morning delusional because I wish my dream had been a reality (sometimes). They can be scary, and sometimes people think that dreams can be preminitions to the future. I believe they help with emotional reguation, depending on my mood, I can have a really scary dream or a really happy dream. The ancient Egyptians believed that dreams were communication between Gods. Then Freud made a theory, but many scientists disagree with this theory. I will continue to do research about this topic as I am very curious. 

CHIKV also known s Chinkungunya is an almost fatal illness. This is spread by a mosquito, like Zika and dengue.  The most common symptoms of this virus are joint pain along with fever symptoms. It can become very severe, as it can lead to headaches, swelling of limbs and even can be fatal. There are recent outbreaks in the United States, but this virus is primarily spread in parts of Africa, the Caribbean’s and India. Researchers from the University of Bristol and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Grenoble, France, have come together and created a vaccine that can withstand very warm temperatures.  They worked with a synthetic protein scaffold with no genetic material inside that is still extremely stable, even without refrigeration. The greatest part about their discovery is that they can insert harmless bits of the Chikungunya to generate a mimic to further use as a vaccine. Although they are still figuring out the logistics of it, computers and technology have helped them create a digital model of the vaccine. Intriguingly, because of this great beginning to fight again CHIKV, they can now rapidly engineer similar vaccines that can combat many other infectious diseases.

Chikungunya is an infection caused by the chikungunya virus (CHIKV). This is spread by a mosquito, like Zika and dengue.  The most common symptoms of this virus are joint pain along with a fever. It can become very severe leading to severe headaches, swelling of limbs and even death. There are recent outbreaks in the United States, but this virus is primarily spread in parts of Africa, the Caribbean’s and India. Researchers from the University of Bristol and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Grenoble, France, have come together and created a vaccine that can withstand very warm temperatures.  They worked with a synthetic protein scaffold with no genetic material inside that is still extremely stable, even without refrigeration. Additionally, it can be easily engineered which is a great step in the medical industry. The greatest part about their discovery is that they can insert harmless bits of the Chikungunya to generate a mimic to further use as a vaccine. Although they are still figuring out the logistics of it, computers and technology have helped them create a digital model of the vaccine. Intriguingly, because of this great beginning to fight again CHIKV, they can now rapidly engineer similar vaccines that can combat many other infectious diseases.

A lot of people do not discover their “why” until later on in life. Some may never really think they are alive for a purpose, but I am a solid believer that every single person on this planet has a purpose.  The clues that our life has a purpose are in our plain view, but many do not take the time to reflect about their purpose, as many are distracted by their daily lives. I still have been in search for my purpose, and I may never find it. However, I found my “why” recently, and because I found my “why”, I will never give up my life, because my “why” is greater than any circumstance I find myself in. This story starts with the death of my sister, whom I was also named after. My sister passed away very tragically only at the age of four. I grew up always wondering why my mom was always afraid of heights, afraid of planes, and afraid of going up to the 11^thfloor of any building. Every time I would ask my mother why she was so afraid of heights, my father would always interrupt and tell me I was too young to know. Before my grandma passed away, she told me the short story, but it was not until recently where I sat with my mother and discovered the true story of my sisters passing.

A big thing I would like to see develop within neuroscience is Multiple Sclerosis in athletes, as so many current athletes are withdrawing from their sport due to this disease. I would love to do more research on it and help athletes, perhaps even swimmers just like me. Being a part of that industry would allow me a true sense of self-fulfillment and there is nothing that would make me happier than seeing someone else happy.  In hopes of taking a few steps forward towards this long-term goal of mine, I shadowed three different optometrists and one pharmacist so that I could gain experience and knowledge in the healthcare community. I think Multiple Sclerosis needs more research as it is something very specific and is so hard to research on.

Dog whiskers are very interesting as some dogs do not have whiskers and some do.I have realized that my current dog who lives with me at UMass has very prominent whiskers, and I realized that not all dogs have whiskers, as my other dog, who lives with my family at home does not. The technical term for dog "whiskers" are "vibrassae".  It helps animals define where they are in space and helps them detect danger. Just like when a baby touches everything, a dog also uses his "whiskers" to get a feel of everything. They are closely related with nerve terminals, which makes it a high sensation area. To us, they just look like extra hair. After doing some research, they are a huge part of animal's sensory functioning, which helps with food acquision, and even communication with different species. A lot of more cool aspects! Such as helping their head position in swimming. I am very happy to have read about this as I truly thought it was extra hair.

Although this is not science related, I would like to talk about New York City english. I am from Canada so to hear a New York accent from one of my teammates was cool. I decided to do some research on it. There are several recognizable characteristics that make up for this accent. According to the American sociolinguist William Labov, is it has been said to be as the most recognizable variety of sounds in American English. William Labov went to Columbia University then Harvard college and is a doctoral student. Labov carried out a study of dialect patterns on the Lower East Side of New York City. He has concluded that the use of pronunciations (ex: dropping post-vocalic /r/) correlates with social class, ethnicity etc. To prove this, he went to three stores in New York City. The first one was the high-class Saks Fifth Avenue, the average priced Macy’s and finally the cheapest discount store in the city at the time of the experiment, S. Klein. He then asked directions to a department that was located on the fourth floor. He repeated “Excuse me?” so that he can hear their answer for a second time. He was trying to see if they would say “fourth” or “fawth” and “floor” or “flaw”. He found that 30 percent of the clerks at Saks pronounced all their r's, compared with 20 percent at Macy's and 4 percent at Klein's. It is evident that the higher you are socially and economically, the more likely you are to pronounce your r’s. This study was an amazing one, and revealed the true colors among New Yorkers. Additionally, it was found that the reason as to why those with a high social-economic status pronounced their “r’s” was due to the fact that it was brought from the prestigious London England pronunciation.

Dog whiskers are very interesting as some dogs do not have whiskers and some do.I have realized that my current dog who lives with me at UMass has very prominent whiskers, and I realized that not all dogs have whiskers, as my other dog, who lives with my family at home does not. The technical term for dog "whiskers" are "vibrassae".  It helps animals define where they are in space and helps them detect danger. Just like when a baby touches everything, a dog also uses his "whiskers" to get a feel of everything. They are closely related with nerve terminals, which makes it a high sensation area. To us, they just look like extra hair. After doing some research, they are a huge part of animal's sensory functioning, which helps with food acquision, and even communication with different species. A lot of more cool aspects! Such as helping their head position in swimming. I am very happy to have read about this as I truly thought it was extra hair.