mlabib's blog

Today I would like to wrtie about the fruit fly and their reproduction cycle. The Drosophilia melanogaster is an organism that is found in the Arthropoda phylum and widely known in our everyday lives. Fruit flies are very resilient organisms because they do not require much time or effort to breed, which explains as to why they are commonly used in our everyday labs. Additionally, due to their quick lifespan and speed of development, they are surprisingly useful organisms for certain types of research. These simple but complex animals have a complex life cycle, as it is comprised of four major life stages, egg, larvae, pupae and adult. This life cycle from egg to and adult can run for about a week. Twenty-four hours after a female fruit fly lays her eggs, larvae hatch. Fruit fly larvae undergo molting stages known as instars, during which the head, mouth, cuticle, spiracles and hooks are shed. During the larva’s third instar, it crawls to a drier area to pupate. The pupa case is formed from the larval skin as it darkens and develops a hard surface. Fruit fly adults develop in the pupal stage. Adults are about 1/8 inch long and usually have red eyes. The reproductive potential of Drosophiliais about is 500 eggs.

The Monito Del Monte ( Dromiciops gliroides), is an endangered is a marsupial native only to southwestern South America. The geographic range of this species is what can help them obtain their optimal ecological success. This means, which range can maximize their reproduction, survival (food, resources) and habitat (prey, niche, etc). In 2001, the marsupial had a population size of 4000. In the beginning of this research study, this species was at its lowest peak of population size. In 16 years, this number almost doubled. I would assume that the species may have been initially under stress when it had first occupied the southwestern part of Argentina/Chile, but with genetic variation and natural selection, this species properly adapted, and is successfully functioning in the new environment. 

EARLY MORNING

Today I had to get up at 5:25 AM as I had morning practice. My alarm rang on my phone, which is on my bedside table. It took me about 10 minutes to actually get out of bed so from 5:25 to around 5:35, I was enjoying the warmth of my bed. Before driving to the pool, I put my shoes on, as I was aleady wearing sweat pants, grabbed my keys, and said hi to my dog Prince. This took about 5 minutes. Then, I got in my car and drove to the pool for my swim practice in Boyden which started at 6, but we are advised to come at leas 10-15 minutes early. My car ride was about 7 minutes long, so I arrive around 5:48. I went to the locker room and quickly changed into my bathing suit. This took me around 2 minutes, so I was on deck and ready to swim at 5:50 AM.

MORNING 

I then swam from 6-7:30.  My practice was not too hard, but it has been a long week, so I was exhausted. We did a small warmup o deck, which included some stretches that took 20 minutes. After the on deck stretches, we did a 3 minute loosen swim, and then our coach explained us the set. The set was stations, it was 6 different stations that were each 9 minutes long. They were tiring, but timing ended perfectly and we finished around 7:30. At 7:30, I returned in my locker room to put my comfy clothes back on, which took me about 7 minutges. I then went home by car again, made some bland coffee in my Keurig that is located in my kitchen, and got ready for school in my bedroom on the first floor. My first class was at 9:05 AM and I had gotten home around 7:48. This took about 25 minutes. I brushed my teeth in the bathroom, put on some weather appropriate clothes from my bedroom. I left with 2 other girls, and my friend Sydnee drove me to class.

CLASS TIME

My 9:05 was Physics 132 locted in Hasbrouck, then my 10:10 was Microbiology 310. After those two classes, I had a sushi bowl from Blue Wall, relaxed a bit, drank some more coffee, did some homework and came to my 1:25. After this class is over, I have another swim practice from 3:30-6:30 PM. 

Categories: Early morning, Morning, Afternoon, Swimming, Studying/Academics, Coffee time,Transportation 

Today I wanted to disuss salmonella. I had this foodborne illness in my junior year of high school, and thought it would be interesting to do a little research about it. Salmonella is a lot worse than your typical food poisioning. The symptoms can show up 72 hours after you have consumed something that contains the salmonella bacteria. Many of these symptoms include diarrhea, throwing up, nausea, extreme fatigure, etc. Many people do not even get symptos, but it depends on the severity of the strand. It can be very severe. Every year there are 450 deaths from this foodborne illness. Surprisingly, when I had it, I almost went into a coma as I was loosing too much sodium. I was hospitalized in time, and had stayed there for one week. My strain was in fact a mutant strain and could not be detected by the scientists at my hospital. Nevertheless, there are 2000 different strains, but the most common in the United States are Typhimurium, and Entereitidis. It is very important to make sure you are eating at a clean restaurant, as the cause usually comes from food. Additionally, if you wash your fruits and vegetables you are minimizing the risk of getting this foodborne illness.

My draft today is something I have always been curious about and would like to know more about. SSRI's, which stands for Selective Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitor. I have been on these for almost a year yet I do not exactly know what they do inside our body. They ease depression by increasing levels of seratonin in the brain, which is usally what people taking this medication need. Seratonin helps you feel happy, and if you have too little of it, you will feel down. Since information is communicated between brain cells, there needs to be a connector, which is a neurotransmitter. Seratonin is a neurotransmitter. It has a neuron called seratonergic neuron. As seratonin releases, it gets released into the synapse. Then, it can either keep going through the post synaptic neuron, or get reuptaked. When enough seratonin goes through the post synaptic neuron, you can finally feel happy. However, if you are depressed, not enough seratonin will go through. So, SSRI's will travel through the pre synaptic neuron, and will block the seratonin from going back up. That leads to a buildup of seratonin in the synapse, and when the body detects it needs seratonin, there will be seratonin available in the synapse to go through the post synaptic neuron. This is a very interesting finding for me, as I never really discovered the true function of SSRI's. I believe this is the best kind of antidepression to prescribe to patients, as there is a guarantee that the seratonin will not go through the reuptake channels. This can be tricky though however, because the body will always want more, which is why individuals tend to increase their dosage after being on a certain dose for 4-8 weeks. They are also called selective as they work only with the seratonergic neuron, and not with other neurotransmitters. They do have side effects, but these side effects are not proven to be from the medication itself, and rather could be coming from the history of the patient.

I saw a green leaf. This leaf divided in 3 smaller leaves in which some areas may be rotten or mal-nurished in the time they were still attached to the earth. It appeared to be an unhealthy leaf. It had many veins, and smaller sized veins within the larger ones. It had a hole in the first leaf to the left. The edges were curvy, resembling a wave. I noticed that most leaves have smooth edges, unlike this one. When it comes to identifying its color, it had a vibrant green color, resembling the grass. On the back of the leaf, it had a transluscent light green. Within the rotten areas, there were squiggly brown lines that I am yet to find out their significance,and some parts ofthe curvy lines are darker than the others. I would assume that the rotten parts were some sort of insect leaving its markings, or a lack of nutrients in that leaf. Additionally, it smelled extremely fresh, as if it had been picked off its original home not too long ago. It was rough like a sand paper, and not smooth like most fuzzy summer leaves. It was extremely thin, in which it feels as if you are holding a piece of paper. it is not very strong nor rigid and it could have been ripped very easily. If you had fit it in my palm, it layed perfectly, so I would assume I could compare it to the size of an average woman's palm. The dimensions were 70 x 80 mm. The length is 70 mm and the width is 80 mm. To enter my leaf in depth, and to analzye it so deeply that we can find it if it was mixed with the rest of the leaves, I could see that the very first leaf to the left (if the whole leaf was facing you) has a hole in it. The squiggly lines are found right at the tip of the leaf, in the third subdivision of the veins. The top middle leaf, facing up,has a squiggly line in the 6th subdivision of the veins. Finally, th 3rd leaf, facing right, had the biggest set of squiggly lines, one in the right half subdivision of veins facing up, and one in the second half facing down. I also knew it is my leaf based on the way it was cut. The cut is on an angle, but the left side is the more potent angle.

I see a green leaf. This leaf divides in 3 smaller leaves in which some areas may be rotten or mal-nurished in the time they were still attached to the earth. It appears to be an unhealthy leaf. It has many veins, and smaller sized veins within the larger ones. It has a hole in the first leaf to the left. The edges are curvy, resembling a wave. I noticed that most leaves have smooth edges, unlike this one. When it comes to identifying its color, it has a vibrant green color, resembling the grass. On the back of the leaf, it has a transluscent light green. Within the rotten areas, there are squiggly brown lines that I am yet to find out their significance,and some parts ofthe curvy lines are darker than the others. I would assume that the rotten parts are some sort of insect leaving its markings, or a lack of nutrients in that leaf. Additionally, it smells extremely fresh, as if it had been picked off its original home not too long ago. It is rough like a sand paper, and not smooth like most fuzzy summer leaves. It is extremely thin, in which it feels as if you are holding a piece of paper. it is not very strong nor rigid and it can be ripped very easily. If you fit it in my palm, it lays perfectly, so I would assume I can compare it to the size of an average woman's palm. The dimensions are 70 x 80 mm. The length is 70 mm and the width is 80 mm. To enter my leaf in depth, and to analzye it so deeply that we can find it if it was mixed with the rest of the leaves, I can see that the very first leaf to the left (if the whole leaf was facing you) has a hole in it. The squiggly lines are found right at the tip of the leaf, in the third subdivision of the veins. The top middle leaf, facing up,has a squiggly line in the 6th subdivision of the veins. Finally, th 3rd leaf, facing right, has the biggest set of squiggly lines, one in the right half subdivision of veins facing up, and one in the second half facing down. I also know it is my leaf based on the way it was cut. The cut is on an angle, but the left side is the more potent angle.