Blogs

Today in my neurobiology and physiology lab, we drug treated 5 days post fertilization zebrafish with 0.5 mM PTU and 300 nM T4 to manipulate the levels of thyroid hormones in the zebrafish. Also, we drug treated 7 days post fertilization zebrafish with 1X EdU for three hours in a 28 degress Celsius incubator. During the three hour wait, we were lectured on the hypothalamus-pituitary thyroid axis and the Notch signaling pathway to help us better understand the whole process when formulating our hypothesis. Along with this information and additonal readings, we will have to formulate our own hypothesis and test for it in the upcoming weeks.

      Similarly, the Egyptians understood the importance of control and rule over their people and to reach a great majority their religious texts fit the bill. Many gods were worshipped in this poly-theistic culture and how better to control the people if the gods they worshipped enforced control. One specific god that fulfilled this role was Horus, a falcon-headed god of the sky. He was often presented next to statues of pharaohs and therefore gave the impression the pharaoh was one with the gods. The idea was that a falcon could fly overhead and watch all of the lands below. Sometimes reaching heights it seemed to disappear and therefore represented by a sun-disc on Horus’ head. “Such a powerful creature was, therefore, like the bull, appropriated by the pharaohs” to maintain control of the people by discouraging any revolts (Attenborough). The pharaoh was essentially a god, and going against the will of the gods would not end well.

      Although the Sumerians may have been treated to violent scenes of public ritual, they did have some freedoms in their society. Their organization gave them a surplus of food, which “allowed many people to pursue occupations other than farming, while still being able to meet their basic needs. These people became artisans, merchants, and craftspeople”(Life in). These occupations could be chosen on their own accords and therefore gave the people the freedom to choose. The freedom to do what they wanted to do in their free time.

In ancient civilizations, exercising control over the masses by the elites ensured their reign and status. These elites accounted for many aspects of daily life, however, not all. Giving the people some freedoms would ensure their reciprocal support to the state, also, controlling every aspect of a person’s life in a civilization so large would be impossible. Civilizations such as Sumer in Mesopotamia and Egypt ruled over their people with this concept in mind.

    Controlling the masses came about through many different approaches. Notably in the fertile crescent was the royal graves at Ur. This archaeological site uncovered just how far the elites in society went to ensure their rule was seen as legitimate and powerful. Within the findings were many sacrificed people dressed in elaborate dresses and jewelry which suggests these killings may have been ritual. However sacred the public event must have been, D. Bruce Dickson argued: “The graves themselves are part of the effort made by Ur’s rulers to establish the legitimacy of their governance by demonstrating their sacred, holy and non-ordinary status” (Dickson). In other words “Accept our power and we will protect you from worse violence” (Dickson). The elites threatened the everyday lives of their commoners as a means to maintain control.

The Shannon-Wiener Index can help determine if supplementing a loss in biodiversity with a gain that is different is justifiable. Human development is without question altering the landscape and in turn altering where species diversity. Fragmentation by roads, properties, parking lots etc. is separating species making it harder and harder for complex communities. If a new development takes place, does it eliminate on the of the species occupying that area? If so, biodiversity offsetting should supplement the loss of that species with either an equal replacement or replacing the same species that was lost. More typically an equal, but not the same, supplement is put in place to keep the net biodiversity the same. This however is  unjust. Not all amounts of species are equal. This is where measuring species evenness comes into play. Rather than just measuring species richness, how many different species are there, the measure of species evenness will show how close in numbers each species is.

Species diversity occurs at different spatial scales and that is why the Shannon-Wiener Index is used to measure it. The Shannon-Wiener Index is calculated using a mathematical equation. It takes into account the proportion of the species in consideration to abundance. Claude Shannon, whom which the index is named after, was an electrical engineer that studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later Princeton. After working for Bell Telephone Laboratories for about 15 years he began working with communications equations that essentially became the basis for the Shannon-Wiener Index (Spellerberg, Fedor, 2003). The first time the Shannon expression was published was in A Mathematical Theory of Communication. It expresses information, choice, and uncertainty (Shannon, 1948).. This idea became relevant to determine the uncertainty of species diversity which is thus relevant to determining if supplementing a loss in biodiversity with a different gain is calculable.  

Shannon, C.E. (1948) A Mathematical Theory of Communication. 

    Bell System Technical Journal, 27, 379-423.

Spellerberg, I., & Fedor, P. (2003). A Tribute to Claude Shannon (1916-2001) and a Plea for More

 Rigorous Use of Species Richness, Species Diversity and the 'Shannon-Wiener' Index. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 12(3), 177-179. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.silk.library.umass.edu/stable/3697500

Today I wanted to speak about phone usage before bed. My parents always told me to never bring my phone in my bedroom, and I always found that funny that they would tell me that. Now that I am older I understand why they told me this. Not only does it disturb your sleep but it also is very bad for your eyes. Looking at a bright screen before bed disturbs your sleep waves, and it disturbs your deepest sleep phase, also known as Rapid Eye Movement sleep. This part of sleep is very important as it can help develop the brain of an enfant. It is also the part of our sleep where we dream which takes up about two hours.  recommended by doctors, it is important to get rid of your phone two hours before bed. this will ensure a good night sleep.  Lastly, it is important to not look at your screen before bed, because the blue lights are too heavy on your eyes. Blue light has a negative affect on your eyes and it is important to put your phone on “yellow light “ night mode settings if you do plan on using it before bed.

The evolution of mitochondria in eukaryotic cells is something of a mystery. Many scientists are not completely sure where mitochondria came from, but the best solution out there now is that mitochondria were once separate organisms from cells, something along the lines of a type of bacteria or archaea. Scientists believe that a prokaryote ancestor of mitochondria was consumed by a eukaryotic cell at some point in time, and the prokaryote and eukaryotic cell developed a symbiotic relationship. Through evolution, the prokaryote eventually lost characteristics that it did not need outside of its function in the cell, and became what we now know as the mitochondrion. This being just a theory, it does not guarantee that this is where mitochondria came from, but as of now, it's our best guess that can explain the properties of mitochondria and its behavior in the cell.

Biodiversity offsetting is when a loss in biodiversity is then compensated for by a gain. This should result in no net loss at a minimum and if possible lead to a net gain in biodiversity. This loss in biodiversity is often due to human activity such as development. Biodiversity offsetting can be measured by measuring the species richness and species evenness. As an undergraduate student that is majoring in Biology with a focus on ecology, special attention is given to biodiversity. Biodiversity is a major determinant to the overall function and dynamics of ecosystems. Biodiversity can be measured using the Shannon-Wiener Index. When discussing a loss in biodiversity that is supplemented by a gain, a controversial question comes into view. Is it morally correct to experience a loss caused by human development that is replaced by a supplemental gain even if that gain is not the same as what was lost? In the grand scheme of things biodiversity in itself is what is important, not the individuals that make up the whole. Ultimately, this means that biodiversity offsetting should be measured by species richness as well as species evenness.

From personal experience and random polling of people I have come in control with, I have noticed that it is more likely that someone with peanut allergies is male and not female. Off the top of my head, I can only think one a single girl I have met with a peanut allergy, and she developed that one later in life due to a hyperactive immune system disease that caused her to become allergic to almost all foods she ate. However, I know Steven, Anthony, Jack, and the list goes on of males that are all allergic to peanuts and seem to have either had the allergy since birth or developed it in a moment that compromised their immune system. For example, Anthony claims to have become allergic to nuts after a dog licked his face as child. Steven has born with a deathly allergy to peanuts. 

I began to research why this is, thinking that it may somehow be a gender-linked trait that is recessive X chromosome and therefore men, having a single X chromosome, would be more likely to inherit it and show the phenotype. Upon beginning to unveil the traits and data found in various articles, the trend seems to be more deeply connected to sociology than genetics. A study by Kotz et. al. that examined data of peanut allergy diagnoses collected in England between the years 2001 and 2005 found trends of socioeconomic and gender biases in the diagnosis processes. The rates and percentages of peanut allergies have been previously reported, but now the question is who with the allergy is getting medically identified. It turns out, males are more likely to be diagnosed than females. This is besides the numbers of people who actually have the allergy. The study also used census data correlated with the postal code of the patient to calculate the relative deprivaties in the patients life based on local unemployment, homeownership values, and others. This showed that those in a more well-to-do area were more likely to be diagnosed with a peanut allergy than those with less opportunity. This may be controlled by a hidden variable of medical access and people with higher incomes are more likely to access medical treatment for minor allergic reactions than people with lower incomes are. 

Kotz, Daniel et al. 2011. Incidence, prevalence, and trends of general practitioner–recorded diagnosis of peanut allergy in England, 2001 to 2005

I am intrigued by psychology, even though I am a biology major. One thing I want to learn more about is anxiety. My mom has anxiety and I would like to know more about it. Firstly, there are many kinds of anxiety disorders. I wanted to only hghlight two as the list would be infinite to name all the anxiety types. The main one is general anxiety disorder.  This kind of disorder proves thatt the person will feel anxiety everyday or most days for at least 6 months. The things they will be anxious about can be anything, such as health, work, social interactions or just small thngs that happen during the day. These fears and anxieties can cause significant problems in areas of their life such as social interactions, grades, or athletic performance. Panic disorders on the other hands happen by panic attacks. These panic attacks come from tightness in the chest and the individual can just feel anxious for a triggering reason or it may be for no reason at all. During an attack, the individual may be screaming, trembling, shaking, hyperventilating, etc.