nkantorovich's blog

The amount of sun exposure varies between areas of high elevation and low elevation; in addition to flat areas. Using basal area and density as a measure of above ground biomass is important to ecology in predicting different types of plant growth and development within a variety of ecosystems (Chuang, et al. 2019). In general, south-facing slopes have a higher sun exposure than north-facing slopes; leading to a shorter growing season for north-facing slopes and a longer growing season for south-facing slopes (Whiting et al, 2003). The biomass of certain species is determined by a variety of abiotic and biotic factors, specifically solar radiation, and soil nutrients on a slope (Chuang, et al. 2019).Biomass and density of plants is also directly affected by the topography of the landscape that they are planted on. A study conducted on the effects of topography and landforms on the understory of a pine forest in subtropical China concluded that topography and soil properties contributed to 60 percent of the variations in the understory biomass (Xiaodong et al, 2019).

The topography of an area has a major influence in generating patterns in vegetation. There is scientific evidence showing that the topography of landscapes affects the growth rate and biomass production of plant species, specifically trees (Whiting et al. 2003). The topography of these areas, coupled with varying amounts of sunlight affects the density and the basal area of these tree species. It has been proven that areas that receive more sunlight have higher rates of photosynthesis and therefore higher rates of overall productivity (Whiting et al. 2003).  The effects of sun exposure is a large factor in total plant growth due to topographic differences.

This was also conducted on male mouse which show body weight fluctuations less obviously than women. The results of the study could have shown different results if it was done with female mice. Energy is very important for the function of our body, especially the brain. For example, if there is not enough glucose then action potentials cannot fire. Now what happens if you have an excess of energy, we would want to activate aMSH. If we are in the opposite situation, we would want to inhibit AgRP. Leptin is expressed in proportion to the amount of fat that you have. It has the ability to activitate aMSH or inhibit AgRP. ob/ob mutants are not able to activate the aMSH but also not inhibit the AgRP. Now lets say this was done to a Pomc neuron. This would cause the Pomc neuron to die and now the aMish neuron would not turn off satiety. Therefore they would never feel satiated. There was an increase in the amount that they ate but their phenotype in body weight changed much more slowly.

If you administered hDTR, known as deferiotoxin, to a mouse they would not respond. This is because the mouse is not responsive to human virus. The best way to get the virus into the mouse, would to package it into a virus shell and inject it into the mouse. The result from this injection would be the expression of Agrp, which would become infected with this toxin. For some background, Agrp inhibit the MCAR which shuts down the satiety neuron, which drives hunger. The phenotype of this injection would be lead for the receptor The hDTR would not connect to Agrp neurons and cause them to go through apoptosis. This would lead to a decrease in body weight. AgRP shuts off satiety neuron, which tells you that you’re full. This causes the mouse to stop eating and die of starvation. They feel satiented the whole time as there is not a receptor to shut it off. Within five days their food intake drops to 20% of the amount that they initially consumed. 

There are three ways the hypothalamus responds to sensory signals and maintains homeostasis. Humoral response stimulate or inhibit release of hormones through the pituitary. Visceromotor responses adjust the balance within the autonomic nervous system and the somatic motor response which stimulate behavior through the somatic system. There are many gene techniques to access the brain some of which include; are cre-expressing mouse lines and delivering viruses to anatomically to specific locations. These processes let us artificially manipulate the genes in the brain to see how they express themselves. In addition, we can do tract tracing by delivering engineered genes into the brain. In this way, we can activate neurons and turn them off to see how they affect behavior. We can then analyse the behavior that comes from this modification. Neurobio used to be based on just ecological literature but now we can add both the literature and these experiments to come to a clearer conclusion. Body weight regulation starts with looking at certain genes which are very rare. Mutations of the leptin gene lead to inability to control body weight. Deb gene is a gene that affects body weight. Diabetes is not only a genetic disorder but it is polygenic, multiple genes associated with each other. These genes need external influence to become completely expressed.

The design of this poster is dynamic and colorful. It has an attractive design with a clear green theme throughout. The flow of the poster is easy to follow and it organized in separate columns. All of the objects are lined up consistently and each column looks the same size. The color throughout the poster is captivating and flows throughout the layout. The font size is too small in comparison to the images and it makes it difficult to read all of the text. The font itself is easy to read and a good choice. 

The writing in this poster is organized in paragraphs and in simple sentences. There are no grammatical, spelling or typographical errors that can be observed. The language in this poster is simple yet informative. There is a nice ratio of data points to text in this poster. The word count in this poster is not overwhelming. It is dispersed throughout the poster and not clustered in one location.

The content of this poster is easy to understand and informative. The Introduction paragraph gives the reader enough background needed to understand the rest of the poster. There are also sentences beneath every image to give the reader the context of each image. The data is presented in measures of central tendencies and descriptive statistics. These can be observed throughout the poster. There is no raw data present in this poster. The bitmapped graphics were high resolution and easy to see clearly. The vector objects were also crisp and sharp. The materials copyrights were managed neatly and are easy to observe at the bottom of the poster. The poster is persuasive as it is informative, clearly organized and formatted well.

When a patient complains of a headache, there are many different ways to respond. In many cases, the headache can be non-life threatening as millions of Americans experience headaches. There are three main types of headaches: tension, migraines and sinus headaches. An interesting fact, the brain itself does not have any pain receptors. This means that the pain coming from a headache is actually pain that is being picked up by facial or neck receptors not the actual brain. A tension headache can be due to stress and are caused by muscle contractions of the head or the neck. A migraine is said to be caused by changes in blood vessel size and can be described as being a pounding or throbbing pain. A sinus headache is caused by pressure in the sinus cavities, due to a buildup of fluid. Now, these are not concerning headaches and do not require emergency care. A headache that comes suddenly and causes changes in levels of consciousness are worrying signs. The main concerns for serious headaches include meningitis, hemorrhage, stroke or brain tumor. If you are in a location where more than one person is experiencing a headache, this could be due to carbon monoxide poisoning. All of these cases need immediate emergency transport and care. 

The foramen magnum is the opening in the back of the skull where nerves connected to the brain exit to connect to the spinal cord. There are 12 main nerves that are connected directly from the brain to certain organs. The rest all go to the spinal cord where their messages are sent. The anatomy of this area is organized in this order: cerebrum, cerebellum, brain stem, foramen magnum and spinal cord. Connected to each vertebrae are 2 nerves that send messages to that area of the body. There are many conditions that can cause issues that can cause brain dysfunction and these can be observed in a patient's speech or level of consciousness. The brain is very sensitive to changes in oxygen, glucose and temperature. Slight changes in any of these three areas can have catastrophic effects on the brain. An example can be seen when a patient is in cardiac arrest. Their blood flow stops and they will enter into a comatose state in which brain damage can occur in seconds.

Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States and causes a large portion of Americans to become disabled. The signs and symptoms of a stroke can vary from person to person. Certain races and ethnicities raise the odds of having a stroke. This can be better understood when diving into the anatomy of the brain. The brain is divided into three major parts; the brain stem, the cerebellum and the cerebrum. The brainstem controls basic functions of the body such as breathing, blood pressure and swallowing. The cerebellum controls muscle and body coordination and the cerebrum controls complex tasks. The cerebrum is separated into three different parts. The front part controls thoughts and emotions, the middle part controls sensation and movement and the back part controls sight.