nkantorovich's blog

Before beginning a loss of function experiment, the exact location needs to be identified on the mouse brain atlas. Once this area is identified, the coordinates for this location will be calculated. The coordinates will be inputted into a sterotaxic device and a lesion will be made in the mouse. Once the lesion is made, the mouse will be observed for behavioral difference over a set period of time. At the end of the experiement, the mouses' brain will be collected and preserved with formadehyde. It with then be fixed, frozen and placed in a vibratome to be sliced into either a sagittal, coronal or horizontal samples. The sample will then be stained using IHC (immunohistochemistry). This will give scientists the ability to see exactly what happened in the brain during the experiment. 

Throughout history, there have been many different perspectives on brain function. The ancient Egyptians believed that the brain did not aid in any higher order function. During mummification, they would remove the brain as they thought it was an unecessary organ for the afterlife. They belived that conciousness, memory and soul was located in the heart and higher order functions travelled through the blood. This theory was adapted and altered by other scientific figures such as Andreas Vesalius, who  believed that brain fluid carried higher order functions throughout the body. Theories on brain function continued to arrise as neurobiology became a more popular area of study. Yet, it was not until the mid-1600s, when Thomas Willis officially coined the term neurobiology, that the study of the brain became a legitimized form of research. 

Figure 1. Image of male Turdus migratorius morning call. "Robin" Flickr photo by Richard Towell https://live.staticflickr.com/4111/5206897797_695ceec550_z_d.jpg shared under Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) licence.

Plasma cell dyscrasias is discussed in this article through the analysis of multiple myeloma. Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cells but of a certain type. When plasma cells begin to grow abnormally, they make a certain type of antibody and form a monoclonal paraprotein. They can be detected in the bone marrow and other tissues. The premalignant stage of multiple myeloma is characterized by the presence of the abnormal antibody, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). This antibody is present in 3-4% of normal individuals over the age of 50 years old and is only an issue if it progresses to multiple myeloma. The risk of MGUS progression to multiple myeloma increases by 10% in the first 5 years after diagnosis MGUS could also develop into a different plasma cell disorder as it is still an abnormal protein. This development could lead to disorders such as plasma cell leukemia or Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia. 

Multiparameter flow cytometry has become a standard in diagnosis and prognosis of patients with plasma cell disorders. New technology created a (NFG) or next-generation flow cytometry that measured characteristics of cells to detect minimal residual disease (MRD) in a cost effective way. This method could also be used to detect circulating tumor cells and recent cases has shown its success in detecting multiple myelomas. Paraproteins are a type of protein detected in the bone marrow and other tissues when cancer or other diseases are present. Specifically, when plasma cells begin to make an abnormal protein (monoclonal) this is a sign of myeloma.

Multiparameter flow cytometry is one of the main means of diagnosis of hematologic malignancies. It is a low cost and effective way to find any discrepancies in cells and target malignancies. It works by taking cells and placing them in a fluid stream and analyzing each cell using cytometry. Cytometry is the measurements of a cell through its characteristics such as size and shape. This device is able to use a laser to specifically analyze each cell and characterize if it is normal or abnormal. It can take only a few hours to analyze a sample making it an incredibly effective form of diagnosis.

Jelinek, T, et al. “Current Applications of Multiparameter Flow Cytometry in Plasma Cell Disorders.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 20 Oct. 2017, www.nature.com/articles/bcj201790.

• I woke up this morning. (5)

• I checked my phone. (5)

• I put on my contacts. (2)

• I got dressed. (10)

• I brushed my teeth. (5)

• I walked to the bus stop. (5)

• I got on the bus. (1)

• I walked to Frank. (5)

• I ate breakfast. (25)

• I walked to my physics class. (5)

• I took notes (50 min)

• I left my class (2)

• I walked to work. (5)

• I worked. (60)

• I left work (2)

• I walked to my Plant ecology class. (10)

• I took notes (50 min)

• I left that class (2)

• I walked to my Neurobio class. (10)

• I took notes (50)

• I left that class (2)

• I walked to MorrilI. (5)

• I bought a snack.  (5)

• I walked to my writing in Biology class. (5)

• I ate my snack in the BCRC.(5)

Categories

• Morning Activities

• Transportation throughout the day

• In-class Activities

• Eating on campus

• Transitions in the day

Transportation throughout the day:

Transportation takes up a large portion of my day. Walking is the primary form of transportation that I used on campus. I spent 50 minutes of my day today waking while I spent 10 minutes using other forms of transportation. I will list the breakdown of my day based on these forms of transportation. I walked to the bus stop and I got on the bus. I got off the bus at the first stop on campus and I walked to Frank. After a period of time, I walked to my physics class. At the end of my class, I walked to work. From there, I walked to my Plant ecology class. After that, I walked to my Neurobio class. At the end of that class, I walked to MorrilI II. From Morril II, I walked to my writing in Biology class.

The Monophagous leaf‐mining larvae of Stigmella (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae) on birch article is structured with a Level 2 title as it was bold with upper and lower case letters; centered on the left side. The other article was structured with a Level 1 title as it was centered and bold with upper and lowercase letters.  The structure of the sections play different roles in each article. In the Monophagous leaf‐mining larvae of Stigmella (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae) on birch article, the sections are structured in a more ideal scientific writing pattern. The article starts with an introduction followed by methods, two specific subsections, results and discussion. It is very organized and easy to find sections. Each section starts with a topic sentence that introduces what the section will be written about. The points in the sections also flow concurrently. There is not really a topic sentence for the subsections. There is a bolded line above each subsection to describe what will be talked about. The second article, Smart behavior of true slime mold in a labyrinth, was organized in a different way. It was a shorter article that was organized by topics that showed the progress of the experiment. It was less structured than the initial article and seemed more of a reflection than a scientific article. The sections followed the basic structure of introduction, background info and results but each new point was just separated into its own subsection. Both articles had different ways of formatting their information but they both included the same information for the articles. 

Each section starts with a topic sentence that introduces what the section will be written about. The points in the sections also flow concurrently. There is not really a topic sentence for the subsections. There is a bolded line above each subsection to describe what will be talked about. The second article, Smart behavior of true slime mold in a labyrinth, was organized in a different way. It was a shorter article that was organized by topics that the progress of the experiment. It was less structured than the initial article and seemed more of a reflection than a scientific article. The sections followed the basic structure of introduction, background info and results but each new point was just separated into its own subsection. Both articles had different ways of formatting their information but they both included the same information for the articles.  

The Monophagous leaf‐mining larvae of Stigmella (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae) on birch article is structured with a Level 2 title as it was bold with upper and lower case letters; centered on the left side. The other article was structured with a Level 1 title as it was centered and bold with upper and lowercase letters.  The structure of the sections play different roles in each article. In the Monophagous leaf‐mining larvae of Stigmella (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae) on birch article, the sections are structured in a more ideal scientific writing pattern. The article starts with an introduction followed by methods, two specific subsections, results and discussion. It is very organized and easy to find sections. Each section follows the next in a structured scientific writing way; it seems very by the book. By this, I mean it is very 5 paragraph MLA structured.