Writing in Biology - Section 1

Small aquatic ecosystems and wetlands are critical contributors to both freshwater biodiversity and ecosystem services (Williams et al., 2004; Verdonschot et al., 2011). In fact, ponds contribute the most to freshwater biodiversity, housing more species, more unique species, and more rare species than other small aquatic ecosystems (Williams et al., 2004). Only recently has this evidence come to light and with it has come a growing need to explore anthropogenic effects on small aquatic ecosystems, in order to reverse and prevent future damage to these oases of biodiversity (Biggs et al. 2016). Though the University of Massachusetts Amherst did collaborate with the MA Department of Environmental protection (MassDEP), MA Office of Coast Zone Management (MassCZM), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on a project to assess and monitor local aquatic ecosystem integrity, it was focused on forested wetlands, coastal salt marshes, and wadable fresh streams (web reference 1) and was designed to show that indices of biotic integrity (IBIs) could be developed directly from the empirical data (web reference 2). In this proposal we concentrate our research on ponds as their contribution to local biodiversity and anthropogenic stressors affecting their health have not yet been studied. We chose plant diversity as our first measure of ecosystem health due to it being a strong component of the biotic diversity parameter found in the ecosystem integrity (EI) framework (Müller, 2005) used by the European branch of the international long-term ecological research (ILTER) network to determine ecosystem health (Haase et al., 2018). In addition,the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) that uses essential biodiversity variables (EBVs) (Haase et al., 2018) to monitor changes in biodiversity on a global scale uses plant diversity as a key taxonomic parameter to measure community diversity (Schmeller et al., 2018). Thus, since plant diversity is a point of intersection between the two major frameworks that aim to determine ecosystem health, it is likely to serve as a strong indicator of the health of the small aquatic ecosystems that are the focus of this study.

Medical Athropology has a midterm assignment which involves writing a paper revolving around a sickness episode. This can involve me, or someone else. A sickness episode here means an experience with sickness an individual has, in this case trying to highlight not just the physical symptoms alone, but the process of disgnosis, treatment, and the concepts of sickness vs. disease. The differences between sickness, disease, and illness have been a main topic of the course so far. It focuses greatly on humanity and medicine, and how ethnomedicine should be a main part of the modern medical system across the world. 

I have decided to write about the struggles my mother, grandmother, and I have dealt with during our lives with endometriosis. It is often seen reoccuring every generation in families, suggesting is has a strong genetic predisposition. This disease has been increasingly more common in the last decade, not because of increased prevalance, but due to better diagnosis methods and the strive to have better practitioner-patient relationships. Endometriosis is a disorder where the tissue lining the inside uterus (the endometrium) grows in different locations in the body where it should not be growing. The disease can be divided into four stages, stage one being minor prevalence with few or no lesions, up to stage four in which the tissue has spread all over the body (not limited to the abdominal cavity) and has resulted in a multitude of lesions, wounds, and scars in these locations. Endometriosis was first identified by modern science in the mid 1800's, but was first described around 4,000 years ago. 

The mitigation of biological damage by economic and physical development is imperative as a method of conservation. As a biology major at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, I am well versed in the concepts of biodiversity and ecology. Through this experience, I have become familiar with the concept of a biodiversity index. This index is easily calculable, simply dividing the number of species in a set area by the number of individuals within that area. A simple calculation before a project is undertaken, followed by remediation of biodiversity to match or surpass this index after completion would be an easy regulation to enforce. Some, however, would rather tie biodiversity to an economic value, gaining conservation credits that they can then sell to biodiversity offsetting brokers. Not only is this method needlessly elaborate, it ultimately yields poor results and, as economical ecologist Clive L. Splash (2015) commented, "requires that society start bulldozing biodiversity"(p. 544). Tying biodiversity offsetting to a simple biodiversity index is not only a simpler, effective method of compensating for environmental damage to diversity, but vital if we truly seek to reverse the damage industry has done to our environment.

Spash, C. L. (2015). Bulldozing biodiversity: The economics of offsets and trading-in Nature. Biological Conservation, 192, 541–551. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2015.07.037

If two species are isolated due to a physical barrier, however, travel between the two sites remains viable the population is said to be a metapopulation. In other words two or more populations spatial separated with some level of interaction. Populations such as these face different challenges and are affected by factors differently to a classic population. Two variables can be measured of a metapopulation that is different from classic populations, C, and E. C is the colonization rate of the various patches of habitable land and E is the extinction rate of the populations. When C is greater than E then the metapopulation can survive for long periods of time. Any other relationship results in the eventual extinction of the population. When determining the relationship a metapopulation has scientists consider two factors. The first is Isolation. The degree to which a habitable patch is isolated from the rest of the patches will affect both the colonization and extinction rate. A highly isolated patch will have a much lower colonization rate due to it being hard to reach or find by immigrating individuals. Simultaneously, the extinction rate will be higher because a small isolated population is more susceptible to extinction events. The other factor as mentioned in the previous sentence is the size of the population at a specific location. 

Plant hormones, also known as phytohormones, act similarly to hormones found in animals. They can be peptides, steroids, or other small molecules that in some way affect responses in a plant. There are many factors hormones influence including growth, germination and cell fate, to name a few. After studying hormones and their pathways, we now know-how hormones originate and what their eventual outcomes can be. A hormone is initially synthesized, using a tightly regulated system, at a specific spot in the plant. The synthesis tends to occur near the areas of use. After synthesis a plant may conjugate the hormone to inactivate and store it for later use instead of having it degraded and needing to produce another later. Once created the hormone needs to be transported to where it will be used. The plant uses both transport through the phloem and xylem, as well as transport proteins between cells. This way the hormone can travel larger distances and cover local patches. Once at the targeted site, a receptor specifically designed for the molecule will bind and activate. The activation causes a signaling chain that eventually reaches an effector which responds to this stimulus. A response could be genomic and induce transcription to produce a change or an activation/ inactivation of pre-existing proteins. 

When plants form leafy branches, the branch grows from the base of an axillary bud. This bud contains an axillary meristem that drives cellular division at the base of the branch and grows it outwards. This is an iterative process that repeats hundreds of times and allows plants to have multiple sets of the same organs. Because every branch happens near the axillary bud on the stem of the plant, the location of branches is very predictable. In roots, branching occurs very differently. Roots only have the apical meristem at the end of the root and do not contain axillary meristems to grow branches. Instead, in roots the branches grow out from the stem of the root from the pericycle tissue in the vasuclarture of the root. This causes branching patterns in root to be highly unpredicatable as they do not reply on a specific stem cell organ to cause the branching. Also, root hairs are created from single cells that grow out in organized directional growth to increase the surface area of the root, increasing with it the ability to uptake water and nutrients. 

Group think is a type of thinking that occurs when people place more importance on maintaining group cohesiveness than on assessing the facts of the problem with which the group is concerned. This involves different types of group behaviors under this umbrella. For example, group polarization is the strengthening of shared beliefs. People who discuss shared views will come to believe in them more strongly-this can be positive or negative (ex. if the beliefs involve violence)
Groups tend to do things that individuals wouldn't usually do. Other types of group behavior include deindividualization or a lack of individual responsibility that comes from being in a crowd. This is sometimes referred to as Mob Mentality.

Compliance is the changing of ones behavior as a result of other people directing or asking for the change. There are ways to gain compliance like the “in the door technique.” This is the act of asking for a small commitment and, after gaining compliance, asking for a bigger commitment. People are more likely to say yes to something bigger if you say yes to something small first.

When standing, because of gravity, blood pools at the feet due to the generation of hydrostatic pressure. Thus, blood does not return to the heart as quickly. End diastolic volume decreases (EDV). If this decreases, then cardiac output decreases because Q = HR * SV (EDV-ESV). Blood pressure also drops because (BP = Q * TPR). This leads to less flow because flow is proportional to a change in pressure / resistance - decreased flow to brain. As a result the pressure is higher in the heart. All these events decrease O2 (oxygen) delivery to brain. This is why we pass out because of lack of oxygen in the brain. We c prevent fainting by using our skeletal muscle pump (by wiggling toes, bending knees slightly, etc.). This skeletal muscle pump will generate more pressure and restore our end diastolic volume and reverse the effects.

During human embryonic development, the brain forms from the walls of the neural tube. The human proto-brain is divided into four sections: the forebrain, the midbrain, the hindbrain, and the spinal cord. The forebrain is the largest section and forms two distinct structures, the telencephalon and the diencephalon. The telencephalon is the largest of the two and goes on to form the cortex that wraps around the diencephalon and midbrain sections in the fully developed brain. The diencephalon goes on to form the group of structures commonly known as the brain stem, composed of the thalamus, the hypothalamus, and the basal telencephalon. In addition to these grey matter structures, the developing brain forms the inner capsule. The inner capsule is a group of white matter - myelinated axon bundles - continuous with the cortical white matter that connects the thalamus to the cortex. Another important white matter structure is a commissure known as the corpus callosum that is an important link between the two hemispheres of the brain. The midbrain is made of the tectum and the tegmentum, which are responsible for a lot of auditory and visual reflexes. Through it runs the cerebrospinal aqueduct that transports cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) between the brain and spinal cord. As for the forebrain, the hindbrain can be split into two sections. The rostral-most section contains the cerebellum, our motor control centre, and the pons, which serves as a relay centre between the forebrain and the cerebellum. The caudal-most section contains the medulla, which switches signals between the body and the brain from ipsilateral to contralateral. Lastly, the spinal cord is composed of the dorsal horn, the intermediate zone, and the ventral horn. These grey matter structures are all involved in the relay of signals between the body and the brain. The dorsal horn is involved in signal reception, the intermediate zone is largely composed of interneurons and serves as a relay point, and the ventral horn is the location of efferent neurons that carry information to effector organs in the body such as muscles.