Drafts

When kids are about three years old, they are able to understand depth perception and visual illusions. If a researcher places a toy in a bucket, the baby will reach inside the bucket to retreieve the toy. The baby also understands quantity. If a resercher has grahm crackers and places one in a backet and two in a seperate bucket right next to each other, the baby will immediately go to the bucket containing two grahm crackers.  The baby doesn't understand the representation of quantity using numbers, but does understand that one bucket contains more than the other. Similarly, when kids get a little bit older (3-4) they are able to count to ten. This does not mean anything however, just that they can remember a series of words. When a researcher points to two pictures and asks which picture contains a certain number of dots, the child has no idea which is which. The kids are able to memorize a pattern, but don't understsand the meaning of the words. 

Photobleaching is an unavoidable phenomenon in fluorescent microscopy that occurs when a fluorophore in a fluorescently labeled specimen forms a covalent bond with another molecule. As a result the fluorophore can no longer decay to its original state and emit a photon. In this lab we tested for the rate of photobleaching under various conditions and with three types of fluorescent stains: DAPI, fluorescein, and rhodamine. The intensity of nuclei were calculated over varying exposure times and were analyzed. We concluded that the use of an automatic shutter and excitation filters greatly reduced the rate of photobleaching for all fluorescent stains. Our data also suggested that DAPI photobleached at the lowest rate compared to the other fluorophores. Overall, fluorescent microscopy is an efficient way to visualize specific targets given that proper precautions are taken to prevent photobleaching.

Lastly, we chose to identify the green architecture already present around our focal bodies of water as a measure of the importance of green architecture in local construction projects. The hydrological environment of urban areas is markedly different from natural catchments, and is generally characterised by faster runoff process, shorter travel time for rainwater, and increased runoff volume (Sokac, 2019). Green rooves have served as the primary method employed to attempt to bring the hydrologic characteristics of urban environments closer to their natural counterparts (Cook, 2007). However, even though green rooves are often used to control runoff, their effectiveness has not been intensively researched (Berndtsson, 2010). Thus, we aim to document sustainable architecture structures around local small aquatic ecosystems: firstly in order to have another indirect measurement of their integrity, and secondly so as to determine whether or not local construction projects follow the trend of a growing importance of green building apparent in the construction market as a whole (Ahn & Pearce, 2007). 

One way of addressing a potential lack in flora diversity around local small aquatic ecosystems has been to plant non-invasive, sustainable species as per the recommendations of the EBVs employed by GEO BON (Haase et al., 2018). In order to remedy deficiencies in the matter economy, ILTER’s EI framework has suggested that sustainable ecosystem conditions could be reestablished by reducing excess runoff and subsequently abnormal levels of nutrients and other molecules like phosphate, nitrate, and ammonia (Haase et al., 2018). Green architecture has been used as a way of bringing an aquatic ecosystem closer to its natural hydrological conditions by creating structures that reduce anthropogenic impact on ecosystem hydrology (Cook, 2007). Some of these sustainable architecture developments include: green rooves, green streets, permeable paving, and the use of bioretention/ biofiltration materials and spaces (Cook, 2007; Davis, 2009). As these methods have been previously applied to reduce anthropogenic effects on ecosystem integrity, they are good candidates for potential ways of ameliorating the health of local small aquatic ecosystems.

Medical anthropology encourages people to look at medicine from many different perspectives. Instead of relying solely on symptoms and treatment of those symptoms, medicine should consider the human side of illness, and take into the people or persons affected by it. Modern medicine is becoming increasingly personal, both technologically (treatments and evaluations based on the individual’s genes) and emotionally with a strive towards better practitioner-patient relationships. It is important to realize every person experience illness differently and as such treatment (regardless of its form) should cater to the individual and consider their emotions, environment, and personal characteristics. This unfortunately does not always happen in the modern world and individuals can feel lost the complex medical world. It is important to take into account the affects of family, society, religion, and culture on an individual's medical history and future. 

Genetic mutations are often associated with negative effects; however, not all genetic mutations are bad. The negative effects associated with genetic mutations include diseases like cancer, and are responsible for many genetic diseases, and in rare cases can happen without a genetic predisposition to do so. The random, non-inherited, genetic mutations are the ones that can play a big positive role in evolution and directly lead to speciation. For example, a mouse living in a sandy environment would mostly be a light tan color to blend in with the sand to avoid predation. Say a nearby volcano erupts and the hardened magma changes the landscape from light sand to dark rock. Surviving mice adapted for the sandy environment would stick out to a bird of prey flying overhead, and would not survive long. On the other hand, a mouse with a random mutation for black fur color would have a better chance of surviving and passing on the genes for black fur. Mutations can have effects that hurt you or help you, and should not be lumped under just one category. 

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