Drafts

The number, complexity, and arrangement of spider eyes vary across spider families and often correlate with behavior. In addition, the size and organization of the visual processing regions of the protocerebrum also vary (Long 2019). The structural and functional unit of the nervous system of spiders, like other animals, is a neuron. Additionally, the spider central nervous system is composed of discrete synaptic regions called neuropils and the inside of the neuropil is comprised of nerve fibers and glial components. The central nervous system of spiders is composed of two major regions called the supra-esophageal and sub-esophageal regions (Barth 2002; Strausfeld 2012). The supra-esophageal region is considered to be the brain of the spider and it consists of the protocerebrum and the deutocerebrum. The sub-esophageal region is comprised of tritocerebrum and leg ganglia (Strausfeld 2012). In addition, the sub-esophageal region contains afferents from all sensory systems except the eyes (Barth, 2002; Strausfeld, 2012). Moreover, this is the largest region of the spider central nervous system. For example, in Cupiennius salei, the sub-esophageal region makes up about 85% of the total central nervous system (Barth, 2002). The protocerebrum contains the optical lobes that receive information from the spider’s eyes. Among them, the most important are structures called the central body, proto-cerebral bridge and paired mushroom bodies. All of them receive information from various sensory and motor cells. The input of information into the protocerebrum from the rest of the central nervous system supports the idea that it serves as an integration center (Babu and Barth, 1984).

The study of the nervous system of spiders has long been one of the central problems of natural science. The birth of studying the spider central nervous system is dated back to 1890, the year that the brilliant work of Saint Remy laid its foundations. His work described the central nervous system of the labidognath family of spiders (Remy 1890). Moreover, in the 1920s, Hanström applied the Golgi staining technique to study the spider brain. He noticed that spider visual neuropils varied greatly in size and organization (Hanström 1921). Furthermore, Hanström claimed that the spider brain and insect brain have shared neural structures. This idea of brain homology can still be found in current literature today (Babu 1965, Bullock and Horridge 1965, Firstman 1954, Legendre 1959). In addition, Legendre has given a comprehensive study of the brain morphology and development of spiders (Legendre 1965). However, early 20th century researchers, such as SaintRemy, Hanström, and Legendre were limited by techniques and sample quality (Long 2019). 

When you think about football, you think about speed, strength, reaction time, coordination and so much more but do you think about looks? Attractiveness has nothing to do with a players ability to throw, catch or run but a study by the new york times found that “attractiveness” has a positive impact salary stating that attractive players could look forward to an 8 percent increase in pay (“Pretty-Boy Quarterbacks”). Attractiveness matters so much that players like Kerry Collins had salaries that did not reflect their skills but certainly their attractiveness (“Pretty-Boy Quarterbacks”). So how is it that a player who has a higher quarterback rating, higher number of passing yardage (distance they throw the ball over time) and more touchdowns for attempt seems to be paid less than a more attractive athlete if they are objectively deemed better by NFL analyst like Brian Billick who breaks down stats for a living (“Draft a QB”). Through our project we hope to come to a clearer understanding of the effect of attractiveness on salary if any and furthermore if it plays a bigger role than a players skill in areas like QB ratings and touchdowns per attempt. We will do this through comparing a players salary, attractiveness and a handful of skills to see if more attractive players make more money than less attractive players with more skill with all of our data coming from the excel sheet. Whether or not there is a correlation can prove to destroy the misconception that money equates to overall skill. Understanding the relationship between attractiveness and salary can help the managers understand how to make better use of their teams funds. Why use that money on good looking athletes instead of using it on talent to strengthen their teams? 

Precipitation is something that most people regularly experience in their day-to-day lives. While most view it as an annoyance or hinderance, life would not be possible without it. Precipitation is a key step in the water cycle and is a direct result of water evaporation. Precipitation can come in different forms, depending on different weather and atmospheric conditions. In a climate that is above the freezing point of water, rain will be the form of precipitation; however, in cold environments such as New England during the winter, snow is very common. As the weight of the water in the clouds becomes too much, water starts to fall to Earth's surface, and with the temperatures at freezing or below, the water becomes ice crystals and falls as snow. If conditions are particularly windy near the clouds, the ice that falls can be blown back up and collect more ice and keep repeating this until it is too heavy to be blown back up, this is hail. Precipitation can be dangerous, but we should never take it for granted.

Hello,

My name is Mariam Labib, and I am a junior presenting to you the Effect of Air Quality on Lichens in Different Areas of the Forest. I will start off by speaking to you about the background as well as methods. My classmates and I went to a secluded area filled with trees, bushes, etc right behind Orchard Hill Residents Halls. We walked across a road which then led into a forest. We then created a plot which was three meters into the forest. Within this plot, we had put flags around the edge to make sure we respect the guidelines of our project. We then took a 1 meter measuring tape, we started at the bottom of the tree and went up 1 meter. We then split the task, and each person counted how many lichens there were in a 5x5-inch metal grid. We repeated this until the grids filled up the one meter. It is important to note we made sure that we took these measurements on each “north side” of every tree, as per the Lichens Textbook found in Professor Brewer’s office, this is what was noted. We repeated this in the second plot which was 20 meters into the forest. Our hypothesis was that there would be more lichens in an area 20 meters deep into the forest, as it has less disturbances such as gas rising from cars from the road, thus having better quality of life for the lichens to grow and populate. We found that the trees which were 20 meters deep into the forest had more lichens, thus proving our hypothesis. Additionally, our p value was small which indicates it is significant. Overall, it was a very successful project. In the future, I believe there are many modifications that can be done to have a larger difference in our results, but this is a great step forward in the research area of lichens! 

We have all heard of Gentically Modified Organisms. Recent developments in the science community have allowed recombinant technologies to be used to create new vaccines. In the past decade, there has been a significant increase in the number of medications produced to prevent infections and diseases. Before any product is released, it must be tested to ensure the quality, safety and efficiency of the product when used on humans. Few countries are trying to legalize the use of genetically modified organisms in their vaccines. The use of GMOs in vaccines is to enhance the immune response against the infectious agent or tumor cells. The GMO used in chosen on a case by case basis to ensure that appropriate evaluations can be determined after. GMO regulation is very complex and requires a lot of trials. The hope is that these GMO vaccines can be used to treat HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and other emerging diseases in the future. 

            Some successful vaccines have been released in Europe, including the Dengvaxia vaccine. Dengvaxia, is a GMO vaccine, used to prevent the dengue disease, a mosquito borne viral disease. This virus causes 20,000- 25,000 deaths each year, mainly children, and can infect a person more than once in their lifetime. In the past multiple vaccines were usually needed to prevent infections. The dengvaxia vaccine was developed by using a strand of the yellow fever vaccine as a vector, which was then genetically modified to express different genes. 

Global warming is a rapidly increasing phenomenom. Many people choose not to believe that global warming exists, citing phrases like "Why is it snowing then?" and "It doesn't feel warmer" as arguments for how global warming is not occurring. Instead of entertaining these ideas, the more all-encompassing term used is climate change. Climate change references general changes in weather patterns, warming and cooling of large areas over long periods of time, increases in natural disasters, and the greenhouse effect's. Trends that have been proven scientifically and reserached by many highlight the patterns that are causing and increasing the effects of climate change. All levels of greenhouse gases are rising and temperature trends are increasing steadily by 0.2 degrees centigrade or more.

Hello,

Our project was the analysis of different HOX genes in humans and aquatic species to identify the relation between the organisms and the history in their evolution. We started our research project based off of group 5's proposal, but adjusted it to our own project by selecting different HOX genes and organisms to investigate based on those with the HOX genes of interest available in the nucleotide database on the NCBI website. We decided to investigate HOXC6, 10, and 12 in Humans, Zebra fish, Long-finned pilot whale, Orca, and others as seen here in one of the phylogeny trees. After obtaining the DNA sequences for these genes and inputting them into the MEGA software for analysis and building of the trees, we discuss how the trees demonstrate the relationships between the different species and also show the evolutionary history based on how early the branches diverge on the scale.

The religious violence then came not too long after the political violence. President Hosni Mubarak has urged Egypt's Muslims and Christians to stand united against terrorism after a bombing outside a church in Alexandria in 2011. At least 21 people were killed and 70 hurt in the suspected suicide attack, which happened during a New Year's Eve service at the al-Qiddissin Church. You may have thought this violence would reside but on 11 December 2016, a suicide bomber killed 29 people and injured 47 others at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church (commonly known as El-Botroseya Church). Another example being 2017, where bombs went off at two Coptic Christian churches in Egypt on April 9th, killing more than 40 people and injuring dozens of others. The attacks occurred on Palm Sunday ― one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks, which were aimed at a vulnerable religious minority on one of the most important days on the Christian calendar