Blogs

This article discussed the effect of the Asian Zika virus on the infected individuals specifically the negative effects it induces in the blood of pregnant women. Monocytes are a specific type of white blood cells found in blood. They are considered immunomodulators, which simply means that they play an essential role in the immune defense system. These monocytes, specifically the CD14+ Monocytes seem to be the top target of African- or Asian- lineage Zika viruses. The accessibility of the targeted monocytes becomes heightened in the blood of infected and pregnant individuals, leaving them more susceptible to the virus and its effects. Most specifically Asian-lineage Zika resulted in an immunosuppression of monocytes and a shutdown of the interferon signaling pathway. Both of these effects can lead to serious birth complications due to the resulting expression of host genes that are normally left unexpressed. The overall goal of the article is to illustrate the similar and different effects of the different lineages of the Zika virus, specifically in the pregnant population.

Another example of modern convergent evolution is human adaptation to tropical rainforests. Tropical rainforests are harsh environments for humans. They are marked with high pathogen activity, high temperatures and abundant rainfall, as well as ferocious animals. This type of unforgiving environment likely resulted in human adaptations in response to selective pressures. Researchers studied 660,918 SNP’s looking for outliers in populations living in a tropical rainforest and genetically related populations living outside of the tropical rainforest in Africa, North America and South America. “The most significant positive selection signals were found in genes related to lipid metabolism, the immune system, body development, and RNA Polymerase III transcription initiation. The results are discussed in the light of putative tropical forest selective pressures, namely food scarcity, high prevalence of pathogens, difficulty to move, and inefficient thermoregulation (Carlos Amorim et al., 2015).” Researchers identified seven clusters in five separate chromosomes that show positive selection for potential rain forest adaptations. Two of the clusters only showed evidence of positive selection in North America and South America. Two other clusters only showed evidence of positive selection in Africa. The other three clusters were found in both continents. This is clear evidence of convergent evolution in modern human history.

I took Statistics 240 last semester, fall of 2017 with Joanna. I also took the honors section of the class to receive an extra credit for slightly more work and meeting time. First we learned about basic things such as stem and leaf plots, which I had learned about previously, and basic linear relationships within statistics. We then moved on to understanding the normal curve. We did probability and related it to the normal curve by asking "what percentage of the time will this happen" and placed possibilities into percentiles. We also studied t and z tables and found that correlation does not equal causation. Oftentimes, when it appears that two variables correlate, it is because of a lurking variable or a confounding variable, and not because one causes the other. We studied chi square tests and learned when to accept and when to reject a null hypothesis. Statisitcs is a form of sciene is is used all the time in science. Without statistics, there would be no quantitive way to back up data or hypotheses. 

Overall, differences in ruffle presence and motility rate between the two cell types are likely due to differences of the roles they play in their environment. Fibroblasts’ role in comprising connective tissue make cell motility necessary for proper function of tissues. B16 melanoma cells divide and spread uncontrollably, so relative rapid motility is not a necessary quality for these cells to have.

Melanoma (B16) and fibroblast cells (NIH 3T3) were placed on a heated plate at 37°C. Using phase contrast microscopy at 40X magnification, multi-D acquire in ImageJ was employed to create movies of snaps taken of the live cells every 5 seconds for 95 intervals, creating seven minute movies. Time-lapse data was then analyzed observationally and quantitatively.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences and similarities in membrane ruffling of fibroblast cells (NIH 3T3) and melanoma cells (B16). Membrane ruffling involves the formation of newly polymerized actin filaments at the cell surface creating lamellipodia, which extend and allow the cell to actively migrate. Examining differences in quantity and frequency of ruffle formation can provide rationale for differences in roles that each cell type plays.

The methods section also did not specify certain details which led to differences in the panels. The exact angle of the photograph was not in the methods which is likely the cause for the different frames for the pictures; more plants to the side and seeing the ground are included because of this. The format for the panels was not specified so the letters were in different locations and different sizes, the panels were in a different order and the spacing between panels were different. The equipment used was not specified so the pictures could have different coloring from different cameras used and the ruler was not the same. The only thing specified about the map was that it was done on inkscape; the differences in map outline chosen, different red shading and red box used as a key in Fig. 1 were not in the methods. And the label in Figure 2 panel A seems to not belong to that map, possibly from the template used from the other students map.

In Florida, where this case happened, Do Not Resuscitate orders are required outside hospitals to be signed by both a physician and the patient. Inside hospitals however, doctors can speak to a patient or the patient’s family and friends to determine the patients wishes. In most states, Do Not Resuscitate orders require either both the patient and doctors signature and may require an attorney on either side to write the order. D.N.R. orders are traditionally written on a yellow paper to make them unmistakable.

I took AP statistics in High school and it was honestly one of the hardest class I've ever taken so far in my life. I don't remember much to be completely honest other than means, median, and mode. I guess general terms I know are how the graph is determined and described. Unimodal, bimodal, and multimodal all describe the data. It can be in uniform as in symmetric, skewed, and also it can include an outlier which means that it is far off from the other points. I also remember having to calculate for IQRs for an exam. Z scores were also a huge part in Statistics class, I honestly couldn't tell you how they are calculated or what they are exactly. In college, I took Resource economics in place of Statistics so I wouldn't have to go through Stats again. I personally liked Resource economics better. I have no idea why introductory to statistics is required class for biology majors.

This past fall semester I was enrolled in Statistics 240 which was my second college statistics class and my first at Umass Amherst.  We began the semester talking about histograms, box plots, and stem and leaf plots which are all methods of organizing data.  Using these methods to manipulate data allows for clear relationship inferences when dealing with large amounts of data.  We also utilized chi squared tests to understand the relationships between numbers in a data set via observed and expected values.  Later on in the semester we studied binomial distribution, normal distributions, probability distributions, and used the Central Limit theorem when certain criteria were not met.  The course finished with a group project where we chose two variables to compare using Minitab as a statistical platform.  The project allowed for creativity when constructing how the data would be presented and what analytical tests would be performed on the data.  This statistics class at Umass built upon the previous knowledge I had from my statistics class taken during my associate's degree.  I have found that the methods of data analysis have been prevalent in many upper level biology classes I have taken.  I have seen countless examples of data manipulation in primary scientific literature and understanding when these methods are performed allows for a deeper comprehension of the literature.