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In this section, the factors that caused the differences observed are discussed. In the first paragraph, the factors that caused the formatting of the entire multipanel figure are described. The second paragraph focuses in on the specific individual figures, including figure A, B, and C of each of the two multipanel figures and describes the factors that caused the observed differences.

In this section, the differences that were observed are described and documented. In the first paragraph, the differences of the overall structure and formatting of the two multipanel figures are discussed.     In the next paragraph, the specific differences seen in both of the Figure A’s, the picture of the entire plant, are discussed. Lastly, the final paragraph discusses the differences seen between Figures B and C of the two multi-panel figures.

In Spring 2018, as part of the Biology Writing Course at the University of Massachusetts Amherst an experiment was conducted. This experiment focused on developing and following a methods section of an experiment report. In this experiment, students were tasked with creating a multi-panel figure consisting of three pictures, one picture of the entire plant, a close-up of the flower, and a map of the origin of the species. After the multi-panel figure was created, students wrote a methods section that described how the multi-panel figure was created. From there another student would follow the procedure and post a replicate multi-panel figure. I observed that the two different figures that were created were not formatted in the same way and the subject of interest in the pictures was not consistent.These differences suggest that the methods section did not specify the formatting of the multi-panel figure or the specific plant to take a picture of.

The Central Nervous System (CNS) is responsible for the bodies response to and immense amount of stimuli. A recent study has gone on to map the CNS in a highly dimensional single-cell procedure that has assisted in showing how the CNS has specialezed and specific immune cell subsets in order to respond to stimuli. The subsets include, but are not limited to, tissue homeostasis, immune defense and neurological diseases. This newly found highly dimensional procedure has proven very beneficial in mapping part of the brain and CNS that have never been seen or studied before. It has specifically helped in the study of the pathology of the specific subsets of immune cells, present in order to respond to specific stimuli. This new data may lead to immense adavancements in medicine, including treatments of debilitating neurological diseases, by identifying disease mechanisms, biological markers and possible thereapeutic targets. 

The difference in what objects were visible in panels A and B of the figures result from the lack of specificity of the angle in the methods. If the angle from which the original pictures were taken were included in the methods, more of the objects in the replicate pictures would have been more like those in the original. This is why there is more ground in Figure 1A than in Figure 2A along with more roof in figure 2A than in Figure 1A.  

There is a higher density of flowers in Figure 2B than Figure 1B because it is not specified in the methods which exact flowers on the trees should be photographed. This is why pictures of different flowers on the tree were taken for both figures. If the exact flower or flowers on the tree and the location was specified in the methods, Panel B in both figures would be more similar if not exactly the same.

Panels A and B from both figures have sunlight in them since they were taken around the same time of day. The differences in exposure and shadow are due to the different cameras used. Different cameras were used because the type of camera is not specified in the methods. If the exposure and shadow were the same in both pictures for both figures, the panels would not have different shades of colors from one another.

The difference in Panel C in both figures is due to misscoloring of the native origins by the person who followed the methods. This is because the coloring in Figure 2C matches the coloring in Figure 1C but it is not within the outlines of the native regions as it is in Figure 1C. If the matching coloring of Figure 2C matched that in 1C, the maps of Figure 1C and 2C would be the same.

The label fonts of the panels are different in both figures because the methods does not specify the type of font. The location of the panels are different in both figures because the methods does not specify where to put the panels in respect to being above or below the labels. The methods only specifies within the left or right of directions of the labels. This is why the panels in Figure 2 are to the right of and below the panel labels. This is unlike the panels in Figure 1 which are only to the right of the panel labels. The figures would be more identical if the location of the panels had more clarity.

The panels in Figure 1 are more narrow than those in Figure 2 since the methods does not specify exactly what the length and width of the panels should be. The methods only specified the length and width of the map image in Panel C. If the length and width of the panels were specified, the figures would look more identical overall regarding the layout.   

This project called for the creation of a multipanel figure depicting a flower on campus in its occurring habitat. The purpose behind implementing this project allows for participants to learn the importance behind replicating another experiment, which is plays a large role in science. If the project or experiment contains a well structured, organized, and detailed methods section, those who are replicating the project will easily be able to follow the instructions presented and with great effort replicate the exact outcome gotten from the original model.

What I learned in Statistics

                I had the opportunity to take statistics (stats) twice in college because I transferred schools. Both classes were geared towards science majors and had very similar goals. The first stats class that I took was team-based and they wanted students to get a good understanding of data collecting and understanding data distributions. The second class I took was online and was taught its students the general concepts of stats and how they can be applied to understand and organize data sets. Both classes have been applicable to many of my biology classes such as ecology, genetics, and general biology. The skills from stats that I used included finding the standard deviation, calculating the probability, understanding p values, and learning how to use programs like Microsoft Excel. In the advancing times, we are living in taking a stats class is incredibly important to anyone in the biology field.

The methods project showed the importance of a detailed methods section in a scientific paper, and the importance of how the methods section is formatted to present this information. In this project, I created a figure and wrote a methods section on how I created the figure. Then I had someone try and recreate my figure based on only my methods section. The differences in the figures in this paper can best be explained by a lack of detail in the methods section and the creator of the replicate not fully reading the methods section.

The main factors considered for creating the methods to facilitate replication of the figure include time and location. The plant was found in the Durfee Conservatory on campus which is open only from 10am - 4pm on weekdays. Other factors consisted of the type of camera, from where exactly the pictures should be taken, and what objects were in the pictures. This was to get the most identical pictures possible from the person following the methods. The location of the labels were considered along with which pictures should go where in the figure. In attempt to get same exact looking native origins map, the type of map, width and length of the map, and the filling color of the countries were taken into consideration.

In Spring 2018, as part of the Writing in Biology Course at Umass Amherst, students had to complete the Methods Project. The students had to partner up to follow each others’ methods. The methods were the steps needed in order to create a figure with three panels. The panels had to include an image of a flowering plant, a close-up of the flower or flowers of the plant, and a map of the native origins of the plants. I chose to do the figure on a flower called Camellia Japonica. The reasons for the choosing the selected flowering plant include its location and appearance. The plant was easy to access because of its location on campus which was the Durfee Conservatory. The plant was easy to find within the conservatory due to its bright pink flowery look that stood out to the eye.