Writing in Biology

Post Lab Questions:

1. Trimyristin is a saturated fat because saturated fat contains no carbon at all. Monounsaturated contain only one carbon double bond as polyunsaturated fats contain two or more.
2. In a crystallization process, if it is cooled too fast then smaller crystals are formed compared to slow cooling that has bigger crystals. Quick cooling causes impure and defiled crystals as compared to slow cooling that has more pure crystals.
3. To calculate stearic acid upon hydrolysis of 1.8 g of tristearin, take the moles of tristearin. 1.8 / 891.48 = 0.002 moles. Then multiply by 3 to get 0.006 moles. Then multiply by the molecular mass of staeric acid which is 284.5 g/mol to get 1.7 g of stearic acid.
4. Heating up a mixture for a long period can boil the mixture speeding up the reaction time. Also, the mixture will mix well as it boils.
5. Heating something at not so high temperature for 45 minutes will just separate the compounds in the mixture itself.

            In this lab, nutmeg was used to form trimyristin via extraction, filtration, recrystallization to simply withdraw or isolate it from nutmeg. Trimyristin with sodium hydroxide and water can form glycerol, sodium myristate, and myristic acid as seen in the reaction scheme. The first step of this lab experiment was to measure and weigh ground nutmeg (1 g). Being precise is better so exact 1 gram was taken. In a flask, with nutmeg, tert-butyl methyl ether (3 mL) was added to boil for 10 minutes. After distilling them, boiling them, and filtrating them first set of crystals were formed as a solid in a yellowish substance should form. This is called the crude trimyristin which about 0.622 g of the crude was obtained. Then acetone, sodium hydroxide, and ethanol were added to obtain crystals. 170 mg of crystals were obtained. When it was recrystallized the second time, only about 102 mg of crystals were obtained or recovered back. There were three majors parts to this lab experiment. First being extraction, second being recrystallization of trimyristin, and then lastly hydrolysis. After evening hours or overnight drying, the final weight of the crystals was 0.051 g with the melting point of 50-52. To find the % yield, theoretical of 0.170g x 1 mol / 723.16 then multiply by 3 mols and then divided 0.051 by 0.161 then multiply by 100 to get percentage. It ended up being 31.68%.

 Trymyristin was isolated from nutmeg and the remaining product was hydrolyzed in an attempt to synthesize Myristic acid. The preparation process described in the procedure, the filtration process and recrystallization process were all followed successfully. The Trymyristin was synthesized with a 30.9% percent yield after one round of recrystallization and with a 38.5% percent yield after the second round. The Myristic acid was synthesized with a 40.32% percent yield. The compound synthesized at all stage of the experiment can be concluded to be the desired product and very pure because of the small range in the melting point observed. Although the Trymyristin that was recrystallized once has a wider range of melting I believe it is still pure and the wide range is due to human error within the procedure of melting the product.

I feel like you said this statement very well. A person cannot just blame their behaviors on their genes and in return people shouldn't blame others for everything because of their genes. People also shouldn't discriminate against others because of their genes. People should learn how to behave well in society in order to benefit themselves and others. They should get all the help they need and others should provide the help. People shouldn't discriminate and not help. 

I was also amazed at how we choose someone based on technically smelling their genes. I thought that it was natural to like someone who smelled good or a certain way. I didn't think it was because of their genes being different from you. I guess that's what made me agree with them since I personally feel that smell is a big factor in choosing a mate. I also think that genes make people act a certain way even if it's against their will. Maybe people who commit crimes actually don't want to commit them but have no choice because of their genetic makeup. Then again there are others who want to commit crimes despite not being forced. 

Posters looked at:

Study of water binding capacity, pH, chemical composition and microstructure of livestock meat and poultry

Human whole genome sequencing on Oxford Nanopore PromethION

The CINSARC signature predicts clinical outcome in multiple cancer types

Poster Do's:

• Include color
• Include figures, with figure labels 
• Include charts and graphs for modeling data, making it easier to read
• Use of bullets, numbering, and headlines to break up information and make it easier to read
• Use of large font 
• Not too large blocks of text, multiple smaller blocks
• Title should contain the essential amount of words
• Begin with abstract or introduction in upper left hand corner
• Authors names and references are included
• Clearly convey information in a short amount of time

Poster Don'ts:

• Large blocks of text 
• Small, illegible fonts
• Figures or images without labels
• A long, non-concise title
• No pictures or graphical representations of data
• Blocks of numbers
• Lack of headings or defined sections
• Too much color
• No authors or references
• Too long to read in under 5 minutes

Posters:

1. https://f1000research.com/posters/7-350 (Bioinformatics training and education: towards a sustainable global network)

—I was drawn in by this poster right away due to the rainbow color of the umbrella and how it was laid out clearly twice.

—Layed out nicely and separated in different boxes, grouping together like information

—Generally looks very cohesive as the boxes are all the same color, easy on the eye

—However, sections were not clearly labeled

—relatively simple and looks like it could take up more space

1. https://f1000research.com/posters/7-212  (The CINSARC signature predicts clinical outcome in multiple cancer types)

--very organized, each section is labeled clearly and the colors are consistent within their sections

—space is taken up but not overly crowded

—many diagrams, and many different types, many are very small (too small?)

—title could stand out more

3.https://f1000research.com/posters/7-202 (Trends in non-polio acute flaccid paralysis incidence in India 2000-2013)

—sections are clearly labeled

—uses only different shades of the same color, too monotone

—format is basically just columns and not very interesting to look at

Good Poster:

—sections clearly labeled

—colors are cohesive or consistent within their sections

—perfectly spaced and just enough information

Bad Paster:

—sections not clearly labeled

—title/topic does not stand out

—colors are scattered/clash and don’t please the eye

—overly crowded

—under-crowded

Blood Flow in the GI tract -
- aorta branches off mesenteric arteries that go into the intestins and spread along muscle bundles, into the intestinal viilli and into submucosal vessels under the epithelium to serve the secretory and absorptive functions of the gut
- during digestion, vasodilators are released, mostly peptide hormones like CCK, VIP, gastrin and secretin
- oxygen [ ] decreases in order to increase intestinal blood flow
Mitosis of differentiated intestinal cells accounts for much of the replacement, ~3 days -
- radiation causes a lot of harm to these cells b/c they are rapidly dividing
- countercurrent mechanism of the villis: arterial and venous flow, opposite directions and right next to each other allows for blood O2 diffusion ot of the arterioles into the adjacent venules w/o being carried in the blood to the tips of the villi
EX: during GI diseases, villi become damaged, leading to greatly diminished intestinal absorptive capacity
- also allows for rapid absorption of things going in and out of the liver
- stomach: storage, mixing and emptying, peristalic waves = “pyloric pump”
EX: gastrin increases activity of peristalic pump promotion of emptying of the stomach because it secretes highly acidic juice which stimulates motility
- note: pancreatic enzymes become active only when they come into contact w/ the acid in the chyme
- stomach “pseudo-sphincter: processes food, communicates w/ duodenum to control chyme transport
- when fat enters the duodenum, hormones (CCK) are released, and bind with receptors on the epithelial cells, CCK inhibits pyloric pump and increases pyloric sphincter strength contraction (fats are slower takes longer to digest)
- CCK then inhibits stomach motility that was initially caused by gastrin
- other inhibitors inc. secretin released from the duodenal mucosa in response to gastric acid that came from the stomach
- inhibitory hormones inhibit stomach emptying whn a lot of chyme (esp, acidic and fatty chyme) has entered the duodenum
EX: what do proton-pump inhibitors do to the stomach? – decrease acidity in the stomach leading to decreased functional ability of the duodenum
Mixing contraction in the SI -
- distension causes local peristalic contractions that are segmented in the SI
- promotes mixing w/ secretions in the SI
- even tho it is slow waves in the SM that cause segmentation contractions, these contractions are not as effective w/o other excitation, esp. from the myenteric nerve plexus
¬ caused by electrical slow waves – 12 contractions/min, 1cm
Propulsion -
- chyme is propelled thru the SI by peristaltic waves, slow from pylorus iliocecal valve
- peristaltic activity is increased by “gastroenteric reflex” that is initiated by stomach distension and conducted primary by the myenteric nerve plexus from the stomach to the SI
- but ALSO HORMONES – gastrin, CCK, insulin, serotonin enhance motility and are secreted at certain times
- but secretin and glucagon inhibit SI motility
¬ caused by peristaltic waves – 1cm/min, 0.5-2cm/sec

Today in class, we went around Morrill and visited several posters and "graded them". It was an interesting activity and has given me a better idea of what details are important and which aren't, what designs to have or not, and the rest of these factors:
- word count
- organization
- emphasizing key information
- flow
- spacing
- color scheme
- sections (title, abstract, intro, question, references, results, methods and materials, summary)
- font size

The poster should have a nice design and be nice to look at. This includes, contrast, balance, spacing, consistency in figure and color arrangement. Consistency is very important!! For example, the red over here means the same thing as the red over there? Pick the best font and size. Make sure organization roles are fulfilled and stay on track with the instructor's requirements and organization guidelines. Do you need both an abstract and an introduction? if you want your poster to stand alone then it is a good idea to have both. If you will be next to your poster the entire time then an introduction is sufficient. Create a concise flow. Do you need to label your figures? Make sure to upkeep expectations.