Writing in Biology

If an organism was poisoned with malathion, there would be major malfunction in the cholinergic neurons. Acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that is used both in the PNS and the CNS would be released from the neurons, and acetylcholinesterase would be taken out of the normal cycle where it breaks ACh down into its substituents. There would be an overabundance of acetylcholine binding to receptors, as it would continue to be released from nerve cells, and would never be removed from the synaptic cleft by acetylcholinesterase. This would cause a greater response and a continued response from the receptors, something that the nerve cell wasn’t intending.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common metabolic and endocrine disorder in premenoausal women. Recent studies have mounted evidence that PCOS is a disorder caused with strong environmental and epigenetic influences, including diet and other lifestyle factors.PCOS frequently appears in pair assocaition with metabolic disorders, cardiovascular risks, insulin resistance and obesity. This disorder does not require complicated treatments or extensive changes to ones life styles. Recent studys have found that the disorder requires appropiate therapies that address hyperandrogenism, a consequence of metabolic disorders. 

In this experiment, 2-naphthol, sodium hydroxide, and ethanol were reacted via SN2 reaction and butyl naphthyl ether was obtained in 13.6% yield.  The product was identified to be ether via melting point which was measured at 32-34°C. TLC analysis was then performed to determine which components dominate the solvent mixture. For the 95:5 hexane:EtOAC mixture, the Rf value of 2-naphthol was 0.723 and the Rf value of the product was 0.702. For the 95:5 EtOAC:hexane mixture, the Rf value of 2-naphthol was 0.879 and the Rf value of the product was 0.914. For the 60:40 EtOAC:hexane mixture, the Rf value of 2-naphthol was 0.808 and the Rf value of the product was 0.787.

    This study can help the students and faculty of the University of Massachusetts Amherst get a better understanding of the insect and invertebrate biodiversity found on the school’s campus. The information gathered in this study can also help understand the overall distribution and favored environments of the species found at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. INsects are the foundations of many ecosystems and understanding their biodiversity and distribution can be huge in promoting a healthy environment. Additional information that could be found in this study may include the effects of urban development on insect and invertebrate biodiversity, the effects of pollution on insect and invertebrate biodiversity, and the favorable soil quality and water availability of specific insects and invertebrates on our campus. The University of Massachusetts Amherst is trying to become a clean, and green campus and the understanding of the biodiversity, favorable habitats, and overall abundance of the insects on the campus is the next step in understanding how the students and faculty can make the University of Massachusetts Amherst a cleaner campus.

Marsupials have less specialized forelimbs than eutherians and tend to specialize their hindlimbs rather than their forelimbs. Recent studies have suggested the presence of a marsupial forelimb complex. This complex forms a constraint as a result of functional requirements of a metatherian newborn crawl to the teat. Because metatherian gestation is a lot shorter than eutherian gestation, immature neonate crawl to the teat limits the forelimb and limits the developmental morphology of the forelimb. This theory proposes the existence of an evolutionary constraint under the assumption that because the mammalian hindlimb is more important for propulsion than the forelimb, the forelimb should therefore exhibit a higher level of evolutionary flexibility and thus be more capable of specialization for diverse functions.

Surface and interior images of fixed NIH 3T3 cells treated with fluorescently labeled transferrin and lysotracker were taken at 100X magnification at three separate time points (0 min. incubation, 30 min. incubation, 90 min. incubation) in order to capture endosome migration over time (Figure 1). At t=0 min., it is clear that there is an abundance of transferrin molecules at the surface of the cell (Figure 1A), resulting in a relative high average total fluorescence intensity compared to the interior of the cell (2.5, 2.1 respectively) (Figure 2). At t=30 min. the average total fluorescence intensity of the surface and interior of the cell is relatively similar (3.3, 3.2, respectively) (Figure 2), At t= 90 min. there is a relatively higher average total fluorescence intensity at the interior of the cell compared to the surface of the cell (4.1, 3.3, respectively) (Figure 2).  Additionally, it can be visually noted that there is a significantly larger presence of transferrin molecules in the interior image than the surface image (Figure 1H, 1G, respectively). Lysozymes are unable to be visualized due to overpowering green stain in composite images. 3D projections of the cells were unable to be created due to immense technical difficulties.

The process by which cells intake extracellular material from the environment is known as endocytosis, and can occur in both a receptor-mediated and non-specific manner. This laboratory exercise investigates both of these endpcytotic processes over time using fluorescence microscopy to observe endosome migration in fibroblast (NIH 3T3) and epithelial (LLC Pk1) cells treated with transferrin and TMR-dextran. Additionally, effects of nocodazole in LLC Pk1 cells was studied to explore the efficacy of vesicle motility along microtubules in cells with depolymerized tubulin.

To a 10 mL round bottom flask sodium hydroxide (0.064 g, 1.60 mmol), 2-naphthol (0.200 g, 1.39 mmol), and a few boiling stones were added. Next, absolute ethanol (3 mL) was added and the air condenser was attached. The mixture was refluxed for 25 min while the sand bath was at 30% heat and cooled for 3 min. Then, n-butyl iodide (0.200 mL) was added to the mixture through the top of the condenser and reflux continued for 1 h. After reflux was complete, the reaction mixture was poured over ~10 g of ice in a beaker. The round bottom flask was then rinsed with cold water (2 x 1.0 mL) and this was transferred to the reaction mixture. The reaction mixture was stirred with a glass rod until 95% of the ice melted and the final product (0.036 g, 13.6% yield) was collected via suction filtration after being rinsed with ice water. A small portion of the product was then analyzed using thin layer chromatography and different solvent systems of ethyl acetate and hexanes were experimented with until a decent separation between starting material and product was seen.

Females are attracted to territories with more vegetation because it attracts more prey for them and serves as a water supply which they are able to retain well due to the reduced number of sweat glands. The females will go to the male with the most vegetation in his territory, eat and mate. The female American Rhingon mates once a year for the last three of her five-year life span. The females reach sexual maturity after two years while the males reach sexual maturity after only one, however both male and female are abandoned by their mother after six months of nursing. Mating season is during the months of April and May, this is because they estivate, deep in the sand, during the months of June to August due to the unbearable temperatures and no rainfall. During this period of dormancy, they develop their young who take the full three months to develop. Their core temperature cools due to the burrow which slows their metabolism enough to keep the mother alive and to nourish the embryo. They return from their dormancy period once the young have developed and temperatures have dropped, their young being altricial as their dormancy does not aid the full development but reach independency after six months.

BRM270 when combined with the use of miRNA-128, which acts as a tumor suppressor downregulated in lung cancer would be a great way to combat chemoresistance of NSCLC [19]. Instead of using the virus we could use this compound combined with miRNA-128 to combat the resistance developing of gefitinib. Increases sensitivity of TKI. BRM270 has a low toxicity and targets the NF-kB signaling pathway, induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. This is combined with the downregulation of marker CD133. Since we want to suppress Vimentin in our initial method using BRM270 will be another way to suppress Vimentin and induce E-cadherin which is good because then this will mean we are progressing to inhibiting metastatic progression.