Writing in Biology

R-selected species are those that place an emphasis on a high growth rate, and, typically exploit less-crowded ecological niches.  They produce many offspring, each of which has a relatively low probability of surviving to adulthood.  In unstable or unpredictable environments, R-selection predominates as the ability to reproduce quickly is crucial.  Among the traits that are thought to characterize R-selection are small body size, early maturity onset, short generation time, and the ability to disperse offspring widely.  R-selected species produce thousands of offspring but provide little to no parental care after birth.  By contrast, K-selected species display traits associated with living at densities close to carrying capacity.  Typically they are strong competitors in crowded niches that invest more heavily in fewer offspring, each of which has a relatively high probability of surviving to adulthood.  Populations of K-selected organisms are very constant in number and close to the maximum that the environment can bear, unlike r-selected populations, where population size changes more rapidly.  Traits that are thought to be characteristic of K-selection include large body size, long life expectancy, and the production of fewer offspring, which often require extensive parental care until they mature. 

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 article illustrated the similar and different effects of the different lineages of the Zika virus, specifically in the pregnant population.

This fascinating article discusses Glatiramir Acetate, which is a drug that is used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, a disease in which the individuals’ immune system attacks the myelin sheath of the nerves and slowly degrades the nervous system. However a new discovery has led scientists to discover that the drug is also quite successful at killing Gram-negative bacteria, specifically Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which causes pneumonia and has become alarming resistant to many antibiotics frequently used in treatment. This discovery gives doctors a new tool in fighting various diseases, like pneumonia and septic shock. Currently the treatment method consists of ineffective antibiotics and the use of other medicaments in such high doses that they can actually harm the patient. One of the most appealing things about this drug is the fact that it’s currently on the market and approved for use which saves company and scientist time, money and energy by avoiding the approval process, which in turn can save lives. It also allowed for further advancement in the treatment of MS, which has numerous benefits as well.

I read an article titled "Science news: Phsicists to probe BEYOND the beginning of time, before CREATION itself" from Express, an online journal from the UK. It discusses that until now, the beginning of our universe was known as a singularity, or a moment beyond what humans and physics could describe. However, modern physicists claim that this is no longer the case. They believe complicated math and the quantum world cancomprehend phenomena such as black holes and even the creation of the universe. Some of the newly developed formulas are shown in the article. Authors mentioned in the article state that Einstein's General Relativity "predicts its own downfall due to singularities". String theory had been used to study the absence of singularities, however it had its fallbacks. Essentially, this article claims that singularity does not exist, and that becuase of this black holes and cosmology can be studied for their truths.

This article discusses the effects of microbiomes on melanoma patients’ response to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. Early results and mouse trials show that gut microbiome modulates tumor response to checkpoint blockade immunotherapy. 112 melanoma patients undergoing anti-PD-1 immunotherapy had their oral and gut microbiomes observed. There is a large difference between the variety and composition of microbiomes when comparing responders to non-responders. Specifically a large abundance of Ruminococcaceae bacteria was found in responding patients. Immune profilin of the patients showed enhanced responses and anti tumor immunity in patients that had favorable microbes present. These findings could prove to be very beneficial for the future treatment of melanoma. 

Group Members: Maria, Victoria, Trevor

Analyze the correlation between hours slept per week and GPA.

Make a scatterplot with hours slept per week on the x axis and GPA on the y axis to visualize the relationship.

Note any outliers

Our group (#2) chose to focus on the hours slept and hours studied in relation to GPA. We determined that making 2 graphs showing the gradual change in GPA with both hours slept as well as hours studied would change the average GPA per student, regardless of gender. The independent variables in these graphs would be either the hours slept or the hours studied.  Upon analyzing the data we suspect that the hours spent studying, nor the hours one spent sleeping are significntly correlated to the GPA of the students. We could do this by comparing the overall graphs or the averages of 2 distinct groups such as the top 10 and the bottom 10 students. In addition, we could also create a normal distribution of the data and establish a standard deviation from the class average. From there, we could determine who are outliers and then assess their hours slept and studied to see if there are any obvious differences that may have led to this variability. 

This data set has four columns: gender, GPA, hour studies, and hours slept per week. Just skimming the chart, we tried to look for correlations between hours studied and GPA and hours slept and GPA. This is difficult to do in this format and would be much easier to analyze with a graph, as we are studying more than one variable. In order to properly study these variable, assuming that the hypothesis of the study was that more sleep correlates to a higher GPA and more hours studied correlates with a higher GPA, we would make two different scatterplot graphs comparing these two sets to each other. In both cases, GPA would be the dependent variable. In the end, we made scatterplot graphs and found that there was a positive correlation between hours studied and GPA, however there was no correlation between hours slept and GPA. We have been able to identify a couple of outliers that do not support this hypothesis, as the individual with the most hours studied (50) has a GPA of 1.12.

Matthew Parkllan, Liam Gorman, Austin Meserole

One way that these data can be interpreted is by creating two different graphs, one with GPA and Hours studied as the x and y axis, and have another graph with hours studied vs hours slept as the x and y axis. If we wanted to be really thourough we could make these two graphs each for both male and female students. Sorting the data out this way would be a good way to prove or disprove the hypothesis that more hours of sleep leads to a higher GPA.