Writing in Biology

Between Figure 1 and Figure 2 there are 15 total differences observed.  These discrepancies were observed in panels A, B, and C of the figures.  This section begins with general differences found between the labeling of both figures followed by differences organized by each panel.  Beginning with panel A and panel B differences in color, angle, and orientation are described.  Finally in panel C differences between the maps and countries highlighted are described.

The fonts for each panel label are different, and the font in Figure 1 is not bolded.  The location of the panel labels are also different.  The labels in Figure 1 are located above the images and the labels in Figure 2 are located to the left of the images, however they are both located in the upper left-hand corner for each image.  The panel labels in both figures are not overlapped on top of the images and are both colored black.  

The images of the orchid in Figure 1A have a different hue to them than in Figure 2A.  In Figure 1A the orchid is located closer to the photographer and the sign is facing the camera more dead center.  The sign in Figure 1A is also less straight up and down than in Figure 2A.  In Figure 1A there is less of the plant to the right of the plant of interest included in the photo than in Figure 2A and the bench upon which the plant is sitting is less included in Figure 1A.  

In part B, the amount of blooms included in Figure 1B is different from Figure 2B.  There are also differences in hue between the two figure images.  Figure 1B has only the bottom half of the bloom included instead of the entire bloom included in Figure 2B.  The angle in Figure 1B is pointed more towards the floor, whereas in Figure 2B it is more parallel to the bench.  There is also more of the plant to the left of the orchid and the bench included in Figure 1B in comparison to Figure 2B.  The pot of the orchid is not present in Figure 1B but is included in Figure 2B.

Part C was where most differences between the two figures occured.  The world map in Figure 1C contains an elliptical outline where in Figure 2C there is no outline but there is a rectangular shape.  The world map in Figure 1C is also smaller than that of Figure 2C and is less stretched out on both sides.  The depiction of antarctica in Figure 2C is also a lighter color gray than the rest of the map.  The colors by which the countries were highlighted were both turquoise but Figure 1C was a brighter turquoise than in Figure 2C.  The countries colored in included Central America, but the caribbean islands were highlighted in Figure 2C which was inconsistent with those highlighted in Figure 1C.

Earlier in the week I discussed the topic of photosynthesis, but never touched upon the topic of dark and light reactions. The photosynthesis reaction can be broken into two seperate sub-reactions, light and dark. As described by its name the light reactions gain their energy and are activated by light photons. As the intesity of light increases the amount of products produced, speed and efficiency of the reaction are increase. The light reactions involve two photosystems connected by an electron transport chain, these two systems function optimally at 680nm and 720nm light wavelegths.The dark reactions on the other hand, are considered to function independently from it, meaning they do not need photon energy of any sort to produce products. The process of the reaction is the Calvin cylce, which invovles the fixation of carbon into carbohydrates and the dissacotiation of water. This carbon fixation occurs in the stroma and requires NADPH and ATP in order to occur effectively. The ATP and NADPH the dark reactions use are the products of the light reaction, therefore without the light reactions and in turn the presence of light, the dark reactions would cease to occur because of their use of the ATP and NADPH.

    Personally, I love koalas they are adorable and the thought of them being extinct is very scary. Currently, koala populations are on the decline and while people may be trying to help there still is no vaccine to help them. There has been some research done that shows that some populations of koalas do not have Chlamydia, however, how long will it be until they do have it. In my opinion, this is a terrible disease and needs more attention. If more attention is not given to the koalas it's only a matter of time before they are gone from this world completely. One of the more problematic things this disease causes is infertility. This could be catastrophes to wild and captive koalas. There may be a time where we have plenty of koalas left but they are unable to reproduce. Hopefully, more studies like this are done on Chlamydia and its effects on the koala.

The study looked at a total of 160 koalas outside of Moreton Bay in Southeast Queensland, Australia. They did full physical examinations of every koala and clinical tests for things like Chlamydia. Koalas are known to get two kinds of Chlamydia ocular, and urogenital each with its own set of symptoms and transmission. They found that 31% of the population tested positive for Chlamydia, with 4% having only ocular, 17% having only urogenital, and 10% having both ocular and urogenital. They also found that 29% of the koalas that were between ages 9 months to 13 months have Chlamydia. Koalas aged under 13 months are considered sexually immature. The prevalence of Chlamydia in young koalas suggests that the mothers giving their offspring Chlamydia, as well as passing it onto other individuals through sex. This broadens the diseases capabilities of infecting more koalas and brings researchers one step closer to creating a vaccine.

The goal of this study was to get a better understanding of the transmission of Chlamydia in Koalas in Queensland Australia. In addition, this research will later be used to help create a vaccine in order to help the rapidly declining populations of koalas. Currently, koala populations are being decimated throughout Australia due to Chlamydia and not much is being done to assist the koalas in fighting this disease. The research team wanted to get an idea of how prevalent Chlamydia was in the populations of koalas around Queensland Australia. They hoped that the information gained from this can help in fighting the proliferation of this disease.

I think that the divide between a scientific definition and a “societal” definition wouldn’t be each group having its own definition, but rather the scientific definition would include whatever information is pertinent to that study (i.e. including species richness and density), while the societal definition would simply be how many different kinds of organisms live in a certain area. The layperson wouldn’t typically need a complicated definition for their uses, and if they did, they could add on specifications that are needed as they see fit. Representing an entire ecosystem as a single “diversity” value is something that is hard to do, but is something that is necessary when comparing environments.

Methods :

I went to the conservatory named Durfee located near Morrill I N. It is in between that building and berkshire dining common. There are two doors, I have used a small wooden door that had a sign open 10-4 pm to enter. The first room I entered was the smaller room of the two and cool in temperature yet warmer than outside as it was very windy and chilly that day. The next room was bigger in size of the two and very warm compared to the first room. It almost felt like I was in the tropical grassland as my glasses fogged up by its warm temperature. The plant I found was in the first room, the smaller room of the two. And as soon as I entered the conservatory I looked to the right to find this lovely pink flower with yellow seed-looking things in the middle of it. It is named Camellia Japonica Jarvis Red, skinny tree with pretty pink blossoms or flowers on it. I stood in the middle facing the side with the windows facing Berkshire dining common (to the right as you enter the room) to take the picture of the biggest blossom that was in the corner of the tree. I have used my Iphone 7 plus to take the picture. I decided to take 3 pictures, one of them being the closeup of the flower, and the second one of the same blossom but taking about 3 steps back to get the whole tree. I also took the picture of the name of the plant so it was easily identified. To create the images, I have selected 4 pictures, 2 of them being the flower and tree itself, the third of being the name of the plant and fourth picture being where the plants are from. Furthermore, I made all 4 pictures equal sizes for my multi panel scientific illustration.

    As part of the first assignment for Writing in Biology at University of Massachusetts Amherst, the author created a methods section for a scientific figure which he created. The author took photographs of a flowering plant found on the school campus, and created a figure of the images along with a map of the plant range. The methods of these steps were shared with a classmate, who attempted to recreate the figure. The figures had differences in the shape of the flower, the quality of the pictures, and some miniscule details of the pictures. These differences are believed to be due to the trimming of the plant in between the taking of the original and the replicate images, and the fact that different photographers had different items with them to use in taking the picture.

In scientific writing, a methods section is one of the most important parts of a research paper, because it allows the project to be recreated. Recreation of a scientific project is the first step towards turning an experiment into a theory or a scientific law. In Spring 2018, for a Writing in Biology class at University of Massachusetts Amherst, the main goal was to design a figure about a plant and include a methods section along with it that would allow another person to recreate the figure with a high degree of accuracy. The figure that was recreated included photos of a plant and its geographical range. The plant that was used is a Blc Momilani ‘The Gypsy’ and it was selected because of its ease of access.

An important part of designing the methods was maximizing the number of factors that could be controlled. This would then enable the other student to recreate the figure with a higher degree of accuracy. These factors include the ease of access to the subject and the reliability of the subject. When it comes to ease of access, the greenhouse where the plant is found is open for most of the day on every week day, so the other student would be able to find time to take a picture of the flower. In the case of the reliability of the subject, the plant is in a climate controlled area, and it is watered and taken care of every day. Because of this prime environment, there was a very high chance that the plant would still be alive when the other student went to take a picture of it. This is better than if the plant was outside, where it could die or be ripped out of the ground.