Drafts

Blockchain is a new technology that acts as a structure for managing information and works on concepts such as decentralization and trustless consent. Blockchain consists of a vast network of nodes or computers with the software and uses this network to verify any new incoming information using cryptography. Compared to a centralized structure or database, it is more secure, not as vulnerable to hackers or corruption, it can not be controlled by any single entity, and is publicly accessible. It has many applications to manage data but is mainly used today for cryptocurrency transactions.  

There are many issues regarding food safety and the current methods and infrastructure in place to track food products through the journey from farm to store shelf are not sufficient. There is no standardized system for tracking food and many processors handle it differently. When there are issues with contamination, lengthy and resource intensive traceback investigations must occur. Some distributors keep records in closed databases or on paper meaning they are not readily accessible or publicly available. Frank Yiannas, Walmart VP of food safety, mentioned in an interview that after giving staff a randomly selected package of mangoes, it required almost a full seven days to trace them back to the source.  In seven days, hundreds of thousands of people can be significantly harmed by a contaminated product.

Using Phytozome, the original genomic sequence for our gene was searched in BLAST. The options Mutation Sites (v2) and Reference Sequence were selected.  Here the gene of interest was shown within the B. distachyon genome. Underneath the gene, several diamonds marked sites of mutations. Blue diamonds signified low impact mutations, yellow showed moderate and red showed high impact mutations. Five mutations within coding sequences were selected, including any high impact mutations. By clicking on each diamond, the mutation’s location was found. Zooming in enable the wild type and mutation reading frame to be seen and what change in sequence the mutation caused. The position and orientation of each mutation was added to our working map. A figure was then made on PowerPoint showing the position and mutation effect of each mutation relative to its location on the gene.

The Nucella Lamellosa commonly known as the Frilled Dogwinkles snails have a life span of eight months. The baby snails normally do not have thick shells like their parents until they reach maturity. This normally happens after 30 days and they are able to reproduce after maturity. Unlike other snails, Dogwinkles are not hermaphrodites, they are gender specific.

The females can not mate for a while after reproducing. Prior to my experiment, I observed that, the shell of the snails on the east side were more thicker compared to the shell of the snails on the west side.This difference could be as a result of natural selection. The snails vary in their population, the thickness of their shells is heritable and there is differential survival when a predator is present.

The main task of humanities as stated in the article is, “to promote understanding of other cultures ways of living and to emphasize the importance of every human life, which is something that should never be devalued.” I think this is a key sentence to take away and that is being open-minded about the stuff that surround you and being creative to make a change in a problem that is presented. The way students are taught today requires them not to use their senses and just memorize facts. That shouldn’t be the case because that means limiting their way of thinking. Arts are building a visual experience where all senses are employed and the creation of creative solutions. There is not just one single solution but an infinite amount.  Humanities holds a significant value outside the school system and that is in our government and positions held there. Even an important position of being the president of our nation. Our previous president, Barack Obama, even took courses for 2 years at a liberal arts college which aided him in maturing and comprehending the world and that’s all due to a rounded education that emphasized on humanities.  Humanities can be applied in foreign relations and diplomacy. 

The author states this because humanities studies value has decreased and not much know the value it holds to our society and nation as a whole. Most believe that is has no value in our educational system like other courses like science and math do. This has been demonstrated through vast cuts in the educational system to humanities and arts studies. They feel that subjects like science and math are more significant and applicable in life due to the advancement in technology which has shifted the mind from liberal arts studies to technological advancement. Essentially, what has led the contemporary society to devalue the humanities is the shift of focus and thought to science, math and technology because they deserve more attention and are practical. Unlike, humanities and arts which is thought to be not worth much of their time. However, arts and humanities still play vast roles in the government and understanding the world as a whole that is comprehending diverse sets of cultures that surround us and being open-minded.  

*Christmas Tree Picture* This is a christmas tree covered in colorful string lights. The Battery in this circuit would be the wall outlet in which the lights plug into. Each individual bulb in the series acts as an individual resistor. The direction  of the electrical field moved through the wire, into each bulb and once it reaches the last bulb it loops back and meets with the plug in the outlet. As for the high and low potential areas, the high potential area is the beginning of the wire leaving the socket heading toward the lights and the low potential are is on the other side of the wire that is leaving the last bulb of the series and meeting the plug back at the outlet. The current is moving from the outlet, through the lights and ending back at the outlet traveling from high potential to low potential. The electrons and the force would be moving in the opposite direction of the current. This explaination is for a physics unit in which we are learning about circuits including voltage, resistors, and the flow of current.

We conducted several experiments with Saccharomyces cerevisiae, in order to study the life cycle of yeast, the principles of complementation, and tetrad analysis. The life cycle of yeast can be easily studied at various stages because it reproduces through budding and exhibits predictable morphological changes in this process. Genetic complementation is the reappearance of the wild-type phenotype in offspring when there are two different homozygous recessive mutations present in the parent organisms. Complementation can be easily observed in yeast using the ADE mutations. If the ADE mutations, which inhibit adenine biosynthesis, are on separate genes, then complementation will occur. Complementation in yeast would result in the ability to produce adenine, even though neither of the haploid strains are capable of doing so. Tetrad analysis involves examining the completion of the entire yeast life cycle.

The author’s central argument is that there are occasions where killing someone is better than letting someone die. She uses Nesbitt’s ‘Smith and Jones’ scenario to prove that Nesbitt’s ‘difference thesis’ (states that killing someone is morally worse than letting someone die) is false. Kuhse goes on to say that killing someone is not necessarily an evil thing nor harming the patient when it comes to the field of medicine. Life isn’t always good and can be filled with suffering. It is when the patient is suffering that killing the patient is better than letting the patient die. If the doctor were to leave the patient to die on his own, that would not be beneficial to the patient and would be seen as incapacitated. We would not want those kinds of doctors nor people around us because they act like rocks or trees and do not feel compassion. Kuhse then provides his own examples of when killing is better than letting die.

After three days of incubation, the growth of yeast on each plate was unique. On the YED plate, all colonies grew very well, but some colonies were red while others were white (Figure 4). The MV+Adenine plate had all colonies grow well to a slightly lesser degree than the YED plate. The colonies on this plate were all white cells (Figure 5). The MV plate was the most drastic difference. While some colonies grew to the same degree as on the MV+Ade plate, there were colonies which were extremely weak, or completely non-existent. The colonies that were healthy were white, while the remains of sickly colonies were red (Figures 6 and 7).