Drafts

This study showed a strong method to show proof of concept. The results were conclusive in the fact that it showed movements such as reach and grasp can be restored in a patient with tetraplegia. The patient chosen had a high spinal cord injury that was eight years old; this proves that this method can be effective in severe cases and the results were from the use of the two systems, not residual function. The combination of the two systems is shown to be very effective and the electrodes being under the skin makes it easier to translate to clinical use.

The downside to this test is the expense and length of time it takes. The systems used require many surgeries to implant along with recovery time and lots of exercise to restore muscle strength before the actual tests begin. This experiment also is only a proof of concept; results for only one patient are shown so it is unknown if it would work for everyone.

Overall, the conclusion of this experiment is that restoration of movement can be successful using a combination of the FES and iBCIs systems. There were positive results for completing reach and grasp movements for this patient. Future experiments could explore how this translates to different patients with different types of injuries. The coding system could use modification since they claim a percentage of the failed attempts of movement were due to faults in this system. The feedback for these tests are solely visual so possible experiments could work on giving spatial and tactile feedback. This experiment is a large step in restoring movement so there are many possibilities moving forward.

The summary of the following study presents several genotypic and phenotypic characteristics of autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa. This studies also attempt to describe the physiology and the progression of the disease, paying specific attention to different mutations of the RHO gene. Since RHO codes for rhodopsin, one of the unifying characteristics seen in patients with mutations in this gene is degeneration of rods (vision in low light) before the degeneration progresses to the cones. This relays into the first sign of retinitis pigmentosa which is loss of night vision and inability to navigate in low light. Young patients begin seeing blind spots in their peripheral vision as the disease gets progressively worse. The development of retinitis pigmentosa could halt at this stage however, in the majority of cases it continues to the cones and central vision begins to fail as well. In adults, retinitis pigmentosa can lead to permanent, legal blindness (Retinitis Pigmentosa, 2018). In an early study performed by Ching-Hwa Sung et al, the researchers found rhodopsin mutations in autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa as well (1991). They screened 161 unrelated patients with this particular mode of inheritance for point mutations in the rhodopsin gene by using PCR and gel electrophoresis. Of the 161 patients, 39 were found to carry one of 13 different point mutations at 12 amino acid positions of rhodopsin and the “presence or absence of the mutations correlated with the presence of absence of retinitis pigmentosa in 174 out of 179 individuals tested in 17 families” (Ching-Hwa Sung, 1991). These point mutations were found in the coding sequences of the RHO gene and the most common allele, P23H, was found in 15% of the ADRP families. The individual family members also experienced gradual loss of night vision and navigation in the dark. Since this is such a low, unexpected percentage, it could be concluded that there is delayed onset of the disease or very mild disease expression. This study emphasizes how with each genetic type (autosomal recessive, autosomal dominant, X-linked) there is marked individual variation. Any particular mutation in a gene, such as the rhodopsin gene RHO, is unlikely to be present in other genetic types. This presents a setback that is faced in many attempts to create treatments/cures for retinitis pigmentosa. Because of the specificity and individualism of the gene the current progress of treatment plans is very complicated and requires special attention to the patients’ conditions

According to the Argument from ignorance (wikipedia), it says that we tend to refute hypotheses that haven't been tested yet. This is why the public sees controversy between intelligent design and evolution. Therefore they don't want the idea of ID to be taught. According to the straw man (wikipedia), we tend to refute arguments by not arguing against the actual statement but against another statement that's related to the original statement. This is why it is proposed that we not teach evolution as a fact but a "theory" (Antievolution and Creationism). 

I feel like we should just teach the controversy because we already teach things that we still don't know the truth to or cannot prove. An example would be the big bang theory. That's just a theory. We don't know if it's true or not. We can start teaching it in both science textbooks and social studies in high school. 

It's about the relationship between temperature and the number of arthropods present in certain areas of buildings. We measured the temperature in different rooms of the Morrill buildings and counted the number of organisms we found on specific windowsills. When looking at the graphs, you can see that as the temperature increases, the number of arthropods increases. This shows that the arthropods like to be in warmer temperatures rather than cold temperatures. 

There have been many different approaches taken to regrow degraded areas of the Amazon rainforest. Humans have acted as seed dispersal agents with some success (Gagetti, 1998) but seeds are a food source for many animals and constant seeding of an area is necessary to overcome predation.  Research has also been conducted on the importance of avian foragers for seed dispersal of fleshy fruits, which showed that birds are the main seed dispersing agents in many forests around the world (Puckey, 1996). In light of this previous knowledge, our study looks to understand the role of fruit color preference in selected Amazonian parrot species.  The information gleaned from this study will be used as a stepping stone in directing the selection of fruit-producing plants that will attract parrots to areas of degraded forest. We hope to support the use of frugivorous birds as a potential seed vector in rainforest restoration.

Thyroperoxidase attaches iodine to tyrosil residues. When TSH stimulates the thyrocite it also triggers an endocytoic catcher of material that brings it into the cell that fuses with a lysosome carrying various enzymes that cleave and fold thyroglobin so as to bring the tyrosil residues together. Thyroid hormone is a diphenyl ether with four iodines and iodines are negatively charged atoms. The outer ring is away from the amino side and the inner ring is closer. When these are unattached, T4 is converted to T3. Clinically, if you have thyroid disease, T4 and T3 are not the only things the doctors look at. They also look at reverse T3 which is produced by this unattachment.

Retinitis pigmentosa can be caused by genetic mutations in over 60 genes. More than 20 genes are associated with the autosomal dominant mode of inheritance. Of these 20 genes, the rhodopsin gene, RHO, is the most prevalent to cause autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa, and more than 45 mutations in RHO have been identified (Sung et al, 1994). Because there are so many genes that encode various structures in the retina, it is difficult to delegate a single gene to the disease. However, by studying families that show symptoms, researchers are able to locate the mutation, contribute to the scientific community and hopefully provide more explanations that will lead to treatments and cures.
The RHO gene provides instructions for making rhodopsin. Rhodopsin is the photopigment in rods that absorbs photons of light and converts it into an action potential cascade. It is made up of cis-retinal and is important for low-light conditions. When light hits rhodopsin, it begins to decompose, cis-retinal is converted to trans-retinal, and the membrane conductance for Na+ in the outer segment of the rod decreases. The electrical signals are transmitted to the brain. The fovea contains a high density of cones and is located in the macula of the retina. Here, the retinal layers are spread apart to allow light to get to the photoreceptors with minimal interference. This allows for improved resolution and higher acquity for central vision. There is a higher ratio of rods to cones around the fovea that are more responsible for peripheral vision. Since retinitis pigmentosa involves the degeneration of rods and cones, the disease can affect both peripheral, central vision, night blindness and a variety of vision disruptions in low-dimness and bright settings.

We were interested in analyzing the water quality of the stream by the Sylvan residence halls. We found that the levels and diversity of periphyton found in the water could be used as a way to analyze the overall health of the water. Periphyton is a broad term, consisting of algae, cyanobacteria, and other microscopic organisms living in the water. We created a method to collect samples of periphyton by placing three glass slides together in the water. We placed these slides at three different locations in the stream, and collected samples after one week and after two weeks. We found that the levels of periphyton collected increased over the two weeks, and used the Shannon Index to quantify the diversity and abundance. We found that one of the three locations had a significantly higher number of total periphyton.

Over the course of several weeks we carried out multiple related experiments on Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a species of yeast. Yeast is vital to study because it is the simplest of all the eukaryotes and is the basis of our understanding for numerous essential cellular processes. Yeast is a unicellular, eukaryotic fungus that reproduces through budding. To replicate, a bud emerges from the mother cell during S phase of the cell cycle. The bud grows until it is pinched off with newly replicated DNA inside. Yeast can exist in both haploid and diploid states, and both undergo budding.

TRH (Thyrotropin) stimulates TSH release from the pituitary and TRH (Releasing Hormone) “controls the set point” around which negative feedback occurs. Individual variants of thyroid hormone is 10% in comparison to the rest of the population. TSH is a glycoprotein hormone with two subunits, an alpha and a beta. Pure samples of LH FSH and TSH were taken to figure out the subunits. There were subunit switching experiments and alpha is common, but beta requires specificity. Thyroid glands have thryocites that surround ‘juicy centers’ that store the precursors to thyroid hormones. When TSH binds to the receptor and activates the entire mechanism, the production of thyroglobulin is increased. This is then packaged into vesicles where it is released into the colloid.