Drafts

In the Spring of 2018, the Methods project was conducted as part of the coursework for the Writing in Biology class taught by Professor S. Brewer. The goal of the Methods Project is to explore the importance of explicit, detailed and concise writing when composing a scientific paper. Scientific writing must reflect these qualities in order for replication of experiments and analyses to take place by other interested scientists. The methods project demonstrates how omission of important information can lead to large differences in results of an experiment.

In Spring of 2018, as part of the Writing in Biology Course at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Methods project was completed in order to enhance students’ understanding in how to create effective written pieces in the biological sciences. The original and replicate figures created of Calliandra haematocephala possess qualitative differences despite having the same methods followed in order to create them. Figure 1A and 2A are photos of different blooms on the tree, resulting in a large visual difference in the figure. Figures 1B and 2B are of the trunk and branches of the tree, and appear to be the most alike between all three components of the figure with only very slight differences in branches captured. Figures 1C and 2C also contain distinct differences. The borderlines for the states within the United States of America are outlined, and Florida is filled in red in figure 1C. Figure 2C does not possess borderlines for the states of the United States, and the state of Florida and the United States is a gray color. Additionally, different fonts were used to label each figure, but possess the same qualities of capitalization and bolded text.

The evidence supporting the hypothesis that EPAS1 is responsible for the Tibetans adaptations to altitude is abundant. In one study researchers compared the genome of indigenous highlanders to closely related Han Chinese individuals. The EPAS1 gene displayed the most variation between the two populations. The variation in gene frequencies can likely be explained by natural selection, as a version of the EPAS1 gene was more advantageous to tibetan highlanders and resulted in increased fitness. Another group of researchers sequenced 50 exomes of Tibetans to identify genes showing population specific allele frequency changes. The EPAS1 gene again displayed the strongest signs of natural selection. “One single-nucleotide polymorphism at EPAS1 shows a 78% frequency difference… representing the fastest allele frequency change observed at any human gene to date (Xin Yi et al., 2010).” The adaptations that allow Tibetans to live at high altitudes are conclusive evidence that modern humans are evolving. The traits may have arose through mutation, but since they offered a selective advantage they increased in frequency - a process known as evolution by natural selection.

The replicate done of the original panels is of the same flower, however there are some differences in formatting and the images themselves. The letters in the original (fig. 1) are in the top right corner while the replicate (fig. 2) has them in the bottom left; the replicate has a slightly smaller font as well. Both figures have the map on top with the three photos below, but the order of the photographs are different; the photographs in figure one are right next to each other whereas figure two has space in between.

    The maps (panel A) have some differences as well. The replicate seems to be a different version of a world map with a lighter red color used to fill in the countries. There is a title at the top of figure 2 that is not present in figure 2. There is also a red box in figure 1 used as a key that does not appear in figure 2.

1.      Four Cases of Parent’s Decisions: Here Pavlischek discusses four different cases in which the mother and father either do or do not confer human significance or assume a special responsibility for a fetus that the mother is carrying.

-        Pavlischek makes importance of the fact that in the violinist example, it is the woman who is hooked up to the violinist and in the seed example, it is the woman’s house. She makes no mention however of the man’s role in these situations or his decisions. Thomson argues that in both of her prior examples, the women bears no special responsibility and thus carries no moral weight in her decision.

-        Pavlischek states that Thomson specifically does not mention situation 4, in which the women does not wish to have an abortion, but the man does. Pavlischek argues that given Thomson’s reasoning, a father who doesn’t want the child, cannot be forced to contribute, or assume a special responsibility.

Henry Fonda Example: Pavlischek refers to Thomson’s example where a man could simply heal her by the touch of his hand. In the example, Fonda is initially across the country and for him to travel to help her would be the act of a good Samaritan. However, Thomson presents the situation again where Fonda is across the room. In the modified example, Thomson argues that for Fonda to help her would require him to be only minimally decent, yet he is still not required to help at all. Pavlischek uses this example in terms of a man’s contribution to a child he did not want. Pavlischek argues that if a man were to state he did not want a child while it was still a fetus, the minimally decent thing to do would provide at least half the cost of an abortion as a good faith offer. However, Pavlischek explains that even this good faith offer should not be required by law with regards to Thomson’s argument, and that it is merely an act of a minimally decent Samaritan

At first thought, many just think exercise is important to fitness. However, exercise is an activity that has many more health benefits to it. Not only does it boost your physical fitness level, but physical fitness also reduces your risk of getting disease as well as increases the longevity of your life. As directed by standards, the guidance for adults is to get moderate cardiorespiratory endurance training for 2.5 hours a week or vigorous cardiorespiratory endurance training for 1.25 hours a week. In addition to getting cardiorespiratory training, they also advice to target your major muscle groups, such as pectorals, hamstrings, back etc. which is to be targeted 2-3 times a week. Physical activity is something many do not make time for but also do not know the impact that is has on your wellness and health, not only your fitness. Finally, physical activity also benefits your mental health, it is proven that physical activity reduces mental illnesses such as depression. This being said I think that everyone should get out and do physical activity. As someone who exercises twice a day for a total of 3 hours, I can personally confirm all of these facts.

The methods project is meant to explore the elements needed to write a sufficient scientific paper, especially the methods section. The goal of the project is to make a multi panel figure of photographs of a flowering plant and a map displaying the plants origin, write a methods section for someone to follow and have someone else follow the methods and recreate the figure.

Green sea turtles are the largest species of hard-shelled turtle normally found in tropical and subtropical waters around the globe.   The principal cause of the historical, worldwide decline of the green turtle is long-term harvest of eggs and adults on nesting beaches and juveniles and adults on feeding grounds. These harvests are cultural and continue in some areas of the world, compromising the efforts made to recover this species.  Incidental capture in fishing gear, primarily in gillnets, but also in trawls, continues to decrease the numbers of wild turtles inhabiting our oceans.

The Central Nervous System (CNS) is responsible for the bodies response to and immense amount of stimuli. A recent study has gone on to map the CNS in a highly dimentional single-cell procedure that has pointed to the fact that the CNS has specialezed and specific immune cell subsets in order to respond to stimuli. The subsets include, but are not limited to, tissue homeostasis, immune defense and neurological diseases. This newly found highly dimmentional procedure has proven very beneficial in mapping part of the brain and CNS that have never been seen or studied before. It has specifically helped in the study of the pathology of the specific subsets of immune cells, present in order to respond to specific stimuli. This new data may lead to immense adavancements in medicine, including treatments of debilitating neurological diseases, by identifying disease mechanisms, biological markers and possible thereapeutic targets.