Drafts

Dr. Farkas’ research focuses on novel concepts that have not yet been thoroughly researched, and it is evident that the focus is on a more promising future for cancer treatment. Current cancer research is wide spread and currently includes areas such as stem-cell research, and immunotherapy (relating to Dr. Farkas’ study of macrophages), however there are other groups researching the area of delivery systems such as antibody drug conjugates. Currently there are many antibody drug conjugates that are being evaluated, however one of the most successful therapies for solid tumor cancers thus far has been monoclonal antibody therapy, which is very similar process, and promises similar or greater success for antibody drug conjugates. In the few cases in which antibody drug conjugates have already been used, the method has proven effective.

Before deoxygenated blood coming from the inferior and superior vena cava fills the right atrium, it is assumed that the pressure in the right atrium is 0mmHg. The blood flowing from the right atrium flows passively into the right ventricle because the atrioventricular (AV) valve (or bicupsid) between them is open. This is called diastole because the heart is relaxed and not contracting yet. Systole (contraction) begns to occur when the pressure in the right atrium increases by a little bit to push the rest of its contents into the right ventricle. This causes the pressure in the right ventricle to exceed the pressure of the atrium above it and the AV valve to close shut with the help of the chordae tendineae and papillary muscles. The right ventricle pressure has to exceed the pressure in the aortic valve in order for the aortic valve to open and blood can go to the lungs to become oxygenated. The aortic pressure is the determinant our blood pressure and has a normal range of 80-120 mmHg. As the ventricle builds up in pressure by isometric contraction, it surpasses the aortic pressure and the aortic valve opens. As the right ventricular pressure begins to decrease due to ejection of blood into the aorta, it reaches below 80 mmHg and the aortic valve closes. The ventricle will cease systole and go into diastole. The ventricle ejects 70 mL of blood into the aorta. It's pressure will decrease to a point lower than the pressure in the right atrium, the AV valve will open again and the right ventricle will be filled passively once again.This similar process occurs on the left side of the heart as the left atrium fills with oxygenated blood that came from the lungs. 

The race for nuclear arms is often framed as a race between two men, lead German scientist Werner Heisenberg, and lead American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer. The two men became acquainted many years before the war when they both attended the University of Göttingen in Germany in 1926. Both became distinguished nuclear physicists in their careers before the war. Each man was tasked with taking a lead position in their respective countries nuclear program, both of which were created in 1939. Up until this point, both countries were at a similar level of advancement toward building the bomb. In late 1938 German scientists discovered nuclear fission, the core concept of a nuclear weapon. British scientist Niels Bohr brought this information with him to America, and shortly after in January of 1939 the first successful nuclear fission test in the US was completed at Columbia University. It was with this information that each country realized the destructive force capable of a nuclear device, and decisions had to be made on how far the technology should be pursued.

Methods:
To locate Haemaria discolor, I visited the Morrill Greenhouses through the entrance located inside the Morrill building. The plant is located in the Tropical Garden greenhouse. As I entered the second half of the greenhouse, the potted plant was on the left side and on the ground. The long stems of the white flowers reach out in various upward directions. Next to the large pot of Haemaria discolor is a smaller pot with one flowering stem growing upwards. This is the flower of the close-up image taken from the top angle that fits the entire flower into the frame. The far-out image of the entire plant (including the pot) was taken standing directly in front of the plant. The plant takes up the entire frame of the image.

The lungs are already in close contact with the circulatory system. Our concern is whether the drug will reach the circulation and won’t be reduced along the way. The lungs already have a high rate of blood flow. Since delivery to the lungs is rather complex we will need a way for our drug to be enhanced without losing its ability or a reduction in concentration. One way is through a C and R uptake pathway. This will make our drug be amplified in a sense and delivery of our drug will be improved. We will need to enter the vascular tissue and a way to do this is through vascular permeability in which blood vessels permit for the flow of molecules and in this instance, it will be our drug.

Docetaxel is known as a antimicrotubule agent. This means that it inhibits the formation of microtubules.  Microtubules are already unstable, and they are known to contain a plus and minus end, beta and alpha respectively. Tubulin assembly can happen at either end but is most favorable at the plus end when outside the cell and depolymerization happens on the minus end when outside the cell. Microtubules are highly involved in replicating and pulling apart chromosomes and sister chromatids throughout various stages of the cell cycle. Inhibition of the formation of microtubules will collapse and will result in cell death.

Stable isotope analysis is a process where one analyzing varying levels of common isotopes in tissue levels. This information is useful as concentrations of various isotopes are predictable and tissue changes are accumulated via diet. However, each isotope has a turnover rate which can range from days to months, which may skew any data being used to determine locations of breeding or molting grounds. Feathers are an exception to this turnover process as they rapidly develop and then become metabolically inert, essentially freezing their isotope concentrations in place. Then, using, a mass spectrometer, one can identify what was consumed during feather development and then use this information to determine where molting or breeding grounds are. While this is still an inaccurate process and unrefined process,  there is opportunity for more improvement with multiple isotope analysis as well as more accurate geographical isotope predictions.

In “Why Abortion is Immoral”, Marquis argues against the morality of abortion by first explaining why killing other people is wrong. This discussion of why killing people is wrong later segues into his reasoning for why abortion is immoral; Marquis’ “future-like-ours” argument. Marquis explains that killing is wrong because “The loss of one’s life deprives one of all the experiences, activities, projects and enjoyments that otherwise would have constituted one’s future” (189). Marquis later connects the wrongness of killing to the immorality of abortion, suggesting that the standard fetus’ future includes the same experiences, activates etc. of an adult human. Marquis goes further to suggest that because the promise of a future is enough to explain why it is wrong to kill a newborn baby, it follows that it is prima facie wrong to abort a fetus.

If Dr. Farkas and Farkas Research Group discover the exact molecular reason why altered circadian rhythms lead to cancer, this process can also be attacked at the biomolecular level. The same goes for the immune system research with macromolecules. All involve the precise binding of the targets needed to attack tumors. In the meantime, since the correlation has been established, cancer incidences can be reduced simply by the normalizing of circadian rhythms, which can be adjusted through light therapy and by seeing a sleep specialist. Other factors that lead to altered circadian rhythms which were not discussed in the presentation also must be studied. This is a complicated area in that circadian rhythms are physical, mental and behavioral and there is also an inherited genetic component that must be remembered and looked at objectively.

Correlated evolution of morphology and vocal signal structure in Darwin's Finches

In this article, Podos challenges the classical theory that mating signal (i.e song) evolution is an accidental byproduct of speciation operating on other environmental factors. Specifically, he refers to beak morphology and questions how the adaptive diversification of beaks has influenced the evolution of song quality by either enhancing or constraining vocal abilities. Considering he begins the article by noting that songs are often used for mating, I infer that he suspects that evolutionary diversification of break size and shape (secondary to ecological changes) may indirectly lead to speciation by changing mating calls.