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The expected results were that gram positive endospores would survive pasteurization at 70 degrees celsius for 15 minutes. Endospores were expected to be isolated because the isolated microorganisms were coming from a soil sample. Soil is relatively low in nutrients and nutrient deprivation is what causes endospores to form. Some bacteria have the ability to produce endospores by sporulation. Because endospores are dehydrated (leaving them metabolically inactive) and covered in a thick layer consisting of peptidoglycan and proteins, they are able to withstand high temperatures. The soil samples were pasteurized at 70 degrees celsius in hopes that all vegetative cells would be killed and only protected endospores would be left. The endospores were expected to be gram positive due to their thick peptidoglycan layer, a defining characteristic of gram positive organisms.

This is my lab write for an endospore experiment.

Expected Results:

The expected results were to find gram positive endospores that survived pasteurization at 70 degrees celsius. Isolation of endospores was expected because microorganisms were being isolated from a soil sample. Soil is relatively low in nutrients and nutrient deprivation is what causes endospores to form. Some bacteria have the ability to produce endospores by sporulation. Because endospores are dehydrated (leaving them metabolically inactive) and covered in a thick layer consisting of peptidoglycan and proteins, they are able to withstand high temperatures. The soil samples were pasteurized at 70 degrees celsius in hopes that all vegetative cells would be killed and only protected endospores would be left. The endospores were expected to be gram positive due to their thick peptidoglycan layer, a defining characteristic of gram positive organisms.      

Observed Results:

The pre-pasteurization plate resulted in a lawn. There was no isolation. There were different colored colonies, white, grey, and beige, these colonies were not isolated there was a change in color across the lawn. The post-pasteurization plate resulted in minimal isolation. The were four separate isolated colony types, white rhizoid, white circular (this colony was used for gram stain and phase contrast microscopy), white irregular, and a milky beige irregular colony. After conducting a gram stain and viewing the slides under a light microscope, the stained cells appeared as purple bacilli. The wet mount (which used cells from the same isolated colony as the gram stain) when viewed under a phase contrast microscope resembled bacilli with a circle inside of it. The resulting cells fit the description of a sub-terminal endospore.   

Conclusion:

The observed results were consistent with expected results. Gram positive endospores were expected to be isolated after pasteurization and they were. When observed under a microscope the cells appeared to be sub-terminal endospores. From the performed experiments we can conclude that soil does contain gram positive endospores. We can also confirm that pasteurizing the soil will still result in undamaged endospores demonstrating that they are heat resistant.

Many differences in the two figures may have resulted from lack of specifications in the original methods. Although the proportions between the two figures match, the individual image sizes may have not been specified enough in the methods, accounting for this difference. The arrow shape and size may not have been specified enough in the methods as well, resulting in a shape and thickness difference. The white square background of the letter labels may have also not been specified clearly enough in the methods. Dimensions should have been included to minimize this discrepancy.

Diabetic neuropathy is one of the major health complications found in people with diabetes across the globe. The many causes and symptoms of neuropathy have been widely studied, but the best way to improve preexisting neuropathy or prevent neuropathy from happening has yet to be found. One method of both preventing and improving diabetic neuropathy that has been studied is exercise. Studies have found positive effects of various forms of exercise on different types of patients with diabetes. Previous studies have attempted to identify the role and potential benefit of exercise in diabetic neuropathy. To better delineate the benefit of exercise in type 1 diabetes we propose to conduct a 3-month study comparing the effects of aerobic vs. resistance exercise on neuropathy

The observational differences between the original and the replicate resulted from various factors. The differences in the appearance of figure layout could be that different softwares were used to create it. The instructions may also not have been explicit enough to produce an exact replicate. The lighting differences in the photographs taken is most likely due to the fact that they were taken on different days and different times. Therefore, they did not have the brightness exposure depending on the weather. The different frames were likely due to different zooms because the exact zoom was not specified since the cameras weren’t required to be the same. Lastly, the arrows on panel ‘C’ are not the same because details on the type and size arrow was not specified

    About 4 to 5 years ago, there was a passionate debate between the necessity of changing the study of STEM to STEAM. STEM as of right now, stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. It’s often used to refer to the general studies of science, generalizing all 4 fields and grouping it together. Yet the debate was to include an A, and change STEM to STEAM. The A stands for the Arts. The reason why this was proposed was because by studying science alone, we draw very little inspiration from the outside world besides what we’re concentrated on studying. By encompassing the arts and appreciating it, we are able to draw new ideas and become more innovative as we pursuit our fields. There’s a very interesting team of NASA engineers based in Pasadena, California who study origami in order to understand how to confine space better. The North Face also utilizes their team of scientists in order to study very hydrophobic leaves to better understand how to make water-proof clothing better. By utilizing the arts and the nature around them, we’re able to further pursuit these new ideas and engineer better items for consumer use, that may have been a lot more difficult to conclude to had we confined ourselves in our own fields alone. I personally like the idea of changing STEM to STEAM, and allowing the arts to play a role in our need of inspiration to create and innovate new ideas for the future.

    Correct parenting is one of the most subjective topics around. Everybody has their own unique approaches to parenting, and we’re only recently able to slowly have a better grasp as to what “correct” parenting looks like. We’ve only recently moved past negative reinforcement, and learning to utilize positive reinforcement as the benefits have recently under studies show to be a lot more positive. Yet this research and this knowledge is not always exposed to upcoming parents, and sometimes parents never learn such vital information ever. Instead, it’s heavily believed in most communities that listening to those who have parented before, are the experts. This causes a problem where methods that are scientifically proven to be problematic (such as hitting your children), are still utilized to this day because old methods and word of mouth tends to be the main source of information parents rely on. In places such as Osaka Japan, it’s culturally understood that the parents there are severely strict and very violent. Under western views, the parenting methods there are severe, but under Eastern views this is considered the norm. It’s important to be able to get the correct information out there so mentally (and even physically) speaking, our future generations are healthier in comparison to the generation before them.

My friend is sitting across from me and is on her phone. Her thumbs move rapidly, jabbing the brightly lit screen. She has three sliver rings on her left hand on her thumb, index, and middle fingers. She has two rings on her right hand on her middle and ring fingers, one of which has a green stone in the center of it. She raises one hand to her face, resting it on her chin as her right hand continues to support her phone. Her right thumb slides upward on the screen repeatedly. After a while, she places her phone down and flips up the screen of her laptop, which has a marble cover on it. Her forearms rest on the wooden table as her fingers dart across the laptop keyboard. She is wearing a long-sleeve gray zip-up hoodie with a heathered gray tank top underneath. The majority of her long, wavy dark brown hair falls to the right side of her face, which is angled downward to face her laptop screen. Her eyes are pointed downward at the screen, and her eyelids are exposed. She has brown eyeshadow on her lids. Her mouth is agape slightly, her lips close to a centimeter apart. She looks up as someone walks through the front door of the cafe. Her eyebrows angle slightly upward, and her mouth changes to a grin as she waves at her friend who just entered. Within seconds, her eyes fall back to her laptop screen. Now both of her hands are placed on her lap, and she raises her right hand to her mouth. She bites the nail of her right index finger while she stares at the screen. She rests her right elbow on the table, her forearm overlapping her phone, which is face-up on the table surface. Her phone screen lights up suddenly, and she quickly picks up the phone with her right hand. She stares at the screen for a second and places the phone back down, moving her hand back on the laptop keyboard. She hits the space bar and lifts both her hands to her head. She combs her fingers through her hair as she straightens out her back and takes a deep breath. 

The methods project requires students to construct a multi-panel scientific figure of an interspecific interaction on the UMass Amherst campus and write a detailed methods section describing how it will be made. The goal of the project is to be as specific as possible so that another student can replicate the figure, because a primary goal of science is replication. The multi-panel scientific figure was constructed of three pictures of an interaction between a tree and moss. The differences observed between each of the three photos consisted of color, size, number, background, and contrast. These differences may have resulted from the weather, differences in distance from the tree, and differences in angle of the camera.

The image quality also differs between the two figures and images are clearer in the original figure than the replicate. The images in the original figure also take up most of the frame whereas in the replicate, there is more background space. The background setting of the images in each figure also differs slightly. In the original figure, the individual goose is standing on snow, the individual duck is standing on ice, and the interaction shows both species half swimming on water and half standing on ice. In the replicate figure, the individual goose is standing on snow, but there is a tree and other geese in the background. The individual duck is standing in a muddy terrain, and the interaction depicts both species swimming in the water and standing on snow with two benches in the foreground.

There are also subtle differences between the two compilations that become apparent upon closer examination. In the replicated figure, the letter labels are not centered within each white square like in the original. There is also a black line running in the center portion close to the top edge of the interaction image in the replicate figure, a marking that the original figure does not have. A third quality the replicated figure possesses that the original figure does not have includes green borders around each white square label.