Blogs

Like I stated earlier, the first step in genotyping adult zebrafish is fin-clipping. By fin-clipping, we obtain tissue usable in DNA extraction. Each clipped fin should be placed in labelled PCR tubes. I'm going to discuss extraction using an extract-n-amp kit. To the PCR tubes, add 25µl extract and 6.25µl tissue prep, from the kit. Incubate at room temperature for 10minutes. Then, incubate at 95⁰C for 3 minutes. Add 25µl neutralization buffer and dilute 1:10 in autoclaved double-distilled water. This 1:10 dilution will involve obtaining new tubes and adding 10µl ddH₂O before adding 1µl of DNA extract from the original tubes. It is essential to extract DNA so that we can gain more insight into the genotypic nature of the adult zebrafish. After, we can run polymerase chain reactions (PCR) to isolate the gene of interest.

Observations:

The four pictures put together on the left picture is bigger than the four pictures put together on the right. The pictures on the right are brighter than the pictures on the left. The sun on the left pictures appear to shine uniformly on the plants. Whereas the plants on the right have certain parts of the plants being lit up by the sun. The angles on both sides are different from one another. The plants that were being photographed were the same in both figures for “A, B and C” but for picture “D”, the images of the flowers were different. The font on the pictures on the right side is bolded and darker than the pictures on the font on the left side. There are no gaps on both of the figures. The order of the pictures is correct on both of the figures. 

Inferences:

The sizing for the images on both the figures were miscommunicated which resulted in different sizing between the two. The lighting in both the figures are different due to the different times of day the person went to photograph the plants. The sun shining on the whole plant uniformly and only on some parts are due to the time of day the person went to take the picture. The time of day affects where the sun is being positioned in the sky. The angle differences are due to the photographer. The difference in figure D may be due to the plant not being there at the time the person was there. Or the person may be confused by the description of the flower since both flowers are similar in color. The differences in the font may be due to the resizing of the images as a whole. Or due to the figures on the right side being bolded to make the font more visible.

The quality of the images on the two panels are notably different. The left is more vibrant and clearly shows the plants. However, the right side is slightly blurry and had less vivid coloring. This could be due to a different time of day during which the shots of the two panels were taken. At an earlier hour, or a sunnier day, the lighting could contribute to better displaying the subjects as they were captured in the left panel that had better coloring. Another factor that could have gone into this was the type of camera or settings on the camera that may cause the two colorings to become different. On top of that, the humitidy of the greenhouse could play a role in condensation around the lens. If the photographer did not clear the lens, it might have caused the images to become blurry in the right panel. The angles of the subjects are also different in the two panels. The left panel displays the plants facing straight forward, while the right panel looks slightly downward onto the plants. The way that the camera was directed at the subjects or the different heights of the person taking the photos could have been different. Someone taller could be looking downward on the plants, while someone who was shorter could have taken the photos directly facing them as they were taken in the left panel. The labeling of the images are different as well. Instead of simply labeling the images A, B, and C as it is done in the left panel, the right panel differs in that is labels the images from top to bottom, "A." then "B." then "C." This could have been miscommunicated in the methods or was not specifically mentioned. Another difference regarding the labels is the distance of the letters from the left side of the images. In the left panel, the letters are closer to the edge of the photos than in the right panel, which places the labels further from the left side of the images. The size of the subjects are also different in the two panels. This could be due to the distance of the photographer from the subjects. For the left panel, the subjects appear closer to the camera than the subjects on the right side panel. The table on which the plants lie are also not included in the image on the left, which also makes the subjects appear closer. The images of the right also feature some other plants on the side that are not the subject plant in each photo. Furthermore, the images on the right panel also capture the pot in which the plant was held as opposed to the images on the left panel, which also crops out most of the pot so that the soil and only some of the plant pot can be seen. This could be due all to the distance of the photographer from the subjects of the images.

    The theory of splitters and connectors states that everyone lies on a spectrum between two extremes when it comes to logical thinking. One side of the spectrum is a group of people that are known as splitters, and they are people who tend to have more difficulty connecting ideas on their own accord. For example, if a child was taught how to subtract two large numbers using the traditional method, one child may ask “why do we have to carry the one?”. When the same concept is taught to a different child, that child might understand why without them having to ask. This second child is an example of the opposite side of the spectrum; a connector. A person who naturally is able to connect ideas without them being explicitly told. This concept is usually discussed about in regards with academics, but it can also relay into daily life as well. For example, a person may dine at a restaurant, and notice that due to their water glasses not consistently being filled up, they may complain explicitly about the service a busser or a server. Other people dining may notice that there are only two waiters in a restaurant seated for 40 people, and may think “they must be understaffed”, so they are able to sympathize and do not complain. Then there are those who before even walking in, notice there are only two waiters in a busy restaurant and decide to dine somewhere else. These three examples represent one person who is a splitter, another who is in the middle, and finally one who is a connector.

The pupae has stayed in its shell for a week leading me to believe that it was dead. On February 10th at around 11 am the fly emerged from its enclosure. The pupae has been black and and a half an inch in length. It had a cylindrical shape to the shell with small ridges circling the exterior. On one end of the pupae there was a white ridge. When the fly emerged from the shell it emerged from the side that did not have the white ridge. There was a small slit on the side where the fly left. The fly has three legs on each side of its body for a total of six legs. It’s abdomen was black and it had two translucent wings. The fly spent some time exploring the small container and was able to walk on the sides of the container that as a larva it was unable to explore. After three hours I took the fly to the trash room and this is where I opened up the container and let the fly out. The fly struggled at first and barely made a few inches off the ground. It wobbles around trying to gain some balance before it finally was able to succeed and fly away.

I believe a crucial aspect for undergraduates wanting to pursue higher education include research. I have been involved in extensive research at my university in which we are focused on elucidating molecular mechanisms to improve basic understanding of muscle function and develop more effective treatments for diseases related to fatigue. The force generating capacity of muscle is ultimately derived from changes of muscles molecular motor, myosin. In that case, the lab that I am involved in closely investigates myosin and the mechanics and kinetics of myosin function. We hope these lines of investigation will both improve our basic understanding of muscle function and reveal the root molecular causes of related diseases, ultimately leading to improved treatments.Different techniques that are used include both in vitro motility assay and single molecular laser trap assays. The single molecular trap assay consists of an actin filament attached to two glass beads held in optical traps which are brought in to contact with a third bead sparsely coated with myosin. 

Quality of memory and sleep declines with age. The mechanistic interactions that underly the memory function of sleep in older adults are still unknown. In my lab, older adults are defined as anyone who is above the age of 60 years old. The beneficial effect of sleep on memory relies on reactivation during NREM sleep. We target these reactivations by the process of “cueing.” While the older adult is asleep, we administer an odor to see if this activates specific memory consolidation. We are comparing our findings to those of younger adults to see if there is a significant change. So far, we have not been able to gather enough data to reveal any significant findings.

This interspecific interaction is between a juniper and a forsythia.  The forsythia is surrounded by juniper, and it is clear that they are sharing the same soil.  The location of this interspecific interaction is on the west side of the Life Science Laboratories (LSL) at UMass Amherst.  Upon exiting the Integrated Science Building on the second floor, a right turn was taken, the doors to the LSL were passed, and the interspecific interaction was spotted directly in front of the single glass window that is between the LSL entrance doors and the windows looking into the laboratories. Three pictures were taken at 4 pm on a sunny day with snow covering the ground.  One picture, which included both organisms, was taken from the sidewalk, on the side farthest from the plants.   One was a top-down view of the juniper from approximately 1 foot above the plants. One was a picture of the forsythia with buds that were approximately 5 inches from the camera lens in focus, with the tan wall of the LSL in the background (no windows or juniper).  

The electromagnetic spectrum represents the range of frequencies of electromagnetic frequencies with its corresponding wavelengths. The order of increasing frequency is radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, x-ray, and gamma ray. Radio waves capture waves by nearby radio stations to produce tunes through radio speakers. Microwaves are slightly higher in wave frequency and are emitted in kitchen microwaves for heating purposes. The next kind of waves capture heat from either objects or animals can be seen with infrared. The visible waves are the only waves humans are able to see with the naked eye, which includes all the lights and colors produced from red to violet. Following visible waves are ultraviolet waves that are strictly emitted from the sun and can cause sunburns and tans with prolonged exposure. Lastly, x-rays and gamma rays are used in the medical field and for security purposes to capture scans of the body or objects. X-rays consist of x-rays of teeth and scanning images of baggages at the airport. On the other hand, gamma rays are more powerful and dangerous and thus are highly regulated for precaution. In the oncology department, gamma rays are used to treat cancer for certain patients to kill cancerous cells and reduce tumors in the body. The electromagnetic spectrum explains what humans visualize in the universe and further explain images taken and studied by machines that measure the range of waves.

Microwaves are an essential kitchen gadget in households and are used on a daily basis. They are convenient as they are quick and effective for heating food in minutes. However, you may have noticed that at times the center of your food is still cold or that the outside of your food is hot but the inside is still frozen. This phenomenon can be explained by the physics of microwaves. Waves are produced in the microwaves that transfer heat to the food. Every wave has an amplitude and when the waves hit the x-axis, the amplitude of the wave is zero. Furthermore, if the amplitude of a specific waves hit zero in the center of the microwave then heat will not be transferred to the center where the food is placed. As a result, the physcis of microwaves demonstrates reasoning of why the center of the food will remain cold.