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Yeast Mating Methods

Submitted by afeltrin on Tue, 02/12/2019 - 10:34

An initial procedure utilizing UV radiation was performed on two plates of yeast cultures. The two plates were exposed to the UV light for different time restraints—10 seconds for one plate, 13 seconds for the other. Due to having no mutant results, UV mutagenesis was performed on a larger culture of yeast, exposing them for less time and then incubating them, allowing for the red mutants to grow (a and α). HA1, HA2, MA1, MA2, and HAO were streaked using toothpicks opposite HB1, HB2, MB2, MB4, and HBO on a YED plate and left to incubate. The following day, the streaks were mated in the designated grids created on the plate. The YED plate incubated for five days, and was replica plated onto an MV plate and an MV plus adenine plate on November 8. The following day, the results were observed.

High Blood Pressure Can Reduce Brain Volume

Submitted by alanhu on Tue, 02/12/2019 - 09:18

A correlational study was conducted in attempt to see if blood pressure and brain volume are correlated. Using a MRI the volume of the brain was calculated along with the blood pressure. It showed that there is lower brain volume that is present in young healthy individuals. The findings were concerning due to the fact that the participants were healthy. Was there any other indications that could lead to a lower brain volume. It is a correlational study and we have to keep in mind that correlation does not cause causation. Though the brain is important to the body because all functions are based off the brain. The brain is part of the central nervous system and the CNS is important for integrating information that is obtained and use it. The gray matter that is developed in the brain is where the neurons are housed and if having less of the gray matter could affect daily functions.

Draft 2/12

Submitted by lpotter on Tue, 02/12/2019 - 08:18

The differences between polypeptides and proteins are incredibly significant. Polypeptides are covalently bound amino acids via a phosphate bond. This phosphate bond is always the same between amino acids regardless of the amino acid. The bond is the same because all amino acids have an identical alpha amino group and an alpha carboxyl group. The peptide bond forms via dehydration, you can break the bond with the use of hydrolysis. The peptide bond forms between the alpha carboxyl group of the “old” amino acid and the alpha amino group of the “new” amino acid. When multiple amino acids are bound together in this fashion they form a polypeptide chain. Proteins are made up of one or more of these polypeptide chains which are referred to as subunits. Proteins employ different types of bonding, they use noncovalent bonding. Noncovalent bonds don’t share electrons rather they are electrostatic interactions. This means that atoms interact based off of charge differences. Proteins fold based off of the charge of certain R groups of amino acids and the noncovalent interactions that they form. Proteins can even make disulfide bonds if two cysteine amino acid R groups interact in the polypeptide chain. So the main difference between proteins and polypeptides is that proteins are made up of polypeptides, not vice versa.

 

Results

Submitted by aprisby on Mon, 02/11/2019 - 23:51

The data compares the absorbance levels of the experimental group exposed to purple light and the control group exposed to natural light over the course of 30 minutes, samples taken at 10 minutes intervals. Looking at the data collected, usually the samples exposed to purple light have higher absorbance levels. In Table 1, which displays all control group data, the control group contains lower averages of absorbance levels at 0 minutes as compared to Table 2, which displays experimental data under purple light, containing higher averages of absorbance levels at 0 minutes. For example, in the sample containing chloroplasts plus light for both groups, the experimental group average at 0 minutes was 0.827 AU, which is higher than the control group average at 0 minutes which was 0.67 AU. However as time reaches 30 minutes, these results seem to flip, where at 30 minutes, the control group absorbance levels are higher on average among all samples than the experimental group. This is displayed in Tables 1 and 2, where for instance in the sample containing chloroplasts plus light for both groups, the absorbance level of the control group at 30 minutes was 0.67 AU, which is significantly higher than the experimental group at 30 minutes which yielded an absorbance of 0.055 AU. These results coincide with the graphs, as in Figures 1, 2, and 4, the experimental group starts off with a higher absorbance level at 0 minutes than the control group, then is shown to decrease over the course of 30 minutes, while the control group increases in absorbance levels over time.

What to Read?

Submitted by tokiokobayas on Mon, 02/11/2019 - 22:50

    Walking through the COOP, there is an abundance of different books and novels that a person can choose to read. Yet even though there is debatably thousands, if not tens of thousands of books in the store, how does a passerby choose what to read? Which book to pick up? In the end, it all comes down to what grabs the attention of the shopper. Is it the interesting choice of font on the cover? Or the size of the book? What about where the book is located in the shop, and who is the one who decides which books to promote and which ones should get less “seen time”? It’s unfortunate because there is a lot of incredibly deep and interesting literature that is available, but because as humans who care about their time, we rely on heuristics and shortcuts in order to shorten the time that’s required to reach a reward (in this case, a good book) that provides a beneficial use of our time. Is that really the best way for us to figure out what to read?

Legal Protection Regarding Female Circumcision

Submitted by afeltrin on Mon, 02/11/2019 - 22:21

Looking at female circumcision, I cannot agree that it should be legally protected. I understand that these operations are typically tied into traditions regarding adulthood, but there are some cultures that force women to undergo these surgeries so they can appear more pure. The costs simply outweigh the benefits with these surgical procedures. Referred to in “Circumcision, Pluralism, and Dilemmas of Cultural Relativism,” women can experience infections, urinary retention, excess bleeding, vulvar cysts, keloid scars, and so on. With performance of infibulation, women have to endure even more pain when having intercourse or giving birth to a child. The practice, to me, simply seems inhumane. But, I have to take into consideration that there are more factors that come into play than what seems on the surface. Women in Africa, for example, are truly just choosing to follow the long-held traditions of their culture and they don’t view it as mutilation. So, in some cases, I’m kind of torn on which way I side.

The Sun

Submitted by kwarny on Mon, 02/11/2019 - 21:42

The universe is diverse and vast including planets, galaxies, stars, moons, and most evidently, the sun. The gravitational center of the universe resides in the sun, which is the center of the solar system. The gravitational forces from the sun execute the positions of planets in their orbits that orbit the sun. In addition, the sun constantly emits heat as the surface of plasma is 5,800 degrees kelvin. The heat comes from the sun’s core made up of mostly hydrogen that contains about a third of the sun’s mass. Hence, the temperature is even higher of about 15,000,000 degrees kelvin. Within the core, the hydrogen turns into helium, which then causes a fusion that results in heat escaping the surface of the sun. This heat escapes the sun as electromagnetic radiation that heats the earth’s surface when the waves hit. The radiation includes waves from infrared, ultraviolet, and visible light. The ultraviolet component can be correlated to the causes of sun damage and skin cancer.

 

Species Richness Predicted

Submitted by afeltrin on Mon, 02/11/2019 - 17:27

As a slope of 1 is nearly never observed in the real world, this graph depicting a slope of greater than 1 would never be seen in nature. It is impossible for this slope to occur in nature, because any given point of local species richness cannot be greater than the equivalent point of regional species richness due to the local species having to be contained in the regional species. The spatial scale of the region always has to be larger than its local counterpart. Looking at the graph, a local species richness of 11 would never be observed in nature when plotted against a regional species richness of 7. It is hypothetically impossible to ever witness.

Week 4 Draft 2

Submitted by angelinamart on Mon, 02/11/2019 - 17:21

The experiment of unboiling an egg was performed to reconstruct the UC Irvine’s egg experiment. The fascinating idea of unboiling an egg mesmerized my research group to repeat the procedure provided by UC Irvine with some modifications to visually understand the denaturation and renaturation of proteins through an egg. The experiment was carried out for about a month renaturing the protein by using a chemical called Urea. The boiled egg did dissolve into solution, and had reversed its state into a raw egg. Then the egg was placed into the gel electrophoresis to separate the protein and the molecular weight to compare it with the raw egg that has never been cooked yet.

Week4 Draft1

Submitted by mqpham on Mon, 02/11/2019 - 16:59

Light is made up of photons. Photons, much like electrons, have are both wave and particle at once. However, the difference between them is that a photon does not have any mass, but electrons do. Once a single photon or elecron is released from its source, it instantaneously changes its behavior as a particle and becomes a wave. Waves do interact with themselves, and as it turns out, so do photons and electrons. Waves will combine and change its amplitude in certain locations, but once the wave has an interaction with another material, the wave all at once becomes a particle. An analogy to this duality is observed in viruses, the debate continues between whether a virus is or is not a living organism. It has characteristics of both living and non-living things. For example, it reproduces with genetic material, however, it does not metabolize. Like so, photons and electrons share properties of both waves and particles.

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