afeltrin's blog

Communication Differences Relating to Gender

In relation to language ideologies, I think these ideologies definitely mediate social structures and individual speech acts. Upbringing and the biases we develop play a role in how we talk, as in words we use, or slang, or language based on who we are talking to. I feel like effective communication really only 100% works with people of the same gender speaking. Girls typically hold the same beliefs regarding socialization—that sticking to pairs or small groups is preferred and that friendships are built upon secrets shared. Boys do more movement-related things as opposed to really talking. But, when they do talk, they talk about common interests like sports or games. Men don’t really talk through issues with each other, but they still overcome them. Women talk it out at length and overcome problems together. When you look at men and women communicating, it’s more of a challenge. For a relationship to work well in a woman’s perspective, conversation should always be happening and they should be talking things out. For men, a relationship is working out when they don’t have to keep talking things over.

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Regional Species Richness

I do not think the regional species richness on the mainland will affect how many species are predicted to be found on an island based on the equilibrium theory of island biogeography. The theory focuses on predicting the amount of species present for, as an example, a large island close or far to the mainland; it focuses on the relationship between species and a particular area. Regional species richness relates to the amount of species found in a region, combining all the residing communities in that region. Regional species richness does not take extinction or immigration rates into account, like the equilibrium theory does.

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Emic vs. Etic Descriptions of Cultures

As perspective moves from emic to etic descriptions, these human universals inevitably change. When an emic description of a ritual is presented, our perspective is accepting and understanding. They are easier to connect with, being that they’re from the same culture. But, with an etic description, one of another culture may view the ritual as “primitive” because of the superiority some groups believe they hold. Our long-held customs are challenged as we listen to someone from a different culture trying to explain our customs using their own language and concepts. It can sometimes distort the views of out customs and what we’ve believed in for so long and repeated day after day.

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Observations and Inferences #12

A glaring difference between the original figure and replicated figure is the placement, font, and size of the panel letters. On the left side, the letters are small, in a sans-serif font, and in the bottom lefthand corner. On the right side figure, the letters are in the upper lefthand corner, are in a serif font, and are almost three times the size of the other panel letters. The set up is the same, though; the three photos descend from ‘A’ at the top to ‘C' at the bottom.

The photos of ‘A' are similar, yet the one on the left is very zoomed in, as opposed to the picture on the right. At least arrows are utilized on the right figure to point to the object being aimed at. Similarly, in photo ‘B,’ on the left, the image is far more zoomed in when compared to the right. Finally, in photo ‘C,’ this time the photo on the left is more zoomed out than the photo on the right. Images ‘A’ and ‘B’ appear to be of the same location, just taken at different years as according to the date shown at the bottom of each picture taken from Google Earth. Then, the final pictures included are taken in between the flagpoles, I assume due to the arrow pointing to the flagpoles in the previous pictures on the right panel. I assume the last picture was personally taken by the people conducting and following the methods as the picture clarity is not really provided via Google Earth for such a focused area.

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Using Inkscape - PP

After taking and downloading the four photos onto my computer, I created a folder titled “Inkscape Methods.” I moved the four photos into that folder. I downloaded Inkscape and opened the application. I saved the project into the folder I created and titled the project as “Feltrin-original.” I imported the four photos at the same time. I locked the image properties at the top toolbar, resized each image, and cropped each image. I made sure each image was equally sized and comparable, paying careful attention and ensuring the two images involving my finger stroking along the stem of the leaf displayed the leaf at the same size. I set each photo’s width to 246mm. I aligned the four pictures so the photo of the quarter next to the leaf was in the upper left quadrant, the photo of the quarter next to my finger was in the upper right quadrant, the photo of my finger first touching the end of the plant closest to the main stem was in the lower left quadrant, and the photo of my finger touching the tip of the plant was in the lower right quadrant.

Using Inkscape

After taking and downloading the four photos onto my computer, I created a folder titled “Inkscape Methods.” I moved the photos into that folder. I downloaded Inkscape and opened the application. I saved the project into the folder I created and titled the project as “Feltrin-original.” I imported the four photos at the same time. I locked the image properties, resized each image, and cropped each image. I made sure each image was equally sized, paying careful attention and ensuring the two images involving my finger stroking along the stem of the leaf displayed the leaf at the same size. I set each photo’s width to 246mm. I aligned the four pictures so the photo of the quarter next to the leaf was in the upper left quadrant, the photo of the quarter next to my finger was in the upper right quadrant, the photo of my finger first touching the end of the plant closest to the main stem was in the lower left quadrant, and the photo of my finger touching the tip of the plant was in the lower right quadrant.

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Early Animal Evolution

This article aims to show that the previously accepted notion of how animal organization came to be—from simple to complex—may not be all that true. There are many forms of evidence that refute that claim of organization. Fossils play a large role in constructing animal arrangement. This scientific article is specifically aimed at sponges and ctenophores due to the lack of knowledge we really have surrounding them. Mainly, our lack of information about these nonbilaterians is because of the heavy focus scientists had on studying Bilateria, specifically, and the ease with which scientists were able to determine shared traits between the two groups, as opposed to traits only found in nonbilaterians. It is necessary to learn more about these nonbilaterians so they can advance our knowledge of animal organization and clear up confusion. For as long as evolution has been a reality, traits have been gained and lost; even before the Cambrian explosion, complex organisms existed. There is no determination of whether one organism is more complex than another—there is no scale or ratings of complexity. Something as ‘simple’ as a sponge really is not as simple as people may think. The main point made in this article is that we need to steer clear of the original model of animal organization created that placed simple, or primitive, species first and they led to the evolution of more complex traits within species.

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Plant Root Apexes

In a singular plant, there are millions of roots so there are millions of root apexes. These apexes are covered by about 200 cells. During these cells’ lifetimes, they act as both sensors and assessors of a multitude of different signals. Some of these signals are gravity and touch, and touch enables the root apex to slide over any obstructing surfaces and it also inhibits gravity sensing. Another signal is phosphate deficiency, which clearly will alert the plant to a low volume of phosphorus in the cell, which is critical for plants to take in energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate. The signal will transmit to the shoot and the shoot will synthesize novel bacterial small RNAs (sRNAs). Once these sRNAs reach the root, the phenotype will change as a result. The last signal the apex can sense and assess is the rich soil nitrate patches, which grow along the gradient of the root apex and eventually stop growing once the nutrients dissipate.

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Yeast Mating Methods

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.

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Legal Protection Regarding Female Circumcision

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.

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