cslavin's blog

Digestion of a cheeseburger starts in the mouth. Saliva contains enzymes, amylase and lipase, that begin to break down the food. Amylase starts to break down carbohydrates, and lipase begins to breakdown fats. The saliva moistens the food and begins to liquify it. The cheeseburger then travels down the esophagus through peristalsis, coordinated movement of food along the digestive tract. Once the cheeseburger enters the stomach, food is broken down by enzymes secreted by cheif and parietal cells and mixed around by segmentation. Cheif cells in the stomach secrete pepsiogen, which once it enters the stomach becomes pepsin. Pepsin breaks larger proteins into smaller pieces. Parietal cells secrete hydrochloric acid which denatures proteins. The cheeseburger them travels into the small intestine where chemical digestion continues until completion. When the cheeseburger enters the large intestine, it hase been completely broken down; the main function of the large intestine is compaction of waste and absorption of water. Once through the large intestine, the nutrients from the cheeseburger have been completely absorbed, and the waste travels to the anus for defecation. 

Overall ojective: to identify the diveristy of volunteer plants that grow with the same host species that is grown in two different environments: an individualy potted and group potted. Specific Aim 1. Identify the number of different volunteer species growing with the host plant in an individual and group potted environment. Groups will take pictures and count the number of different volunteer species growing with a host planted in an individual pot in the Morrill Greenhouse and in a group pot in the Durfee Greenhouse. This aim will provide data for analysis in aim 2. Specific Aim 2. Identify the species of volunteer plants growing with the host species in an individual and group potted environment. Groups will use Greenhouse weeds in the Botanical Garden of Pas in Warsaw-Powsi to identify the species of volunteer plants growing with their host species in the individual and group pots (Halin and Halin 1999).

The diversity of colunteer species will be recorded by counting the number of different species present. Pictures will be taken and each volunteer species will be identified. Pictures will be labed as figures and will be recorded in the figure section; the different volunteer species will be recoded in a Google spreadsheet. The height of the volunteer species will be measured from the soil to the tallest point of the volunteer species. The length of the volunteer plants leaves will be measured. If there are multiple of the same species, the average of the lengths of leaves will be measured. If there are multiple of the same species, the average of the lengths of leaves will be calculated and recorded. If there are more than 10 leaves of the same species, the average of 5 leaves wiill be taken. The total area of the individual pot and 4x4 meter plot that is covered by volunteer plants will be recorded. The number of leaves per stem of the volunteer plant will be counted and recorded. If there are volunteer plants with multiple stems, the average number of leaves per stem will be taken. The height of the host will be measured. Alll measured data will be recorded in centimeters.

There is growing evidence that microbes shape the way organisms develop in early embryonic stages and then continue to play a critical role throughout an organisms’ adult life. Even animals that develop in areas that do not contain microbes are thought to eventually need microbes in order to complete postnatal development. Evidence of this is found in studies that have been done on germfree mice. These mice have been bred to lack gut bacteria. The studies have shown that microbes are necessary in postnatal maturation of the intestinal tract, immune system, and parts of the brain. 

The study “Convergent evolution in mechanical design of lamnid sharks and tunas” by Jeanine M. Donley and colleagues explores the convergent evolution between lamnid sharks and tunas. The goal of this study was to gain information on the swimming kinematics of lamnid sharks and demonstrate the convergent evolution by looking at the similarities between morphology and functionality. Because of the great size and risk of studying these sharks, there is little information prior to this study about the movement of these sharks. To study this, in vivomechanisms, such as electromyography and sonomicrometry, were used to examine the contractions of red and white muscles while swimming I. oxyrinchus,shortfin mako sharks, in a swim tunnel. This was done to test if the lamnid sharks, like tunas, uncoupled the shortening of red muscles from the shortening of white muscles and deformation of the skin and backbone. Also, a combination of mechanisms were used to study the 3-demnsional morphology of the myosepta, a tendinous connective tissue.

The digestion of a cheeseburger starts in the mouth. The saliva contains enzymes, amylase and lipase, that begin to break down the food. Amylase starts to break down carbohydrates, and lipase begins to breakdown fats. The saliva moistens the food and begins to liquify it. The cheeseburger then would travel down the esophagus through peristalsis, which is a coordinated movement of food along the digestive tract. Once the cheeseburger enters the stomach, food is broken down by enzymes and segmentation, or food mixing. Cheif cells in the stomach secrete pepsiogen, which once it enters the stomach becomes pepsin. Pepsin breaks larger proteins into smaller pieces. Parietal cells secrete hydrochloric acid which denatures proteins. The food them travels into the small intestine where chemical digestion continues until completion. By the time the food enters the large intestine, its nutrients have fully been absorbed. The main function of the large intestine is compaction of waste and absorption of water. 

All this information should be recorded in a chart that displays the measurements of the  volunteer and host species in individual pots and group pots. Groups should look for similarities and differences between the volunteer species present in each plant. They should also look for differences in growth between the two host plants. If the greenhouses can provide information about the habitat these plants are grown in, like soil and climate information, groups should use this information to discuss possible reasons for their differences. Likewise, it may be beneficial for groups to attain information on how old each host plant is. Groups should apply these similarities and differences in an organized discussion section. This will require additional research to be done on the specific volunteer and host species and their ideal growth environments.

Electrocardiograms measure the electrical impulse of the heart. There are 5 different intervals: p, q,r,s, and t. The p wave is a measure of the atrial depolarization. Q, R, and S are thought of as the QRS complex, which measures ventricular depolarization and also atrial repolarization. Becasue ventrical depolarization is more powerful, the atrial repolarization cannot be seen easily. The t wave represents ventrical repolarization. To calculate heart rate from an ECG, you divide 1,5000 by the number of boxes inbetween the two R intervals. A normal heart rate is between 60 and 100 bpm. When the heart rate is below 60 it is called bradycardia, and when the heart rate is above 100 it is called trachycardia. There are many abnormalities that cause an ECG to appear funky. An AV blockage can cause the ECG to appear like the p wave is moving around or like it is missing an QRS complex. Right bundle branch blockage (RBBB) can make the R intervals appear to be next to each other. Left bundle branch blockage (LBBB) can cause the S wave to appear like abnormal. Preventricular contraction (PVC) can cause random abnormalities through out the entire ECG. Left ventricular hypertension can cause the S segment to appear extremely long. Right ventricular hypertension can cause the R segment to be extremely elongated. 

Electrocardiograms measure the electrical impulse of the heart. The p wave is a measure of the atrial depolarization. The QRS complex is a measure of the ventricular depolarization and also atrial repolarization, however becasue ventrical depolarization is more powerful the atrial repolarization cannot be seen easily. The t wave represents ventrical repolarization. To calculate heart rate from an ECG, you count the number of boxes inbetween the two R intervals and divide 1500 by that number. A normal heart rate lies between 60-100 bpm. When the heart rate is below 60 it is called bradycardia, and when the heart rate is above 100 it is called trachycardia. There are many abnormalities that cause an ECG to appear funky. An AV blockage can cause the ECG to appear like the p wave is moving around or will be missing an QRS complex. Right bundle branch blockage (RBBB) can make the R intervals appear to be next to each other. Left bundle branch blockage (LBBB) can cause the S wave to appear like abnormal. Preventricular contraction (PVC) can cause random abnormalities through out the entire ECG. Left ventricular hypertension can cause the S segment to appear extremely long. Right ventricular hypertension can cause the R segment to be extremely elongated. 

Volunteer plants are plants that grow in addition to planted plants. In potted plants there appears to be a greater diversity of volunteer plants. When multiple plants are potted in soil togther, there appears to only be one continuous volunteer plant throughout the soil. While observing a few different species of trees, we were wondering if there was more growth of these volunteer plants in individually potted plants or plants that are potted together. Does one type of volunteer species grow at a faster rate than others? To study this we could measure the growth of each volunteer species at the end of each week and see which has the largest growth. We could also compare the growth of the volunteer species in individal potted plants to the growth in plants plotted together.