Writing in Biology

A vasectomy is a procedure that is a version of birth control for males. It involves a cut in the ductus deferens and then the ends are either castrated or tied to prevent the sperm from flowing. The male gonads are known as testes, which produce sperm through the process of spermatogenesis and reside in the scrotum. The scrotum hands inferiorly to the abdominal pelvic cavity. Within the testes are the seminiferous tubules, which is where the sperm is actually produced. All the seminiferous tubules then merge into one singular tube called a straight tubule. The purpose of the straight tubule is to funnel the sperm into the rete testis. From the rete testis, the sperm would enter the efferent ductules and then the epididymis. From the epididymis, the sperm would then flow to the ductus (vas) deferens. Since a vasectomy was done the ductus (vas) deferens had been blocked and there is nowhere for the sperm to flow and would eventually be broken down in the epididymis. A vasectomy would not inhibit the production of sperm because none of the functions were altered. The only thing that was changed was the only way for the sperm to leave the testis and into the urethra was blocked.

Forces and potential energy: Forces are pushes and pulls which can result in potential energy. Potential energy depends on the position of the object to where it wants to go. Potential energy and Electric potential: Potential energy is a result of the position of the object in relation to where it wants to go. Electric potential is a charge that changes when a charge is put in the system to create potential energy. Electric potential and electric force: electric field can be generated by a single charge, whereas an electric force requires two charges. An electric force is the result of charged particle intercting with the sum of the electric fields of all the other charged particles.

A novel GDSL-type esterase, SFAR4 was found in Arabidopsis thaliana. In this study, knockout mutants and overexpression lines were established. The absence and overexpression of the SFAR4 gene had no effect on germination rate when compared with the wild-types. However, in the presence of glucose, the lines with overexpressed SFAR4 had significantly higher germination rates than wild-type and knockout mutants. In contrast, the presence of mannitol did not affect germination rates. This finding suggests that perhaps SFAR4, a GDSL-type esterase plays a role in glucose susceptibility and glucose metabolic pathway regulation in germinating seeds. In this same study, the expression of fatty acid metabolic genes are shown to be differential in SFAR4 overexpression lines and knockout mutants. SFAR4 overexpression lines show increases levels of metabolism pathway components while knockout mutant lines are accompanied by lower levels of fatty acid metabolism gene expression. This indicates that SFAR4 plays a role in fatty acid metabolism.

About three quarters of all species on Earth died out in the Late Devonian mass extinction, though as a series of extinctions over several million years, rather than one event. Life that existed in shallow waters and seas were the the most affected; reefs were hit so hard that it was not until corals evolved over 100 million years later that reefs returned to their former glory. Aside from reef-building organisms, other groups that were hit hard include the brachiopods and the trilobites. During this time period, much of the sea bed became devoid of oxygen, which made it only sustainable for bacteria. Changes in sea level, asteroid impacts, climate change and new species of plants messing with the soil have all been probable causes for these extinctions.

Jaguars are an endangered species whose populations began to fall in the mid 1900s due to excessive poaching and hunting. Human development has also decreaed their populations, between building expansions and an increase in agricultural fields. Conservation should give this species top priority because jaguar populations continue to decline and suffer as a direct result of human impact. As a keystone species, jaguars help maintain balance in the food chain as the top predator by controlling populations of subspecies. Ecology can help conserve this species through the protection and conservation of designated habitat patches and corridors so that jaguars may be allowed space which will allow for the ability to survive and grow. Providing protection for the connectivity between different landscapes will allow the jaguars to be able to expand their population gene pool, which will then in turn create a healthier, more stable population. Ecology itself will allow humans to better understand changes in populations, and how more space will allow for increased population growth.

    It’s generally agreed that in order to close the achievement gap, we need to give opportunities to those who are poor, and are living in environments that pose as a threat to their child’s education. For context, the achievement gap is the gap in success in school between high-income and low-income students. In my personal opinion, the reallocation of government spending (specifically demilitarization) to areas with poor education systems, would greatly increase educational opportunities, the quality of education, and create jobs for more teachers. During 2015 alone, the U.S spent roughly 600 billion dollars in military spendings. If we were to cut military spending in half, that would give education systems 300 billion more dollars to use, and still leave the military with 300 billion spending dollars. The military also tends to “max out” on the budget in order to maintain the budget. For example, the military has lots of extra ‘disposable’ equipment that is bought in order to continually perpetuate this idea that the military “needs this amount of money” in order to continue functioning. The actual budget used by the military is barely ever looked at specifically, and when they are, it’s very apparent that the spendings are not being used efficiently. By allocating the taxpayers’ money elsewhere, we can generally increase the quality of education, and the achievement gap will eventually shrink due to better education systems.

The results showed that there were many aspects as to how cells maintain a uniform rod shape as they grow. One result showed that there are two main ways that new cell wall is added to the cell. The first being that new cell wall is inserted in an oriented manor, which means that filaments travel around the radius of the cell and are oriented by cell radius rudders. The second is that new cell wall is inserted in an unoriented manor, this means that cell wall is inserted randomly by enzymes. Another result showed that when mreBCD was upregulated the cell rod width decreased and it became skinnier, if mreBCD was downregulated then the cell rod width increased and it became fatter. The salt shock showed that cells with upregulated mreBCD were able to maintain their rod form for a longer time than cells with lower levels. An additional result showed that when the cells were provided additional nutrients they were able to grow into a rod shape quicker. A similar result showed that when the cell was essentially tricked into thinking it had adequate nutrients it grew at the same rate showing that a kinase domain was responsible for sensing environmental nutrients.

This poster has an attractive design and includes cooler-toned colors such as blues, white, and black. It has a light blue background, however, each section is set in white boxes with navy blue headings. Text for headings is visualized in bold white, allowing the observer to clearly see the contents of each section. The layout of the poster has an intuitive flow and images are spaced throughout respective sections with appropriate and clear labeling. Images are more rainbow-colored or gray, allowing them to stand out from the background colors of the poster. A Helvetica-style font was used in poster construction with important descriptors in bold, such as headings (white) and main text (black). The font size for the body of the poster is sufficient, however, there is not a great distinction between heading and body font size. A larger text size would be useful in highlighting the contents of each section.

The structure of the brain is one of the most complex organs in the human body that psychologists continue to research for deeper explanations and understanding of how it functions. Communication in the brain occurs between neurons that transmit messages electrically within a neuron and chemically between neurons. Messages travel down a neuron from the dendrites that receive a message and down the axon of the neuron down to the synaptic cleft where the chemicals are dispensed. The synaptic cleft is a designated area for chemicals to be released from a neuron and  transmitted to the next. Chemicals bind to the corresponding receptors of the next neuron to be stimulated and continue its path throughout the brain. Chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine are transmitted throughout the brain. Serotonin relates to sleep, eating, and one’s mood, which are important for proper function and well-being of a human.