Writing in Biology

Ventromedial prefrontal cortex is part of the prefrontal cortex that is responsible for processing risks and fears. Researchers believe that the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) would be able to stimulation the circuitry. 25 participants with cocaine addiction and 24 participants with alcohol addictions volunteered to be in the experiment. Brain scans of the participants were taken when the participant was given a drug cue, which causes the patient to desire the drug. Then after receiving TMS the participants showed reduced activity when the drug was mentioned. The study is important because it provides evidence that addiction is partly a brain disorder.

Brine shrimp, or Artemia, are crustaceans that inhabit inland salt water lakes. They are known for their ability to adapt in fluctuating levels of salinity. They are slightly over 1cm in length, and although small, are of great importance to the ecosystem. They are a source of protein for not only for fish, but often nesting birds as well as migrating birds. In the Great Salt Lake, brine shrimp are important to the local economy as they are often sold as food for fish as well as shellfish raised for food for humans. Their life cycle consists of dormant cyst (eggs), that hatch and develop into Naupliar stages. Eventually, they develop into juveniles that become adults. Femals will hold the eggs.

Doing fractional distillation is a more viable technique than straighforward distillation since less material is lost during the procedure. The distilled compounds would be more purified. The copper wire in the fractioning column acts to copy multiple distillations in one round of fractional distillation.

By doing fractional distillation of unknown 20, it was seen that unknown 20 had a higher boiling compound at about 79 degrees celcius and a lower boiling compound at about 56 degrees celcius. There is a 1:1 ratio of higher and lower boiling points. It can be determined that the lower boiling point compound is acetone because acetone's boiling point is 56 degrees celcius. It can be determined that the higher boiling point compound is 2-methyl-2-propanol. The therorectical boiling point for 2-methyl-2-propanol is 82 degrees celcius, which is about 3 degrees different from the experimental boiling point. The difference could be due to human error by heating the compound too quickly. The experimental results for this procedure are accurate because fractional distillation provides pure compounds, which are less likely to be lost during the process. 

When the vials were switched at the point of plateau, the original had barely any drops, however the original starting quantity was 4 mL. The second vial, which was removed at about 78 degrees celcius, was a mixture of acetone and 2-methyl-2-propanol. Vial 2 was replaced with Vial 3 containing 2-methyl-2-propanol. Vial 2 contained about 2 mL, Vial 3 had a little less than 2 mL, and Vial 1 had a few drops. Therefore, all three vials account for the original 4 mL of unknown 20 and emphasize the 1:1 ratio. 

Fish use body undulations to swim, which creates water movements with great acceleration behind the fish. The form of the wave is similar among most fish, but number, speed, and amplitude change of the wave can all vary. There is little known about how the COM of fish changes with swimming speed. However, it is known that the COM can change in all three dimensions: surge, sway, and heave. The COM of three fish were calculated in all three directions. Surge COM displacement and acceleration in eels and bluegill sunfish oscillated at twice the tail beat frequency, while the sway COM displacement and acceleration oscillated at the tail beat frequency. Surge COM oscillations did not change with swimming speed, while sway oscillations increased with increasing swimming speed. Sway amplitudes increased with increased swimming speed in bluegill sunfish, but the same was not true for the eels. 

Forests are the most important natural resource in the world and they cannot be underestimated. They provide the air that we breathe to the habitats of other species. The Congo which is home to the second largest rainforest in the world is facing major issues with deforestation and illegal logging. Unfortunately, these harvesting practices have led to the endangerment and close endangerment of several species. Illegal logging is harmful to biodiversity and forest dependent peoples, as it undermines governance, opens forest areas up to new human encroachment, facilitates violent conflict, and increases loss in tax revenues from logging. Causes for deforestation in the Congo rainforest include agriculture, clearing for charcoal and woodfuel, urban expansion, mining, and illegal harvesting. Woodfuel specifically is approximated to be responsible for about 90 percent of wood removals from African forests, as it is a vital resource used for home cooking. Studies have also shown that about 60 million people in the Congo Basin rely on timber exploitation as a way to make money. Despite its natural riches, the DRC is one of the world’s poorest countries, where most people are subsistence farmers with little access to health care, family planning, paid employment or education beyond primary school. The only form of wealth most of Congo’s rural residents have is their natural capital: their forest, lands and wildlife.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter involved in pleasure, reward, and motivation. In this study, researchers manipulated dopaminergic synaptic availability through the use of three substances: levodopa, risperidone, and lactose. Levodopa is a dopamine precursor that increases dopaminergic availability. Risperidone is a dopamine antagonist that reduces dopamine signaling. Lactose was used in this study as a control. Electrodermal activity was used to measure changes in pleasure and reward while listening to music, which included the participants’ favorite songs as well as ten other singles. Participants rated songs in real time based on pleasure as well as monetary value (how much money they would pay for the song). Results showed a causal link between levels of dopamine caused by the drugs given and emotional pleasure. Participants given levodopa gave higher emotional response ratings than compared to the lactose placebo and were more likely to spend money on the music they were listening to. Those given risperidone were unable to experience chills, an emotional pleasure response, and gave lower emotional response ratings compared to the placebo. They were also less willing to spend money on the music, indicating a weaker motivation to listen to the music again.

https://neurosciencenews.com/dopamine-music-10628/

There are multiple volcanoes deemed as high risk in California which may erupt in the next decade. A report stated that within the next 30 years, there is a 16% chance of a small to moderate size volcanic eruption somewhere in California. This prediction was based on 5,000 years of volcanic activity records. In comparison, there is a 22% chance that an earthquake, known as “the big one” will also occur during that time. California acknowledges all of these potential natural disasters. However, the residents may not be as understanding of the potential volcanic eruption because of the low probability of it occurring. They want their residents to take this information seriously so precautions can be taken in terms of reducing both damage and loss of life from these events.

Metabolism is not as simple of a term as many people may think. Metabolism is essentially a complex energy pathway within the body. It works in a series of short contained reactions in order to efficiently capture and use energy. The small chemical reactions have low activation energies, since there are many small reactions in a pathway the energy can be captured and stored way more efficiently than if you had one large activation energy and completed the pathway in just one big chemical reaction. There are two main types of metabolism. Anabolism is the part of the metabolism that builds simple molecules into bigger complex molecules. This process requires the input of energy from the body. This energy input comes in the form of ATP. Anabolism is how things like proteins, nucleic acids, membranes, etc. are made. Another main component of metabolism is catabolism. This is the break down of big complex molecules into smaller more simple molecules. Catabolism breaks down things like sugars, lipids, proteins, etc. and in doing so creates ATP. This creation of ATP is the release of energy associated with catabolism. The main takeaway of metabolism is that it functions in such a way that all reactions have very small activation energies making the capture and release of energy way more efficient than completing the reaction in one big step.