Drafts

    Recently, Avengers Endgame came out which has been the talk of young adults since its release. A lot of people have been trying their best to not get spoiled by the movie, while those who have already seen it are not trying to run their mouths. But why do people enjoy spoiling movies? What is the benefit behind spoiling the experience for someone else who has not yet gotten to experience it yet?  The reasoning scientifically lies behind the reward system. Those who spoil movies purposely, find joy in ruining the experience from others, and seeing that they’re able to take it away from people, they find a rush of dopamine when they ruin it. The reason why they feel rewarded, is because having the ability to take something away from another is a power move. This position of power can make you feel significantly better with the reward system, and subconsciously putting you “above” the other person. To have this power and to use it is what causes the rush of dopamine. The reward system is rewarding the spoiler for being in a position of power.

DNA sequencing is a helpful tool in determining the exact nucleotide sequence of a particular genome. The Sanger Method is a particular way this can be achieved. This method feeds off of DNA replication occurring naturally within a cell. The DNA needs a primer to begin the process but can be stopped with the addition of a dideoxynucleotide. The reason the process is stopped when a dideoxynucleotide is added is due to the missing OH group on the 3’ end. Therefore, a fragment of DNA can be sequenced with a large amount of the DNA sequence of interest, a large amount of primers, DNA polymerase, an excess of nucleotides, and a small amount of one of the dideoxynucleotides. Due to the ratio of high normal, deoxynucleotide, to low dideoxynucleotides, there will be termination of the sequence at many different places. This process can also be done with all of the nucleotides labeled with different florescent dyes. If the fragments were then run on a gel, the piece of DNA could be sequenced. The use of capillaries is a technological way of doing this (J. Laney, Sequencing Slides. Moodle.1, 1-17 (2018)).

Toluidine blue (T-blue) stains polysaccharides and phloroglucinol HCL (Ph-HCL) stains lignin. In the NaN1793 mutants, both the Ph-HCL and T-blue stains appear a much lighter color at the distal cortex as opposed to the proximal cortex (Fig. 7B, 7D). In the wild - type plants, this contrast is not observed to as great of an extent (Fig. 7). The NaN1793 mutation is predicted to be a nonsense mutation, resulting in a truncated, nonfunctional protein. This phenotypic difference suggests that Bradi1g25180 may be involved in formation of cell walls of the distal cortex.

On R, the leaf, root, and stem gene expression data were plotted (Figure 5), and a T-test was performed for both the leaf, root, and stem relative expressions and stress response gene expression data. The T-test resulted in p-values of 0.00408 for root versus stem, 0.0008745 for root versus leaf, and 8.741x10-6 for leaf versus stem. All of these p-values were lower than the Bonferroni correction p-value cut-off of 0.01667, meaning there was a significant statistical difference in all three comparisons of gene expression between the tissues (Figure 5). The T-test on the stress response expression resulted in p-values of 0.1951 for CS versus HS, 0.03036 for CS versus DS, 0.8509 for CS versus SS, 0.0069 for HS versus DS, 0.16 for HS versus SS, and 0.04488 for DS versus SS. Only the p-value of HS versus DS was lower than the Bonferroni correction p-value cut-off of 0.008333, meaning there was only a significant statistical difference between the gene expression levels under heat stress and drought stress (Figure 4).

The researchers will take a personalized adoptive cell transfer and cancer vaccination immunotherapy approach to eradicating pancreatic cancer. Identification of expressed and immunologically active tumor-specific neoantigens in each patient will be performed in vitro and resulting neoantigens will be engineered into a gene incorporated into isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and dendritic cells. Expression of endogenous antigens will be displayed via MHC class I, while a different cellular model will express an identical engineered gene with an additional signal sequence that will excrete the neoantigens subsequently displayed on the dendritic cells via MHC class II. CD4+ and CD8+ T cells will then be activated and incorporated into a vaccine delivered to the patient.

Using the Primer3 software, primers were created to amplify the region of the NaN1793 mutation. These primers were chosen with respect to the fact that Sanger sequencing can only sequence about 1000 b.p maximum, and the mutation should not be too close to either primer since the beginning and end of sequencing data is usually less accurate than the middle. The expected size of the amplicon is 874 b.p. In order to confirm that DNA was extracted from the plants and to decide which samples to take for sequencing, gel electrophoresis was run. Two gels were run. One gel contains PCR products in a ¼ dilution in T10E1 (TE) buffer while the other contains PCR products in a ¼ dilution with H2O as a control. T10E1 buffer protects nucleic acids from degradation.

It was determined that unknown #6 is 2-hexanone. The reaction with 2,4-Dinitrophenylhydrazine was a positive test confirming that the compound was either a ketone or and aldehyde and not an alcohol. The Schiff’s test showed a light pink color meaning it was a negative test determining that the compound was a ketone and not an aldehyde. The iodoform test showed that the compound was water soluble and formed a yellow precipitate confirming the compound to be a methyl ketone. The melting point of the compound was found to be at 111-112°C which is comparable to the melting point of 2-hexanone (110°C). 5-phenoxy-2-pentanone also has a comparable melting point of 110°C, but after observing the H-NMR spectrum of the two compounds it showed that unknown #6 was 2-hexanone. This is due to the peaks visible at 2.5-2.0 ppm and the peaks at 0.5-1.5 ppm. 5-phenoxy-2-pentanone shows peaks further downfield due to the presence of a double bonded oxygen and an oxygen bonded to a benzene ring.

In this experiment, dog DNA was extracted and amplified through polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The DNA was then sequenced and analyzed using the Sanger Method. Excitability and size were chosen as traits to further analyze. By creating primers for dCAPS, the specific alleles for each trait were determined. The DNA was then dissolved with the digestive enzyme and ran on the gel for analysis. We had hypothesized that excitability and size are traits where heterozygous alleles exhibit codominance. Due to error in selection of the proper primer for creating our dCAPS, only the DNA marker was present on our gel. Therefore, no conclusion to our hypothesis was made. 

Raptors hunt larger prey than other types of birds, so their sharp, hooked beaks allow them to pierce prey, tug away skin, pluck out feathers, tear meat into smaller-sized chunks that are easier to swallow. Insectivores use their slender, tweezer-like beaks enable them to catch insects midair, pick insects off leaves, or probe between small crevices of tree bark, or for drilling holes into wood. Seed-eating birds have short, thick, and strong beaks equipped for cracking open hardy seeds. The size of the beak can indicate the type of seed or nut the bird is adapted to eat. The variation in beak size within the raptors, seed-eaters, and insectivores observed across grasslands, woodlands, and marsh habitats can be explained by the specialized diets in different habitat types.

Parkinson’s Disease is a disorder that affects the central nervous system. Signs and symptoms include tremors, rigidity, bradykinesia, and akinesia. There are reasons to suspect that certain signs and symptoms come from the medication that are being consumed to help with PD. Medication such as Levodopa, an antiparkinsonian medication. An experiment was conducted to see how people with PD would reacts to commands when they are on Levodopa or not. Results showed that PD volunteers, who were introduced to the drug or not had a lower false alarm rates on the high reward. The premise of the experiment was to see the reaction rate of the volunteers with or without the drug. Even if the volunteer wanted to move faster their bodies cannot and there was a difference between the volunteers taking and not taking the drug. The results of the study can be used to design new drugs that can improve motor initiations. Now we know that the current drugs are not allowing people with PD to move fast enough.