Drafts

Momentum is always conserved in elastic and inelastic collisions. In the simulations that were conducted what was changed was the mass of object 1 and 2, the velocity with the both objects, and whether or not the collision was elastic and inelastic. In all the trials that were conducted what was found was that the total momentum throughout the collision stayed the same. In the first trial the mass for both objects was 1 but the velocity for one was 1 and the other was 0, what happened to the total momentum was that it was one before and after the collision. With this trial it was an elastic collision which mean the objects would bounce apart. For the second trial it was an inelastic collision, which meant the objects would stick together, using the same masses and velocity as the previous trial what was found was that the total momentum in the beginning was 1 as well as in the end. In the next trials the mass was changed but the momentum was not because it stayed the same. From all the data that was collected it can be concluded that momentum is conserved in elastic and inelastic collisions.

There are three different ways which are mainly used to treat this disorder which are: Medications, Therapy, and Electroconvulsive therapy. The medications used are anti psychotic drugs which shows substantial improvement in a patient when taken.. Using medications is a lifelong commitment for the patients, if the medications are stopped a relapse may occur.(Drugs) There are four main types of therapies used for schizophrenic patients, these are: individual psychotherapy, rehabilitation, family education, and self-help groups. Individual psychotherapy involves sessions between a therapist and patient in which they discuss past problems as well as current ones. This sometimes leads the patient to be able to differentiate between reality and what is not reality which is just occurring in the patients mind. Those with schizophrenia can become better if they have families who are involved with them, that is family education. Self-help groups also help a person with schizophrenia since it gets the patient more socially involved as well as giving them access to outside sources in which it enables them to get the help they need from others. With help from others they can receive information that they had not previously had. (Therapy) Electroconvulsive therapy is when, “pulsed electricity is sent through electrodes that have been placed on a patient’s head, inducing a brief seizure.” (Roleff) This form of treatment has some side effects which include temporary memory loss. Though this is a form of treatment, studies have shown that using electroconvulsive therapy is rarely effective when treating chronic schizophrenia. This makes electroconvulsive therapy not the best choice if  looking for recovery or stability.

In this experiment, we concentrate on the absorbance rate of chloroplasts that have been extracted from two different leaves; spinach(Spinacia oleracea) and kale(Brassica oleracea var. sabellica). Usually during photosynthesis, NADP+ is reduced to NADPH however, in this experiment we use an artificial electron acceptor, Dichlorophenolindophenol(DCPIP). Using the DCPIP, allows us to fully monitor the photosynthetic rates of each of the isolated chloroplasts. Both spinach and kale have very distinctly different coloration; kale which has a much darker pigmentation and spinach which is more on the lighter side of green. Kale will result in a lower absorbance rate in comparison to the spinach chloroplasts because of this difference in coloration. Kale has a much darker pigment than spinach, which leads us to believe that this difference in color is associated with the amount of chloroplasts found in the kale leaf resulting in a higher rate of photosynthesis. A higher concentration of chloroplasts found results in a darker pigment, lower absorption, more electrons being transferred in the ETC and a higher rate of photosynthesis

I have been studying how hormones control the first stages of development in one species of fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster. Flies are known as a model organism, which means that they are used to understand the biology of other organisms. Fruit flies share about 75% of the genes that cause disease in humans and that is exactly why scientists are often experimenting with them (Service, Elizabeth). In insects, two major hormones control the timing of their development; juvenile hormone and ecdysone. The juvenile hormone reaches its greatest concentration when the egg hatches, entering the larval stage. When juvenile hormone amounts decrease throughout the stages, this triggers prothoracicotropic hormone, leading to the pupal stage for the fruit fly.

In a world that we live in today, there is constantly pressure around us pushing us to be as “perfect” as we can be. But what exactly is defined as being ‘perfect’? One’s ideal version of perfection can be the complete opposite of another, and because of these distinctive perspectives people will continuously judge and be judged. Along with these judgmental views come one’s insecure thoughts. Insecure thoughts are only derived from our own sense of self and how we compare ourselves to others.  We as human beings have a strong desire of wanting to be approved and accepted and that is exactly why we care so much about society's opinions. Family, friends, school mates, media and even strangers are all outside sources that all have some type of contribution to our own mentality. The people that we interact with on a day to day basis all have different ideas of who we should be and we know very well that the most important perspective is our own. However, sometimes we tend to seek confirmation from these people based on their desires which may not even end up creating any fulfillment in our own lives. Why do we even end up caring?

In 2018 the news of the first gene-edited baby ignited a firestorm. Chinese researchers edited these children's genes by using CRISPR/Cas9 to block HIV infections. This received a lot of backlash because of the ethics behind it. Many people believe that implanting gene-edited embryos to create babies is premature and exposes the children to unnecessary health risks. Alike vaccinations, many people believe that putting these into your system, it will have the opposite effect and may make you more likely to develop the illness. So far, the evidence shows no adverse effects however the babies have not had a long enough time living to determine anything. The researcher went on to explain that another woman is participating in the gene-editing trail and she is in the early stages of pregnancy.

Friedel Crafts reactions occur in organic chemistry and there are two types including alkylation and acylation. Alkylation is the addition of an alkyl chain on a halogen. An example would be adding chlorine with two carbons to a benzene ring and resulting in a benzene ring with an ethyl off the ring. Limitations to be cautious of for these reactions include having no meta-deactivators on the benzene ring, no amino groups, no phenyl or vinyl alkyl halide, and possible rearrangement. If a reaction breaks one of the rules, then the reaction will not take place. On the other hand, there are Friedel Craft acylations such as adding a carbon double bonded to an oxygen and single bonded to a chlorine. The limitations for these reactions include having no meta-deactivators on the ring and no amino groups on the ring. Similarly to the alkylation limitations, if a limitation is violated then the acylation will not take place.

In Mammalogy last week we learned about zoogeography and marsupials. Zoogeography is a way to describe the local and global distribution of the species based on environments. There are 7 zoogeographical regions. They are: neoarctic (modern North America), neotropical (South America), ethiopian (Africa), oriental (Southern Asia), australian (Australia), and palearctic (Eurasia). With the topic of marsupials, we discussed evolution and their historical regions. Most marsupials are only found in Australia but millions of years ago they were in modern day Antartica and all over north and South America back when the continents were connected. When the continents split, the isolation and change in climates led to extinction of early marsupials in Antartica and most of North and South america. 

A news report stated that doctors have been overprescribing fentanyl for years and the FDA hasn’t been able to stop it. Fentanyl is a narcotic that helps reduce pain. The news report stated that doctors are aware of the dangers and issues that these painkillers pose, however, their recognition isn’t enough. They still overprescribe the painkillers and they usually don’t go toward any good use. The painkillers that are often overprescribed are called transmucosal immediate-release fentanyls (TIRFs). They are fast-acting and powerful and their main purpose is to help with the pain that cancer patients suffer from. The FDA has tried to put these overprescriptions to an end but has not been super effective in doing so. The CDC estimates that 130 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose where a lot of these prescriptions were misused.

Alzheimer’s disease is derived from the increase in the buildup of amyloid plaques. Amyloid plaques cause disconnections between nerve cells. The disconnections can alter and affect a person’s thinking, memory and behavior. Deep brain stimulation was attempted to see if it would help with Alzheimer's. The devices were implanted into the fornix, which is a fiber bundle between the hippocampus and hypothalamus. The use of deep brain stimulation increased glucose metabolism. After the testing, it was found that the increase in glucose metabolism had no effect on the disease. Therefore, the use of deep brain stimulation was not a good option as an alternative.