Drafts

The Warburg Effect is a metabolic shift in which even in aerobic conditions, cancer cells use anaerobic respiration, thereby spending a lot more energy due to inefficiency of this pathway compared to oxidative phosphorylation.  Ginsenoside 20(S)-Rg3 is a chemical derived from the ginseng plant.  It has been shown to inhibit the Warburg Effect in ovarian cancer via two mechanisms.  The first mechanism was shown by Li et al. in 2014.  Ginsenoside 20(S)-Rg3 was shown to block STAT3.  STAT3 normally upregulates expression of hexokinase 2, but now that no longer happens.  This shift inhibits the Warburg effect.  The second mechanism was shown by Zhou et al. in 2018.   They showed that Ginsenoside 20(S)-Rg3 was a suppressor of miR-532-3p and lessened levels of DNMT3A.  These two things inhibit the Warburg Effect. 

The midnight cat’s diet consists mainly of various species of tree frogs, particularly the Amazon milk frog (Trachycephalus resinifictrix), which it climbs up trees to find, sometimes climbing as high up as the canopy. Because its preferred prey lives in trees near slow-moving permanent water sources (“Mission Golden-Eyed Tree Frog”, n.d), the midnight cat has developed several adaptations to suit its semi-arboreal lifestyle. Mycospondylus has ball and socket joints on both its scapula and its pelvis, with extra muscle attachments on both of these bones that allow increased rotational motion. This motion is supported by a highly muscled back and powerful hind limbs, as well as extremely elastic ligaments that can stretch to allow Mycospondylus rotate its limbs outwards to climb even the widest trees. It does this by wrapping its limbs around the trunk of the tree and using its powerful hind limbs and its very large and strong claws to “scoot” itself up the tree. Tropical trees tend to have bark that is thin and not very textured (“Amazon Forest Ecology”, n.d), so in addition to its strong claws Mycospondylus also has paw pads that are laterally ridged to provide traction to help the midnight cat climb up even the smoothest and slipperiest of trees. It also has elongated phalanges in both its fore and hind feet with no webbing between them, allowing it to splay its paws out quite far—extremely useful for climbing wider trees. As in most felines, its claws are fully retractable and so its elongated foot structure has the additional advantage of having space to accommodate the large claws when they are pulled into the paw.

Named for the “moon” on its forehead, and its blue-black coloration, Mycospondylus mesanyctus—the Mushroom-Spined Midnight cat—is commonly known as the “Midnight Cat”, the “Witch-Cat”, or the “Cat of the Witching Hour”. Mycospondylus mesanyctus is a tiny carnivorous mammal that belongs to the family Felidae. Standing at a height of between 15 and 20cm, with a length of 25-30cm (excluding its tails) and weighing about 1.5 kg, it is one of the world’s smallest wild cats. Although it has similar facial features to the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), and although for the most part is has all the “typical” feline attributes, the midnight cat is most certainly a creature that is unique in its own right. A digitigrade quadruped with longer paws than most other felines, its body is a blue-black color with a pure black face. It has four thin, almost prehensile, tails that frame its main tail, and mushroom-like growths that line the top of its body from its head to the base of its tails. Its ears and eyes are large, which give Mycospondylus excellent vision and hearing respectively, and, most curious of all, it has hairless circle in the center of its forehead: this is its “moon”, a patch of specialized, bioluminescent skin cells that the midnight cat uses to lure in its prey.

The Amazon rainforest is stratified, and made up of primarily evergreen and semi-evergreen deciduous tree species. These are massive in both height and roots, and full of adaptations that allow them to survive in the wet, low-nutrient rainforest soil. Most rainforest life is congregated in the canopy, a dense ceiling of closely spaced branches and trees 25-30 m off the ground is constantly abuzz with activity. Above the canopy are the few emergent trees that can reach up to 60 m, while below in the sub-canopy are the trees that grow towards the light openings in the canopy. Even further down, in the understory, are the small trees and shrubs that are adapted to low-light conditions, and the bottom layer is the forest floor,  full of tree trunks, fungi, and low-growing vegetation.

    Cheetaur babies are called cubs. Cheetaurs have small litter sizes. The maximum number of babies at a time is two in a litter because of body size of the cub. They reach sexual maturity between one and two years for both males and females. Like other African cats, the females tend to stay with their cubs until they are big enough to fend for themselves while males may live in small groups together. A cub reaches adult size about a year after they are born and can hunt for themselves. Based on its genus, scientist believe the expected lifespan of the cheetaur is about ten years.    

    Other adaptations that they have include having curved ears and facial marking. Their curved ears can rotate slightly to pick up sounds from almost a mile away. The have facial marking like other cheetahs for eye protection from the direct sunlight at the equator (Cheetah Fact, 2018). Since they live in hot, dry areas they have to live around a water source and they will follow prey that do the same. To stay cool, cheetaurs will conserve their energy and will rest for most of the day like other African cats. They will go at great lengths to feed and to escape large lions but other wise like to find shaded areas to rest. 

    Scientists are currently trying hypothesize how exactly a cheetaur would evolve. Some theories include that the cheetah, with their small gene pool and inbreeding, may have introduced mutant genes for toe numbers and leg length. Some of the traits were advantageous for catching fast prey with large stamina and stayed in the gene pool until there was a speciation event where cheetah and cheetaur were almost reproductively isolated from one another. Those with those traits may have thrived and then continued to breed and continue through the years creating the species we know today as Acinonyx equuasis. 

    Like other cheetahs, they live in the grasslands around Africa. The cheetaur is specifically found in Central and Southern Africa. Central Africa grasslands do not receive extreme rainfall but get enough to support tall grasses. The soil is nutrient rich for plants, making them plentiful and a source for adequate nutrition for the grazers (Nunez). With plenty of vegetation, the cheetaur has access to a range of prey animals.  As carnivores, they feed on the deer like animals of the area, for example zebra and antelope. One of its favorite meals is the Steenbok, a smaller species of antelope in Southern and Eastern Africa (Theys). It has horns that can stab a predator, but they are small enough to not cause too much damage to the cheetaur. 

    The cheetaur is a moderately social animal. They do not herd together, as they are already a noticeable predator, but instead will hunt in packs of two or three to bring down larger prey. Since they are larger, the cheetaur can be easily seen by their prey. Hunting in a small group helps to deal with the lack of surprise they can inflict. Their horse like attitbutes allow them to reach speeds of 80 kilometers per hour (50 miles per hour) and can maintain that speed for almost 5 kilometers if needed. Their larger size also make them harder targets for lions that sometimes prey on small cheetahs.

The cheetaur is a member of the order Carnivora, family Felidae, and genus Acinonyx. Acinonyx is a genus with only one extant member, the cheetah, and are cats that do not have retractable claws. Cheetaur is the common name for the Acinonyx equuasis. It is named like the mythical centaur (half man, half horse) for its horse-like legs. Their defining features are their long legs and extremely reduced paws with one toe, hence the species name equuasis (“equus” horse). The cheetaur features a mesaxonic foot with a single toed, hairy paw and non retractable claw. The single claw is curved like a hook for better grip on prey. It’s frame is also larger than the standard cheetah. A cheetah stands at about 2.5 feet from the shoulder (Cheetah Facts, 2018). From shoulder to the ground, an adult cheetaur stands at 4 to 5 feet. With these adaptations, the cheetaur is able to run quite fast for longer. The trade offs for longer limbs and larger body mass is that it cannot reach 112 kilometers per hour (70 miles per hour) like those in its genus. It is also not able to easily able to sneak on prey in areas where the grass is not tall enough. To help it blend in with the grass that is tall enough for coverage, cheetaurs (both male and female) are usually a shade of yellowish brown with dark spots.  

0.515 grams of Benzoin and 4 mL of ethanol were added to a 25 mL flask and swirled until fully dissolved. 0.10 grams of sodium borohydride was added over a 5-minute period and swirled for 20 minutes at room temperature. The mixture was then cooled in an ice bath. 5 mL of distilled water and 0.3 mL of 5M HCl was added to the mixture. After 15 minutes an additional 2.5 mL of distilled water was added to the sample and the product was collected via vacuum filtration. The product was dried on the filter paper for 15 minutes. The yield and melting point of the crude product was determined. The crude product was then recrystallized from acetone in a flask and the crystals were allowed to dry before the melting point and mass of the purified 1,2-diphenylethan-1,2-diol were determined. After recrystallization a small amount of the starting material (benzoin), the crude product, and the recrystallized product were all dissolved individually in vials with ethyl acetate. Two TLC plates were spotted. One TLC plate was spotted with the starting material, the recrystallized product, and a mixture of the starting material and the recrystallized product. The second TLC plate was spotted with the starting material, the crude product, and a mixture of the starting material and the crude product. Both TLC plates were run in a 9:1 CH₂Cl₂ : ethanol and then analyzed.

Most birds are monogamous: it is when they form simple pairs of one male and one female on one territory. Sexual selection is manifest in the initial stages of competition among males for a breeding territory and then in the decisions by females to reside with particular males on their property. Where they can control high-quality territories, some species such as the Red-winged Blackbird of North America are polygynous, often pairing with two or more females. They also exhibit striking sexual dimorphism (the differences in appearance between males and females of the same species, such as in color, shape, size, and structure, that are caused by the inheritance of one or the other sexual pattern in the genetic material) and large variation in their sexual success.

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. A major extinction, the Kellwasser event marked the beginning of the last phase of the Devonian period, the Famennian faunal stage about 375-360 million years ago. A second mass extinction, the Hangenberg event, closed the Devonian period. It is still unclear as to the extent of time during these extinctions, as it is uncertain whether there were two sharp mass extinctions or a series of smaller extinctions.