Drafts

Xylem are inhibited when guard cells cannot open- they require ATP to open. Phloem are inhibited when active transport cannot load sugar to the phloem to create positive pressure. Xylem moves water and soil minerals. Phloem moves sugar and hormones. Xylem are under negative pressure. They are made of dead cells used for moving water. Phloem are under positive pressure. The cells of the phloem are alive cells used to pump sugars in and out from source and sink. Flexibility affects both xylem and phloem. If the cells are flexible, both will not function effectively. ATP inhibition will affect phloem and cannot transport sugar. Xylem will not function without ATP because the stomates require ATP to open.

As of 2015, Mustela nigripes (black-footed ferret) has been classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A previous assessment in 1996 declared it “Extinct in the Wild”, but since then there have been huge efforts to reestablish wild populations. From early 2015 there have been approximately 295 wild-born individuals released into reestablished populations, however these populations are very small and restricted, and only a few of the populations at the sites where the species has been reintroduced are viable (Belant et al. 2015). As of 2015 there were 206 mature individuals existing in “self-sustaining, free-living populations” (Belant et al. 2015), but that number was continually decreasing. M.nigripes was formerly widespread in central North America, but declined to near extinction in the 20th century. This was a result of actions taken to control prairie-dog (Cynomys) populations, which the black-footed ferret is highly dependent on (Biggins and Godbey 2003, as cited by Belant et al. 2015 ), as well as the spread of canine distemper and sylvatic plague caused by Yersinia pestis (Biggins and Godbey 1995, Biggins et al. 1998, as cited by Belant et al. 2015). Black-footed ferrets are directly affected by disease through infection, and indirectly through the infection and mortality of the prairie-dogs that make up the ferrets’ entire prey base. The conversion of grasslands for agricultural uses and commercial development is also a major threat to M.nigripes, as is the decrease in genetic diversity which, along with the “concomitant increase in inbreeding” (Bronson et al. 2007, as cited by Belant et al. 2015) may lead do a decrease in the fitness of black-footed ferrets through—among other things—“immune system dysfunction and reduced reproductive success” (Bronson et al. 2007, as cited by Belant et al. 2015).

Habitat patches and corridors are essential for jaguars because when young jaguars become of age, they are forced to explore their home range. This results in traveling far distances to find a home range that does not conflict with another jaguar. The jaguar is a top-level predator. It doesn't have any natural predators other than humans, who hunt them for their fur or sport.The journey they must take can be life threatening, with challenges faced along the way from humans or other jaguars. They require habitats that include food (prey), water, and vegetative cover in order to survive and reproduce. Jaguars use the pattern of dispersal, in which individuals from other areas travel to new populations, which allows them to bring new genetic material (that may better allow the species to adapt and survive) and increase genetic variability to help preserve a species. The dispersal of juveniles is important because if a population remains isolated, they may become inbred which leads to a population decrease.

    Faheem Rasheed Najm, better known as T-Pain, at his peak was one of the most influential artists in the late 2000’s. He utilized auto-tune in a way that although was used very little here and there for pitch correction before 2005, he changed the way it was used in a very drastic way, that caused the music industry to be shooken up by storm. He influenced very large named artists back then, including Kanye West with his album 808s and Heartbreak, which was completely influenced by T-Pain’s use of autotune. His usage of auto-tune caused a lot of backlash from a lot of people as well, with a lot of people saying that the way he used auto-tune was what “was wrong with music” at the time. A lot of critics still followed the philosophy of 1980s and 1990s rock music, which was supposed to be “as raw as possible”. The inclusion of auto-tune was then looked at as a complete contrast to what music was “supposed to be”. The general perception of auto-tune is that it’s this magical filter you can put on any artist, and it will make them sound good. This could not be further from the truth. In order to still sound decent with auto-tune enabled, you still have to sing relatively on pitch. T-Pain really demonstrated this aspect of it when in 2014, he appeared on NPR tiny desk and sang without autotune for the first time to the public, and completely took the world by storm with his incredible vocals. From that performance on, he really demonstrated that he never needed autotune, but rather used it to its potential as an instrument instead.

Innate immunity is something that everyone is born with. It consists of surface barriers and internal defenses. Surface barriers include the skin and mucous membranes. Internal defenses include phagocytes, natural killer cells, inflamation, antimicrobial protiens, and fever. Phagocytes recognize stuff that is not "self" and degrade it. Natural killer cells kill abnormal human cells. Inflamation causes the capillaries to leak which promotes another immune response. Antimirobial protiens such as the complement protein can bind antibodies attached to a pathogen and make a hole in the bacteria which disrupts homeostasis and kills the bacteria. Fevers increase metabolic activity which produces heat and stimulates an immune response. Adaptive immunity is not something you are born with. Lymphocytes begin in the red bone marrow. They mature into B cells in the red bone marrow, but they travel to the thyroid to mature into Tcells. B cells secrete antibodies, which are formed from past invasions of pathogens. T cells are comprised of T helper cells and cytotoxic T cells which kill our own cells once they are infected. The B and T cells are activated only when they come into contact with the antigen that matches their antibody. 

We worked with a really cool bacteria in lab today called streptomyces it is in all of the soil. In fact the streptomyces is what gives the soil its characteristic smell. This earthy dirt smell is caused by geosmins that the streptomyces produce. These bacteria need oxygen to breathe and can use a lot of nutrients from the soil that they are in. One of the main reasons I chose to write about them is because of how cool they look when they are plated. They are white colonies that are sort of leathery. They stick to the agar and are almost impossible to get off, we have to restreak them which took a while. They sort of look dried out but they aren’t, the white part of the colonies are the spores that are produced by the streptomyces. When you restreak them the white usually rubs off of the colonies first, this is because you have only collected the spores. The streptomyces look kind of grey and drab, but this is the part that sticks to the agar so it is really hard to remove. I can’t wait to observe them under a microscope and see what they look like up close.

    There is a saying that goes “every person you meet in your life, is either a lesson or a blessing”. This idea plays on the philosophy that mistiming occurs, which a lot of us can agree upon. Sometimes we’re too young when we met the perfect person, and that immaturity caused rifts to grow, when in reality the relationship could’ve really went somewhere had the two met later in life than earlier. Yet can that really be said? Sometimes we meet the right people at the wrong time, but if we had not met them, would we still be the same person now? In my opinion, the answer’s no. Without that person we lost in life, we would not understand how to preserve those that are important to us now. To call it mistiming in my opinion, is misconstrued and comes from a place of regret. Instead, it’s important to understand our mistakes so that these mistakes are prevented in the future.

Molting is done in the warm seasons before the breeding season. It usually cost 25 to 40% of the energy. The new feather production requires a lots of proteins so they must eat to grow faster. That is why molting in the warm season is advantageous because the bird can eat more and molt faster. The American Redstart is a common bird in North America that is well study for its molting. The male has a bright red orange feathers that are for the breeding season. They molt right after they care for their young, however, the day to departure the area results if the male is able to molt into this bright color or not. If the male can leave the young early enough, then they succeed to molt in this color, but if they are late, the molting will not be complete. This results the late molting males to have a lower breeding rate than the ones that completed their molting.

There are two types of birds, the one that lives in the same habitat all year around and the ones that migrate seasonally. The common pigeon is one of the famous permanent bird that will not leave their habitat unless their environment drastically lack in food. They complete their life cycle in two places. One to grow their offspring and other to mate. The migratory birds will schedule their reproduction location, non-breeding location, and molting location depending on the time of the year. Most birds will not overlap these times so that they can win the resource competition. If a bird is a migratory one, it has many physiological stress such as weight gain and loss. To travel long distance, it must eat as much as it can to gain twice as much so that they have enough fuel.