Drafts

There is a chip that was created by biotechnology researchers of InSilixa that can identify microbes from cheek swabs or blood samples in merely a couple of hours. This chip was able to make these identifications by sequencing genomes in five differenent chemical procedures and matching them to known pathogens. The chip was also successful in identifying mutations in seven antibiotic resistance pathogen sequences and was able to identify 54 mutations in tuberculosis that caused antibiotic resistance. This can help physians and medical providers identify and diagnose known pathogens in little time. 

All different kinds of birds from sparrows to hawks form flocks. They can number in the single digits or be composed of thousands of individual birds seemingly acting like one cohesive organism. The main benefit gained from flocking, especially for small birds, is safety in numbers. Although overall a flock is much more conspicuous and easily targeted by predators than a solitary bird, for the individual the likelihood of becoming a victim is greatly decreased due to the higher availability of targets to choose from. A flock also benefits by being much more vigilant than an individual could be and is able to recognize threats much sooner and alert the other to flee the danger, overall increasing all birds likelihood of survival from predation. 

The Saiga antelope of the Eurasian steppe is perhaps one of the strangest looking ungulates on the planet. Its very distinct bulbous downward facing nostrils along with its long pointed horns almost give it the look of some strange deer/elephant hybrid. Unfortunately, as of February 2018, this weird but beautiful mammal remains critically engendered and continues to decline in population. Saiga face an unfortunate gauntlet of factors that are leading to its rapid decline, but arguably the most impactful has been habitat loss due to human agricultural development and climate change coupled with illegal hunting. The decline of this species rivals that of any other animal in terms of the size and speed at which the population fell. In the 1980s there were over a million Saiga on the Eurasian steppe, but in just 30-40 years that number has fallen to under 50,000 with an estimate of the population of S. t. mongolica being under 750 mature adults worldwide.

Walking into a building that I've been coming in for years, but it was different this time. Instead of shopping, grabbing a bite or even hanging out with friends I was coming to work. One of the tallest buildings in Boston that is & I was working for the president and CEO of Partners Healthcare. This man was responsible for about nine hospitals within the Massachusetts area. Not only was it him, but there were vice presidents and presidents of multiple areas of administration in healthcare. I was both new and nervous, but was willing to put in work and learn as much as I could being here. Everything was modern, clean and very professional looking. As I entered the lobby, I was asked for my ID and granted access to one of the 20 lifts that are located at the Prudential. I took the lift up and was ready to start my day.

In the laboratory environment, the two species Lemna minor and Salvina molesta were brought together to show how reliance on the same resources will result in elimination of one of the species. This is an increasing problem in natural ecosystems throughout the globe. As invasive species are brought to new environments, they devastate the local ecosystem and displace the native species. This experiment revealed the potential threats of careless introduction of foreign species to different environments where they pose a threat to species that already occupy the same niche. Although cohibitation is a possibility, it is not typically the case when there is a reliance of the same limited resources.

Not all of the food consumed by humans today were made accessable to all until after the Columbian Exchange. Besides the new people and new land, there were new foods that Europeans have never seen. Some of these crops included corn, tomato, potatos, chili, and chocolate. Corn originated from central and north america. Potatos were originally found in moutainous regions of south america. Tomatos came from Mexico and were orignally thought to be poisonous because of its bright red color. Chocolate also came from central america. Although the initial meeting of the new and old world populations brought about diseases that dimished the population of the new world, overall, the exchange of new crops and livestock greater increased the world human population due to a greater diversity in diet and available staples.

The definition of competitve species is a species whos phenotypes causes a fitness decrease in a competitor species. In bacteria, this is observed in phenotypes such as secretion of digestive enymes and production of antibiotics as a result of biotic competition with other bacteria, as opposed to environmental pressures. Competitor species must also overlap a single resrouce. When this occurs, there are two types of competition, passive and active. In passive competition, one organism outcompetes the other by using the same resource more efficiently. In active competition, the organism may directly harm the other. In the case of bacteria, this may be done by producing chemicals that harm other bacteria of the same niche. Thee possible results of such competition include having one species dominating the other, coexistence over time due to divergence of resource use, or territorial niches are developed. The later is observed in microbial colonies that when initially mixed, separate into patches on the surface of agar. The result of competition is typically a decrease in diversity but increase in ecological stability. The long-term effect depends on selection pressures of the environment.

In the past, ecologists thought there was a negative correlation between species abundance and niche width of a species. However, current ecologists agree that there is a positive correlation between the abundance and niche width of a species due to the increase in a diversity of resrouces consumed, thus an increase in tolerance of various environmental conditions. However, invasive species are therefore successful when they have a wider niche than that of native species, therefore, doing better with competition. A superior competitor can use the same resources of a native species and cause competitive exclusion of the native species. Co-existance of species that rely on the same resources is explained by the abundance of resources for both species and resource partitioning.

The article Cancer Disparities by Race/Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status examines disparities in cancer incidence, mortality, and survival in relation to race, and census data on poverty in the county or census tract of residence. It highlights differences in cancer risk factors, screening, stage at diagnosis, and treatment between population groups that could be reduced or possibly eliminated by applying current knowledge about cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment equally to all segments of the population. The data compiled illustrates that among both men and women, five-year survival for all cancers combined is 10 percentage points lower among persons who live in poorer areas than those who live in more affluent census tracts. Even when census tract poverty rate is accounted for, however, African American, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and Asian/Pacific Islander men and African American and American Indian/Alaskan Native women have lower five-year survival than non-Hispanic Whites.

          Green is the New Black is a speech made by Majora Carter to the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights’ Solutions Salon, on May 19, 2006. She describes how her neighborhood in New York City handled 40 percent of the entire city’s commercial waste, acting as home to a sewage treatment plant, a sewage sludge pelletizing plant, four power plants, the world’s largest food distribution center and other industries which brought in tens of thousands of diesel trucks to the area each week. Carter uses her first-hand knowledge of the rampant pollution of the Bronx to depict how environmental degradation and social and economic divestment go hand in hand, and how these circumstances inevitably produce negative health outcomes for the members of the communities which they affect. She went on to explain how she and her peers employed grass roots activism to fight against the damage being done to their community, and outlines strategies that can be used to improve the environmental, and subsequently medical and economic, conditions of communities like the Bronx