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Natural selection favors individual birds that achieve the greatest lifetime reproductive success. The investments of males and females in small sperm and large eggs, respectively, drive different options, including their mating opportunities and how best to invest in quality offspring. Most birds pair with a single male and both then raise the offspring together. Both parents are needed to provide adequate care for their young. Females strive to protect their investments in large, expensive eggs. Males must balance the options of mating with extra females against caring for their own young. Conversely, females can improve the quality of their offspring through extra-pair copulations with high-quality males. 

Intermittent fasting(IF) is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of both eating and fasting. The idea behind this plan is for individuals to essentially lose weight however, partnered with working out you will exceedingly begin to build muscle. IF is aimed for individuals to fast between 12-36 hours essentially lowering the amount of time your gut is actively breaking down molecules for energy. Studies have shown that intermittent fasting is a great way to lose and manage weight while providing a vast amount of health benefits. These benefits include; reduced risk of chronic heart conditions, improved brain health, reduced insulin resistance (which lowers your risk of type 2 diabetes) and reduced oxidative stress within your body. Although you are fasting for a majority of your day, individuals must ensure that they are receiving enough nutrients to nourish ones body. 

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are believed to be the main drivers of metastasis, chemoresistance, and relapse of pancreatic adenocarcinoma due to their plasticity and cooperation with the tumor microenvironment (Sancho et al. 2016). Due to these diverse functions, complete eradication of CSCs poses a challenge. CSCs are also able to undergo metabolic reprogramming depending on stressors in the tumor microenvironment, and current literature suggests that it is the metabolic plasticity of CSCs themselves that allows for survival in different environmental stressors, leading to further metastasis (Peiris-Pagès et al. 2016). Pancreatic cancer stem cells (PaCSCs) in particular are highly dependent on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) to survive. This serves as their preferred mechanism for energy production (Sancho et al. 2015). Another hallmark of CSC survival and proliferation is the notion of self-renewal, most commonly driven in PaCSCs through the Notch, Wnt/β-catenin, and Hedgehog signaling pathways (Wong et al. 2019). Therefore, the researchers plan to target PaCSCs through OXPHOS as well as self-renewal signaling in order to most effectively eradicate this metastatic driver.

    Domestic horses, also known as Equus caballus, display multiple behaviors based on the conditions they are exposed to. Horses tend to graze for long periods of time throughout the day (Goodwin 2010), and their environment has a major impact on the way they tend to graze (Lewis 1989). In warmer weather, the horses graze in various spots on a field in comparison to colder weather, where horses huddle up and graze in a couple of selected spots. It's estimated they graze about 15-17 hours per day (Sharon 1986). Horses tend to “stick together” and live in groups (Lansberg 2018), as horses feel more protected in these settings due to having more companions that are willing to look out for predators and food. This ultimately results in a greater chance of survival. Groups also allow a source of protection for one's resources such as: food, water, and territory. A common behavior that has been observed amongst young “colts” or male horses, is that they tend to follow the older horses within the pack (Hill 2010). This behavior allows colts to learn behaviors from their older peers while at an early age. These examples demonstrate that depending on their surroundings, domestic horses behave differently based on their environment and what stimuli they are exposed to.

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) was used as a homology-based method.  We performed a Standard Nucleotide BLAST of the RZW genomic DNA using the Highly Similar Sequences (megablast) program in the Expressed Sequence Tags (EST) database for Brachypodium distachyon (taxid: 15368) in order to identify ESTs that correspond to our unknown gene.  All matches with greater than 95% Ident were saved. All of the saved ESTs were imported into the CAP3 software. CAP3 generated consensus sequences bases on the overlap between numerous ESTs. To find a full length cDNA sequence for our gene, we performed a Standard Nucleotide BLAST of the RZW genomic DNA using the Highly Similar Sequences (megablast) program in the Nucleotide Collection (nr/nt) database for Brachypodium distachyon (taxid: 15368).  We found accession number XM_003562897.4, an mRNA sequence that is predicted to code for the Brachypodium distachyon G-type lectin S-receptor-like serine/threonine-protein kinase B120 (LOC100825184). The two consensus sequences formed were aligned to the cDNA sequence using the NCBI BLAST.  To find the official identity of the RZW gene, we performed a Phytozome BLAST search of the RZW genomic DNA with Brachypodium distachyon v3.1 as the target species.  The best match to the query sequence was Bradi1g25180.1, and the predicted protein sequence was saved. The FGENESH and Phytozome predicted protein sequences were compared and the working map was updated.  From the Phytozome locus page, the functional annotation was saved as a graphic showing domains. The link to Uniprot was followed and there were 16 annotations that contained information about different domains.  

Mnemiopsis (comb jelly) are species of jellyfish native to the Atlantic Coast that became an invasive species released into the Black Sea. At the time, the Black Sea was already facing problems due to increased inputs of nutrients. This process is called eutrophication, an increase in the nutrient content of an ecosystem. Mnemiopsis is a carnivore that feeds primarily on zooplankton. Mnemiopsis increased rapidly causing populations of zooplankton to decrease, phytoplankton to increase, oxygen concentrations to decrease, and fish to rapidly decrease. This is an example of how populations change. Populations can change from birth, death, immigration, and emigration. Population dynamics and fluctuations are how populations change in abundance overtime, and may rise and fall about the mean. In 1989, the population of comb jelly had reached the highest levels, causing a massive drop in populations of other species. This was an example of population outbreak which occurs when populations are exploding in numbers. Population cycles are alternating periods of high and low abundance occur after constant intervals of time. They may be caused by Internal factors (hormones or behavioral changes) or external factors (weather, food, predators).

The specific aims of this experiment would be to determine how the depth of the seeds in the sand they are planted in effects the growth and development of the seedlings. To demonstrate this we will be planting the seeds from Silybum marianum at different depths in sand. Sand is the typical terrain these plants grow in. They will be buried at depths of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 centimeters respectively. There will be three seedlings planted at each depth so we can account for any outliers, and to make sure we get at least one to germinate. After being buried the seeds will be put into the morrill greenhouse so they can stay at a constant temperature. When the seeds finally sprout out of the sand we will measure their lengths and compare the differences between the different seeds depths. That way we will find out what the effect of depth is on the development of Silybum marianum seeds.  

The ability to control enzyme activity is essential in cells in order to produce molecules when needed and to conserve energy/resources. One way to regulate enzymes is through activators and inhibitors. These molecules alter the enzyme's conformation or block the active site, but they are not involved in the reaction in any way. Enzymes can also be regulated through covalent modification by phosphorylation. The reversible addition of a phosphate group alters the conformation of the enzyme, increasing or decreasing its activity by affecting substrate binding and/or its ability to produce products. In phosphorylation, kinases add phosphate groups while phosphatases remove them. Another form of enzyme regulation is the cleavage of an inactive enzyme, where catalytically inactive precursors are cut to create the active enzyme. The activation of chymotrypsinogen to alpha-chymotrypsin is an example of this.

Irreversible inhibitors also regulate enzymes by permanently impairing enzyme activity, typically via covalent modification. Irreversible inhibitor usually, but not always, result in the complete loss of enzyme activity. On the other hand, reversible inhibitors are not permanent, and they come in three forms: competitive, uncompetitive, and noncompetitive/mixed. Competitive inhibitors bind to the active site and prevent substrate binding while uncompetitive inhibitors only bind to the enzyme-substrate complex at a location other than the active site; however, noncompetitive/mixed inhibitors are able to bind to the free enzyme and the enzyme-substrate complex at a location other than the active site, although not at the same time.

Genome editing has potential to eliminate or minimize deadly diseases in the human genome. It has been popularly used among agricultural scientists, for genetically-modified organisms, and those specialized in infectious diseases and epigenetics (Petherick 2015). Genome editing has been progressively trialed for treating single-gene diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease (Hsu et al. 2015). Germline editing could knock out a disease not only in the embryo in which it is being performed on, but also eliminate the disease from future generations.  Human diseases such as HIV could potentially be eliminated from the human genome. Gene editing in conjunction with stem cells might make it possible to generate gametes for reproductive purposes and correct errors in their genome. This would minimize the need for oocyte donation (Sugarman 2015). Also the use of CRISPR/Cas9 is an efficient and inexpensive method for gene editing.