The Lazy Scientist.....

Strengths of Invasive Species

ckloepfer — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 03:30:19 +0000

Among the many growing ecological problems loss of biodiversity is one of the most concerning. There are many factors that decrease the species richness of trophic levels worldwide and Invasive species are arguably the most difficult to control and mitigate. An invasive species is one that is transported from its original habitat to one much different. The transportation is usually done unknowingly my mankind and in the new ecosystem the species is able to survive better than all of its native competitors. Usually an invasive species is larger than the native or has a physical feature that allows it to adapt to its environment in a way that allows it to outcompete it’s native counterparts. For example it is usually the case with invasive flowers that they grow taller and faster than the native species in the area, this gives them much more access to sunlight and other resources like rainfall and optimal pollination conditions. Often invasive do not have a natural predator that regulates their growth making their spread across territory both dominant and rapid. In Australia during the 1900’s farmers intentionally introduced Cain Toads into agricultural ecosystems to eliminate a specific type of grub that was harming their crops. What happened instead was the toad not only did not eat reduce the grub population but the toad went unregulated for lack of a predator and their population exploded. The Cain toad is much larger than native species of toad and is able to reproduce in larger numbers and at a faster rate, also if attacked by other animals, say one large enough to wrap its jaws around the head or neck of the toad it has a defense mechanism which shoots out a poisonous toxin killing the predator and warning against future attacks.

There have been many attempts to reduce the numbers and impact of Cain toads in Australia however each of them has failed. The Cain toad is still a problem today their spread began in the North East and has moved South and around the continents perimeter. The problem has gotten so bad that the Australian people have embraced the invader as it has become their only option, they use the toad as a tourist draw and theme for several attractions and communal myths.

Australia Tobacco Emissions

cconroy1223 — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:54:20 +0000

This article is a public health disclosure of chemicals contained in cigarettes. This disclosure contains 103 pages of information pertaining to health hazards from the chemicals and why it is important for the public to be aware of what the people are exposed to.
Dimethoxybenzene is a chemical contained in cigarettes. This chemical can be very dangerous if ingested. It may not be the most harmful ingredient in cigarettes but it is still not safe.
People less exposed to the chemicals contained in the cigarettes were much healthier than those exposed to the chemicals on a regular basis.
This article proves that it is important for the public to be aware of all ingredients in which the consumers are exposed.

http://www.ipsos.com/public-affairs/sites/www.ipsos.com.public-affairs/files/documents/Australia-tobacco-emissions.pdf

BPA decreases human fetal oocyte’s survival five folds

tamthitruong — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:13:53 +0000

Brieño-Enríquez and his colleagues at University of Barcelona studied the effect of BPA on fetal development. 21 510 human fetal oocytes from 12 cultured ovaries were analyzed for the recombination and synapsis changes by immunofluorescence. The survival rate of the oocytes were also looked at. It was found that the BPA concentration of 1uM or higher increases the degeneration of oocytes five times, and the number of crossover markers during meiosis increased after exposed to BPA. This could be a link between “meiotic anomalies, recurrent miscarriage, and abnormal karyotypes” during critical period of pregnancy and BPA consumption.

http://ezproxy.queens.edu:2167/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=18&sid=d5bfccb0-89a4-479a-9d17-6387892a6ad0%40sessionmgr10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=aph&AN=65574808

BPA extraction

tamthitruong — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 23:52:25 +0000

Twelve canned food items of six different brands, including two green beans, two Harris Teeters brand’s noodle soups, two Food Lion brand’s noodle soups, two canned sausages, two canned pastas, and two BPA-free products will be purchased from local grocery stores. For each of the brand, the newest and oldest expiration dates found on the market will be selected.

Sample preparation:

The liquid and solid parts of each can will be separated by sieving. The residues on the can’s wall will be washed with distilled water and added to the liquid portion.

-The solid part will be homogenized. Five grams of that homogenate with 5ml of Acetonitrile and 5ml of hexane will be mixed by vortexting for one minute and then centrifuged for 20 minutes at 2500xg. Several additions of 5ml of ACN- will be used to extract BPA from the solid and the hexane phase in the centrifuge tube. HPLC grade will be used to analyze BPA in the extract. A mobile phase of 20ul ACN-/water (60v/40v) will be injected into the chromatography column at a flow rate of 1ml/min at 25C and analyzed in isocratic elution; the detection wavelengths will be 275nm and 315nm. BPA standard working solution will be prepared by diluting the analyte with the mobile phase solution. Ten microliters of the working solution will be injected into HPLC grade to obtain a calibration curve of concentration vs. peaks of BPA.

-An aliquot of 5 ml of the liquid portion will be diluted with 5ml of the above mobile phase solution. It will be then mixed by shaking with 5ml ACN- and 15ml polyprolene in a centrifuge tube for one minute. After centrifuging at 2500xg for 10 minutes, the supernatant will be discarded, and the solid will be extracted with 5ml of ACN- solution. The residue was then filtered and dried with nitrogen gas at 40C before dissolving in 200ul of the mobile phase solution. Ten microliters of the analyte will be injected into HPLC

Role of turfgrasses

cmknuckles — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 18:22:50 +0000

This source is a review and analysis of the role turf grasses play in environmental protection and also the benefits to human’s turf grasses can have. This article was produced by James B Beard and Robert L Green. An example of the type of information provided in this work is the functional benefits turf grasses have on soil erosion, soil improvement and restoration, noise reduction, and organic chemical decomposition. There is data presented on the many pollutants that are found within impervious surface runoff in urban areas, also Beard and Green present statistics that state the time required for an area of soil to reach 99% soil organic matter equilibrium. Coupled with that type of information is information on positive impacts that turf grasses can have on soil quality. This data is relevant my project because grasses are found along side of many impervious surfaces in any type of human environment be that an urban landscape or a rural one. This allows me to analyze what role these grasses may play in the existence of the microbial biomass within the soils alongside impervious surfaces and also gives me information about what type of chemicals are found in urban runoff water.

Cancer

khangntran — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:14:11 +0000

Normally, the cells in our bodies usually constantly divide when it’s necessary, but they will stop when the body doesn’t need them anymore and they will eventually die. Cancer happens when the cells keep dividing even if they don’t have to.

They are many contributing factors to the formation and development of cancer such as:

Chemical
Smoking
Viruses
Radiation

There are multiple types of cancer that are most popular and lethal (Lung-cancer, Prostate cancer, Colon cancer, Breast cancer, etc.)

The symptoms of cancers can be varying from coughing to diarrhea and blood in stool. This depends on where the cancer tumor is located. However, most of the time, the sign of symptom is really weak until the stage become more severe.

There are different types of treatment for cancer which can be extremely difficult. The most popular treatments are radiation and chemotherapy. Prior starting either radiation or chemotherapy treatments, a surgery was usually performed. The results are varied depended on the stage of cancer the patient’s at.

Cancer. The New York Times. 2008. http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/cancer/overview.html#

Saturation-Transfer Difference (STD) NMR

khangntran — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 16:55:15 +0000

Saturation-Transfer Difference is one of the most popular techniques used with NMR to study the ligand and protein, interaction. This technique focus more on the signals emitted from the ligand molecules but not the receptor.

On this paper, the authors demonstrate how to carry out a Saturation-Transfer Difference NMR experiment in a classroom environment. The compound and molecules that they used to demonstrate this particular technique are human serum albumin, 6-D,L-methyl-tryptophan, and 7-D,L-methyl-tryptophan. These compound will be examined in term of ligand screening, dissociation constant and such.

The experiment includes several steps.

Preparation of the Samples
STD NMR Experimental set up
STD-NMR Ligand Based-Screening Experiment set up
STD Build-Up Experiment and Ligand Mapping set up
Determination of Kd (dissociation constant)

Using the protocol attached with this paper. The students will be able to carry out this particular experiment. The degree of difficulties can also be adjusted to fit the specific type of courses and major (chemistry vs. biochemistry)

Aldino Viegas, Jo~ao Manso, Franklin L. Nobrega, and Eurico J. Cabrita (2011). Saturation-Transfer Difference (STD) NMR: A Simple and Fast Method for Ligand Screening and Characterization of Protein Binding. Jounal of Chemical Education (88): 900-994

Ecologic Studies of the Endangered Species Clematis socialis Kral

wmfenvrsci — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 02:06:31 +0000

In 1980, Clematis socialis Kral was discovered by a highway in St. Clair County, Alabama. By 1986, only two populations had been found so the flower was listed as an endangered species by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. This study began in 1992. The purpose of this study was two-fold, 1) count the population and determine soil type, and 2) characterize the plant’s habitat which includes soil chemistry and texture, other plants growing along with it, and it light requirements. The soil chemistry tested was pH, 16 elements (macro/micronutrients) and organic matter.

Results were:

three populations (zones) were found with 17,866 stems,
75 other species were found growing with the plant
all three zones shared the following elements (with no significant difference) Mg, Mo, Pb, %N)
There was no significant difference in light levels.

This study is an excellent example of the type of research needed to gain vital information about a new species when it is discovered. This could create a foundation of basic information about a species in order to create a solid recovery and management plan.

Boyd, R. S., & Hilton, C. D. (1994). Ecologic Studies of the Endangered Species Clematis socialis Kral. Castanea , 59 (1), 31-40.

Plant-Soil Interactions in Temperate Grasslands

wmfenvrsci — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:21:35 +0000

This interesting literature review took a look at temperate grasslands and the ability of the plants to create a resource island in the soils underneath them. Understanding that the number one limiting factor for plant growth is water availability, the researchers noted that soil texture and mean average temperature contribute to available water. The researchers built a conceptual model of the major limitations to plants across a precipitation gradient in temperate regions of the world and showed that above-ground and below-ground biomass in plants changes with average annual precipitation. Their model shows that the lower the average annual precipitation, there are constraints on root biomass; higher average annual precipitation have constraints are on shoot (aboveground) biomass. Based on this model, the researchers reviewed each category (Belowground constraints, indeterminate constraints, and aboveground constraints) to determine the species of plants found in those regions along with feedbacks between soil and plant. This is a great resource for researchers who are looking at grassland soils, plant effects on soil, and water-nutrient interactions.

Burke, I. C., Laurenroth, W. K., Vinton, M. A., Hook, P. B., Kelly, R. H., Epstein, H. E., et al. (1998). Plant- Soil interactions in temperate grasslands. Biogeochemistry , 42, 121-143.

Synthetic estrogen BPA coats cash register receipts

dympools — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:56:21 +0000

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) contracted the analytical laboratory at the University of Missouri-Columbia’s Division of Biological Sciences to perform an analysis of BPA on 36 cash register receipts. The laboratory weighed, measured and photographed the receipts, dissolved them in an alcohol, then analyzed them for BPA using a sensitive, standard BPA test method (High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with CoulArray detection).

EWG found major retailers using BPA-containing receipts in at least some outlets included McDonald’s, CVS, KFC, Whole Foods, Walmart, Safeway and the U.S. Postal Service. Substantial amounts of BPA were detected on 16 of 36 receipts at an average amount of 1.9 percent by weight, and a range of 0.8 to 2.8 percent. Interestingly, this study also found that a receipt for a McDonald’s Happy Meal, had an estimated 13 mg of BPA- which equals the amount of BPA in 126 cans of Chef Boyardee Overstuffed Beef Ravioli in Hearty Tomato & Meat Sauce, one of the products with the highest concentrations of BPA in EWG’s 2007 tests of canned foods.

Source: http://www.ewg.org/bpa-in-store-receipts