Tag: Highlight

2016-17, Environment

Small-Scale Modeling Shows Influences on Climate Change

by Jenna Mallon (’18) Due to their low-latitude location, Mesoamerica and the Caribbean are at particularly high risk of experiencing the effects of climate change. There are currently many global models that show the effects of climate change on a large scale, but fail to take into account the effects that topography and land use have on temperature and precipitation.  This prompted Robert Oglesby, of … Continue reading Small-Scale Modeling Shows Influences on Climate Change

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2016-17, Biology

Biotechnology Breakthrough Targets Flaviviruses

by Aaron Gochman (’18) CRISPR-Cas9, the most recent breakthrough in biotechnology research, allows for specific and precise gene editing. With countless applications, scientists all over the world seek to optimize it for use in treating myriad diseases. This week, a team of American and Chinese researchers used CRISPR-Cas9 to target flaviviruses, a group that includes West Nile, Zika, and Dengue. There are no current effective … Continue reading Biotechnology Breakthrough Targets Flaviviruses

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2016-17, Biology, Health, Medicine and Physiology

Predictors of Tuberculosis Found in HIV/AIDS Patients

by Jenna Mallon (’18) Although the dangers of tuberculosis (TB) are widely known, many people do not know that a large percent of tuberculosis patients are also HIV positive. This issue is especially prevalent in Africa, Ethiopia specifically, where TB has been a large public health issue for over fifty years. This large health epidemic prompted Mulugeta Dalbo of the Arba Minch Health Science College … Continue reading Predictors of Tuberculosis Found in HIV/AIDS Patients

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2016-17, Biology, Neuroscience, Psychology

The Role of Social Stress in Cocaine Addiction

by Aaron Gochman (’18) This week, scientists from the University of Texas at Austin contributed a novel idea to addiction research. Focusing on glutamatergic synaptic transmission, the primary mode of excitatory signaling in the central nervous system, the group hypothesized that social stress would lead to increased vulnerability to cocaine addiction. Specifically, the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the brain, a prime location for dopamine … Continue reading The Role of Social Stress in Cocaine Addiction

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2016-17, Chemistry, Health, Pharmacology

Chromatography Separates Cyclosporin Analogs

by Jenna Mallon (’18) In recent years, cyclic peptides have emerged as leaders in therapeutic drugs due to their in vivo stability and bioavailability. A class of specific cyclic peptides known as Cyclosporins has been effective in preventing rejection and infection in the body after organ transplants. The different analogs of Cyclosporin are very structurally similar, making separation extremely difficult. For this reason Yuefei Shao, … Continue reading Chromatography Separates Cyclosporin Analogs

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2016-17, Biology, Engineering

A Step Toward Synthetic Cognition and Artificial Organs

by Aaron Gochman (’18) A team of researchers from Harvard, Stanford, and Sogang University in South Korea made headlines this week with a discovery that captures the future of bioengineering. Living cardiac muscle cells were taken from rats and printed onto a robot shaped like a sting ray. The cells were engineered to express proteins that activate in response to light; when activated, the cells … Continue reading A Step Toward Synthetic Cognition and Artificial Organs

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2016-17, Biology, Health

The Relationship Between Thigh Muscle Volume and Functional Performance in Older Women

by Lillian Pao (’18) Sarcopenia, a stage in a person’s life during which they begin to lose muscle mass and function, commonly affects men and women above the age of 60. Muscles are often associated with strength, function, and power. However, the association amongst all of these characteristics is understudied.  Dr. Ulrich Lindemann of Germany decided to investigate the association between thigh muscle volume and … Continue reading The Relationship Between Thigh Muscle Volume and Functional Performance in Older Women

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2016-17, Computer Science, Health

Computer Simulation Offers Alternative Ways to Stop Disease in Schools

by Lillian Pao (’18) Pandemics and seasonal infectious diseases, such as the influenza virus, have drastic negative health and economic consequences. One particular intervention strategy, school closures, can result in significant economic impacts because parents or guardians have to temporarily leave the workforce in order to take care of their child. School closures because of an epidemic outbreak normally last for one to two weeks, … Continue reading Computer Simulation Offers Alternative Ways to Stop Disease in Schools

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2016-17, Biology

Predestination and the Influence of Religion on Science

by Lillian Pao (’18) Despite the contradictions science and religion have with one another, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim beliefs have recently been able influence current interpretations in biology. One of these interpretations concern the evolution of cave fauna.  Several people believe that “biochemical predestination”, a higher power or strict law that governs the phenomena in nature on our earth, and possibly beyond, exists. Professor Aldemaro … Continue reading Predestination and the Influence of Religion on Science

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2016-17, Biology, Health

A Possible Link Between Childhood Obesity and Intellectual Disorders

by Julia Newman (’19) According to a study recently published in the Disability and Health Journal, children with an intellectual disability (ID) are nearly twice as likely to develop obesity as those without ID. The researchers recorded weekly behaviors of children aged ten to seventeen years old, such as the frequency of family meals and exercise. The results displayed that children with ID ate consistent … Continue reading A Possible Link Between Childhood Obesity and Intellectual Disorders

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2016-17, Psychology, Sociology

The Strong Black Woman: How Stereotypes Can Affect Our Health

by Amanda Ng (’18) The way people are stereotyped can not only affect how others view us, but also how we view ourselves. This internalization of stereotypes and altered self-perception can lead to both mental and physical health problems for many individuals. In this study, conducted by Dr. Lindsey West of New England University, data was collected from 113 Black female college students aged 18 … Continue reading The Strong Black Woman: How Stereotypes Can Affect Our Health

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2016-17, Biology

The Factors That Impact a Dog’s Attention Span

by Julia Newman (’19) Researchers at the University of Padua in Italy conducted a study on attention spans in dogs and ended up discovering that both the level of training and sex of the dog impact this length of time. A total of sixty-four dogs of various levels of training were put through multiple tests in order to record data on the length of their … Continue reading The Factors That Impact a Dog’s Attention Span

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