...Introduction The Daphnia magna, more commonly known as the water flea, is a tiny freshwater crustacean. Its clear exoskeleton and jointed appendages point to its classification as an arthropod. This is further evidenced by the location of its heart—the dorsal region. The Daphnia magna’s importance in the aquatic food chain can be attributed to its essential place in the diet of young and adult fish (Elbert, 2005). The Daphnia magna belongs to Class Branchiopoda, which are free-floating crustaceans that. It is also, more specifically, a member of Genus Daphnia (Ebert, 2005). Branchiopods always have flattened, partially leaf-like, legs. As a branchiopod, the Daphnia magna belongs to the Order Cladocera, which is protected by a calcified...
Words: 3417 - Pages: 14
...NATURE|Vol 461|1 October 2009 Vol 461|1 October 2009 RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS JOURNAL CLUB Bruce R. Conklin Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, San Francisco, California A geneticist wonders why we need to sleep. Scientists can have a love–hate relationship with sleep. We know that it is vital for our health, but not the reasons why. We celebrate dreams that provide inspiration, but often dismiss sleep as a chore. Yet deep sleep can provide insight into vexing problems. In 1920, pharmacologist Otto Loewi famously had a recurring dream that suggested how he could demonstrate neurotransmission in the lab. The key experimental details escaped him until he captured the dream in a bedside notebook. Later that day, he performed his Nobel-prizewinning experiments with the aid of a few frog hearts and a water bath. Now, a team led by Ying-Hui Fu reports that a single mutation in a gene called DEC2 can cause people to sleep for only about six hours per night instead of the usual eight (Y. He et al. Science 325, 866–870; 2009). This mutation seems to be exceedingly rare, with only two carriers found so far. Only by introducing this mutation into transgenic mice and fruitflies could the researchers show compelling evidence of the mutation’s effect. These two additional waking hours each day are quite remarkable when you consider that, over 80 years, this would add up to more than 8 years of extra productivity! Why are extreme short sleepers so rare? Surely evolutionary pressures...
Words: 941 - Pages: 4
...Journal of Global Biosciences ISSN 2320-1355 Volume 4, Number 2, 2015, pp. 1448-1455 Website: www.mutagens.co.in E-mail: submit@mutagens.co.in researchsubmission@hotmail.com Research Paper HUMAN URINE AS A FERTILIZER- A COMPARATIVE STUDY USING SOLANUM LYCOPERISCUM AND CAPSICUM SP. Rajani, V1., Alaka, R. S2., and Sajitha Rajan S.3 1, 2 P G Department of Environmental Sciences, 3Department of Botany All Saints’ College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Abstract Fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin (other than liming materials) that is added to soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. Urea fertilizer production has developed during the last decades so that urea is one of the most important industrial nitrogen fertilizers and new urea–ammonia fertilizer plants have been built recently, for instance in India. Human urine is a natural resource, which is available in all human societies even in the poorest ones which can be used as a natural fertilizer. Urine contain rich plant nutrients, since the human kidney is the main excretory organ and thus urine contains most of the nutrients present in human food which have not been utilized for new cell growth or energy consumption. In the present study two plant materials were selected- Solanum lycopersicum and Capsicum sp. In this study, soil analysis as well as estimation of protein, ascorbic acid, proline and Ascorbate Peroxidase...
Words: 3284 - Pages: 14
...application must be successful and effectiveness high. As some oil would come ashore, discussion remains on what effectiveness is required to significantly reduce the shoreline impact. A major issue is the actual effectiveness during spills so that these values can be used in estimates for the future. The second motivation for using dispersants is to reduce the impact on birds and mammals on the water surface. The benefits of using dispersants to reduce impacts on wildlife still remain unknown. The third motivation for using dispersants is to promote the biodegradation of oil in the water column. The effect of dispersants on biodegradation is still a matter of dispute. Some papers state that dispersants inhibit biodegradation others indicate that dispersants have little effect on biodegradation. The most recent papers, however, confirm that inhibition is a matter of the surfactant in the dispersant itself and the factors of environmental conditions. It is clear, on the basis of current literature that the surfactants in some of the current dispersant formulations can inhibit biodegradation. No...
Words: 82016 - Pages: 329
...Fagan © Earth Open Source www.earthopensource.org 2nd Floor 145–157, St John Street, London EC1V 4PY, United Kingdom Contact email: claire.robinson@earthopensource.org June 2012 Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this paper, or otherwise published by EOS, are those of the authors and do not represent the official policy, position, or views of other organizations, universities, companies, or corporations that the authors may be affiliated with. GMO Myths and Truths 2 About the authors Michael Antoniou, PhD is reader in molecular genetics and head, Gene Expression and Therapy Group, King’s Cols: lege London School of Medicine, London, UK. He has 28 years’ experience in the use of genetic engineering technology investigating gene organisation and control, with over 40 peer reviewed publications of original work, and holds inventor status on a number of gene expression biotechnology patents. Dr Antoniou has a large network of collaborators in industry and academia who are making use of his discoveries in gene control mechanisms for the production of research, diagnostic and therapeutic products and safe and efficacious human somatic gene therapy for inherited and acquired genetic disorders. Claire Robinson, MPhil, is research director at Earth Open Source. She has a background in investigative reporting and the communication of topics relating to public health, science and policy, and the environment. She is an editor at GMWatch (www.gmwatch.org), a public...
Words: 78055 - Pages: 313
...Maria Vasilenko 223901 Feasibility of using biosensors for heavy metal detection in complex matrices such as bio-slurries. Master of Science Thesis Examiners: Professor Matti Karp Professor Raghida Lepistö Examiner and topic approved in The Science and Bioengineering Department Council meeting on 7.11.2012 Abstract TAMPERE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Master‟s Degree Programme in Science and Bioengineering Vasilenko Maria: Feasibility of using biosensors for heavy metal detection in complex matrices such as bio-slurries. Seminar paper, 97 pages November 2012 Major: Biotechnology Examiners: Matti Karp, Raghida Lepisto Keywords: environmental pollution, heavy metals, biosensors, slurries The quality of bioslurries that are used in industrial production and agriculture need to be watched very closely to avoid spreading of contaminants on area and poisoning of humans and animals. Because heavy metals are very stable and toxic in many chemical compositions, their amount should be estimated very thoroughly. A new approach that involved biosensors was tested in this study. Because the slurries are complex non-unified matrices which composed of two phases – solid and liquid, the cell behavior can varies a lot from the one that explained in water and so the estimation of ion concentration can be not reliable. It was shown that the cell actually behave different in the slurries. Normally the dissolved compounds suppress the biosensor activity and, in the same time, the ions in the...
Words: 17229 - Pages: 69
