“Keystone Species, Shrinking Red Knots, And Biomes”

“Keystone Species, Shrinking Red Knots, and Biomes”

For your primary post, please respond to one of the following three topics with a post of at least 125 words that addresses each point given in the instructions. Also, please reply to at least one fellow student on any topic.

Topic 1

:  Keystone Species. Watch the video entitled “Some animals are more equal than others…” (1)* Then completely describe the concept of a keystone species, giving specific examples from the video.

Topic 2 [articles]: Shrinking Red Knots. Read two of the following three articles about shrinking Red Knots (2)*, (3)*, (4)*, or research additional information on your own. Then, address the following issues:

  • (a) Explain how the lifecycle of the Red Knot depends on hatchlings emerging at the same time as the insects hatch.
  • (b) What are the long-term ramifications of having a mismatch between the bird hatch and the insect hatch?
  • (c) Of the two articles you read, which of them do you feel was most informative?  Why?

Topic 3 [research]: Biomes. The term “biome” is described in the textbook. For this topic, describe the biome where you grew up (or where you currently live). Identify your location, the biome of the region, and describe the major characteristics of that biome. Add enough detail and commentary from your own experience, so that your answer is 125 words or more. If you’re really ambitious, you could consider looking up the EPA “ecoregion,” which will give additional details about your region.

*References (in Strayer Writing Standards format).

  1. HHMI Biointeractive, May 3, 2016, Some animals are more equal than others: keystone species and trophic cascades., https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1142&v=hRGg5it5FMI
  2. Helen Briggs, May 13, 2016, Shrinking bird pays the bill for Arctic warming, http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36266692
  3. Joseph Dussault, May 12, 2016, Climate change chould be shrinking these arctic birds, http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/0512/Climate-change-could-be-shrinking-these-Arctic-birds
  4. Carl Zimmer, May 12, 2016, Climate change and the case of the shrinking red knots,  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/17/science/climate-change-bird-red-knots.html?_r=0
 
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Human Genetics

Name:____________________

MMG 404 F2015 Homework # 7

12 points

due Oct. 20, 2016

1.. A certain large population is found to exhibit a frequency of 3% for an autosomal recessive trait, i.e. 3 people out of 100, on average, have the trait (assume 100% penetrance). Assuming the alleles are in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, calculate the expected carrier frequency. When actually tested, it was found that the carrier frequency was 15%. Suggest one possible explanation for this non-equilibrium value.

2. a. A biallelic locus, Aa, has allele frequencies of A = 80% and a=20% in a certain population. Another biallelic locus, Bb, has allele frequencies of B = 90% and b = 10% in the same population. Both loci are found to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Calculate the expected percentages of each of the AA, Aa, aa, BB, Bb, and bb genotypes in the population.

AA= Aa= aa=

BB= Bb= bb=

b. A recessive digenic disorder (100% penetrant) occurs ONLY when one has the aabb genotype. It’s found that 15 people out of 10,000 in this population have the disorder. What would be the expected frequency of the disorder if the Aa locus and the Bb locus were segregating independently? Is the actual frequency significantly different from this?

3. A very rare disorder is shown to depend on the genotype at three unlinked autosomal loci, A/a, B/b and C/c and that to be affected one must be homozygous for the rare allele at all three loci, that is, aabbcc. The MZ twin disorder concordance is 100%, implying that the penetrance is 100%. Calculate the expected dizygotic twin concordance for presence of the affected trait, that is, if one DZ twin shows the trait, what is the chance that the 2nd twin will be affected? (Hint: because the trait is rare, assume that both parents are heterozygous for all three loci. This is NOT the probability that both twins are affected among all DZ twin pairs.)

 
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Evidence For The Theory Of Evolution

1. Evidence for the theory of evolution includes all but __________ (Points : 5)
the fossil record.
biochemical similarities among all living things.
catastrophism.
biogeography.

2. Chelonia mydas is the scientific name for the green turtle. Chelonia is the __________ (Points : 5)
genus.
species.
order.
domain.

3. Characteristics of prokaryotes include all of the following EXCEPT FOR: (Points : 5)
a single, circular chromosome
most commonly reproduce by asexual fission
having membrane enclosed organelles
small in size and can only be seen with a microscope

4. Protists ____________. (Points : 5)
are prokaryotic cells.
have a nucleus.
are most closely related to animals.
live in dry environments.

5. Viruses are __________ (Points : 5)
prokaryotic cells.
eukaryotic cells.
non-living particles.
large in size.

6. Angiosperms produce all of the following EXCEPT __________ (Points : 5)
flowers.
fruit.
pollen.
cones.

7. An organism is multicellular, has cell walls made of chitin, and absorbs its food. In which Kingdom does it belong? (Points : 5)
Animalia
Fungi
Plantae
Protista

8. Dissolved sugar is carried throughout the plant in which tissue? (Points : 5)
cortex
xylem
cambium
phloem

9. Characteristics of animals include all of the following EXCEPT FOR: (Points : 5)
multicellular
unwalled cells
capable of photosynthesis
have the ability to reproduce sexually

10. Which of the following statements is TRUE? (Points : 5)
Mammals are invertebrates.
Invertebrates have a backbone.
There are more species of invertebrates than vertebrates.
Arthropods are the least abundant species.

11. Where is bile produced? (Points : 5)
the gall bladder
the pancreas
the liver
the small intestine

12. The sites of gas exchange in the lungs are the ____. (Points : 5)
bronchioles
alveoli
bronchi
integument

13. The functional units inside of kidneys are the ____. (Points : 5)
sarcomeres
ureters
malpighian tubules
nephrons

14. ___ tissue allows a body to detect and respond to internal and external changes. (Points : 5)
Epithelial
Muscle
Connective
Nervous

15. Which blood vessels return the blood to the heart from the lungs? (Points : 5)
pulmonary arteries
pulmonary veins
systemic arteries
systemic veins

16. The relationship between a flowering plant and mycorrhizal fungi is an example of ___. (Points : 5)
commensalism
parasitism
mutualism
predator/prey interaction

17. Currently, the human population is nearing ___. (Points : 5)
275 million
3 billion
7 billion
9 billion

18. Which of the following organisms would be found at the lowest trophic level of a food chain? (Points : 5)
rabbit
hawk
mushroom
oak tree

19. Which of the following is not considered a density-dependent factor? (Points : 5)
An infestation of parasites on a deer population
Competition for nesting sites for bald eagles
Predation of cheetahs on a population of gazelles
A hard freeze on a plant population

20. A keystone species ___ (Points : 5)
nfluences the survival of several other species within a community.
never goes extinct.
has little impact on the ecosystem.
has the largest population in an ecosystem.

 
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Case Studies in Neurology

ignment Details

Focus on Case Studies in Neurology

For this assignment you will respond to three case studies.

What is a Case Study?

“A case study is a narrative used to help you practice real-life analysis and communication skills. It is a learning tool that provides readers with “enough detail…to understand the nature and scope of the problem, and…serve as a springboard for discussion and learning” (O’Rourke, 2007, p. 391).

Use your textbook and academic resources from the Library to support your responses.

Access the Library directly from Course Resources for this class, or through the student portal. Be sure to cite and reference all your sources. The Library has a feature that allows you to automatically create an APA formatted reference.

Your completed case studies should be between 750–1000 words, and all sources must be properly cited using APA format.

CASE STUDY #1

  1. Amy is cooking dinner for her family. She moves to pull a pot off the stove and accidently touches the burner. She reflexively pulls her finger away from the stove and immediately feels the pain.
    1. Which receptor neuron is responsible for sending information from her finger to her peripheral nervous system?
    2. Is this receptor neuron, an afferent or efferent neuron?
    3. Explain where the information from the receptor neuron is sent and how does it result in Amy moving her finger away from the stove.
    4. Describe the three classes of neurons involved in this response.
    5. Evolutionarily, why do you think the human body has this system in place?
    6. What might happen if we did not have this response?

CASE STUDY #2

  1. Glen, who is 45 years old, begins to notice that his hands shake (tremors) when he is performing everyday tasks such as signing his signature. His family members have noticed that he also has muffled speech and tends to shuffle when he walks. He is diagnosed with Early Onset Parkinson’s disease.
    1. What is Early Onset Parkinson’s disease?
    2. What specific cell type is affected in Parkinson’s disease?
    3. What is dopamine? What effects does dopamine have on the body?
    4. Explain the structure of a synapse and why Glen’s neurologist would prescribe him a dopamine agonist?
    5. Glen has genetic testing performed and it is determined that he does carry an autosomal dominant mutation in the SNCA gene associated with Early Onset Parkinson’s disease. Glen has three children. Would you advise his children to have genetic testing performed to determine if they also carry the disease mutation? Why or why not?

CASE STUDY #3

3. Patricia, who is 37 years old, discusses with her physician recent symptoms that she has experienced including blurred vision, numbness in her fingers and face, dizziness, fatigue and weakness. The physician performs multiple neurological tests and she is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).

  1. What is MS?
  2. Is MS a disease of the central or peripheral nervous system?
  3. What is the main cell structure affected in MS?
  4. How is the action potential of a neuron affected in MS?
  5. The origins of MS are not clear. What do scientists hypothesize to be the causes of MS?

Your assignment should be written in an essay format. The assignment requires you to include details from research including the course materials and sources you locate on your own. Remember to use APA format to cite your sources of information, both within parenthetical citations and also within a reference page at the end of the project.

Basic Writing Requirements:

  • Between 750–1000 words not counting the title or reference pages.
  • Include a title page, double space, font size 10 or 12.
  • Include a well-developed introduction and conclusion
  • Provide exceptional content.
  • Demonstrate superior organization: use logic.
  • Free of grammar and spelling errors.
  • No evidence of plagiarism.
  • Use APA style for all citations and references.
 
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