CSB#8- Heart Rate with Different Exercises by Lekha Chirala and Sriram Somasundaram

     We are testing the heart rate after 30 jumping jacks, 20 pushups, 35 sit-ups. The control is the heart rate while the person is just sitting and has not done any exercise. Question: Which exercise increases the heart rate the most? Hypothesis: If heart rate is tested after 30 jumping jacks, 20 pushups, and 35 sit-ups, then jumping jacks will raise the heart rate the highest. By finding this kind of exercise we can tell which type gets your body running. This could be useful in warmups. We can test our question because exercise increases heart rate. Heart rate is related to physiology because it is the speed at which blood gets pumped through the heart. Physiology is the function of living systems and the heart is a function, therefore, heart rate is related to physiology.

      The materials we used were the Vernier hand-grip heart rate monitor to record the heart rate of the test subject (in BPM or beats per minute), logger pro to serve as an interface to record the values from the heart rate monitor, a go link to connect the heart rate monitor with the laptop, a test subject to complete the different exercises and then be tested for their heart rate, and a laptop to show the values collected from the heart rate monitor.

     After the test subject completed a type of exercise, and then we would record their heart rate using logger pro and the hand-grip heart rate monitor. We made them wait for about three minutes before doing the next task, so that their heart rate would return to normal.

     The type of exercise (pushups, jumping jacks, and situps) was the independent variable and the dependent variable was the heart rate. The control experiment was testing the heart rate after doing no exercise. Overall, jumping jacks brought the heart rate up the highest, which was 135 BPM (beats per minute) followed by the pushups with 127 BPM, situps with 121 BPM, and control heart rate with no exercise with 79 BPM. Our data shows that jumping jacks rose the heart rate up the highest (135 BPM). This is because jumping jacks require movement from lost of body parts, which requires lots of oxygen and energy. To transport oxygen and energy to cells the body uses blood. If tissues and muscles need more oxygen and energy, then blood needs to arrive faster or in other words the blood flow needs to be rapid. To increase the blood flow the heart needs to pump blood faster, and that is why the heart rate or the pumping rate is faster in exercise. Jumping jacks require the most movement, whereas pushups and situps are focused on certain parts of the body and do not require as much energy to actually jump, so it increases the heart rate the most. Our hypothesis was that 30 jumping jacks would raise the heart rate the most, and our hypothesis is supported by our data and graphs.



Data and Graphs: The pictures are an example of the graphs of one test subject.

Average heart rate after 30 jumping jacks – 135 BPM

Average heart rate after 20 pushups - 127 BPM

Average heart rate after 35 situps - 121 BPM

Average normal heart rate - 79 BPM

People involved in this experiment were Steven Wang, Sophia Shatus, Eric Yu, and Sriram Somasundaram.

CSB#7 - Synthetic Blood Transfusion Saves a Life

Until an incident that occurred in Australia, blood substitutes have been utterly ineffective. The reason for blood substitues is that sometimes the exact blood type is not available to the patient, but substitutes cover all blood types. Additionally, in certain places where cold storage is not available blood substitutes are a really feasible option. Tamara Coakley landed at a hospital in Melbourne in a very harmful state. She had been hit by a car and had a fractured skull, collapsed lungs, and a damaged spinal cord along with other traumatic injuries. Additionally, she had lost tremendous amounts of blood and could not send oxygen effectively to her tissues. On top of that, Coakley's religion prevented blood transfusions, however, synthetics were allowed. HBOC201, "a hemoglobin-based oxygen-carrying synthetic containing a molecule derived from cow plasma" was administered into Coakley's body. Coakley survived with the synthetic blood transfusion against all odds. HBOC201 does not need cross-matching (blood compatibility) or storage in cold temperatures, and it will not expire for up to three years.
This could be a feasible option for blood loss patients in third world countries or on the battlefield. These places cannot get the required blood (the right type) in time to save the patients, but synthetic blood covers all blood types. Many hospitals that are far away from blood banks also have similar problems as they cannot find blood with the same type as the patient. This synthetic blood, which can be used for all blood types, solves that dilemma. Synthetic blood transfusion needs way more research than just one success, but Coakley's result is a huge breakthrough in the alternative blood field. I believe that more research in this field will prove to be very beneficial in the future. Some questions that I have are if HBOC201 has any side effects and if it can be mass produced effectively.

Citation:
Dillow, Clay. "Transfusion of Synthetic Blood Saves Woman's Life." Popular Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 May 2011. .

CSB#6-Nanoparticles Destroy Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

A innovative type of degradable nano-particles have been manufactured by IBM to destroy bacteria that are resitant to antibiotics. These nano-particles work by physically carving up the cell membrane of the bacteria, emptying its contents out. This kind of attack is very similar to a virus, and after one bacterium is destroyed the nano-particles can move on to the next. They are also positively charged, which allows them to latch on to the bacteria. This kind of technology is being tested on Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and other such bacteria. Best of all, nano-particles attack physically not chemically, so the bacteria cannot evolve any resistance against it. In addition, unlike other nano-particles, these ones are completely bio-degradable and can be destroyed with certain fluids. Some of the particles are hydrophobic, while some are hydrophilic. This allows them to latch on to each other in certain substances, permitting the body to easily expel the particles out. Some substances that the nano-particles can degrade in are carbon dioxide and alcohol, which are regularly flushed out of the body. The technology is still fresh and scientists are still testing on the nano-particles to see if there are any unwanted side affects.

This kind of technology is very useful and can be applied to all the bad bacteria, preventing many deaths and diseases. It has many advantages such as bio-degradability, low cost, high availability, and no resistance. The only thing the general public can do is wait for the products to come out. Studies researching nano-particles against bacteria usually contain some weakness such as high prices or no availability, but with these nano-particles, they are almost perfect. A common question is what drives the selectivity of the nanoparticles and if they would destroy probiotics as well.

Citations
Boyle, Rebecca. "Degradable Nanoparticles Search, Intercept and Destroy Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria." Popular Science 4 Apr. 2011: n. pag. Rpt. in Popular Science. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. The New Book of Popular Science. Web. 6 Apr. 2011 .

CSB#5:High Powered NASA Grow-Light Reduces Chemotherapy Side Effects

Recently, NASA has developed a grow lamp designed for the space shuttle that can ease a side effect of chemotherapy. The lamp uses a technology called High Emissivity Luminescent Substrate(Heals). It uses the same energy as a dozen suns to alleviate a condition called oral mucositis(mouth and throat sores). The WARP 75 provides this light energy from 288 LED chips. This is useful because the people who take chemo drugs often have mucositis, therefore disabling them from eating solid foods. Although it can be used to alleviate pain, HEALS was initially developed to grow plants for shuttle missions. It uses LEDs that emit long wavelengths of light to stimulate cells to grow and aid in healing. They emit photons but no heat. This technology was tested in a two-year double-blind trial on eighty cancer patients. Half of them were treated with HEALS while the other half were treated with the placebo device. Ultimately, the patients with the real HEALS treatment experienced less pain. NASA concluded that there was a 96% chance that the decreased pain was a result of the light therapy. The treatment has many benefits such as: better nutrition, decreased drug use, and increased morale. I think that this treatment for alleviating pain along with the other benefits could really help the millions of cancer patients, worldwide. Millions of lives would be helped. Treating cancer is a new field in science and this is one of the many breakthroughs that scientists will discover.

Citations: Boyle, Rebecca. "High-Powered NASA Grow-Light Reduces Chemotherapy Side 
     Effects." Popular Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2011.
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CSB #4: Gene Variations Affect Sleep Time

Definitions:
Circadian Rhythm - A circadian rhythm is roughly a 24-hour cycle in the biochemical, physiological, or behavioral processes of living entities. The term "circadian" comes from the Latin circa, "around", and diem or dies, "day", meaning literally "approximately one day".
Gene Encoding - Functional product molecules, either RNA or protein that can be generated or derived from the gene



Summary:
The ability to get by on little sleep may have a strong genetic component. Recent research links multiple gene variations affecting sleep time. A person sleeps a little or a lot can depend on specific gene variation in human DNA. According to a study, people with one variation of a gene called SUR2 tend to sleep 28 minutes longer than the people with a different variation of the gene. A second type of variation in which gene encodes a protein that forms a channel that transports potassium in and out of the cells. A rare variation in a gene involved in regulating the body's daily rhythms is linked with sleeping almost 2 hours a night less than the average. Variants in a circadian-rhythm gene predict how well people perform mental tasks when sleep deprived. Alterations in a gene called DEC2 lead to a shortened sleep period in people, mice and fruit flies. Low lipid levels keep the insects buzzing past bedtime, a new study finds, suggesting a role for metabolism in regulating sleep as well.

Discussion:
I think that the topic of the gene variations affecting the sleep time is very interesting. This could actually be used in gene modification for sleep deprived people and other sleep disorders. It would be interesting to see more than sleep could be changed such as brain functions and lipid metabolism. Also, there could be simple mechanisms to correct sleep patterns for example with a jet lag during travel.

Questions:
Can the study help understand and improve sleep patterns after jet lag based on gene variations?
Are the same genes identified in the study related to more than just sleep?

Citations:
"Study: Gene variations affect sleep time." Science Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 9 Jan. 2011. 
.
"Gene predicts sleepy perforamnce", Science News.org, March 24th, 2007; Vol.171 #12


"A Visual Guide to sleeping disorders", http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=118341