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Kidney

Waste Disposal

There are a few forms of nitrogen waste:

Ammonia is used by many aquatic animals, especially fish.

Urea is used by mammals, amphibians, shark and bony fish.

Birds, insects and reptiles use uric acid.

Proteins -> Amino Acids -> Amino Groups-> Ammonia/Urea/Uric Acid

Ammonia is very toxic and can only be excreted in large, dilute volumes. Most terrestrial organisms do not have enough water intake to excrete such solutions.

Urea is synthesized in the liver, by combining ammonia with carbon dioxide. It is excreted through the kidneys. Urea is 1/100th as toxic as ammonia, making it able to be stored in high concentration and reduces the amount of water needed to dispose of it.

Uric acid is also very nontoxic. Uric acid is not soluble in water and can be excreted as a paste with very little water loss.

#Metacognition

Loop of Henle.

#Drawings

Herbivore Dinosaur Discovery

The first large herbivorous dinosaur in Antarctica has been was recently discovered by Dr. Ignacio Alejandro Cerda, from CONICET in Argentina. The dinosaur is believe to be a Sauropoda, a species that is believed to have been spread globally by the late Cretaceous period.

The remains that were recovered by the team were missing part of the middle-tail vertebra. It was recovered from James Ross island and it is believed to be a titanosaur due to its ball-and-socket bone structure.

The discovery of the remains bolsters the knowledge of late Cretaceous faunas that lived in the same region.

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Endoscopes

Endoscopes are small cameras and fibers that are attached to tubes and used to examine the inside of the body. Using endoscopes with tubes can be dangerous. At Tel Aviv University, a new type of endoscope that is inside a capsule has been made to safely observe the digestive tract of a person.

The device is much unlike old camera-capsules, in the sense that it does not travel randomly and get random snapshots. The new capsules are wireless and use the magnetic fields of an MRI combined with electronic signals sent by a manned control panel to travel down a specified path, thus the new device is both a safer and more accurate alternative to endoscope tubes.

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A Little on Homeostasis

This is just a quick post on the recent Homeostasis lesson.

Organisms maintains homeostasis through Thermoregulation, Osmoregulation and Excretion.

Thermoregulation is when it maintains a balanced temperature.

Osmoregulation is when it maintains water and solute concentrations

Excretion is when it effectively removes nitrogen waste when needed.

Animals are regulators if they adapt internally to environmental changes with homeostasis.

Organisms are conformers if they conform to the environmental changes without much internal change.

Convection, Radiation, Conduction and Evaporation are common processes responsible for heat gain/loss.

#Metacognition

Nerve Cell

#Drawings

Diffusion, Facilitated Diffusion, and Active Transport

#Drawings

Pig Stem Cells

Stem cell researchers from the University of Georgia discovered a better way to experiment with stem cell therapies.

Previously, rodent stem cells were used for testing human stem cell therapies (which was very risky). Steve Stice, the scientist involved with the research examined 13 pigs that did not produce tumors when applied with stem cell therapy, while rodents are frequently killed during such therapies. This means that stem cell therapies can be used to restore tissues on pigs without harming the pig.Additionally, the pigs are able to pass the effects of the stem cell therapies onto their offspring.

The researchers involved in this discovery will use pigs for further stem cell research because the therapies that are successful on pigs have higher chances of being successful on humans.

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Bee Swarms and Neurons

Cornell University biologists have examined bee swarms and noticed that the swarms mimic neurons in a study in the December 9th issue of Science.

Bee swarms and neurons, according to the lead neurologist in the team, use similar mechanisms to make decisions. Scout bees seemed to be using "stop signals" which where demonstrated with a short buzz and a headbutt to inhibit other bees that advertised competing sites. The signals would increase in size depending on the size of the group being inhibited as well.

The use of stop signals is similar to how the brain works in complex brains, in the sense that neurons also use inhibitory signaling on neurons.

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Vesicles movement sketch

#Drawings

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