All posts by student

Anatomy of an Historic Northeast Blizzard – Warming Trend Here – 60F by Sunday? – Minneapolis Star Tribune

Potentially Historic Blizzard Shuts Down Northeast

Meteorologists are prone to pangs of jealousy. You see, we all want the most interesting, peculiar weather to show up over our respective cities. It gives us something to babble about - it makes us feel important.

So you can only imagine how much I'd like to be in New York City or Boston today. A late-season blizzard will drop snow at a rate of 2-3 inches/hour with thunder and lightning; winds topping 50 mph creating hour after hour of white-out conditions. The northeast will effectively shut down for the next 48 hours.

According to FiveThirtyEight New York has seen only 5 snowstorms of a foot or more in March or April since 1870. California just had the wettest winter in 122 years; now a super-sized blizzard for New England? There's more water in the air - more fuel for blizzards and floods.

We've had our (3-inch) drama here at home. Take a mental snapshot of the snow in your yard - it'll be gone within 2 days. 40s return Thursday with 50s early next week. Models suggest a mild, Pacific breeze into late March.

Spring won't come as early as 2012, but 2-3 weeks ahead of schedule.

Image above: ECMWF (European) forecast of snow totals, courtesy of WeatherBell.

Winter Storm Severity Index. Here's another way of assessing total impacts from a given winter storm: snow, ice, wind, power outage potential, all wrapped up in one (prototype) scale, but you get the general idea. This may be an historic blizzard from Lancaster and Harrisburg to Allentown, Wilkes-Barre, New York City, Hartford and Worcester, MA. Details and obligatory disclaimer from NOAA: "Feedback from this prototype will be used to evaluate potential product development. The purpose of the Winter Storm Severity Index (WSSI) is to provide NWS partners and the general public with an indication of the level of winter precipitation (snow and ice) severity and its potential related societal impacts. The WSSI does not depict official warnings, and should always be used in context with official NWS forecasts and warnings. Because this is a prototype, it may not update in a timely fashion. Always check the creation and valid times..."

Blowing Snow Component. NOAA's WSSI prototype predicts the most severe blowing and drifting from eastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey to Long Island, coastal New England and Cape Cod.

Bracing for a Blizzard, Officials Close Schools and Stop Trains. No, this won't be just another garden-variety snowstorm. Details via The New York Times.

20+" for New York City? More details on preparation and likely impacts here.

There is Nothing Normal About the Snowstorm About to Slam the East Coast. Mother Jones puts 20-inch snowfalls into cold, stark perspective: "...If you live on the East Coast, you might have become complacent about epic snowstorms like this one. Twenty inches or so doesn't seem like such a big deal when you've lived through similar storms. But looking at the data, you'll see that 20-inch snowstorms are a relatively new phenomenon in places like New York City. For the first 100 years that meteorologists kept weather records at Central Park, from 1869 through 1996, they recorded just two snowstorms that dumped 20 inches or more. But since 1996, counting this week's storm, there have been six. (You'll find similar stats for other major East Coast cities.)..."

"Blizzard Alley" Runs From Long Island to Cape Cod. Perhaps it's no surprise, but proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and less friction near the water increases wind speeds and the potential to exceed blizzard criteria (35 mph winds + 1/4 mile or less visibility in falling or blowing snow).

Praedictix Briefing: Issued Monday, March 13th, 2017

* The largest snowstorm of the season and potentially a historic March system will impact Washington D.C. to Boston Monday Night through Wednesday.

* The worst of the storm will come Tuesday from Philadelphia to New York City and Boston, with snowfall rates of 2-4 per hour, strong winds (30-60 mph gusts) and white-out conditions.

* Forecast snow totals: 5-10 Washington D.C., with a foot or more of snow from Philadelphia to New York, Boston and into Maine.

Heavy Snow Moves In Tonight. A strengthening low pressure center will move up the east coast as we head through Tuesday, bringing with it heavy snow (potentially 2-4 per hour at the height of the storm) as well as 30-60 mph winds. Wintry precipitation will start this evening in areas like Washington D.C. and Philadelphia, with snow spreading into New York City and Boston during the overnight hours. Snow will continue through the day before pushing out to the northeast through the afternoon and into Tuesday Night.

Winter Storm And Blizzard Warnings. Winter Storm and Blizzard Warnings have been issued from Virginia and West Virginia through most areas of the Northeast ahead of this noreaster, with a wide swath of at least 6 of snow expected across the region. Some of the heaviest totals will be near/along I-95, with over a foot possible. Strong, gusty winds up to 60 mph will be possible with this system as well, especially near the coast. Blizzard Warnings have been issued for parts of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut due to these concerns.

Blizzard Watch Boston. While Boston is currently under the Winter Storm Warning, a Blizzard Watch is also in effect for the likelihood of wind gusts up to 55 mph tomorrow afternoon and evening.

Snowfall Forecast. Some of the heaviest totals are expected along the I-95 corridor through the middle of the week, with totals of a foot or more likely from Philadelphia northward into Maine. Washington D.C. is expected to get 5-10 of snow, with the potential of some mixed precipitation helping to cut totals down a little bit. A mix/change over to rain will also be possible along parts of eastern Long Island and Cape Cod, reducing overall snow totals.

New York City Snowfall Forecast. Our internal models are showing the potential of over a foot and a half of snow within the New York City metro through Tuesday. During the height of the storm Tuesday, snowfall rates could be as high as 4 per hour. This, along with wind gusts up to 55 mph, will cause white-out conditions and paralyze travel across the region.

NWS Most Likely Snowfall Totals. Based on NOAA guidance, here are the most likely snowfall totals for more select cities:

Washington, D.C.:

Philadelphia, PA:

New York, NY:

Boston, MA:

Portland, ME:

Caribou, ME:

Wind Gusts Of 30-60 MPH. As the system deepens off the coast, winds will be on the increase along and near the coast, with wind gusts up to 55 mph possible across some areas. These winds, along with the heavily falling snow, will be enough to cause blizzard/white-out conditions. Wind damage (especially to tree branches where some budding has begun) and power outages can't be ruled out with this storm. The highest winds gusts with this system are expected in:

High Potential Of Blizzard Conditions. The Blizzard Potential Index shows a high likelihood of blizzard conditions occurring tonight into Tuesday across the Northeast. Some of the worst conditions in New York City will be during the morning into the midday hours Tuesday, spreading across the Boston metro by the afternoon.

Summary: Winter is quickly coming back to the Northeast over the next 24-48 hours, with a foot or more of snow likely through Tuesday Night for areas from Philadelphia to New York City and Boston. Snow will begin tonight across the region, so preparations should be completed today for this upcoming system that will not only bring heavy snow with it (potentially falling at 2-4 per hour during the height of the storm) but wind gusts of 30-60 mph with it as well. Operations will likely be heavily impacted Monday Night into Wednesday from this storm. Travel will be nearly impossible across parts of the Northeast Tuesday, and some power outages are likely.

D.J. Kayser, Meteorologist, AerisWeather

One of the Biggest Late-Season Snowstorms on Record? Certainly for New York City; 1-2 feet of snow in mid-March is exceedingly rare. Even our blizzards are super-sized now. Here's an excerpt at FiveThirtyEight that made me do a double-take: "...There have been just five snowstorms of 12 inches or greater in March or April since record keeping started in 1870. More amazingly, none of them have happened in the past 57 years and just one of those happened at this point in March or later. That storm, back in 1896, dropped 12 inches. So as long as this storm has just slightly more snow than is predicted at the lower end of the forecast range, it will be the greatest snowstorm this late in the season in recorded New York City history. If the snowfall hits the upper end of the forecast range, this storm will challenge the infamous Blizzard of 1888 for the largest March or April storm ever..."

On This Day: The 1993 "Storm of the Century". I remember it well. Here's an excerpt from NOAA NCEI, the National Centers for Environmental Information: "On March 1114, 1993, a massive storm system bore down on nearly half of the U.S. population. Causing approximately $5.5 billion in damages ($9.2 billion in 2016 dollars), Americas Storm of the Century, as it would become known, swept from the Deep South all the way up the East Coast. With a central pressure usually found only in Category 3 hurricanes, the storm spawned tornadoes and left coastal flooding, crippling snow, and bone-chilling cold in its wake. Of the more than 200 weather and climate events with damages exceeding $1 billion since 1980, this storm remains the countrys most costly winter storm to date..."

From Plowable Snow to 60F in a Week? We may come close to 60 degrees Sunday, according to ECMWF ensemble guidance. No more bitter smacks are on the horizon into early April. Graphic: WeatherBell.

Z-Z-Zonal. No high-amplitude pattern capable of buckling jet stream winds, resulting in flooding or blizzards looking out 2 weeks, according to NOAA's GFS model. The flow is westerly, drier and milder than average east of the Rockies with more storms pushing into California.

California Storms: Wettest Water Year, So Far, in 122 Years. The Mercury News has details of a stunning meteorological turnaround: "Fueled by a parade of Pineapple Express storms, California is in the midst of its wettest water year in 122 years of record-keeping, according to federal scientists. Between October 2016 and February 2017, California averaged 27.81 inches of precipitation, the highest averagesince such records began being kept in 1895, according to data released Wednesday by the National Centers for Environmental Information, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration..."

A "Reckless Plan" to Starve NOAA? Here's an excerpt of an Op-Ed from Bloomberg View: "...In any case, NOAA also works on weather models and forecasts, which protect all Americans and many businesses from storms and flooding -- a service worth an estimated $100 annually to every household in the country. TV weather reports and forecast apps depend on data collected and processed by NOAA, as do the insurance and aviation industries. The satellite program needs consistent funding to maintain a well-operating and up-to-date fleet. Jeopardizing the next generation of satellites puts at risk the ability to manage accurate forecasts two decades from now. Some parts of NOAA are marked for elimination altogether, such as a program that helps localities protect against rising seas and one that supports coastal research at 33 universities. Direct cuts to the National Weather Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service would amount to just 5 percent, but that's enough to strain their operations and make improvements difficult..." (GOES-16 animation: U. of Wisconsin CIMSS).

Meet the Teen Planting 150 Trees For Every Person on the Planet. One person can change the world - even an ambitious 9-year old. Inhabitat has the inspiring story: "Felix Finkbeiner is on a mission. Ten years ago, when he was just nine years old, he decided to fight climate change by planting one million trees. At the time he felt like adults just talk about the issues facing our planet without taking much action. With his initiative Plant for the Planet, the ambitious teenager surpassed his original goal together with the United Nations (UN) Billion Tree Campaign, planting over 14 billion trees in over 130 countries. And he is just getting started..."

Behind the Quiet, State-by-State Fight Over Electric Vehicles. The New York Times reports: "...Today, the economic incentives that have helped electric vehicles gain a toehold in America are under attack, state by state. In some states, there is a move to repeal tax credits for battery-powered vehicles or to let them expire. And in at least nine states, including liberal-leaning ones like Illinois and conservative-leaning ones like Indiana, lawmakers have introduce bills that would levy new fees on those who own electric cars. The state actions would put the business of electric vehicles, already rocky, on even more precarious footing..."

Illustration credit: Minh Uong, New York Times.

Big Tobacco Has Caught Start-Up Fever. Bloomberg reports that it's no longer "smoking". No, now it's "platform-agnostic nicotene delivery solutions." Here's a clip: "...Mature industries typically have a hard time disrupting themselves, but, flush with cigarette profits, the big competitors have decided to try. Since the rise of e-cigarettes, its no longer such a stretch to imagine a messianic engineer in a garage somewhere inventing a nicotine-delivery gadget capable of doing to cigarettes what Uber did to taxicabs or Napster did to the compact disc. If your profits hinge on nicotine addicts, you might want that visionary in your employ. Everywhere you look in the industry, companies are pouring money into product development while borrowing liberally from the style of Silicon Valley. Theyre funding tech incubators, running venture funds, hosting TED-style talks, and developing apps. The new dogma has spread. Cigarettes are the industrys past. Reduced-risk tobacco platforms are the user interface of the future..."

Photo credit: "Finlay MacKay for Bloomberg Businessweek; Prop stylist: Peter Samuels; Groomer: Angela Di Carlo."

Why Politics if Failing America. Wait, you're telling me the system is rigged? We had no idea. Fortune takes a look at how we got here: "...The Harvard Business Schools project on U.S. competitiveness found that Washington has made virtually no progress on any of the essential policy steps needed to restore prosperity and growth. A broken political system has suddenly become the greatest threat to our nations future.So how did we get here? In part, by stealth. Over the last several decades, the American political system has been slowly reconfigured to serve not the public interest, but rather the interest of private, gain-seeking organizations: our major political parties and their industry allies. These players have put in place a set of rules and practices that, while largely unnoticed by the average citizen, have enhanced their power and diminished our democracy..."

Illustration credit: Oliver Munday for Fortune.

The Pursuit of Happiness Is Not The Pursuit of Comfort. The author argues that only when we get out of our comfort zone does real growth and progress take place. Here's a clip from Thrive Global: "...What would happen if we not only embraced discomfort, but also chased it and thrived off of it? Lewis Howes makes it a goal to do something new in his business every year that takes him out of his comfort zone. This keeps him from being complacent, and it keeps him in a state of constant growth. The saying that growth begins at the end of your comfort zone is not just some clich. There is actually a lot of truth in that statement. Serious athletes know this all too well. The real workout doesnt begin until the exercise becomes difficult to complete. Its when we have to dig deep and push through that we become a better version of ourselves..."

Embrace the discomfort. Doing so may just set you up for something amazing. A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. Franklin D. Roosevelt

27 F. maximum temperature at Twin Cities International Airport yesterday.

40 F. average high on March 13.

54 F. high on March 13, 2016.

March 14, 1943: Snow, sleet and ice cripple parts of Minnesota south of a line from Duluth through St. Cloud and Ortonville. The heaviest ice was in the vicinities of Lake Benton, Springfield and Windom. Ice thickness was 1/2 to 3/4 inch around St. Cloud to 3/4 to 2 inches in the Pipestone, Ruthton, Lake Wilson, Slayton and Tracy. A good description of the ice was submitted in one report: 'ice was 2 inches across and 1 3/4 inch deep on wire. A little frost ice near the wire with the outside solid ice. The ice was irregular in shape.' Duluth had 6 inches of snowfall at the city office with 13 inches at the airport. The ice was confined to Moose Lake and south.

March 14, 1870: A severe snow and wind storm moves across Minnesota and Iowa. The 'Northern Vindicator' of Estherville, Iowa becomes the first newspaper to use the term 'blizzard' on this date.

Remre here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article137317553.html#storylink=cpy

Minnesota Winters: Almost Reasonable. OK. I'm living in a parallel universe, at least for the next few days. Normally New Yorkers squint and ask "how do you LIVE out there 6 months out of the year?" - as if we're living on the surface of the moon. And with one 18 hour stormy fire hose of snow much of the northeast will see nearly as much snow as we have all "winter". We did just have winter, right? If you have friends or family living from D.C. and Philly to New York, Hartford, Providence and Boston call to check up on them. Tell them it's perfectly fine, once the airports open up again, they can fly out to M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A to warm up and calm down. 60 by Sunday? I'm trying not to gloat, but it's hard. This may wind up being the biggest late-season blizzard on record for many cities, potentially historic, and impacts may last at least a week in some counties. Meanwhile I think I have a slushy inch or two on my deck. Be careful out there...

TODAY: Cool sunshine. Winds: E 5-10. High: near 30

TUESDAY NIGHT: Clear and chilly. Low: 8

WEDNESDAY: Sunny, snow melts rapidly. Winds: S 7-12. High: 34

THURSDAY: Milder with patchy clouds, few showers. Winds: S 8-13. Wake-up: 24. High: 46

FRIDAY: Mostly cloudy, stiff breeze. Winds: NW 10-20. Wake-up: 33. High: 47

SATURDAY: Sunny and pleasant. Light wind. Winds: SE 5-10. Wake-up: 28. High: 46

SUNDAY: Intervals of sun, feeling a bit feverish. Winds: SE 10-15. Wake-up: 33. High: 54

MONDAY: More clouds, passing shower? Winds: N 7-12. Wake-up: 38. High: 53

Climate Stories....

This Climate Lawsuit Could Change Everything. Do all of us have a constitutional right to clean air, clean water and a healthy climate system? Here's an excerpt from The Washington Post: "...The 21 plaintiffs, now between the ages of 9 and 20, claimthe federal government has consistently engaged in activity that promotes fossil fuel production and greenhouse gas emissions, thereby worsening climate change. They argue thisviolates their constitutional right to life, liberty and property, as well the public trust doctrine, while holds that the government is responsible for the preservation of certain vital resources in this case, a healthy climate system for public use. While legal experts are uncertain as to the lawsuits likelihood of success, few have disputed its pioneering nature. Similar cases have been brought on the state level, but this is the first against the federal government in the United States. And in November, the case cleared a major early hurdle when U.S. District JudgeAnn Aiken denied motions filed by the Obama administration, as well as the fossil fuel industry, to have the lawsuit dismissed, ordering that it should proceed to trial..." (Image credit: NASA).

Proposed NOAA Cuts Would Disarm Our Coasts in the Face of Rising Seas, Scientists Say. Here's a clip from a Washington Post article: "...A proposed White House budget for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could put coastal communities throughout the nation at a majordisadvantage as they struggle to adapt to threats from sea-level rise, severe storms and other climate-related events, scientists and other experts said. Thats because the budget, revealed by The Washington Post last week, targets a handful of programs that provide important resources to help coastal states prepare for the coming effectsof climate change..." (File photo: Andrew Demp, Yale).

Editorial: Old-School Conservatives Float a Solid Climate Change Plan. Here's an excerpt of an editorial at The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "...Currently, societal costs of burning fossil fuels mostly a warming planet go largely unpaid. Some climate experts have estimated that an $80-a-ton carbon tax might be enough to forestall the worst effects of climate change. But it would wreak havoc on the coal industry, and Trump said recently, Were going to put our miners back to work to produce beautiful clean-coal energy. If only such a thing as clean coal existed. Coals emissions can be sequestered underground, but large-scale sequestration is technically difficult and prohibitively costly. The old-school Republicans at the Climate Leadership Council are hoping for better. They wrote in a New York Times op-ed, Republicans are in charge of both Congress and the White House. If they do nothing other than reverse regulations from the Obama administration, they will squander the opportunity to show the full power of the conservative canon, and its core principles of free markets, limited government and stewardship.

U.S. Increasingly Isolated on Climate. Here's a snippet of an Op-Ed at USA TODAY: "...Virtually all other countries even longtime climate deniers and horrific polluters like China and India have come to recognize the existential danger to their people, if not the planet, by man-made production of greenhouse gases. And they are putting in place programs to curb them, often at considerable cost to development. Chinas leadership has only to look outside its windows in Beijing to see citizens staggering through blinding pollution, their faces covered with masks. Those 175-plus countries gathered near Paris two years ago signed a sweeping and unprecedented agreement to put a brake on practices that are destroying the atmosphere of our planet. Trump, buffeted by competing viewpoints within his administration, could well blow apart the agreement and at the same time deal a body blow to U.S. leadership in the world..."

File photo: Shutterstock.

Longer Heat Waves, Heavier Smog Go Hand in Hand with Climate Change. Ars Technica reports: "Exposure to high levels of airborne pollutants is an ongoing problem, as is exposure to extreme temperatures. If these two overlap, then it's possible that the health impacts will be greater. A recent paper published in PNAS uses 15years of climate observations in the US and Canada to show that the two problemsdo indeedcluster together and occur in overlapping, large-scale episodes. The largest of these episodes has the hottest temperatures and the highest level of pollution..."

In Race to Curb Climate Change, Cities Outpace Governments. Reuters has the story; here's an excerpt: "...Cities from Oslo to Sydney are setting goals to curb climate change that exceed national targets, causing tensions with central governments about who controls policy over green energy and transport and construction. More than 2,500 cities have issued plans to cut carbon emissions to the United Nations since late 2014, setting an example to almost 200 nations that reached a Paris Agreement in December 2015 to fight global warming. Although there are no officially collated statistics available, many city targets are more ambitious than those set by governments under the Paris accord, which imposes no obligations on cities, regions or companies to define goals. Just over half the world's population lives in urban areas, meaning municipalities will help to determine whether the historic shift from fossil fuels to cleaner energy agreed in Paris succeeds or fails..."

Photo credit: "A general view of the site for a new kindergarten on a fossil fuel free construction project in Oslo, Norway February 3, 2017." Picture taken February 3, 2017. REUTERS/Alister Doyle.

Global Climate Change Battles Increasingly Being Won in Court. Here are a couple of excerpts from a Newsweek article: "The South African government haslost the countrys first climate change lawsuitafter the hight court ruled against its plans for a coal-fired power station, the latest in a rising tide of international climate litigation. Environmental NGOEarthLife Africachallenged the governments approval of the proposed Thabametsi coal-fired power station on the grounds that it should have been preceded by an evaluation of its climate change impacts....The case comes shortly after agroundbreaking climate casedecided last month in Austria. A federal court blocked the expansion of Viennas international airport because the increase in carbon emissions that a new runway would generate is inconsistent with Austrias commitments to tackle climate change..." (File photo: NASA).

See the article here:
Anatomy of an Historic Northeast Blizzard - Warming Trend Here - 60F by Sunday? - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Grey’s Anatomy Round Table: Will Meredith and Nathan Make It Official? – TV Fanatic

OnGrey's Anatomy Season 13 Episode 15civil war was brewing and the fighting and bickering intensified.

The latest batch of people to be at odds, were Jackson and Catherine, and Nathan and Alex. Riggs and Alex were fighting over the best way to handle a young patient, but the Averys' spat went far deeper than Eliza Minnick.

Elsewhere, while Owen and Amelia's face-to-face was far from confrontational or productive, Riggs confronted Meredith about his feelings for her.

Below, TV Fanatics Stacy Glanzman, Ashley BissetteSumerel, Amanda Steimetz, and Tiffany Stanton discuss "Civil War."

Nathan laid his feelings out there for Meredith and is waiting for her response. Are you happy that they're moving forward; do you think they're moving forward?

Stacy: I actually don't really care one way or another about this relationship. They haven't spent enough time on it for me to get invested, and I really did not like the "love triangle" they tried to throw at us.

I certainly don't have a problem with Meredith moving on or being in a relationship with Nathan, but I'm perfectly fine with them dropping this, too.

Ashley: I like the idea of Meredith and Nathan together. I agree with Stacy that I didn't care for the whole love triangle thing, but I think Nathan could be a good match for Meredith.

Amanda: I'm not invested either way. If the writers want to put them together, then fine. But they need to just do it already then. Frankly, Meredith has acted childish regarding the whole Nathan situation from the beginning so whatever is going to make her act like an adult is good in my book.

Tiffany: Not happy and still don't think they're truly moving forward. I think they're just setting up something that can be blown apart when Owen's sister shows up. I'm glad they seem to be going away from the Maggie/Riggs/Meredith triangle but I still don't care about Meredith & Riggs.

Watch Grey's Anatomy Season 13 Episode 15 Online

Amelia finally came face to face with Owen after avoiding him. Unfortunately, they have still put off talking because she's afraid of a fight. Discuss.

Stacy: Amelia is just annoying. Avoiding her husband is immature. It's time for them to talk, fight, break up, make up, whatever, I don't care, just do something! At least she finally came face to face with him, so I guess that's progress? I just feel bad for Owen. He doesn't deserve this.

Ashley: Well, I adore Amelia, but I'm also annoyed with her. I really wish they would find a way to show more of her story from Private Practice. Surely they could do flashbacks? But mostly I'm frustrated for Owen. It's definitely time for them to resolve this and move forward or split.

Amanda: My sentiments exactly, Ashley! Amelia was such an amazing character to watch on Private Practice. She's really not flourishing on Grey's the way she should. And I feel so bad for Owen. He deserves to get some answers. Either have them make up or break up. The time has come and gone for our sympathies.

Tiffany: I was happy she chose to stay rather than walk away again. They'll obviously talk eventually but I don't get how Amelia went from dying to have babies to not wanting any, ever, period.

It's not fair to Owen because when they got married they were on the same page about kids and it especially sucks because the guy's already been through this with Christina.

15 TV Bartenders Who Will Help You Drink Away Your Worries

Start Gallery

Was Alex being immature during his dispute with Nathan, or was Nathan really being a jerk?

Stacy: Being that I'm not a doctor, I have no idea who was right in this scenario, but neither of them handled it particularly well.

Initially, I didn't understand why Alex wouldn't want to put him on the transplant list, at least while the parents were deciding. I didn't see the harm in that until he said a heart was on its way that could have been directed to another baby. Then I at least understood his position, but the baby lived so that's the important thing.

Maybe he would have with Alex's way too, and then another baby would have gotten the heart, but it's impossible to say. I could see both sides and I could understand why each fought for their way, even though they could have both behaved better.

Ashley: I think Alex was being immature and I couldn't understand why the two of them couldn't compromise. It felt strange to me.

Amanda: This whole storyline felt forced. I was sided more with Nathan, and I felt like Alex was acting really immature.

Tiffany: I think they both had the kid's best interests at heart, but they're surgeons, so their egos got in the way. I wanna side with Alex because I like him more than Riggs, but I truly didn't feel like either side was more right. Just glad the kid survived, I guess.

Quotables for the Week Ending March 10, 2017

Start Gallery

The tension between Jackson and Catherine was at an all time high. Was Jackson overstepping, or did you agree with him? What do you think is going on with him?

Stacy: I'm on Team Jackson. He's fighting for what he believes is best for the hospital, and if anything, Catherine is the one overstepping. She doesn't even work there full time and should probably stay out of it. I loved Jackson's speech about learning from Sloan.

Ashley: I am also Team Jackson. I don't understand why Catherine is doing this, and I'm tired of the entire storyline.

Amanda: I think Jackson's issues go a lot deeper than this storyline. Catherine doesn't handle things with the most gentle hand, but she was right about everything regarding the Avery name.

Also, I'm getting really sick and tired of how Jackson speaks to April. He shows her such little respect that I am unsure how I feel now about a Japril reconciliation.

Tiffany: I 100% agreed with Jackson. Catherine is the queen of overstepping. She'll manipulate anyone, or any situation, to get her way because she thinks she knows what's best for everyone. I can't imagine it was easy growing up with a mother like that. It's no wonder Jackson is tired of it.

As for what's wrong with him, I have no idea. That kinda came out of left field for me. Although, I'm glad the show is giving him his own storyline aside from simply just dealing with the annoying women in his life.

19 Steamy Grey's Moments That Will Put You In The Mood

Start Gallery

Do you like April's new relationship with Catherine? Do you think she'll consider relocating for a higher position? Is she coming across like an opportunist?

Stacy: Remember when Catherine tried to steal April's baby? Apparently, April doesn't.

No, I do not like this new relationship at all, but if it means April takes a new position elsewhere and she leaves the show, I would be totally fine with it. She's a good doctor and if that's the job she wants, she should go look for it.

People leave for promotions all the time when it's clear they're not going to move up in their current job. Meredith's not going anywhere anytime soon.

Ashley: I don't care for it, but I also think it could do some interesting things for her character if handled well. I doubt we'll see April relocate, but I could see her making a change within the hospital somehow.

Amanda: I'd rather have April getting along with Catherine than have them be warring. I don't know if the show would have April relocate. I don't think she's an opportunist, but I think she knows when she should go for something that could benefit her future and validate all the hard work she's done.

Tiffany: I don't like it. I think Catherine is trying to mold April into the person she wants her to be because she never really liked her before. It may also be a power thing since she isn't able to control Jackson.

While he's a great son, he's clearly his own person and she may be transferring her frustrations with that over to April, her ex-daughter in law. I don't think April is an opportunist, but I also don't think she's a very strong person. I think she's very susceptible to other people's impact on her and her life.

10 Genre-Defining Villains From Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Start Gallery

Are there any storylines you're tired of and would like to see burn in an inferno?

Stacy: Definitely the whole Owen/Amelia mess. I'm over that. I'm ready for a resolution to the whole Minnick situation too, but I don't see that happening before the season finale. I'm ready to see peace in the hospital again.

Ashley: Everything that's happening right now? I'm especially tired of the hospital drama.

Amanda: The hospital drama, especially everything with Richard, Eliza, Catherine, and Jackson.

Tiffany: The forcing together of Meredith/Riggs who's actually buying this? We all know Owen's sister will show up eventually. The struggles of Owen/Amelia either get them together or break them up, I'm tired of the limbo.

Grey's Anatomy: 13 Ways Season 13 Has Failed So Far

Start Gallery

Who was the MVP of "Civil War?"

Stacy: I'm giving it to Jackson for his Sloan speech. I respect that he's not backing down, even as his allies are dwindling and the fight is getting harder. Jackson is one of my favorite characters, so it's not hard for me to root for him.

Ashley: I really loved Ben in this episode. He's been this voice of reason and rockstar doctor in the middle of all the irritating drama, and it's been nice to watch.

Amanda: Can I say no one?

Tiffany: Maggie. She got Amelia to return to what she loves, respected her decision to not talk to Owen but encouraged her to do so at the same time, then comforter her when things didn't go so well.

She also told Alex and Riggs to put their egos aside and figure out how to save the kid. She is the best sister and a damn good doctor. More Maggie, please!

Do you agree with our roundtable? Let us know in the comments below! Don't forget you can watch Grey's Anatomy online right here via TV Fanatic.

Grey's Anatomy Photos from "Who Is He (And What Is He To You)?"

Start Gallery

Jasmine Blu is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.

Go here to see the original:
Grey's Anatomy Round Table: Will Meredith and Nathan Make It Official? - TV Fanatic

Seattle Genetics’ big deal held up as partner’s shareholders do … – The Seattle Times

A vitriolic proxy battle for control of a New Jersey company that Seattle Genetics made a big deal with in February has now put their transaction on ice for at least a month.

Seattle Times business editor

A vitriolic proxy battle for control of a New Jersey company that Seattle Genetics made a big deal with in February has now put their transaction on ice for at least a month.

Seattle Genetics agreed last month to pay $250 million upfront to license a potential solid-tumor drug developed by Immunomedics, a small biotech company in Morris Plains, New Jersey. Future milestone and royalty payments could push the total to $2 billion, the companies said.

But a proxy challenge to the board members running Immunomedics has thrown a wrench into that plan: A Delaware judge Thursday issued a temporary restraining order preventing Seattle Genetics from closing the deal.

We can confirm that the Delaware Chancery court issued a temporary restraining order delaying the closing of the IMMU-132 licensing deal between Seattle Genetics and Immunomedics for 30 days, a spokeswoman for Seattle Genetics said in an email.

The judges ruling is not yet available, but a court document filed Thursday said the temporary restraining order was granted in part.

VenBio, the largest Immunomedics shareholder with 9.9 percent of the stock, seeks to oust four controlling board members amid claims the 35-year-old company is mismanaged by the founder, who is its chief scientific officer, and his wife, who is president and CEO.

The activist investor fund portrays Immunomedics Seattle Genetics deal as a Hail Mary attempt to maintain control and short-circuit an orderly bidding process that could have yielded a better deal.

VenBio says its slate of candidates for the board was endorsed by the three leading proxy advisory firms ISS, Glass Lewis and Egan Jones and asserts that before the March 3 shareholder meeting it was receiving a majority of stockholder votes.

Nearly a week after that meeting, Immunomedics has not announced the results.

A day before the shareholder meeting, in a separate federal court suit filed by Immunomedics seeking to invalidate VenBios proxy votes, a judge declined to grant the company a temporary restraining order. That suit claimed VenBio has engaged in baseless character assassinations and violated laws governing proxy contests.

Until the litigation in both courts is resolved, its unlikely Seattle Genetics can complete its deal and move forward with the planned Phase 3 clinical trials for the drug in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.

Read this article:
Seattle Genetics' big deal held up as partner's shareholders do ... - The Seattle Times

Bolles students observes chicks – Beaches Leader

Fifth graders at the Bolles Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus science lab observed and tracked the development of chicks as part an embryology unit. The 4H of St. Johns County provided science teacher Carolyn Houston with an incubator and eggs from an egg-laying farm. The students then weighed and numbered ...

PLEASE LOG IN FOR PREMIUM CONTENT. Our website requires visitors to

to view the best local news. Not yet a subscriber?

Read more:
Bolles students observes chicks - Beaches Leader

Outline of human anatomy – Wikipedia

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to human anatomy:

Human anatomy scientific study of the morphology of the adult human. It is subdivided into gross anatomy and microscopic anatomy. Gross anatomy (also called topographical anatomy, regional anatomy, or anthropotomy) is the study of anatomical structures that can be seen by unaided vision. Microscopic anatomy is the study of minute anatomical structures assisted with microscopes, and includes histology (the study of the organization of tissues), and cytology (the study of cells).

The following list of human anatomical structures is based on the Terminologia Anatomica, the international standard for anatomical nomenclature. While the order is standardized, the hierarchical relationships in the TA are somewhat vague, and thus are open to interpretation.

Human nervous system

See the rest here:
Outline of human anatomy - Wikipedia

Employees who decline genetic testing could face penalties under proposed bill – Washington Post

Employers could impose hefty penalties on employees who decline to participate in genetic testing as part of workplace wellness programs if a bill approved by a U.S. House committee this week becomes law.

In general, employersdon't have that power under existing federal laws, which protect genetic privacy and nondiscrimination. But a bill passed Wednesday by theHouse Committee on Education and the Workforce would allow employers to get around thoseobstacles if the information is collected as part of a workplace wellness program.

Suchprograms which offer workers a variety ofcarrots and sticksto monitor and improve their health, such as lowering cholesterol have become increasingly popularwith companies.Some offer discounts on health insurance to employees who complete health-risk assessments. Others might charge people more for smoking.Under the Affordable Care Act, employers are allowed to discount health insurance premiums by up to 30 percent and in some cases 50 percent for employees who voluntarily participate in a wellness program.

[Obamacare revision clears two House committees as Trump, others tried to tamp down backlash]

The bill is under review by other House committees and still must be considered by the Senate. But it has already faced strong criticism from a broad array of groups, as well as House Democrats. In a letter sent to the committee earlier this week, nearly 70 organizations representing consumer, health and medical advocacy groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, AARP, March of Dimes and the National Women's Law Center said the legislation, if enacted, would undermine basic privacy provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act and the 2008 Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act(GINA).

Congress passed GINA to prohibit discrimination by health insurers and employers based on the information that people carry in their genes. There is an exception that allows for employees to provide that information as part of voluntary wellness programs. But the law states that employee participation must be entirely voluntary, with no incentives for providing the dataor penalties for not providing it.

But theHouse legislation would allow employers to impose penalties of up to 30 percent of the total cost of the employee's health insurance on those who choose to keep such information private.

[Rich Americans seem to have found a way to avoid paying a key Obamacare tax]

It's a terrible Hobson's choice between affordable health insurance and protecting one's genetic privacy, said Derek Scholes, director of science policy at the American Society of Human Genetics, which represents human genetics specialists. The organization sent aletter to the committee opposing the bill.

The average annual premium for employer-sponsored family health coverage in 2016 was $18,142, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Under the plan proposed in the bill, a wellness program could charge employees an extra $5,443 in annual premiums if they choose not to share their genetic and health information.

The bill, Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act, HR 1313, was introduced by Rep. Virginia Foxx, (R-N.C.), who chairs the Committee on Education and the Workforce. A committee statement said the bill provides employers the legal certainty they need to offer employee wellness plans, helping to promote a healthy workforce and lower health care costs.

The bills supporters in the business community have argued that competing regulations in federal laws make it too difficult for companies to offer these wellness programs. In congressional testimony this month, the American Benefits Council, which represents major employers, said the burdensome rules jeopardize wellness programs that improve employee health, can increase productivity and reduce health care spending.

A House committee spokeswoman told CNBC that those opposed to the bill are spreading false informationin a desperate attempt to deny employees the choice to participate in a voluntary program that can reduce health insurance costs and encourage healthy lifestyle choices.

Read more:

Deadly fungal infection that doctors have been fearing now reported in U.S.

Obamacare repeal guts crucial public health spending, including prevention of disease outbreaks

These 12 superbugs pose the greatest threat to human health, WHO says

Go here to read the rest:
Employees who decline genetic testing could face penalties under proposed bill - Washington Post

How Global Warming Is Threatening Genetic Diversity | JSTOR Daily – JSTOR Daily

The meltwater stonefly has adapted to a very specific and extreme niche the cold, clear water that pours off of the melting ice and snow from the glaciers in Glacier National Park in Montana. This bug is on the leading edge of climate change because its frigid mountain habitat is rapidly disappearing. Since 1850, 85 percent of the ice in Glacier has disappeared, and all of it is forecast to vanish completely by 2020.

In a study published in 2016, researchers found the cold-loving insect in trouble. Their physiology requires really, really cold water, and they cant survive once the water gets above an average of 9 degrees Centigrade during August, said Joe Giersch, a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), who has studied this and a similar insect, the western glacier stonefly.

Meltwater stoneflies and western glacier stoneflies move upstream to find cold water as things warm, and because of steeper mountain topography, populations become separated. This has interrupted gene flow, causing some genetics to disappear. As genes dwindle, the species is losing genetic variation and likely adaptive capacity the genetics that give species the ability to evolve needed traits as habitat conditions change. Its a big part of why the meltwater stonefly (Lednia tumana) is being considered for listing as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.

And many of its fellow high-altitude insects are in trouble too. This stonefly, Giersch and his co-authors wrote, likely represents a guild of species facing similar threats in alpine headwaters worldwide.

There is a huge unknown when it comes to protecting the meltwater stonefly and other species. Biologists are missing a huge piece of the puzzle knowing which genetics will give species the evolutionary lift that allows them to adapt successfully to a warmer world. This hidden DNA and the possibly important traits it represents are known as cryptic diversity, and much of it is being lost, experts say, as the range of species contracts, fragments, and otherwise changes. Yet this DNA is vital because it contains information on different lineages and on species that are emerging, the cutting edge of evolution. Losing it will greatly complicate the task of assessing how climate change will affect biodiversity and what to protect.

Genetic diversity in foundational plant species alpine flowers, cottonwoods, or tall grass prairie drive hundreds if not thousands of other species.

What disappears before we know it could have far-reaching consequences. A long-term research project on the genetic variations in cottonwood trees, called the Cottonwood Ecology Group, found that the genotype of a tree affects the communities of some 700 insect species that depend on it, as well as chemical emissions, microbes, bacteria, lichens, beavers, and birds that feed on the insects. Should important genotypes disappear, whole ecological communities could change in unpredictable ways. Genetic diversity in foundational plant species alpine flowers, cottonwoods, or tall grass prairie drive hundreds if not thousands of other species, said Thomas Whitham who heads the project at Northern Arizona University. Thats why climate change is an evolutionary event.

Often where the climate is changing fastest is where species are affected most. The bull trout, a threatened species that depends on very cold water in the Pacific Northwest, is also being impacted by warming. What we found is that genetic diversity is lowest in those locations that are going to experience the greatest climate change and the most stressful environmental conditions, said Ryan Kovach, a USGS fisheries biologist in Glacier National Park who has published papers on the subject of bull trout and climate. In other words they dont have genetic diversity where they are most likely to need it. Thats because there are fewer fish in these habitats because of already stressful conditions.

These kinds of genetic studies are a race against climate warming that is happening far faster than predicted. Although genetic diversity is literally the fundamental building block for all life, it is almost completely ignored in the context of climate change, said Kovach.

Carsten Nowak, a conservation biologist at the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum in Gelnhausen, Germany, has also studied the genetics of climate change response in alpine insects, as well as in wolves and other species.

In 2011 Nowak and his colleagues conducted research in high-country Europe that looked at seven species of caddis fly and one species each of mayfly and stonefly, which like the stoneflies in Glacier National Park are cold-loving bugs. The scientists examined the species genetics and divided them into a finer scale, populations within the species that are genetically distinct from each other, something known as Evolutionary Significant Units (ESUs).

If the climate scenario doesnt change, according to their work, 79 percent of the ESUs will go extinct by 2080, decimating hidden genetic diversity. If greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by the amount needed to cap global warming at 2 degrees Celsius, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has urged, then 59 percent of the ESUs are projected to disappear.

Nowaks study predicted that the loss of genetic diversity in Europe would be most marked in the Mediterranean region of southern Europe, which is also the area of the continent with the greatest genetic diversity. Even if populations disappear, no one knows what the loss represents. We need to know if there are ten populations and nine disappear does that matter? Nowak said.

Portuguese researchers forecasted in a paper published in February of 2016 that many lineages of amphibians and reptiles on the Iberian peninsula, which is expected to be hardest hit by warmer and drier weather, could disappear or contract within the next half century, causing a loss of cryptic diversity with implications to evolutionary processes.

These losses are important because a species, for example, that is exposed to a new disease, might not be able to evolve resistance to it because the genetics that govern immune response are gone. Or the genes that allow a fish or stonefly to regulate its temperature in warmer water might disappear.

The good news is that there has been a revolution in the ability to sequence DNA its now much faster and far cheaper than ever. The goal of many conservation scientists is to sequence the genomes of a species and then understand which section is responsible for adaptation, including such traits as migratory abilities, dispersal, and the ability to adapt to warmer temperature. Once thats done, it allows managers to allocate scarce resources to protect the populations most essential for adapting to changing conditions.

Can we use the Indian tiger to repopulate Siberia?

Nowak cited the example of the Siberian tiger, whose population has dwindled to a few hundred. Can we use the Indian tiger to repopulate Siberia? he asked rhetorically. If you have a lot of Evolutionary Significant Units and know what they represent, you might want some that are better at cold adaptation or fish catching, to repopulate Siberia. You cant just protect the species, you have to protect the populations, the small units of a species that might have the genes necessary for adaptation. Knowing what they represent is the hard part.

As ecologically important species come on line with their adaptation capacity mapped, it will give managers a powerful tool to triage species to protect the adaptation genetics. They might even affect gene rescues by focusing on the populations with the most vital genes. One of the options we have for the stonefly is translocation moving one population to a different location, said Giersch. Thats after we investigate the hidden adaptations within the DNA to figure out which ones have the ability to adapt to warmer temperatures. Thats a ways down the road.

Two species of trees have recently had their climate genes mapped and adaptive capacity located. A study published in September of 2016 found that two distantly related trees interior spruce and lodgepole pine use the same set of 47 genes to deal with temperature, precipitation and other climate variables. Knowing about these adaptations trees is important because they migrate slowly, over generations, and assisted migration efforts with trees are already underway. We have to understand climate adaptation in other conifers so we can address trees that are becoming mismatched to their environment, said Sally Aitken, a professor of forest and conservation science at the University of British Columbia. That will inform better management strategies, she said, and enable us to plant trees that are more likely to thrive and adapt more quickly to climate change.

By: C. Thompson, E. David, M. Freestone, and C.T. Robinson

Western North American Naturalist, Vol. 73, No. 2 (July 2013), pp. 137-147

Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum, Brigham Young University

Comments are closed.

View original post here:
How Global Warming Is Threatening Genetic Diversity | JSTOR Daily - JSTOR Daily

Canada’s new genetic privacy law is causing huge headaches for Justin Trudeau – Science Magazine

pixabay

By Wayne KondroMar. 10, 2017 , 6:00 PM

A vote in Canadas Parliament to approve a genetic privacy bill is creating a self-inflicted political headache for Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus Liberal governmentand could result in a relatively rare and unusual court case.

The Genetic Non-Discrimination Act, originally introduced in 2013 by now-retired Liberal Senator James Cowan, is aimed at preventing the use of information generated by genetic tests to deny health insurance, employment, and housing, or to influence child custody and adoption decisions. It calls for fines of up to $740,000 and prison terms of up to 5 years for anyone who requires any Canadian to undergo a genetic test, or to disclose test results, in order to obtain insurance or enter into legal or business relationships. The bill bars discrimination on the grounds of genetics, and the sharing of genetic test results without written consent (with exemptions for researchers and doctors).

Supporters said the law is needed to encourage Canadians to make greater use of genetic testing. Currently, they claimed, many Canadians refuse genetic tests in the course of care or clinical trials because they fear insurers or others could use the results against them. But opponents of the bill, including health and life insurers, argued a ban would increase treatment and insurance costs. Instead, insurers support a voluntary code regulating the use of genetic tests in underwriting life insurance policies; it would allow insurers to require tests only for policies worth more than $185,500. Trudeaus Liberal Party cabinet also formally opposed the measure, with Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould arguing that the bill is unconstitutional because it intrudes on powers given to Canadas 13 provincial and territorial governmentsto regulate insurance.

Those arguments, however, failed to sway lawmakers. On 9 March, members of Parliament voted 22260 to approve the measure. More than 100 Liberal members voted for the bill, taking advantage of a so-called free vote, which allows members to vote their conscience rather follow the party line.

The vote was applauded by Bev Heim-Myers, chair of the Canadian Coalition for Genetic Fairness in Kitchener, which represents 18 disease-based organizations. Finally, the voices of Canadians, and the voices of science and medicine, were heard, she says.

The result has prompted Trudeaus government to consider extraordinary measures to block the legislation. Normally, the bill would become law once it is approved by Canadas governor-general (and in this case, after Canadas Senate approves a minor amendment requested by the House of Commons). The governor-general, who represents the queen of England, is a holdover from Canadas past as a British colony, and typically rubber stamps legislation passed by Parliament.

To delay and potentially kill the legislation, Trudeaus government is considering not sending the bill to the governor-general (a tactic that doesnt appear to have been used since the 1920s), and instead asking Canadas Supreme Court to rule on the bills constitutionality. That process could take up to 2 years.

Cowan, the bills original sponsor, says he cant fathom the rationale behind the governments stance. Is it really up to the government of Canada to defend provincial jurisdiction, or the insurance industry? he asks.

Prominent legal scholars are skeptical of the governments claim that the law is unconstitutional. Canadas Supreme Court has previously held that federal criminal law can apply to regulating food, drugs, guns, and other areas in which the goal is to mitigate so-called social evils, they note. And the claim that the bill infringes on provincial power to regulate insurance may not hold up, because the law applies equally to all commercial sectors.

Please note that, in an effort to combat spam, comments with hyperlinks will not be published.

Go here to read the rest:
Canada's new genetic privacy law is causing huge headaches for Justin Trudeau - Science Magazine

Style anatomy: Rabbiya Abdullah – The Express Tribune

The owner and designer of Pakistans first loungewear label, Blood Orange, shares her personal style

The owner and designer of Pakistans first loungewear label, Blood Orange, shares her personal style. Find out what caused her style evolution and what she considers the biggest fashion mistake!

Understanding your body is the key to looking good and a trait found amongst all impeccably dressed fashionistas. While people shy away from talking about their bodies, these brave souls explain how they work their anatomies to their advantage

How would you describe your body type?

I would say I have an hourglass figure.

Has your body type changed over the last five years?

I used to be quite lean and thin naturally, but for the last few years its become hard to maintain my weight.

How has your style changed over the years?

My style has definitely become more laidback. It has also quite literally become a reflection of my personality.

In your opinion what is your most troublesome area?

My thighs!

How do you dress your body according to your body type?

I like monochromatic colours and simple cuts as they complement my body and easily hide my problem areas.

In your opinion what is the biggest mistake a person can make while dressing here?

Here people focus more on incorporating labels in their outfits, and dont think about what looks good or fits with their personality. Style isnt original or personal anymore. Also, I dont like cluttered looks. I always notice someone whose style and ensemble is well put together.

Which silhouettes suit your body the most?

I prefer flared cuts to fitted silhouettes.

What is the one piece of clothing that you shy away from wearing and why?

I usually avoid vibrant colours and exaggerated garments. I am a minimalist!

Here is the original post:
Style anatomy: Rabbiya Abdullah - The Express Tribune

Q&A: Neuroscience major Alex Gogliettino ’17 explores ‘what makes us who we are’ – Bates News

As an English major, I can guarantee that I wont be called upon to inject a drug into a mouse brain. But for neuroscience honors candidate Alex Gogliettino 17 of Branford, Conn., thats a basic skill.

Already accepted into doctoral programs in neuroscience for next year, Gogliettino has spent hundreds of hours in a Bates lab using a mouse model to analyze and interpret a possible treatment for an exceptionally rare autism-spectrum disorder in humans.

In preparation for his honors thesis research, he spent the past two summers working at Yale University in the lab of Dr. Marc Potenza, receiving support from a Bates Summer Research Fellowship and the Kelsey Prize for Neuroscience Research, named for Professor Emeritus of Psychology John Kelsey.

This year, hes brought all his Bates training to bear on his thesis, DNA Methylomics: Targeting TET1 as a Treatment for Intellectual Disability, and as he explained it to me, this was my immediate thought: This is important, and I need to know more.

My adviser and I are basically knocking down a protein that is, blocking it from being made in the brain to try to enhance learning and memory in mice that have been genetically modified to have a certain intellectual disability.

The protein is the one in my thesis title: TET1, or Ten-eleven translocation methylcytosine dioxygenase 1.

We are also trying to better understand the molecular mechanisms that underpin learning and memory.

Thats one of the biggest challenges in science: Communicating to individuals who are not necessarily involved in science what exactly you are doing.

My actual thesis delves deeply into the molecular biology, but in the first few pages I discuss what this topic means to me personally and how it is addressing a societal issue and a pressing biomedical issue, intellectual disability. I explain why Im intrigued by it.

OK, this gets pretty philosophical. Humans have the capacity to recall just crazy amounts of detail from earlier parts of our lives. And that capacity really is what makes us who we are. We are what we can remember about our past. Thats just crazy, and its just a unique, really interesting puzzle.

And also, there are diseases of the brain, like Alzheimers and many others, where individuals cant do that. And in rare disorders like the one I am studying, Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome, they have impaired language and memory function.

Individuals with this disease are missing a functional copy of a single gene known as Transcription Factor 4.

Pitt Hopkins is an extremely rare disease. There are only about 500 people in the world that we know of. Individuals with Pitt Hopkins Syndrome often do not develop language spoken or sign.

My project is based on Pitt Hopkins research being done at Bates by my thesis adviser, Andrew Kennedy. We think one of the reasons is a disruption in their capacity for verbal memory.

Hes new, and I didnt really meet him until this year.

Last year, I was taking a neuroscience class, and my professor, Nancy Koven, was saying how Bates was hiring a new professor and we should go to the research talk that each candidate gives. I went and I thought that he was asking really interesting questions about learning and memory.

So I just emailed him, a cold email saying, I would love to work with you. He emailed me back and said, That would be cool. Here are the projects that you can work on.

Alex Gogliettinos thesis adviser is Assistant Professor of Chemistry Andrew Kennedy, shown teaching an organic chemistry lab on Feb. 9, 2017, in Dana Chemistry Hall. (Josh Kuckens/Bates College)

I really like working with him. Hes always available through email, phone, etc. Hes only 33 and has just finished his post-doc so he knows whats like to be an undergrad.

More important, he also went to a small college, Providence College, so he knows what the relationship between a small-college professor and a student is. He really cares and understands that this whole thing is a learning experience.

The most important part was to make sure I familiarized myself with the literature, so I started reading last May. Thats probably one of the hardest parts of a project like this: wrapping your head around what is actually happening in the field, where the barriers to new knowledge are, and what we know vs. what we dont know. That is a really important part of science.

Last semester, almost every morning from around 9 to 12, I would write. I would have the most energy in the morning, and writing is very taxing, thats the best time for me.

The spot where I wrote really didnt matter. I would just go somewhere I was comfortable and could work for three hours. It would depend. I would mix it up. First floor of the library sometimes. Then the third floor, then the second floor. And sometimes in my room at my desk.

When you start familiarizing yourself with the field, the first pieces of literature you are going to read are pretty intense. Honestly, reading a scientific paper in an unfamiliar field takes about five hours to go through. Youve got to just take your time and start as early as you possibly can.

I started out with reading review articles, which are not necessarily studies per se, but are reviewing the literature. They give you a scope of the field. They give you perspective, help you familiarize yourself with the jargon and, again, tell you whats known and whats not known about the field.

And once I started to get a feel for that, I started delving deep into the hard-core research papers. It was daunting, a little bit, but I would just take my time.

The most interesting part are the questions we are asking about our ability to recall thingsfrom the past, and how that fits into the bigger picture of understanding how the brain gives rise to consciousness. That is the coolest part.

I think the most difficult part is that this work is technically difficult and very time-consuming. Thats not negative, just challenging.

Working with animals requires a good amount of dexterity and injecting drugs into a mouse brain is pretty hard. In the grand scheme of cognitive neurobiology research, its pretty simple surgery, but at the undergraduate level it is probably one of the most challenging things that I would do.

Neuroscience major Alex Gogliettino 17 of Branford, Conn., poses in a Carnegie Science Hall laboratory on Feb. 28, 2017. The red light helps create a calm environment for the labs work with mice. Since mice cannot see red light, they behave as they would in their preferred, darkened environment. (Josh Kuckens/Bates College)

Also, another component of my thesis involves working with big data and doing computer-science work, so I had to teach myself a lot of computer science stuff, too. That was tough and challenging, but you grow and learn a lot from it.

Especially with lab theses, there is only a certain amount of control when you run the experiments. And there is a lot of stuff you cant control. That is just going to happen.

One of the most important parts of doing thesis, and being involved with science at all, is just understanding that nothing is ever going to be perfect. You are going to mess up and you are going to fail. But dont be discouraged or shy away from that. Just learn from your mistakes and move on. Be a little too optimistic at times because you need that positive energy to keep going, because there will be a lot of roadblocks to be found, but you can overcome them.

I hope to continue doing neuroscience research for the next five years, at least.

Ive been accepted to a couple neuroscience Ph.D. programs, at Washington University and Vanderbilt, and am heading to Stanford for interviews this week.

I have the potential opportunity to work with a professor who advised Professor Kennedy, doing the same sort of work at a research university that were doing here at Bates.

Interviews are just a great time to talk science with professors and be immersed in an environment where everyone is as passionate about studying neuroscience as you are.

Original post:
Q&A: Neuroscience major Alex Gogliettino '17 explores 'what makes us who we are' - Bates News