This activity describes a mini- to
microscale setup that offers
an affordable, reproducible, and accurate method to compare the aerobic
and anaerobic respiration of Saccharomyces boulardii, a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. By using cost-effective methodology and standards, students are
exposed to concepts such as stoichiometric relationships, yeast metabolism,
reaction kinetics, and analytical testing. Yeast CO2 production
is measured by reduction of mass (aerobic) and water displacement
volumetric change (anaerobic). Data collected from the activity are
used to compare the two modes of respiration. The activity presented
has been tested in the context of advanced high school chemistry material
and introductory undergraduate chemistry.
Green roofs have been proposed as a significant method of “renaturing” the city, mitigating the urban heat island effect and controlling storm water movement. Plant growth on green roofs affects the environmental performance of the roof. Thus, it is important to examine which parameters influence this growth. Green roofs in the Mediterranean region, due to the climatic specificities of the area, have been a challenge. What types of plants are appropriate, how green roofs should be constructed and other related topics have concerned scientists in the recent years. The aim of this pilot study was to explore the growth of five plants—Sedum sediforme, Drosanthemum floribundum and Lampranthus spectabilis, Medicago arborea, and Lavandula angustifolia—on a pilot Mediterranean green roof in relation to substrate depth, organic content of substrate and type of green roof (open and modular). Data were analyzed using multiple regression with Analysis of Variance. The results indicated that substrate depth, type of green roof and substrate organic content are not significantly important parameters affecting the growth of plants and cannot predict plant performance by themselves. A main insight arising from this study is that plant communities and interspecies relations should be examined more closely in future green roof research as they may affect the impact of selected parameters on plant growth on Mediterranean green roofs. Furthermore, although the type of the green roof—open or modular—could not be directly associated with plant performance, it may be worth examining its impact on plant community performance in future studies.
Conservation of wildlife often depends on high quality molecular data to establish reliable species identification. Traditional approaches in extracting material (DNA) for phylogenetic studies on chameleons have relied on removed, euthanized or preserved/museum specimens, while field sampling usually takes the form of tail clippings from living individuals and their subsequent release. In this article, we propose an alternative to these approaches for field sampling, towards isolation of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA with oral (buccal) swabs, a methodology already been demonstrated as effective in other taxa. Options of sampling, storage, transport, extraction of DNA are presented and the quality and quantity of extracted material (using venipuncture as a positive control) was demonstrated as sufficient for downstream applications, including sequencing thereby presenting a practical field alternative. The advantages and limitations of this minimally invasive and non‐destructive method applied to Chamaeleo africanus are further discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.