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Melatonin’s Effect on Learning and Memory in a Tauopathy Model of Alzheimer’s Disease in Drosophila melanogaster
By Sophie Haugen and Sada Nichols-Worley, VI Form
Melatonin’s Effect on Learning and Memory in a Tauopathy Model of Alzheimer’s Disease in Drosophila melanogaster
Abstract
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes devastating memory loss and cognitive decline in humans. There is no current cure for AD. Research studies show that oxidative stress is correlated to and possibly a cause of this neurodegeneration. Because antioxidants such as melatonin have been found to reduce oxidative stress, melatonin could alleviate neurodegeneration and serve as an effective dietary supplement for people with with AD. In this experiment, a tauopathy Drosophila melanogaster group
Please click on the image to download/see the poster. Zoom in to read specifics.
that express human tau (MAPT) under gal4in neurons were used to model AD in humans. This study measured learning and memory of the Drosophila through an olfactory vortex learning assay in a t-maze. Groups of flies with and without melatonin supplementation were tested in the t-maze. Following experimentation and data collection, preliminary results from this study suggest, but do not confirm, that melatonin reduces memory loss and improves cognitive function in a Drosophila AD model. Further trials are needed to confirm the suggested results.
Click here for full LAB REPORT. (more…)
Critical Review of EA’s Battlefront II: A Rebel with a Cause
By Charles Mosse, VI Form
Critical Review of EA’s Battlefront II: A Rebel with a Cause
Click on image below for Voice Over video essay:
Calculus: Optimization Problem for Derivatives
By Haley Dion, V Form
Calculus: Optimization Problem for Derivatives
Editor’s Note: In Advanced Calculus, students spend considerable time studying derivatives (rates of change) and their applications. This problem is an “optimization” problem that asks students to calculate the best or optimal value relative to a particular situation. Students need to first interpret the meaning of the problem (which involves particular rates of change) and model the situation with a function.
In this problem, George wants to minimize the time it takes for him to get home. Haley applied her understanding of derivatives to determine the exact spot on the shore where George should leave his rowboat before running home.
Poetry and The Intimacy of Writing
By Madeleine Wass, IV Form
Poetry and The Intimacy of Writing
Since a young age, I have loved writing. At first, it was a great pass time and then developed into a passion. I first learned about poetry in my sixth grade English class, and I then began to keep a journal with ramblings of words that, over time, began to string together. Ever since then, poetry has been with me through tough times. It comes to me the easiest when strong emotions run high, such as anger, sadness, or frustration. Poetry is a wonderful way to channel what I am feeling. My poems can come in many different forms; no way is the right way. For me, it is more about just being able to express what is going through my mind or something that has happened. I also use my poems to record and to remember the feelings I had during an event. When I place my pen on the paper, I just feel the thoughts in my head flowing out. Sometimes they are jumbled and other times they fit well together. My main goal is about capturing what I am feeling while escaping the weight of the world. The following excerpt is from a poem I wrote about a beautiful hike I went on: (more…)
Deep Work in Practice at St. Mark’s (Part 3)
By Dr. Colleen Worrell, Director of The Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning
Deep Work in Practice at St. Mark’s (Part 3)
Deep Work is a skill that the Center is hoping to build into each student’s “learning 
playbook.” The first two LEO articles (Make Deep Work Your Super Powerand Productivity, Neuroscience, & Deliberate Practice) aimed to introduce the term and core concepts to the St. Mark’s community. This third article focuses on deep work from the perspective of two St. Markers, 6th Former Sophie Haugen, and Classics teacher, Dr. Harwood. Each of them responded to the following questions:
- What are some ways that you deliberately practice deep work at (or beyond) St. Mark’s?
- What is the value of deep work?
- What recommendations do you have for St. Marker’s who’d like get started with deep work?
Sophie Haugen, 6th Former:
I am not an expert on “doing” deep work, but I do try to practice it and I have learned about its importance, especially as a student at St. Mark’s where our schedules and lives are extremely packed and do not easily enable us to practice deep work all the time. Last year, I fell into a multi-month-long rut of frustration and lack of satisfaction from everything I was doing in my academic courses. I was putting in excessive time and what I perceived to be effort and hardwork but was not seeing the results in my grades or my actual understanding/engagement with the material. (more…)
How does Montag’s Rashness Impact Him?
By Samantha Wang, III Form
How does Montag’s Rashness Impact Him?
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a story about banned books and thoughts. People in that society are wholly brainwashed by the government into believing that no reading and thinking can bring them happiness. Montag, one of the firemen responsible for burning books, is curious about them. This leads him to read and think, which are illegal in his society. After realizing the lack of literature and thoughts necessitates the lack of happiness and love in the world, Montag begins to take actions, often rashly, to rebel against the reality. Although Montag’s rashness occasionally hinders him from achieving his goals, his braveness also helps him rebel and builds a human character. His imperfection adds a touch of realism to the story, making it more understandable to readers. (more…)
The President Who Made Apollo: John F. Kennedy and The U.S. Soviet Moon Race, From His Speeches, Letters, and Memos
Mo Liu, VI Form
The President Who Made Apollo: John F. Kennedy and The U.S. Soviet Moon Race, From His Speeches, Letters, and Memos
Editors’ Note: Mo Liu conducted her History Fellowship research on J.F. Kennedy and his decision to go to the Moon. Below is the introduction and you can click here for the full paper:
Introduction
Soviets, Space, and Sputnik
As the gunpowder smoke of the Second World War slowly faded away, the United States and the Soviet Union were the only two superpowers remaining, and the formal allies soon turned into bitter rivals.[1]The United States believed it stood supreme in ideals, leadership, and influence, while the Soviet Union was determined to contest that claim and “by any means necessary” secure its position at the top.[2]Given the intense differences between their ideologies, cultures, and government structures, conflicts were inevitable. The Cold War, the longest war in modern history, began quietly without a shot of cannon.
Towards the end of WWII, the United States and the Soviet Union were competing for German rocketry technology as well as scientists working on the rocket development project. Rockets received attention primarily due to their potential as a military weapon; the sole function of rockets was thought to be as carriers of atomic warheads. The United States and the Soviet Union’s desperation to gain the secrets to German rocketry was, therefore, a result of their desire to strengthen each nation’s military arsenal. The rocketry competition rose to new heights on October 4, 1957, when the Soviets launched the first satellite into orbit.[3]The Soviet Union accomplished this great feat without making any previous announcement, so, when amateur space enthusiasts in the United States picked up Sputnik’s radio signals as it flew across the American sky, the entire nation reacted with amazement and disbelief. In an open letter to The New York Herald Tribune, economist Bernard Baruch described America’s reaction to Sputnik: “Suddenly, rudely, we are awakened to the fact that the Russians have outdistanced us in a race which we thought we were winning. It is Russia, not the United States, who has had the imagination to hitch its wagon to the stars and the skill to reach for the Moon and all but grasp it.”[4]The space race, as people would later call it, had officially begun. (more…)
Biology: Membrane Structure and Function
By Alex Cardonick, V Form
Biology: Membrane Structure and Function
Editors’ Note: In Advanced Biology, students are often evaluated on the reflection of their learning process. They constantly ask themselves questions that demonstrate advanced scholarship such as “How am I connecting each part of my learning into a flowing story?” and “What do I still not understand?” This form of deep reflection is summarized in each student’s ePortfolio at the end of a unit, which includes several different Learning Outcomes ranging from “Dynamic Homeostasis” to “The Central Dogma of Biology.” These Learning Outcomes are often present throughout multiple units, and therefore challenges the students to synthesize information across different areas of focus.
Linked here is Alex Cardonick’s ePortfolio on Learning Outcome 6: Membrane Structure and Function, including four Artifacts of Learning, including text, video, and images.
Introductory Narrative:
Cell membranes act as the “guards” of the cell. Membranes’ structure consists of phospholipids tightly 
knitted together by their hydrophobic tails, with the hydrophilic heads sticking out on either side. This phospholipid bilayer structure makes membranes semi-permeable; they let small, non-polar molecules such as water and carbon dioxide in, while keeping out large and polar substances such as starch and Iodide anions. In addition, cell membranes can be modified to help cells perform specific functions. Proteins added into the phospholipid structure can create transport channels for molecules that cannot travel through the membrane itself, such as Na+ ions in the nerve impulse. These ions allow a neuron to send a signal in the form of an action potential. Furthermore, molecules and ions can even move against the concentration gradient by active transport when a transport protein and outside energy are provided. This type of movement across a membrane allows essential functions such as the repolarization of the nerve impulse to occur when Sodium-Potassium pumps “reset” the nerve impulse to its resting membrane potential by moving the ions against the concentration gradient. (more…)
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