I apologize for not writing a post last semester but to say Fall Semester flew by would be an understatement. It took a while to get accustomed to my new positions and responsibilities on campus so I unfortunately couldn’t focus as much of my energy on my thesis as I would have wanted. I am the President of Circle K International (CKI) and have 16 board members and over 60 club members to organize, coordinate, and keep happy. I set out some lofty goals and am proud to say that we achieved a majority of them. In addition to that new position, I am also one of two Student Directors of Branch Out Regional Alternative Break Program on campus. Katie, my co-director, and I had to organize training for our site leaders, lead a retreat, and advice weekend service trips throughout the semester. We now have a hold on how to best execute plans and thereby foresee only smooth sailing from now on. Now that I have a handle on my extracurricular, I have my eyes set on completing a well-researched honors thesis.
Phase One Complete. Phase Two in Progress.
A couple of weeks ago I finished what I call phase one of my experiment, the administration phase.
After a female rat gives birth to a litter we cull the animals to ten pups thus maintaining consistence in nutrition and consequently development of all of our subjects. We then move the entire litter, excluding the male, to the mercury room where we take special precautions such as specific gloves and masks. We are extremely cautious and take all necessary safety precautions to ensure a safe laboratory. On day three, the animals get their first dose of Vitamin E or the control, corn oil. I randomly assigned pups to one of the four groups and recorded their weight and sex. It is from their weight that I calculate the exact dose administered. In addition I try to equally distribute males and females in all the groups. Recently, I have read in an article that males may be more prone to the harmful effects of mercury poisoning due to elevated levels of testosterone. For this reason, later when I am compiling the statistical analysis component of my research (phase three), I will compare and contrast difference in males and females. Just as before with our many inquires about the forms of Vitamin E, doses, and procedures to use, we looked to the literature to decide how to administer the supplement. While we found it strange to inject oil, we followed precedent and did Intraperitoneal (IP) injection into the body cavity. From days 4 through 9 they received two injections per day, one of Vitamin E or oil, and the second of mercury or saline. The reason we work with animals during that critical period of postnatal day four through nine is because it corresponds to the third trimester in humans. During this period, the brain develops significantly and hence is also extremely vulnerable to toxins. After day 9, the administration for that litter is finished. My entire project required 5 litters thus averaging 10 subjects per group.
A Games of Red Light Green Light
Today is a very exciting day. Today I started my data collection. But before I get to that I need to catch you all up on the progress, or should I say holdups, in my research.
From Magic School Bus to Honors Thesis
Hi. My name is Ksenija Kapetanovic, I am a rising senior at the College studying Neuroscience and Biochemistry, and am about to embark on my honors thesis research!