Recent content by Deoxyribose

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    Genes are the reason for this and that

    As Monique said, human behavior and culture is probably just as related to the environment as it is to genes. There is no gene that will make you a Ladies' man, but the level of expression of a certain gene may be related to the number of times you attempt to interact with conspecifics before...
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    How does electricity flow through the body?

    Did you misread my statement? Notice that I said the concentration gradient is formed by ion pumps such as Na/K-ATPase, not that the concentration gradient is formed by Na/K-ATPase. This does show that Na/K-ATPase is not the only ion pump involved in maintaining the resting membrane...
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    How does electricity flow through the body?

    You are right in saying that when there is a concentration gradient between two solutes separated by a semi-permeable membrane, ions that are permeable to the membrane will move down their concentration gradient until the flow due to the electrical gradient equally opposes the flow due to the...
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    How does electricity flow through the body?

    As stated at wikipedia, ATP is needed to power ion pumps that are used to establish concentration gradients. It is implied that ATP is used in order to power the ion pumps that establish the concentration gradient. See quote above. Cl is factored into the GHK equation. I honestly don't...
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    What is Selective about SSRIs ?

    Yep, SSRI's are selective for serotonin transporters and do not inhibit dopamine transporters or norepinephrine transporters, or at least not as much.
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    How does electricity flow through the body?

    And where does that charge difference come from? Na/K pumps. Do you mean that permeability causes ions to flow down their concentration gradient? Never in the neuroscience classes or books that I've been exposed to has it been stated that permeability causes an ion to become...
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    How does electricity flow through the body?

    Has the http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/d/f/c/dfcc65e44e966776276226a7c637751e.png" been mentioned here? It considers the concentration and permeability of sodium, potassium, and chloride and is used to calculate the resting membrane potential. Granted, it neglects the presence of calcium...
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    The Fear of Math in American Society

    Many of my friends and peers avoid thinking about math in their lives. It's as if they feel a strange mixture of fear and pain when they think about anything associated with arithmetic. Yet they don't even realize how pervasive math is to their daily lives; they don't realize that math is the...
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    Evolution and Choice(Free will)

    So you're saying we are merely an organized collection of matter flowing through space and time, always seeking a source of energy to sustain itself? If that's true, it presents a problem. There are multiple viable energy sources in various locations in the organism's environment, with each...
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    Evolution and Choice(Free will)

    At what point in the phylogenetic tree of life did this "free will" trait emerge? Do chimpanzees have free will? Do all mammals? Does a fish posess the ability to choose between two mutually exclusive plans of finding food? What about a worm? Do bacteria possesses the ability to choose...
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    How does electricity flow through the body?

    I screwed up. The http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4Oy_7FFvAeg/SfGP5YhoK0I/AAAAAAAADY0/HtMnyoufIPE/s400/Red+line+action+potential.+mindoutpsyde.com+300px-Action-potential.jpg.png" shows the maximum voltage at roughly t=2.4msec and the initial voltage at roughly t=1.2msec, so that would make...
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    How does electricity flow through the body?

    Well, the usual example of an action potential shows the voltage of the inner membrane moving from -70mV to ~40mV and back to -70mV in about 5ms...
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    Quick question about involuntary nerve impulses?

    From what I understand, nerve impulses don't necessarily cause muscles to contract, but they greatly increase the probability of muscle contraction. Because of the stochastic movements of ions and molecules at the molecular level, sometimes an ion channel may open even though there was no nerve...
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    How to determine DNA fragment size from this gel

    Make an excel spreadsheet with two columns. In one column write the size of each DNA fragment, and in the corresponding column write the distance migrated. Make a scatter plot of the fragment size as a function of the distance migrated (or vice-versa) and obtain a non-linear trendline. Use...
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    Is Social Complexity a Key Survival Trait in Evolution?

    Generally, the ability to communicate and exchange information promotes survival in cooperative species. Being able to tell your friends where the food is and where the predators are will make it much easier to make plans and decisions. I'm sure there are debatable points on this issue, but I...
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