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Daylight Saving Time and Heart Attacks!

Posted on November 7, 2016 by | 2 comments

Monday, November 7, 2016. The standard time has returned and we gained an hour of our time back. It is nice to sleep in and have one more hour of sleep, but have you wondered why we do this?  George Hudson first proposed Daylight Saving Time (DST) a century ago and countries adapted this system to save energy (1). Now you must be wondering: how does changing the time on a clock save energy?

for-blog

Figure 1: The clock is moved forward an hour (left) in March.  It is called the Daylight Saving Time (DST).  When the time is moved back an hour (right) in November, it is called the Standard Time.  Photos and edits by Daniel FR, Plenz (Original by Daniel FR, SVG by Plenz) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Let’s say the sun is shining from 8 AM to 6 PM.  By moving the clock forward, now the the sunlight hours become 9 AM to 7 PM.  Now sunlight lasts until 7 PM (which is later than 6 PM), creating an illusion of longer sunlight hours even though the total hours of sunlight have not changed.  Countries adapted DST thinking if it was bright outside until late night, it would encourage people to go outside and enjoy the sun instead of using electricity in their homes.  Also, if the sun was up until late night, people wouldn’t bother turning on the lights because it was already bright, further reducing the energy consumption.  However, does DST really save energy?

 

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It turns out that this question is very hard to answer.  Many scientists disagree with each other: some say it does and some say it does not.  However, the consensus is that the effects of DST on electricity usage is minimal (0.5-2%) (2).  Scientists also concluded that DST also does not encourage physical activities (3) in any way.  Clearly, DST is not serving its purpose; however, there is something that scientists suspect that DST may be responsible for.

According to a study conducted in 2014, the day following the DST in the spring (the clock is moved forward and we lose an hour of our time), the number of heart attacks increased by 24% (4).  Vice versa, when the clock was moved backward and we gained an hour of our time, the number of heart attacks decreased by 21% (4).  The hours of sleep and sleep quality are deeply correlated with heart attacks (5) and scientists suspect suddenly losing an hour of our sleep in the spring caused this increase.  On the other hand, gaining an hour of sleep is thought to be decrease the number of heart attacks after DST in fall.  Many other studies came to the same conclusion (6, 7) that DST may be influencing the number of heart attacks.

Daylight Saving Time (DST) seems like another ridiculous tradition that just does not work any more for our modern society.  Its ability to decrease energy consumption is questionable and it may put people at higher risks of heart attacks.  Plus, no one needs more confusion calculating the time difference between time zones.  Although I love gaining one hour of sleep in the fall, it’s clear it is time to ditch DST.

-Jay Park

REFERENCE

1. CGP Grey,. Daylight Saving Time Explained https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84aWtseb2-4&t=191s (accessed Nov 7, 2016).

2. Aries, M.Newsham, G. Effect of daylight saving time on lighting energy use: A literature review http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421507002273 (accessed Nov 7, 2016).

3. Zick, C. Does Daylight Savings Time Encourage Physical Activity?: Journal of Physical Activity and Health: Vol 11, No 5 http://journals.humankinetics.com/doi/10.1123/jpah.2012-0300 (accessed Nov 7, 2016).

4. Sandhu, A.; Seth, M.; Gurm, H. Daylight savings time and myocardial infarction (accessed Nov 7, 2016).

5. Andrechuk, C. Ceolim, M. Sleep quality and adverse outcomes for patients with acute myocardial infarction J Clin Nurs 2015, 25, 223-230.

6. Kirchberger, I.; Wolf, K.; Heier, M.; Kuch, B.; von Scheidt, W.; Peters, A.; Meisinger, C. BMC Public Health 2015, 15.

(7) Toro, W.; Tigre, R.; Sampaio, B. Daylight Saving Time and incidence of myocardial infarction: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design. Economics Letters 2015, 136, 1-4.

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Oxygen Water and Reasons to Avoid it

Posted on October 10, 2016 by | 2 comments

Have you heard of “oxygen water?” This self-explanatory drink contains a higher concentration of oxygen than normal water. The manufacturers of oxygen water such as GP8 oxygen water and OXiGEN all claim their products have many health benefits such as an improvement in an athlete’s performance; however, is this true? In short it isn’t.

 

When people are vigorously exercising, they are always out of breath. Why is that? Oxygen is an essential fuel needed to generate energy (ATP) in the human body. This process of making energy in our bodies is known as cellular respiration.

Simple Overview of Cellular Respiration. It requires oxygen, sugar (food) to make energy, carbon dioxide and water. As shown above, oxygen is a necessary component in the process. Image created by Jay Park, public domain source: http://imgur.com/a/hqKCh

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When people are breathing hard, they are trying to get more oxygen in their lungs to fuel their bodies into motion. What if there was an alternate way of getting oxygen inside your body than breathing? Oxygen water manufacturers claim that drinking their product will increase the oxygen levels in your body. Unfortunately, this is no where near the truth.

 
With the popularity of oxygen water growing in both professional and amateur athletes, a few teams of scientists decided to challenge the science behind oxygen water. One of those scientists was Dr. Piantadosi who tested whether or not consuming oxygen water improved athletic performance. The study concluded that oxygen water did not improve any athletic abilities. Many other studies that tested oxygen water’s ability to enhance athletic ability all came to the same conclusion.

 
Unlike the aforementioned studies, Schoenberg and his team were determined to figure out if oxygen water was harmful by investigating the relationship between oxygen water and oxygen radicals. Oxygen radicals are a type of free radicals.  Free radicals have an unpaired electron and this makes the radicals highly unstable and reactive. When they are present in our body, they can damage and even kill the cells they come in contact with; therefore, having high levels of oxygen radicals is harmful.

 
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The scientists hypothesized that participants who drank oxygen water will have more oxygen radicals in their blood.  Their hypothesis was correct. Volunteers who drank oxygen water had higher blood oxygen radical levels than normal for thirty minutes after drinking oxygen water. With this finding, the team concluded that oxygen water may be harmful to the consumer.

 
The scientific community has made it clear that oxygen water is not what it claims to be. Hopefully with the power of science behind your back, you will avoid wasting your money on oxygen water!

 

Jay Park.

Reference:
1. Haque, Rabiul. Free Radical Injury (HD). 2015. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
2. Piantadosi, C A. “”Oxygenated” Water and Athletic Performance * COMMENTARY”. British Journal of Sports Medicine 40.9 (2006): 740-741. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
3. Schoenberg MH, et al. “The Generation Of Oxygen Radicals After Drinking Of Oxygenated Water. – Pubmed – NCBI”. Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. N.p., 2016. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
4. Teacher’s Pet. Cellular Respiration. 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.

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If Organic Molecules Were Human: NanoPutians

Posted on October 8, 2016 by | 1 comment

Although killer clown sightings are the main topic of discussion these past few weeks, there is one thing aspect in chemistry that is just as weird and creepy (because it is Halloween month): NanoPutians. NanoPutians were first introduced to me in my Chem 218 class and are defined as synthetic organic molecules that resemble human forms which include but are not limited to: athletes, monarchs, bakers, and chefs.

The process begins with the synthesis of a NanoKid which provides the structural backbone for the various forms of NanoPutians. This is carried out in two multistep reactions with the upper portion which includes the head and body and the lower portion which includes the waist and legs synthesized separately as shown (1):

nanoputian-upper-body

nanoputian-lower-body

The upper and the lower portions are then joined via a Pd/Cu catalyzed coupling reaction to yield the NanoKid as shown (1):

nanokid

Microwave radiation, in the presence of a 1,2 or a 1,3 diol, is the methodology for the “head-conversion reaction” of a NanoKid to yield the series of NanoPutians (1). Depending on the reaction conditions, the NanoPutian could resemble that of an athlete (NanoAthlete), a pilgrim (NanoPilgrim), a Green Beret (NanoGreenBeret), a jester (NanoJester), a monarch (NanoMonarch), a Texan (NanoTexan), a scholar (NanoScholar), a baker (NanoBaker), or a chef (NanoChef) as shown (1):

nanokid-conversion-reaction

Furthermore, if you are not satisfied with the diversity, miscellaneous reactions that do not implement a NanoKid backbone can yield NanoToddlers and NanoBalletDancers. A NanoPutian Chain can also be synthesized, with modifications to the synthesis of the upper portion of the NanoPutian to yield an AB polymer configuration, to resemble individual NanoPutians “holding hands” and to symbolize multinanolism and peace on NanoEarth (okay I’ll admit I made that up) as shown (1):

nanoputian-chain

Now you may ask yourself: “Who funds this kind of research?”, “Why would anyone invest their time on this?”, or “What is the significance in learning about NanoPutians to the scientific community?”. Truth be told, there is no known significance (yet), in terms of chemical and practical applications, which may explain the limited research in this area (2). However, the synthesis of NanoPutians contributes a significant role in aspiring the younger generations in science and more specifically, the field of chemistry (2). And sometimes, we tend to forget how important that really is. If scientific advancements are to be made in the future (and one can only predict what the future will look like), the younger generations must be inspired by science and motivated to learn more in order to solve the problems and answer the questions, that we could not, about the world we live in.

-Andrew Siu

Chem 300 Section 109

References

Chanteau, S., Tour, J. Synthesis of Anthropomorphic Molecules: The NanoPutians. Journal of Organic Chemistry 2003, 68, 8750.

NanoPutians. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NanoPutian (accessed Oct. 8, 2016).

 

 

 

 

 

 

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HEAVEN-GEMINI: First ever head transplant to be performed

Posted on September 25, 2016 by | Leave a comment

Dr. Sergio Canavero of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group (TANG) in Italy, is confident that he will be able to perform the worlds first ever head transplant. Set to occur in late 2017, Valery Spiridonov has volunteered to be the first person to undergo a head transplant. Mr. Spiridonov suffers from Werdnig-Hoffmann disease, a rare form of spinal muscular atrophy which is characterized by wasting of voluntary muscle. The success of this operation would allow Mr. Spiridonov to regain full muscular control.

In a paper published earlier this month, Dr. Canavero explains the steps for a successful transplant. The procedure would take a team of 150 medical professionals approximately 36 hours, and would begin by lowering the temperatures of the donor head and body to about 16 degrees Celsius to prevent cell death. The neck would then be cut, the arteries and veins connected by tubes and the spinal cord severed. A sharp cut- equated to a spinal cord injury is made between the C5 and C6 vertebrae. The head is then placed on the body and the spinal cords connected using polyethylene glycol (PEG), which fuses neuronal cell membranes. The remaining muscles and organs will be fused together and the skin stitched up.

Numbering of human vertebrae.

Numbering of human vertebrae. For head transplant, the cut will be made between the C5 and C6 vertebrae.                              Image courtesy of Mayfield Brain and Spine.

A head transplant was performed on mice and “the near-miraculous properties of PEG” provided recovery periods as short as 4 weeks (Ye et al. 2016). Dr. Canavero emphasizes the importance of the sharp spinal cord severance claiming that it will inflict “minimal damage to both the axons in the white matter and the neurons in the gray laminae” both of which are essential for survival post operation and for regaining voluntary muscle control.

Courtesy of Indiana State University.

Grey and white matter of the human vertebrae. With a precise cut, minimal damage will be inflicted, resulting in a successful recovery.                                             Image courtesy of Indiana State University.

The idea may seem far fetched but Dr. Canavero and his team are determined to accomplish this feat by the end of 2017. In the meantime, extensive cadaveric rehearsals and animal trials are being performed.

-Scarlett Liaifer

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Oxygen Water and Reasons to Avoid It

Posted on September 25, 2016 by | Leave a comment

Have you heard of “oxygen water?”  This self-explanatory product that you may have passed by unsuspectingly at a grocery store or a gas station contains higher levels of oxygen than normal water.  The manufacturers of oxygen water such as GP8 oxygen water and OXiGEN all claim their products have many health benefits, one of them being an improvement in an athlete’s performance; but is this true?  In short it isn’t.

OGO Oxygen Water, courtesy of Flickr Commons

Oxygen is an essential ingredient needed to generate energy in the human body.  When vigorously exercising, athletes are always in short of oxygen; therefore, they breathe heavier and faster to get more oxygen in their lungs.  What if there was an alternate way of getting oxygen inside your body than breathing?  Oxygen water manufacturers say that their products will increase the blood oxygen level because there is an extra supply of oxygen in the body from drinking oxygen-rich water.  Unfortunately, this is no where near the truth.

With the popularity of oxygen water growing in both professional and amateur athletes, a few teams of scientist decided to challenge the science behind oxygen water.  Dr. Piantadosi tested whether consuming oxygen benefited athletic performance or not.  The study concluded that oxygen water did not improve any athletic abilities and Dr. Piantadosi stated: “oxygenated water fails both quantitative analysis and practical physiological tests of exercise performance and recovery.”

Radical Oxygen, courtesy of Wikimedia

Oxygen Radicals, courtesy of Wikimedia

Another study investigated the effects of oxygen water but approached the subject slightly different.  Schoenberg et al. (2006) were determined to figure out if oxygen water was more harmful than beneficial.  The team suspected that drinking oxygen-rich water will generate oxygen radicals and when tested, they were right.  Oxygen radicals, which are unstable form of oxygen that damage or even kill our cells, were higher than normal in the volunteers who drank oxygen water up to 30 minutes after consumption.  From these results, it is clear that oxygen water should be avoided.  Unlike the claims made by the manufacturers, they do not enhance physical endurance or athletic ability and they do more harm than good.

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CHEM 300 Course Blog

Posted on September 6, 2016 by | Leave a comment

Welcome to the CHEM 300 course blog!

Here are few things to make note of before you get started with your posts. First of all, you should read the blogging resources page under the Create menu. This will help you out a lot if you are brand new to using WordPress. On this page you will find video tutorials about writing posts on this blog, adding media to your posts, tagging, and categorizing. The course Connect site has information about the blogging assignments and how they are graded.

There are a few important things to keep in mind when blogging. Please do not assume that just because something is online, it is OK for you to use it. For example, unless it is explicitly stated, an image on the internet can not just be copied, saved, and used in your own post without permission to do so. We’ve provided you with a lot more detail about properly using online content, but if you have questions, let us know.

This blog also contains a lot of resources for you. For example, still under the Create menu, there is a list of suggested software to use for your projects. We’ve also collected some writing and presentation resources. Basic audio/visual equipment can be borrowed from CHEM300. Contact the course coordinator for more info.

Under the Explore menu, you will find some sample podcasts and videos, links that may be of interest or assistance, a list of groups and associations related to communicating science as well as a list of local museums and science centres. The Explore menu also contains a library resources page, which you should definitely have a look at. Finally, there is a bookshelf that lists relevant books that are on reserve for you in Woodward Library.

Let us know if you have any questions about the blog or would like to see any other resources made available. Or, if you find something that you think would be useful to the rest of the class, tell us, and we can add it to the resources. Better yet — write a post about it!

Happy blogging!

The Chemistry 300 Team

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