Laboratory practical work as a technological process

Laboratory practical work is commonly intercalated with theoretical and seminar classes in packages that cover single units of a given course program. Emphasis is put in to illustrate important theoretical concepts and in to improve students' laboratory handling skills. We observed that this involves serious disadvantages, namely (i) students lack an integrated view of the subjects, (ii) time constraints for each experimental session preclude students to become familiar with most of the techniques and approaches, (iii) how to manipulate laboratory equipment become more important than the objectives and rational explanation of results, (iv) work planning and evaluation of reproducibility of methods are not considered, (v) elaboration and communication of results are not encouraged. To overcome these limitations we developed a new schedule were students get problem-based learning of theoretical concepts during the first half of the course and plan and execute a laboratory project during the second half. The project is performed within one of three main areas: purification, enzyme kinetics or metabolism/molecular genetics, with β-galactosidase as model system. By inducing a more positive attitude in the students towards the practical laboratory work, this schedule allowed us to avoid the mentioned disadvantages while keeping the traditional practical laboratory work objectives met.     

基于Web的形态学实验教学改革

目的 探讨基于web的高职高专医学形态学实验教学改革并评价其效果.方法 构建形态学实验网络辅助教学平台与实验室开放管理平台,选取程度相当的4个平行班级分别作为实验班和对照班,实验班的形态学课程的实验教学采用传统教学和网络辅助教学与实验室开放管理,对照班的采用传统教学.结果 ①成功构建了形态学实验网络辅助教学与实验室开放管理平台;②实验班的形态学课程的实验考试成绩均显著优于对照班(P＜0.05).结论 基于web的形态学实验教学改革能够显著提高形态学课程的实验教学效果.     

How to reach linguistic consensus: a proof of convergence for the naming game

In this paper we introduce a mathematical model of naming games. Naming games have been widely used within research on the origins and evolution of language. Despite the many interesting empirical results these studies have produced, most of this research lacks a formal elucidating theory. In this paper we show how a population of agents can reach linguistic consensus, i.e. learn to use one common language to communicate with one another. Our approach differs from existing formal work in two important ways: one, we relax the too strong assumption that an agent samples infinitely often during each time interval. This assumption is usually made to guarantee convergence of an empirical learning process to a deterministic dynamical system. Two, we provide a proof that under these new realistic conditions, our model converges to a common language for the entire population of agents. Finally the model is experimentally validated.     

A Foucaultian approach to menstrual practices in the Dehcho Region, Northwest Territories, Canada

In this paper, I explore the benefits of using a Foucaultian approach to examine research questions related to Dene women, menstrual traditions, and physical practices (the term physical practices is here used to encompass the contested terms sport, recreation, traditional games, and physical activity) in the Dehcho region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. While it is clear that Indigenous research frameworks have been marginalized in past research projects, this paper argues that the current approach of using almost exclusively Indigenous frameworks when conducting research with Indigenous communities has several drawbacks and relies on some troubling assumptions. After outlining the strengths of a Foucaultian approach, examples derived from fieldwork in the Dehcho region are used to illustrate the ways in which a Foucaultian approach can be operationalized, while also demonstrating the ways in which such an approach to research can complement Indigenous research frameworks and agendas.     

北京地区实验树晌的饲养管理方法

树鼩作为低等灵长类动物,在生物学研究中的价值日益引起研究者重视,将其作为实验动物的实验需求越来越多。作为南方亚热带动物,树嗣如何适应北方地区的生活是北方地区将其用作实验动物的前提。本实验室探索出适宜树购居住的饲养笼具,确定了饲养环境温度、湿度、光照时间、噪声及通风等条件,制定了规范化的卫生管理标准,建立了北京地区长期人工培育树晌的饲养管理方法,为今后利用树嗣进行中医药病证结合动物模型的研究奠定了基础。     

Mouse monoclonal antibodies in biological research: strategies for high-throughput production

Mouse monoclonal antibodies have become key components in basic research as well as in the clinical laboratory. Being invaluable tools in many biological assays, they continue to be the primary choice in the research field, although the conventional technology used for hybridoma generation and screening is a still lengthy, time-consuming and low-throughput process. With the advent of genetic immunisation and the application of automation and microarray to the traditional biological assays, the monoclonal antibody field has been revolutionised. Here, we will briefly review the most relevant strategies which have made the manufacture of murine monoclonal antibodies a faster and high-throughput technology.     

体能相关基因研究的新进展

近年来体能与基因的关系又成为一个热点话题,人类遗传学的研究证实 ,人类体能的差异有遗传基础。 2000年以来,有关体能分子遗传学的研究飞速发展,发表的文章数及报道的相关基因座超过过去几年的总量,已经报到了70多个关注的基因座,证明基因与VO_2MAX、肌肉力量和乳酸阈值等有关。我国航空航天事业和载人航天器的开发、国防建设的需求等都提示,今后特殊体能人才的基因选材将不容忽视。对于具有特殊体能的个体进行科学选材,可以提高针对性和降低后期培养的资金浪费。同样,对于早期发现和培养具备体育运动天赋的人才将是经济快速和实用的方法。体能相关基因的研究还将为揭示这些基因座的功能、促进健康事业起重要作用。通过对国际已报道的主要与有氧运动相关的基因座和试验结果进行综述,为我国尽早开展相关研究提供基础信息。

     

The automation of solution phase synthetic chemistry using XP Zymate™ laboratory robotic systems

The challenge of developing automated systems to undertake solution phase synthesis was embarked upon at Zeneca Pharmaceuticals in 1992. The objective of this project, using XP Zymate™ laboratory robots, has been realised with the establishment of a Research Department facility that has enabled research chemists to utilise the systems to generate compounds for test in relevant biological screens. The systems developed use the minimum of modification to the chemical method of reaction assembly, execution and isolation required of the products. This year will see the expansion of the Robotics facility from 3 to 7 systems. To date over 8000 novel individual compounds have been synthesised. Products have been purified where necessary, and over 30 different types of chemistry have been utilised. The work undertaken has covered the full scope of synthetic chemistry in the research process, incorporating library generation for high throughput screening, lead identification, and lead optimisation. To describe the work of the group an overview of the capabilities of the systems and the types of work undertaken, within the facility, is presented.     

The use of mini-projects in preparing students for independent open-ended investigative labwork

Undergraduate research project work is very demanding — of students, of tutors and of resources — and many students find the transition from traditional practical work difficult. In particular, they have unrealistic expectations of what can be achieved. In order to prepare students for their project work, some second-year courses include mini-projects. This paper reports on a case study of one such mini-project: it was effective in preparing students for their project work but most students were unaware of this and as a result, many felt demoralised by their experience. A number of factors which might improve the effectiveness of mini-projects and reduce the students’ negative feelings were identified including: making the aims and objectives unambiguous, achievable and explicit; recognising the nature and difficulty of the demands which are being made of students; and providing sufficient time, support and guidance for students. It is not possible for one lecturer to provide the high level of support which this requires. Demonstrators should also be available.     

Transposing from the Laboratory to the Classroom to Generate Authentic Research Experiences for Undergraduates

Large lecture classes and standardized laboratory exercises are characteristic of introductory biology courses. Previous research has found that these courses do not adequately convey the process of scientific research and the excitement of discovery. Here we propose a model that provides beginning biology students with an inquiry-based, active learning laboratory experience. The Dynamic Genome course replicates a modern research laboratory focused on eukaryotic transposable elements where beginning undergraduates learn key genetics concepts, experimental design, and molecular biological skills. Here we report on two key features of the course, a didactic module and the capstone original research project. The module is a modified version of a published experiment where students experience how virtual transposable elements from rice (Oryza sativa) are assayed for function in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana. As part of the module, students analyze the phenotypes and genotypes of transgenic plants to determine the requirements for transposition. After mastering the skills and concepts, students participate in an authentic research project where they use computational analysis and PCR to detect transposable element insertion site polymorphism in a panel of diverse maize strains. As a consequence of their engagement in this course, students report large gains in their ability to understand the nature of research and demonstrate that they can apply that knowledge to independent research projects.     

An ESS maximum principle for matrix games

Previous work has demonstrated that for games defined by differential or difference equations with a continuum of strategies, there exists a G-function, related to individual fitness, that must take on a maximum with respect to a virtual variable v whenever v is one of the vectors in the coalition of vectors which make up the evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS). This result, called the ESS maximum principle, is quite useful in determining candidates for an ESS. This principle is reformulated here, so that it may be conveniently applied to matrix games. In particular, we define a matrix game to be one in which fitness is expressed in terms of strategy frequencies and a matrix of expected payoffs. It is shown that the G-function in the matrix game setting must again take on a maximum value at all the strategies which make up the ESS coalition vector. The reformulated maximum principle is applicable to both bilinear and nonlinear matrix games. One advantage in employing this principle to solve the traditional bilinear matrix game is that the same G-function is used to find both pure and mixed strategy solutions by simply specifying an appropriate strategy space. Furthermore we show how the theory may be used to solve matrix games which are not in the usual bilinear form. We examine in detail two nonlinear matrix games: the game between relatives and the sex ratio game. In both of these games an ESS solution is determined. These examples not only illustrate the usefulness of this approach to finding solutions to an expanded class of matrix games, but aids in understanding the nature of the ESS as well.     

非培养方法在土壤微生物生态学研究中的应用

由于有相当数量的土壤微生物是目前不可培养的,因此利用传统培养技术来研究土壤微生物,不仅费时费力,所得到的结果可能和真实的情况相差甚远。近年来发展了三类不需培养的方法来研究土壤微生物的种类和数量,这些方法大体上分为生物化学、生理学和分子生物学三类。生物化学方法主要根据细胞膜磷脂酸(PLFA)的种类和数量来判定微生物的多样性;BIOLOG微量板分析系统是生理学方法的代表,它主要是根据土样细胞悬液对95种单一碳源的利用模式来说明群落结构的变化;分子生物学方法是发展应用最广的方法。基本步骤是提取土壤的总DNA,然后用通用引物或选择性高的引物来扩增16SrRNA基因。由于对扩增产物分析方法的不同,该方法又可分为PCR-DGGE,PCR-RFLP等。最近在PCR-RFLP基础上发展起来的T—RFLP分析方法,将微生物的多样性分析工作同RDP(ribosomal database project)数据库结合,充分利用了Internet的数据资源共享的优势,具有分辨率高,可实现自动化等优点。是未来土壤微生物生态学研究的有力工具。     

Bioactive Secondary Metabolites from Orchids (Orchidaceae)

The Orchidaceae family is the largest group of flowering plants in the Angiosperm monocotyledons spread on our planet. Its members, called orchids, are herbs or epiphytes with showy flowers distributed mainly in tropical regions. Several classes of phytoconstituents have been so far isolated from therapeutically‐used orchids showing a great chemical diversity. Among them, phenolic derivatives have been studied for their biological activities, especially in the field of cancer, inflammation, and neurodegeneration. On the other hand, limited information has been so far obtained on the numerous alkaloids and terpenoids isolated from several orchid species. Recent articles revealed pronounced effects of some alkaloids on the CNS. Published literature on orchids that are used in traditional medicine has been reviewed in this work indicating a great potential of such organisms as source of chemical entities for the development of new drugs.     

Evolutionary dynamics of continuous strategy games on graphs and social networks under weak selection

Understanding the emergence of cooperation among selfish individuals has been a long-standing puzzle, which has been studied by a variety of game models. Most previous studies presumed that interactions between individuals are discrete, but it seems unrealistic in real systems. Recently, there are increasing interests in studying game models with a continuous strategy space. Existing research work on continuous strategy games mainly focuses on well-mixed populations. Especially, little theoretical work has been conducted on their evolutionary dynamics in a structured population. In the previous work (Zhong et al., BioSystems, 2012), we showed that under strong selection, continuous and discrete strategies have significantly different equilibrium and game dynamics in spatially structured populations. In this paper, we further study evolutionary dynamics of continuous strategy games under weak selection in structured populations. By using the fixation probability based stochastic dynamics, we derive exact conditions of natural selection favoring cooperation for the death–birth updating scheme. We also present a network gain decomposition of the game equilibrium, which might provide a new view of the network reciprocity in a quantitative way. Finally, we make a detailed comparison between games using discrete and continuous strategies. As compared to the former, we find that for the latter (i) the same selection conditions are derived for the general 2 × 2 game; especially, the rule b/c > k in a simplified Prisoner's Dilemma is valid as well; however, (ii) for a coordination game, interestingly, the risk-dominant strategy is disfavored. Numerical simulations have also been conducted to validate our results.     

An Exploration of Computer Game-Based Instruction in the “World History” Class in Secondary Education: A Comparative Study in China

So far, many studies on educational games have been carried out in America and Europe. Very few related empirical studies, however, have been conducted in China. This study, combining both quantitative with qualitative research methods, possibly compensated for this regret. The study compared data collected from two randomly selected classes (out of 13 classes) under computer game-based instruction (CGBI) and non-computer game-based instruction (NCGBI), respectively, in a senior high school located in Nanjing, Capital of Jiangsu Province, in China. The participants were 103 students, composed of 52 boys and 51 girls (aged 17-18 years old). The following conclusion was reached: (1) participants under CGBI obtained significantly greater learning achievement than those under NCGBI; (2) participants were significantly more motivated by CGBI compared with NCGBI; (3) there were no significant differences in learning achievement between boys and girls; although (4) boys were significantly more motivated by CGBI than girls. Both disadvantages and advantages were discussed, together with directions for future research.     

Molluscan biological and chemical diversity: secondary metabolites and medicinal resources produced by marine molluscs

The phylum Mollusca represents an enormous diversity of species with eight distinct classes. This review provides a taxonomic breakdown of the published research on marine molluscan natural products and the medicinal products currently derived from molluscs, in order to identify priority targets and strategies for future research. Some marine gastropods and bivalves have been of great interest to natural products chemists, yielding a diversity of chemical classes and several drug leads currently in clinical trials. Molluscs also feature prominently in a broad range of traditional natural medicines, although the active ingredients in the taxa involved are typically unknown. Overall secondary metabolites have only been investigated from a tiny proportion (<1%) of molluscan species. At the class level, the number of species subject to chemical studies mirrors species richness and our relative knowledge of the biology of different taxa. The majority of molluscan natural products research is focused within one of the major groups of gastropods, the opisthobranchs (a subgroup of Heterobranchia), which are primarily comprised of soft‐bodied marine molluscs. Conversely, most molluscan medicines are derived from shelled gastropods and bivalves. The complete disregard for several minor classes of molluscs is unjustified based on their evolutionary history and unique life styles, which may have led to novel pathways for secondary metabolism. The Polyplacophora, in particular, have been identified as worthy of future investigation given their use in traditional South African medicines and their abundance in littoral ecosystems. As bioactive compounds are not always constitutively expressed in molluscs, future research should be targeted towards biosynthetic organs and inducible defence reactions for specific medicinal applications. Given the lack of an acquired immune system, the use of bioactive secondary metabolites is likely to be ubiquitous throughout the Mollusca and broadening the search field may uncover interesting novel chemistry.     

ESP理论参照下的临床医学英语教学实践探讨

目的:由于传统的英语教学无法满足全球化对于双语医学教育的新要求,ESP特殊用途英语如何在中国医学教育中得以实践并取得有效成果成了医学教育者的新课题。方法:为了解决这一课题,在上海交通大学医学院进行医学双语教学的试点培训,以学士,硕士和博士三种学历组成人数为3-5人的小型试点班级,目的在跟踪不同阶段的医学生在培训期间的专业素质水平与英语水平的成效,并参照语言学家Pauline Robinson的ESP方法论,归纳总结出适应我国不同阶段学生的教学方法。Pauline Robinson的ESP方法分别为:角色扮演和模仿,案例学习法,项目教学法和演讲。结果:培训教师从三组不同学生的实际情况出发,结合上述四种教学方法,经过三个学期的培训分别得出了博士生组的口语能力,硕士生组听力能力以及本科生的写作阅读能力进步比较突出的结果。结论:中国教育体制所导致的被动接受的学习习惯是中国的特殊情况,而角色扮演和模仿,案例学习法,项目教学法和演讲是紧密相扣的四环相连的教学方法,每一种教学方法都是对彼此的补充和丰富,符合我国当代学生的个性特点和医学教育的方向,从而需要更多的医学教育工作者更好地利用四种教学方法以不断提升医学英语教学的教育事业以更好地帮助医学工作者融入国际舞台。     

Use of ROOT to build a software optimized for parameter estimation and simulations with Distributed Delay Model

ROOT is a software package developed by a CERN project started in 1994 by René Brun for statistical analysis in high-energy physics. This software package can also be used in the field of protecting plants against pest insects. Indeed, for a long time there has been a significant use of the Distributed-Delay Model, but there is no specific software available to date that is useful for following the research from the first step to simulations and field validations.This work, through ROOT's libraries, builds a series of macros that consent to do non-linear fits with functions such as Erlang PDF, linear-rate, Logan, Briére, Sharpe and De Michele, thereby giving support to the parameters-estimate step in laboratory sessions and then numerically solving the Distributed-Delay Model equations. This study supplies results both graphically and numerically.     

Commercial high-throughput sequencing and its applications in DNA analysis

DNA sequences can be used for the analysis of genetic variation and gene function. The high-throughput sequencing techniques that have been developed over the past three years can read as many as one billion bases per run, and are far less expensive than the traditional Sanger sequencing method. Therefore, the high-throughput sequencing has been applied extensively to genomic analyses, such as screening for mutations, construction of genomic methylation maps, and the study of DNA-protein interactions. Although they have only been available for a short period, high-throughput sequencing techniques are profoundly affecting many of the life sciences, and are opening out new potential avenues of research. With the highly-developed commercial high-throughput sequencing platforms, each laboratory has the opportunity to explore this research field. Therefore, in this paper, we have focused on commercially-popular high-throughput sequencing techniques and the ways in which they have been applied over the past three years.