Film Reviews

Sources of Biological Films

The Assessment of Microbiology Films by Undergraduates

Appendix

Biology on Television     

Parasites of British Earthworms

Four Animated 8 mm Loops in Colour on Human Physiology Available from Macmillan &; Co Ltd., 4 Little Essex Street, London, W.C.2. Price: Standard 8 £4 15s. Super 8 £5 5s.

Macmillan 8 mm Loop Films

Animal Sounds: A set of five 7″ L.P. records published by B.P.C. Publishing Ltd. for Animal Life. Each record 14s.     

Audio Visual Reviews

SlidesMotorway biology. Set of 20 full-frame colour slides, card-mounted and numbered, in a plastic viewpack in a stiff binder, with teaching notes. By J. Feltwell. Available from Focal Point Audio Visual Ltd, 251 Copner Road, Portsmouth P03 5EE. Price £7.00. Ref 36; D. R. Calder

SlidesMammals of the hedgerow. A set of 26 glass-mounted slides supplied in a cardboard box, with accompanying text. Available from the RSPCA, Purchase and Supply Department, Causeway, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 1HG. Price £6.50; C. Dale

SlidesProtecting our waters. Set of 40 full-frame colour, cardmounted slides in a plastic viewpack in a stiff binder, with teaching notes. By Robert Gray. Available from Focal Point Audio Visual Ltd, 251 Copner Road, Portsmouth P03 5EE. Price £11.75. Ref. 320; Margaret Beynon

SlidesX-rays of the human body. Set of 20 card-mounted black-andwhite slides in a plastic viewpack in a stiff binder, with teaching notes. By Julian Cremona. Available from Focal Point Audio Visual Ltd, 251 Copner Road, Portsmouth P03 5EE. Price £7.00. Ref. 332; Pat Saunders, Pat Burdett

Tape/SlideLife on our Earth—Evolution Four slide sets, each of 20 colour, card-mounted, slides in a plastic viewpack in a stiff binder with leaching notes. By Anil Johnson. Available from Focal Point Audio Visual Ltd, 251 Copner Road, Portsmouth P03 5EE. Price £7.00 per slide set. Refs. 333–336. Cassette commentaries also available at £2.75 each; Brian Jones

Tape/SlideSurvival of the fittest. A colour filmstrip of 30 full-frames with a 30-minute taped commentary (cassette or open reel) and a supplementary information booklet. By M. Jago. Available from Audio Learning Ltd. Sarda House, 183–189 Queensway, London W2 5HL. Price £10.00. Ref. B10006; P. S. Richardson

Tape/SlideBiological studies of river pollution. A strip of 50 full-frames in colour with slide mounts supplied, and a cassette commentary. By G. Best, R. Rowatt, and S. Fraser. Available from Focal Point Audio Visual Ltd, 251 Copnor Road, Portsmouth P03 5EE. Price £10.00. Ref 89 Content; Pat Burdett

FilmsPoisonous and edible plants. Colour filmstrip of 44 frames (available in full or half-frame format) with teaching notes. By Graham Burton. Available from Hugh Baddeley Productions, Educational Distribution Centre, 8 Brampton Road, St Albans, Herts ALI 4PW. Cost £4.50. Ref. GB 114. (Also available as a slide set at £7.00).; M. Beynon

FilmsThe behaviour of the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus . A 16 mm sound, colour, film. Running time 15 minutes. Year of release 1970. Produced by the Oxford Film Unit and distributed by Hunt and Broadhurst Ltd, Botley Road, Oxford 0X2 OHE. Price on application; Joan Lundie

FilmsWoodworm: The life cycle of Anobium punctatum . A 16 mm colour film. Running time: approx. 4.5 minutes. Year of release: 1966. Available on free loan from Rentokil Film Unit, Webber Road, Kirkby Industrial Estate, Kirkby, Liverpool L33 7SR;P. Burdett

FilmsOf mice and men. A 16 mm colour film. Running time: 15 minutes. Year of release: 1975. Available on free loan from Rentokil Film Unit, Webber Road, Kirkby Industrial Estate, Kirkby, Liverpool L33 7SR;

FilmsOur drains. Colour filmstrip of 41 frames (available in whole or half-frame format) with teaching notes, by Leslie Castle and W. M. Barker. Available from Hugh Baddeley Productions, Educational Distribution Centre, 8 Brampton Road, St Albans, Herts ALI 4PW. Price £4.50. Ref. LC197; P. Saunders     

How plants make light work of growth

Entry to medical schools; Harry Grenville

Nuffleld Advanced Biology

Environmental politics and policy

Grants for school nature areas

Biology in TVEI/CPVE courses - new handbook

New AV catalogue     

Web watch

Teachers' websites

Webwise Spinneret Biology websitehttp://web.ukonline.co.uk/webwise/spinnere:

Lesson Planet www.lessonplanet.com

Gourmet Curriculum Press www.gourmetcurriculumpress.com

Learn.co.ukwww.learn.co.uk

Just for Teacherswww.justforteachers.co.uk     

Masculinity and nationalism: gender and sexuality in the making of nations

Richard G. Fox (ed.), NATIONALIST IDEOLOGIES AND THE PRODUCTION OF NATIONAL CULTURE, Washington: American Anthropological Association, 1990, 177 pp., $17.00.

Michael Watson (ed.), CONTEMPORARY MINORITY NATIONALISM, London: Routledge, 1990, 277 pp., £35.00.

Christie Davies, ETHNIC HUMOR AROUND THE WORLD, A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1990, 404 pp., $39.95.

Elizabeth Fox‐Genovese, WITHIN THE PLANTATION HOUSEHOLD: BLACK AND WHITE WOMEN OF THE OLD SOUTH, Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1988, 544 pp., $34.95 and $12.95 (paper).

Darlene Clark Hine, BLACK WOMEN IN WHITE: RACIAL CONFLICT AND COOPERATION IN THE NURSING PROFESSION, 1890–1950, Btoomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1989, 264 pp., $35.00 and $12.95 (paper).

Pnina Werbner, THE MIGRATION PROCESS, Oxford: Berg, 1989, 391 pp., $56.00.

Elaine Pinderhughes, UNDERSTANDING RACE, ETHNICITY AND POWER: THE KEY TO EFFICACY IN CLINICAL PRACTICE, New York: The Free Press; London: Collier Macmillan, 1989, 269 pp., £20.00.

Paul B. Pedersen, Juris G. Draguns, Walter J. Lonner, Joseph E. Trimble, COUNSELLING ACROSS CULTURES, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1989, (third edition), xii + 402 pp., £14.35 (paper).

Roland Littlewood and Morris Lipsedge, ALIENS AND ALIENISTS: ETHNIC MINORITIES AND PSYCHIATRY, London: Unwin Hyman, 1989, (second edition), xvii + 334 pp., £32.00 and £10.95 (paper).

H. Russell Bernard and Jesús Salinas Pedraza, NATIVE ETHNOGRAPHY; A MEXICAN INDIAN DESCRIBES HIS CULTURE, London: Sage Publications, 1989, 648 pp., £62.00 (Illustrated).     

Art in the Making

Abstract

Jan Adkins, Letterbox: The Art and History of Letters, Walker: New York, 1981, 48 pages, $10.95.

Michael Kehoe, The Puzzle of Books, Carolrhoda Books, Minneapolis, 1982, unpaged, $6.95.

Linda Bourke, Handmade Abc: A Manual Alphabet, Addison-Wesley: Reading, Mass., 1981, unpaged, $6.95.

Linda Bourke, Signs of a Friend, Addison-Wesley: Reading, Mass., 1982, unpaged, $2.95 (paper).

Philip Newth, Roly Goes Exploring, Philomel Books: New York, 1981, unpaged, $12.95 (spiral bound).

Tomas Gonzales (text by J. R. Kesselman and F. Peterson), I CAN USE TOOLS, Elsevier/Nelson: New York, 1981, unpaged, $6.25 (boards).

Harvey Weiss, Hammer and Saw, Crowell: New York, 1981, 80 pages, $9.00.

Gail Gibbons, Tool Book, Holiday House: New York, 1982, unpaged, n.p.i.

Harvey Weiss, Model Building: And How to Make Them, Thomas Crowell: New York, 1979, 96 pages, $7.95.

Paul Berman, Make-Believe Empire: A How-to Book, Atheneum: New York, 1982, 88 pages, $8.95.

Evaline Ness, Four Rooms From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Scribners: New York, 1977, unpaged, $6.95.

Alan Rose, Build Your Own Taj Mahal, Perigee: New York, 1981, unpaged, $7.95.

Les Walker, Housebuilding for Children, The Overlook Press: New York, 1977, 175 pages, $10.00.

Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey (story by Natalie S. Carlson), Marie Louise and Christopher at The Carnival, Scribners: New York, 1981, unpaged, $11.95

Beverley Gooding (Kenneth Grahame), Wayfarers All from The Wind in the Willows, Scribners: New York, 1981, 32 pages, $11.95.

Shawn Rice (text by Paul Rice and Peter Mayle), AS DEAD AS A DODO, Godine: Boston, 1981, unpaged, $10.95.     

Assessment of the MANTA closure device in transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement: a single-centre observational study

Objectives

The present study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the MANTA vascular closure device (VCD) (Teleflex, Morrisville, NC, USA) in transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TF-TAVR).

Background

To close the femoral artery in TF-TAVR a VCD is the treatment of choice. Data involving suture-based VCDs have been extensive. Although scarce, results on the MANTA device are promising. There is no consensus yet as to whether the MANTA device is associated with fewer access-site-related vascular/bleeding complications when compared to suture-based VCDs.

Methods

In this prospective single-arm study, performed at a single centre, a total of 73 patients eligible for TF-TAVR were included and consecutively treated with the MANTA device.

Results

Access-site-related vascular complications were seen in 13.7% of patients treated with the MANTA device. In this group of patients only minor vascular complications were observed. Access-site-related bleeding complications were rare (6.8%), and device failure was seen in 13.7% of the patients.

Conclusions

This single-centre study confirms that use of the MANTA device in TF-TAVR is feasible with an acceptable rate of access-site-related complications and no major vascular complications.

     

In this issue

Make your own transpiring tree

Difficulties in teaching cell division

Students' attitudes to biotechnology processes

Understanding ecosystem concepts     

Books and the Child

Abstract

Marion Endicott, Emily Carr: The Story of an Artist, Women's Educational Press: Toronto, Canada, 1981, 64 pages, n.p.i. (paperback)

Jean Lipman with Margaret Aspin-wall, Alexander Calder and his Magic Mobiles, Hudson Hills Press: New York, 1981, 96 pages, $15.00

M. B. Goffstein, Lives of the Artists, Farrar, Straus & Giroux: New York, 1982, unpaged, $8.95

Trina Schart Hyman, Self-Portrait, Addison-Wesley: Reading, Massachusetts, 1981, unpaged, $8.95

Andrew Glass, Jackson Makes his Move, Warne: New York, 1982, unpaged, $9.95

Tom Seidmann-Freud, The Magic Boat, Greenwillow: New York, 1981, unpaged, $5.95

Ernest Nister, Magic Windows, Philomel Books: New York, 1980, unpaged, $6.95

Lothar Meggendorfer, The City Park, Viking: New York, 1981, unpaged, $10.95

J. F. Schreiber (verses by Anthea Bell), The Great Menagerie, Viking: New York, 1980, unpaged, $7.95

Lothar Meggendorfer, International Circus, Viking: New York, 1980, unpaged, $7.95

Eric Hill, Spot's First Walk, G. P. Putnam's Sons: New York, 1981, unpaged, $7.95

Robert Crowther and lames R. Diaz (paper engineer), The Most Amazing Hide-and-Seek Counting Book, Viking: New, York, 1981, 14 pages, $8.95

Demi, Where is Willie Worm? Random House: New York, 1981, unpaged, $3.50

John Goodall and Tor Lokvig (paper engineer), PADDY FINDS A JOB, Atheneum: New York, 1981, unpaged, $6.95

Eric Carle, The Honeybee and the Robber, Philomel: New York, 1981, 15 pages, $10.95     

Biologically Active Oligodeoxyribonucleotides. X. Anti-HIV-1 Activity and Stability of Modified Hexanucleotides Containing Glycerol-Skeleton§

Abstract

Deoxyribose-moieties of modified hexadeoxyribonucleotide 1, which exhibits anti-HIV-1 activity, were partially replaced with glycerol-moieties. Compound 7 with two glycerylguanines at its 3′-end showed more potent anti-HIV-1 activity and more stability against digestion by nucleases than the parent compound 1.

     

Tape-recorded Lectures with Slide Synchronization A Description of the Method

DNA: Blueprint of Life. 1969 (16 mm, colour, sound, 17 minutes). Film Library, John Wiley &; Sons Ltd., Baffins Lane, Chichester, Sussex.

About Abortion 16 mm, sound, colour, 22 minutes. Produced by the Northern Sound Services (Films) Ltd for the Abortion Law Reform Association.

Mikrops Colour Slides

Latest Catalogues     

Health-related quality of life following ambulatory surgery procedures: assessment by RAND-36

Background

Increasing numbers of elective surgical procedures are performed as day-cases. The impact of ambulatory surgery on health-related quality of life in the recovery period has seldom been described.

Methods

We assessed health-related quality of life in 143 adult outpatients scheduled for arthroscopic procedures of the knee and shoulder joints, laparoscopic cholecystectomy and inguinal hernia repair using the RAND 36-Item Health Survey preoperatively and one week after patients had returned to work or comparable normal daily routines.

Results

Postoperatively all patient groups reported significant improvements in bodily pain and vitality. Physical functioning improved significantly in orthopedic and inguinal hernia patients. However, in the orthopedic groups, postoperative scores for physical health were still relatively lower compared to the general population reference values.

Conclusions

Ambulatory surgery has a positive impact on health-related quality of life. Assessment of the recovery process is necessary for recognition of potential areas of improvement in care and postoperative rehabilitation.

     

Evolution

BBC Education Evolution http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/darwin/index.shtml

Evolution theory and science

Eukaryotic Cells — the next evolutionary step

Evolution and the Nature of Science Institutes

Biology lessons: how do populations change over time?     

News

Schools affiliation scheme

BES expedition grants

Fermenters for schools project; Jonathan Bach

Case studies in evolution     

Earth,Air, Fire,and Water: Elements of Art

Abstract

Shoshana Zuboff. In the Age of the Smart Machine: The Future of Work and Power. New York: Basic Books, 1988, 468 pp. $11.95 paperback.

George Gilder. Microcosm: The Quantum Revolution in Economics and Technology. New York: Simon &; Schuster, 1989. 426 pp. $19.95 hardcover.

Loren Baritz. The Good Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1988. 361 pp. $19.95 hardcover.

Miles Orville. The Real Thing: Imitation and Authority in American Culture, 1880–1940. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989. 382 pp. $14.95 paperback.

Peter Shaw. The War Against the Intellect. Iowa City: The University of Iowa Press, 1989. 181 pp. $10.95 paperback.

Robert Alter. The Pleasures of Reading in an Ideological Age. New York: Simon &; Schuster, 1989. 250 pp. $18.95 hardcover.

Ian Crofton. A Dictionary of Art Quotations. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1989. $19.95 hardcover.     

Effect of Fonsecaea monophora on the Polarization of THP-1 Cells to Macrophages

Background

Chromoblastomycosis is a chronic, progressive fungal disease of the skin and subcutaneous tissue caused by a unique group of dematiaceous fungi. Fonsecaea monophora, a new species distinct from Fonsecaea pedrosoi strains, is the main pathogen responsible for chromoblastomycosis in south China. Macrophages can be polarized into two categories: classically activated and alternatively activated.

Objectives

Little is known about the relationship between F. monophora and macrophage polarization. This study aimed to study the effect of F. monophora on the polarization of THP-1 cells to macrophages.

Methods

We established coculture systems of F. monophora and THP-1-derived macrophages in different activation states.

Results

F. monophora enhanced the phagocytosis by macrophages in the initially activated state and weakened the phagocytosis by classically activated macrophages without affecting that by alternatively activated macrophages. Classically activated macrophages had the strongest killing effect on F. monophora, while the initially activated macrophages had the weakest. The pathogen could not be rapidly cleared by any type of macrophage. F. monophora promoted the expression of proinflammatory cytokines and inhibited that of anti-inflammatory cytokines.

Conclusions

F. monophora promoted the polarization of THP-1 cells to classically activated macrophages and inhibited that of THP-1 cells to alternatively activated macrophages.

     

Genetics web sites

Human Genome Project Information http://www.ornl.gov/TechResources/Human_Genome/home.html

Access Excellence http://www.accessexcellence.org/

Genetics Science Learning Centre at the Eccles Institute of Human Genetics, University of Utah http://gslc.genetics.utah.edu/

Blazing a Genetic Trial http://www.hhmi.org/GeneticTrail/

A Hypermedia Glossary of Genetic Terms prepared and presented by Birgid Schlindwein http://www.weihenstephan.de/~schlind/genglos.html

Virtual Flylab http://vcourseware5.calstatela.edu/VirtualFlyLab/IntroVflyLab.html

Web watch topics coming up…     

Inline index helped in cleaning up data contamination generated during library preparation and the subsequent steps

Background

High-throughput sequencing involves library preparation and amplification steps, which may induce contamination across samples or between samples and the environment.

Methods

We tested the effect of applying an inline-index strategy, in which DNA indices of 6 bp were added to both ends of the inserts at the ligation step of library prep for resolving the data contamination problem.

Results

Our results showed that the contamination ranged from 0.29 to 1.25% in one experiment and from 0.83 to 27.01% in the other. We also found that contamination could be environmental or from reagents besides cross-contamination between samples.

Conclusions

Inline-index method is a useful experimental design to clean up the data and address the contamination problem which has been plaguing high-throughput sequencing data in many applications.