Action Research as a Professional Development Activity

Reflective teachers are always searching for ways to improve their teaching. When this reflection becomes intentional and systematic, they are engaging in teacher research. This type of research, sometimes called action research, can help bridge the gap between theory and practice by addressing topics that are relevant to practicing teachers. This article synthesizes literature within music education and general education to address (a) the conceptual underpinnings of action research, (b) characteristics of action research and teacher research, (c) action research critiques, and (d) implications for teacher research as a form of professional development.     

Painting masterpieces on Walls

Arts organizations that partner with schools to design, implement, and evaluate arts education programs are rethinking traditional practices of evaluation to more directly engage school partners, artists, and administrators. External arts partners are also being held accountable for learning outcomes that result from their programs. In this article, the authors describe an urban arts organization that is moving toward an institutional culture that engages teachers, artists, students, parents, and administrators in a process of documentation and action research that enhances the ability to evaluate teaching and learning. This layered research approach within an arts organization enables participants to link teaching standards to student work and contributes to the larger dialogue about arts education programs in schools.     

Does Accreditation by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC) Ensure Greater Compliance With Animal Welfare Laws?

Accreditation of nonhuman animal research facilities by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC) is widely considered the “gold standard” of commitment to the well being of nonhuman animals used in research. AAALAC-accredited facilities receive preferential treatment from funding agencies and are viewed favorably by the general public. Thus, it bears investigating how well these facilities comply with U.S. animal research regulations. In this study, the incidences of noncompliance with the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) at AAALAC-accredited facilities were evaluated and compared to those at nonaccredited institutions during a period of 2 years. The analysis revealed that AAALAC-accredited facilities were frequently cited for AWA noncompliance items (NCIs). Controlling for the number of animals at each facility, AAALAC-accredited sites had significantly more AWA NCIs on average compared with nonaccredited sites. AAALAC-accredited sites also had more NCIs related to improper veterinary care, personnel qualifications, and animal husbandry. These results demonstrate that AAALAC accreditation does not improve compliance with regulations governing the treatment of animals in laboratories.     

Research on and in medical education

Dr. George Lister of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center delivered the Lee E. Farr Lecture on Student Research Day on May 9, 2011. This day focused on the dissertation work of Yale School of Medicine MD students, whose research opportunities for prospective physicians were recently examined and critiqued by Yale's Committee to Promote Student Interest in Careers as Physician Scientists. Lister's talk served to highlight the importance of communication between the laboratory and the clinic in optimizing diagnostics and treatments, effectively affirming the validity of the Committee's objectives.     

Translational research involving oxidative stress and diseases of aging

There is ample mounting evidence that reactive oxidant species are exacerbated in inflammatory processes, many pathological conditions, and underlying processes of chronic age-related diseases. Therefore there is increased expectation that therapeutics can be developed that act in some fashion to suppress reactive oxidant species and ameliorate the condition. This has turned out to be more difficult than at first expected. Developing therapeutics for indications in which reactive oxidant species are an important consideration presents some unique challenges. We discuss important questions including whether reactive oxidant species should be a therapeutic target, the need to recognize the fact that an antioxidant in a defined chemical system may be a poor antioxidant operationally in a biological system, and the importance of considering that reactive oxidant species may accompany the disease or pathological system rather than being a causative factor. We also discuss the value of having preclinical models to determine if the processes that are important in causing the disease under study are critically dependent on reactive oxidant species events and if the therapeutic under consideration quells these processes. In addition we discuss measures of success that must be met in commercial research and development and in preclinical and clinical trials and discuss as examples our translational research effort in developing nitrones for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke and as anti-cancer agents.     

分子影像:转化医学的重要工具和主要路径

随着基础医学与临床医学脱节现象的日益凸显,作为二者之间连接纽带和桥梁的转化医学越来越受到重视.近年来,转化医学在美、欧等西方国家迅速发展,在我国也正成为"十二五"期间医学领域的重要发展方向之一.分子影像作为现代分子生物学与先进医学影像技术相结合的产物,可以利用影像方法对活体内分子的生物化学过程进行定性和定量研究,是将基...     

人类疾病动物模型是医药创新研究的前沿

人类疾病动物模型对医药研究起着支撑作用,是进行医药研究的必备工具之一.本文阐述了人类疾病动物模型在医药研究中所能发挥的作用,以及在医药研究的历史中所做出的贡献.最后,对疾病动物模型在医药创新研究中应用的前沿进行了展望.     

抑郁症动物模型的转换研究

据世界卫生组织预测,抑郁症将成为“2020年全球疾病负担”排名第二的重大疾病,防治抑郁症的创新药物研发已成为医药科学发展的重要内容.本文在总结近年来关于抑郁症临床治疗和抑郁症动物模型进展的基础上,围绕“如何提高抑郁症动物模型临床预测效度”这一亟待解决的问题,采用“转化医学”的研究模式,提出关于抑郁症动物模型转换研究的一些策略,以期能为建立临床预测效度高的抑郁症动物模型和创新抗抑郁药物研发的革命性突破奠定基础和提供思路.     

基于新一代高通量技术的人类疾病组学研究策略

近年来,包括第二代测序技术和蛋白质谱技术等在内的新一代高通量技术越来越多的应用于解决生物学问题尤其是人类疾病的研究。这种以数据为导向,大规模、工业化的研究模式,使得从基因组水平、转录组水平、蛋白质组水平等角度对疾病展开全方位、多层次的研究成为可能。文章综述了新一代高通量技术在DNA、RNA、表观遗传、宏基因组和蛋白质组水平的人类疾病研究进展以及在转化医学领域的应用。在基因组水平上,外显子组测序是近年来持续的研究热点,随着测序成本的不断降低,全基因组重测序也越来越凸显了其在全基因组范围内检测大型结构变异的优势,并使得个人基因组引领的个体化医疗逐渐成为可能。在转录组水平,如小RNA测序技术可用来检测已知小RNA和预测新的小RNA,这些小RNA不仅可以作为疾病诊断和预后的分子标志物,在疾病治疗方面也具有无限潜力。在蛋白质组水平,如目标蛋白质组学可以有目标地测定可能与疾病相关的特定蛋白质或多肽,能够很好地应用于疾病的临床分期分型。文章进一步阐述了跨组学研究在疾病研究领域中的应用和发展趋势,借助生物信息学分析方法进行多组学整合研究,能更加系统地阐释疾病的发生及发展机理,为疾病的诊断治疗提供强有力的工具。