Interactive labs

What makes for a good lab? Obviously the principle investigator and members of the team are important. So too, of course, are the correct services and environmental conditions. But there is another aspect, less quantifiable but of great importance. It's the ability of a laboratory to maximize the possibilities for scientific interaction. Having spent many years as an architect designing laboratories, here I give my views on designing successfully for interaction.     

THE EVOLUTION OF WORKER STERILITY IN HONEY BEES: AN INVESTIGATION INTO A BEHAVIORAL MUTANT CAUSING FAILURE OF WORKER POLICING

Normally, worker honey bees (Apis mellifera) only lay eggs when their colony is queenless. When a queen is present, worker egg-laying is controlled by mutual “policing” behavior in which any rare worker-laid eggs are eaten by other workers. However, an extremely rare behavioral phenotype arises in which workers develop functional ovaries and lay large numbers of eggs despite the presence of the queen. In this study, microsatellite analysis was used to determine the maternity of drones produced in such a colony under various conditions. One subfamily was found to account for about 90% of drone progeny, with the remainder being laid by other subfamilies or the queen. No evidence of queen policing was found. After a one-month period of extreme worker oviposition in spring, the colony studied reverted to normal behavior and showed no signs of worker oviposition. However, upon removal of the queen, workers commenced oviposition very quickly. Significantly, the subfamily that laid eggs when the queen was present did not contribute to the drone production when the colony was queenless. However, another subfamily contributed a disproportionately large number of drones. The frequency of worker oviposition appears to be determined by opposing selective forces. Individual bees benefit from personal reproduction, whereas other bees and the colony are disadvantaged by it. Thus a behavioral polymorphism can be maintained in the population in which some workers can escape worker policing, with balancing selection at the colony level to detect and eliminate these mutations.     

神经干复合动作电位实验的软件设计

本文描述神经干复合动作电位实验的软件设计及其主要特点,友好的人机界面和简便的波形处理,并给出了实际实验结果,由于软件设计在智能化仪器中的重要作用,所以应加以仔细考虑。     

973项目与国家重点实验室互动模式探讨

本文着重阐述了国家重点基础研究项目(973项目)与国家重点实验室互动的专业特性和管理特性,并通过以国家973创伤项目与创伤烧伤与复合伤国家重点实验室在人才、实验设备、科技资源共享方面的运行模式,初步总结其管理、合作、互动的有利建设经验,有望更好地提高国家资源的整体整合,并为适应新世纪学科发展,对加强群体创新和组织管理创新进行了有益的思考。     

油田野外作业工人慢性疾病调查及职业紧张与神经递质的相关性研究

目的:调查油田野外作业工人慢性疾病患病情况,分析职业紧张与神经递质的相关性。方法:通过整群抽样的方式选取油田野外作业工人2000例作为研究对象,采用自制的慢性非传染性疾病调查量表对所有工人的慢性疾病情况予以调查,采用职业紧张量表对所有工人的职业紧张情况予以调查。采用酶联免疫吸附法检测所有工人血清五羟色胺、去甲肾上腺素以及神经肽Y水平,并采用偏相关分析油田野外作业工人职业紧张与神经递质的相关性。结果:2000例油田野外作业工人慢性疾病发病率最高的前三种疾病分别为颈腰部疾病、高血压、高血脂,占比分别为20.60%、15.35%、11.20%。油田野外作业工人中男性职业任务、个体应对资源评分高于女性,而锻炼工人的个体紧张反应评分低于不锻炼工人(P0.05)。油田野外作业工人中饮酒工人神经肽Y水平低于不饮酒工人,锻炼工人的去甲肾上腺素水平高于不锻炼工人(P0.05)。经偏相关分析可得:油田野外作业工人的职业任务评分与五羟色胺、去甲肾上腺素水平呈正相关(P0.05),个体紧张反应评分与神经肽Y水平呈负相关(P0.05)。结论:油田野外作业工人慢性疾病患病情况不容乐观,且其职业紧张与神经递质存在密切相关,在临床工作中可通过改善油田野外作业工人的职业紧张,从而达到改善其神经递质水平的目的。     

Microfluidic detachment assay to probe the adhesion strength of diatoms

Fouling release (FR) coatings are increasingly applied as an environmentally benign alternative for controlling marine biofouling. As the technology relies on removing fouling by water currents created by the motion of ships, weakening of adhesion of adherent organisms is the key design goal for improved coatings. In this paper, a microfluidic shear force assay is used to quantify how easily diatoms can be removed from surfaces. The experimental setup and the optimization of the experimental parameters to study the adhesion of the diatom Navicula perminuta are described. As examples of how varying the physico-chemical surface properties affects the ability of diatoms to bind to surfaces, a range of hydrophilic and hydrophobic self-assembled monolayers was compared. While the number of cells that attached (adhered) was barely affected by the coatings, the critical shear stress required for their removal from the surface varied significantly.     

虚拟生物实验室实例

虚拟生物实验室在生物课程资源中有巨大并且尚未开发的潜力。它对于不同级别学生的学习都是有利的。介绍了虚拟生物实验室的一些实例。并展望了其应用前景。     

Response to rearing in laboratory of the xylophagous grape pest,Xylotrechus arvicola (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

Xylotrechus arvicola (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is an important pest in vineyards (Vitis vinifera) in the main Iberian wine‐producing regions. Larvae were reared with Semi‐Synthetic Iglesias (SSI) diet over 27 months and two generations in the laboratory. Larval mortality was highest during the first (49.49 %) and second (9.38 %) month of rearing, increasing to 50.52 % during the first month if F2 reared larvae were obtained from an F1 adult female obtained in laboratory. The diet had sufficient nutrients to enable the pest to complete its life cycle within nine months, with F1 larval viability ranging from 23.49 % to 27.97 % and F2 larval viability reduced to 2.07 %. However, the diet did not allow for the completion of additional life cycles and generations (F3, F4,…). Larval mortality increased as the months of rearing (66.13 %, 69.51 % and 89.50 %) and generations (59.10 % and 76.93 % in F1 and F2, respectively) progressed in the laboratory. The larva–adult period of females obtained in the laboratory was longer than for males. In the laboratory, the life cycle was shortened in relation to the life cycle in the field because larvae did not require a cold period to break diapause and start pupation. This indicates that X. arvicola has the potential to complete its life cycle inside grape wood in vineyards of wine‐producing regions with warmer winters.