33 research outputs found
Developing specialist leaders of education: a research engagement approach
There has been little research to date on the continuing professional
development needs of the several thousand Specialist Leaders of
Education (SLE) now designated by the National College for Teaching
and Leadership in England to work across schools as consultants on
school-to-school support. This case study reports on the second and
third stages of a four-stage research process designed to address these
needs. The
fi
rst stage reported on the creation of a professional devel-
opment framework for SLE
’
s using consultancy research. These middle
stages test out this framework with a stakeholder group of SLEs, head-
teachers and broker in a Teaching Schools Alliance. The fourth stage will
track the implementation of professional development activities arising
from these
fi
ndings. Apart from the speci
fi
c needs of SLE, this study will
have wider relevance for all practitioners and researchers working in and
with schools on leadership development using Research Engagement
strategies and Joint Practice Development approaches in a so-called
‘
self-
improving
’
school system
Force and Motion Generation of Molecular Motors: A Generic Description
We review the properties of biological motor proteins which move along linear
filaments that are polar and periodic. The physics of the operation of such
motors can be described by simple stochastic models which are coupled to a
chemical reaction. We analyze the essential features of force and motion
generation and discuss the general properties of single motors in the framework
of two-state models. Systems which contain large numbers of motors such as
muscles and flagella motivate the study of many interacting motors within the
framework of simple models. In this case, collective effects can lead to new
types of behaviors such as dynamic instabilities of the steady states and
oscillatory motion.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figure
Tomato: a crop species amenable to improvement by cellular and molecular methods
Tomato is a crop plant with a relatively small DNA content per haploid genome and a well developed genetics. Plant regeneration from explants and protoplasts is feasable which led to the development of efficient transformation procedures.
In view of the current data, the isolation of useful mutants at the cellular level probably will be of limited value in the genetic improvement of tomato. Protoplast fusion may lead to novel combinations of organelle and nuclear DNA (cybrids), whereas this technique also provides a means of introducing genetic information from alien species into tomato. Important developments have come from molecular approaches. Following the construction of an RFLP map, these RFLP markers can be used in tomato to tag quantitative traits bred in from related species. Both RFLP's and transposons are in the process of being used to clone desired genes for which no gene products are known. Cloned genes can be introduced and potentially improve specific properties of tomato especially those controlled by single genes. Recent results suggest that, in principle, phenotypic mutants can be created for cloned and characterized genes and will prove their value in further improving the cultivated tomato.