The periodic table and other wallcharts in the teaching of chemistry in St Andrews, 1884–1919

The teaching of the chemistry of the elements at the University of St Andrews by Professor Thomas Purdie FRS is examined with reference to selections from a collection of recently discovered historic wallcharts and extracts from his detailed hand-written lecture notes. Together these reveal a comprehensive and exciting programme of lectures incorporating numerous practical demonstrations which were continually updated to reflect the latest state of knowledge in what was a rapidly changing field.PostprintPeer reviewe

The St Andrews periodic table wallchart and its use in teaching

An early surviving copy of a periodic table of the elements wallchart is described and it is compared with other early versions of the periodic table. The status of chemistry teaching in St Andrews at the time and particularly the lectures of Professor Thomas Purdie are considered to show the context in which this periodic table would have been used and gain some appreciation of it pedagogical importance.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Fostering university students’ engagement in teamwork and innovation behaviors through game-based learning (GBL)

Higher Education Instituions (HEIs) should be the driving force behind the training of college students in terms of both hard and soft skills (for example, innovation and teamwork competencies), and they should also do so without neglecting their health and well-being, perhaps more than ever in these complex times of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. Game-based learning (GBL) could be a powerful and useful tool in this regard. There is, however, some controversy surrounding the use of games for learning purposes in higher education institutions, and most of the research done about this issue corresponds to GBL through digital games. Under this background, the main objective of this study was to test the effect of GBL on the intrinsic motivation (IM), teamwork engagement (TWE), team building (TB), teamwork competence (TWC), and innovation behaviors (IWB) of 142 college students of Health Sciences and Social Work. After rehearsing in small groups, the game was tested (T2). Our results obtained through the differential analyses confirmed that undergraduates were more intrinsically motivated, experienced more TWE, TB, and TWC, and developed more IWB than before playing the game (T1). Therefore, the development of core personal skills might be promoted effectively by games in an efficient, engaging, and motivating way

Classification and Measurement of the Firms’ Resources and Capabilities Applied to Eco-Innovation Projects from a Resource-Based View Perspective

Interest from academics, policy–makers and practitioners in eco-innovation has increased as it enables the optimization of the use of natural resources improving competitiveness and it provides a conceptual framework for corporate sustainability. In this context, this paper provides an in-depth analysis and a wide classification of the specific indicators for the integrated measurement of eco-innovation projects in business from a resource-based view (RBV). The specific metrics were tested to measure the economic-financial and environmental resources and capabilities applied by five Spanish firms to eco-innovation projects, selected as case studies

A tale of two tables

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Diminishing benefits of urban living for children and adolescents’ growth and development

Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for boys in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries in Oceania, south Asia and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. In these countries, successive cohorts of boys from rural places either did not gain height or possibly became shorter, and hence fell further behind their urban peers. The difference between the age-standardized mean BMI of children in urban and rural areas was <1.1 kg m–2 in the vast majority of countries. Within this small range, BMI increased slightly more in cities than in rural areas, except in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in central and eastern Europe. Our results show that in much of the world, the growth and developmental advantages of living in cities have diminished in the twenty-first century, whereas in much of sub-Saharan Africa they have amplified

High basal STAT4 balanced by STAT1 induction to control type 1 interferon effects in natural killer cells

The best-characterized type 1 interferon (IFN) signaling pathway depends on signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) and STAT2. The cytokines can, however, conditionally activate all STATs. Regulation of their access to particular signaling pathways is poorly understood. STAT4 is important for IFN-γ induction, and NK cells are major producers of this cytokine. We report that NK cells have high basal STAT4 levels and sensitivity to type 1 IFN–mediated STAT4 activation for IFN-γ production. Increases in STAT1, driven during viral infection by either type 1 IFN or IFN-γ, are associated with decreased STAT4 access. Both STAT1 and STAT2 are important for antiviral defense, but STAT1 has a unique role in protecting against sustained NK cell IFN-γ production and resulting disease. The regulation occurs with an NK cell type 1 IFN receptor switch from a STAT4 to a STAT1 association. Thus, a fundamental characteristic of NK cells is high STAT4 bound to the type 1 IFN receptor. The conditions of infection result in STAT1 induction with displacement of STAT4. These studies elucidate the critical role of STAT4 levels in predisposing selection of specific signaling pathways, define the biological importance of regulation within particular cell lineages, and provide mechanistic insights for how this is accomplished in vivo

Production of short-lived radioactive nuclei in Super Asymptotic Giant Branch stars

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Characterization of the promoter region of ftsZ from Corynebacterium glutamicum and controlled overexpression of FtsZ

Of the five promoters detected for the ftsZ gene in Corynebacterium glutamicum, three were located within the coding region of the upstream ftsQ gene and two within the intergenic ftsQ-ftsZ region. The most distant ftsZ promoter showed activity in Escherichia coli and controlled high-level transcriptional expression of ftsZ in C. glutamicum. Quantitative Western blotting showed that all five promoters were active during the exponential growth phase and down-regulated during stationary phase. This tightly controlled expression of ftsZ in C. glutamicum indicated that small changes in the amount of FtsZ protein strongly affect bacterial cell viability. The controlled overexpression of ftsZ in C. glutamicum, using the promoter of the gntK gene (PgntK), resulted in approximately 5-fold overproduction of FtsZ, an increase in cell diameter, and a highly variable localization of the protein as spirals or tangles throughout the cell. These results suggest that the intracellular concentration of FtsZ is critical for productive septum formation in C. glutamicum. Our observations provide insight into the mechanisms used by the coryneform group, which lacks actin homologs and many regulators of cell division, to control cell morphology. [Int Microbiol 2007; 10(4): 271-282

Synthesis of bioconjugate sesterterpenoids with phospholipids and polyunsaturated fatty acids

A series of sesterterpenoid bioconjugates with phospholipids and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been synthesized for biological activity testing as antiproliferative agents in several cancer cell lines. Different substitution analogues of the original lipidic ether edelfosine (1-O-octadecyl-2-O-methyl-rac-glycero-3-phosphocholine) are obtained varying the sesterterpenoid in position 1 or 2 of the glycerol or a phosphocholine or PUFA unit in position 3. Simple bioconjugates of sesterterpenoids and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) have been obtained too. All synthetic derivatives were tested against the human tumour cell lines HeLa (cervix) and MCF-7 (breast). Some compounds showed good IC50 (0.3 and 0.2 μM) values against these cell lines.This work was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (SAF2011-30518 and SAF2014-59716-R). Junta de Castilla y León BIO/SA59/15.Peer reviewe