Science Hunters: Teaching science concepts in schools using Minecraft

Background Science Hunters is an outreach project based at Lancaster University, UK. It uses the computer game Minecraft, alongside interactive discussion and hands-on demonstrations, to engage children with scientific research topics and science learning.Material and methodsAs part of ongoing evaluation, the efficacy of this approach as an educational intervention was tested via pre- and post-activity questionnaires for two session topics,with 492 children participating through schools in 2017 and 2018.ResultsStatistically significant mprovement in subject knowledge was seen in post-intervention scores for both topics. There was some variation in both absolute and improvement score results between boys and girls, and primary and secondary school students.ConclusionsParticipation leads to improved subject knowledge and understanding, regardless of prior existing knowledge

Using Minecraft to engage children with science at public events

Engagement with science and scientific skills is an important aspect of children's ability to navigate the world around them, but engagement with science is low in comparison with other subjects. The Lancaster University outreach project Science Hunters takes a novel approach to engaging children with environmental science research through a constructivist pedagogical approach using the popular computer game Minecraft. While Minecraft is extensively used in formal education settings, few data are available on its use in public engagement with scientific research, and the relationship between children's and adults' attitudes to science and computer games are complex. Through motivational surveys conducted as part of the project evaluation, we analysed feedback from participants who attended sessions as part of a programme at public events, to explore the basic demographics of children attending our events, and whether it is the prospect of learning about science, or the opportunity to play Minecraft that leads them to choose our activity. We also present evaluation of general feedback from participants at public events over four years to give a broader view of participants' response to the activities

Modeling the coupled mechanics, transport, and growth processes in collagen tissues.

The purpose of this project is to develop tools to model and simulate the processes of self-assembly and growth in biological systems from the molecular to the continuum length scales. The model biological system chosen for the study is the tendon fiber which is composed mainly of Type I collagen fibrils. The macroscopic processes of self-assembly and growth at the fiber scale arise from microscopic processes at the fibrillar and molecular length scales. At these nano-scopic length scales, we employed molecular modeling and simulation method to characterize the mechanical behavior and stability of the collagen triple helix and the collagen fibril. To obtain the physical parameters governing mass transport in the tendon fiber we performed direct numerical simulations of fluid flow and solute transport through an idealized fibrillar microstructure. At the continuum scale, we developed a mixture theory approach for modeling the coupled processes of mechanical deformation, transport, and species inter-conversion involved in growth. In the mixture theory approach, the microstructure of the tissue is represented by the species concentration and transport and material parameters, obtained from fibril and molecular scale calculations, while the mechanical deformation, transport, and growth processes are governed by balance laws and constitutive relations developed within a thermodynamically consistent framework

Molecular dynamics of membrane proteins.

Understanding the dynamics of the membrane protein rhodopsin will have broad implications for other membrane proteins and cellular signaling processes. Rhodopsin (Rho) is a light activated G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR). When activated by ligands, GPCRs bind and activate G-proteins residing within the cell and begin a signaling cascade that results in the cell's response to external stimuli. More than 50% of all current drugs are targeted toward G-proteins. Rho is the prototypical member of the class A GPCR superfamily. Understanding the activation of Rho and its interaction with its Gprotein can therefore lead to a wider understanding of the mechanisms of GPCR activation and G-protein activation. Understanding the dark to light transition of Rho is fully analogous to the general ligand binding and activation problem for GPCRs. This transition is dependent on the lipid environment. The effect of lipids on membrane protein activity in general has had little attention, but evidence is beginning to show a significant role for lipids in membrane protein activity. Using the LAMMPS program and simulation methods benchmarked under the IBIG program, we perform a variety of allatom molecular dynamics simulations of membrane proteins

Nature and consequences of interactions between Salmonella enterica serovar Dublin and host cells in cattle

International audienceAbstractSalmonella enterica is a veterinary and zoonotic pathogen of global importance. While murine and cell-based models of infection have provided considerable knowledge about the molecular basis of virulence of Salmonella, relatively little is known about salmonellosis in naturally-affected large animal hosts such as cattle, which are a reservoir of human salmonellosis. As in humans, Salmonella causes bovine disease ranging from self-limiting enteritis to systemic typhoid-like disease and exerts significant economic and welfare costs. Understanding the nature and consequences of Salmonella interactions with bovine cells will inform the design of effective vaccines and interventions to control animal and zoonotic infections. In calves challenged orally with S. Dublin expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) we observed that the bacteria were predominantly extracellular in the distal ileal mucosa and within gut-associated lymph nodes 48 h post-infection. Intracellular bacteria, identified by flow cytometry using the GFP signal, were predominantly within MHCII+ macrophage-like cells. In contrast to observations from murine models, these S. Dublin-infected cells had elevated levels of MHCII and CD40 compared to both uninfected cells from the same tissue and cells from the cognate tissue of uninfected animals. Moreover, no gross changes of the architecture of infected lymph nodes were observed as was described previously in a mouse model. In order to further investigate Salmonella-macrophage interactions, net replication of S. enterica serovars that differ in virulence in cattle was measured in bovine blood-derived macrophages by enumeration of gentamicin-protected bacteria and fluorescence dilution, but did not correlate with host-specificity

The interfacial bioscience grand challenge.

This report is broken down into the following 3 sections: (1) Chemical Cross-linking and Mass Spectrometry Applied to Determination of Protein Structure and Dynamics; (2) Computational Modeling of Membrane Protein Structure and Dynamics; and (3) Studies of Toxin-Membrane Interactions using Single Molecule Biophysical Methods

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Body-mass index and all-cause mortality: individual-participant-data meta-analysis of 239 prospective studies in four continents.

BACKGROUND: Overweight and obesity are increasing worldwide. To help assess their relevance to mortality in different populations we conducted individual-participant data meta-analyses of prospective studies of body-mass index (BMI), limiting confounding and reverse causality by restricting analyses to never-smokers and excluding pre-existing disease and the first 5 years of follow-up. METHODS: Of 10 625 411 participants in Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, and North America from 239 prospective studies (median follow-up 13·7 years, IQR 11·4-14·7), 3 951 455 people in 189 studies were never-smokers without chronic diseases at recruitment who survived 5 years, of whom 385 879 died. The primary analyses are of these deaths, and study, age, and sex adjusted hazard ratios (HRs), relative to BMI 22·5-<25·0 kg/m(2). FINDINGS: All-cause mortality was minimal at 20·0-25·0 kg/m(2) (HR 1·00, 95% CI 0·98-1·02 for BMI 20·0-<22·5 kg/m(2); 1·00, 0·99-1·01 for BMI 22·5-<25·0 kg/m(2)), and increased significantly both just below this range (1·13, 1·09-1·17 for BMI 18·5-<20·0 kg/m(2); 1·51, 1·43-1·59 for BMI 15·0-<18·5) and throughout the overweight range (1·07, 1·07-1·08 for BMI 25·0-<27·5 kg/m(2); 1·20, 1·18-1·22 for BMI 27·5-<30·0 kg/m(2)). The HR for obesity grade 1 (BMI 30·0-<35·0 kg/m(2)) was 1·45, 95% CI 1·41-1·48; the HR for obesity grade 2 (35·0-<40·0 kg/m(2)) was 1·94, 1·87-2·01; and the HR for obesity grade 3 (40·0-<60·0 kg/m(2)) was 2·76, 2·60-2·92. For BMI over 25·0 kg/m(2), mortality increased approximately log-linearly with BMI; the HR per 5 kg/m(2) units higher BMI was 1·39 (1·34-1·43) in Europe, 1·29 (1·26-1·32) in North America, 1·39 (1·34-1·44) in east Asia, and 1·31 (1·27-1·35) in Australia and New Zealand. This HR per 5 kg/m(2) units higher BMI (for BMI over 25 kg/m(2)) was greater in younger than older people (1·52, 95% CI 1·47-1·56, for BMI measured at 35-49 years vs 1·21, 1·17-1·25, for BMI measured at 70-89 years; pheterogeneity<0·0001), greater in men than women (1·51, 1·46-1·56, vs 1·30, 1·26-1·33; pheterogeneity<0·0001), but similar in studies with self-reported and measured BMI. INTERPRETATION: The associations of both overweight and obesity with higher all-cause mortality were broadly consistent in four continents. This finding supports strategies to combat the entire spectrum of excess adiposity in many populations. FUNDING: UK Medical Research Council, British Heart Foundation, National Institute for Health Research, US National Institutes of Health.UK MRC, BHF, NIHR; US NIHThis is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30175-

Speech Communication

Contains table of contents for Part IV, table of contents for Section 1, an introduction, reports on seven research projects and a list of publications.C.J. Lebel FellowshipDennis Klatt Memorial FundNational Institutes of Health Grant T32-DC00005National Institutes of Health Grant R01-DC00075National Institutes of Health Grant F32-DC00015National Institutes of Health Grant R01-DC00266National Institutes of Health Grant P01-DC00361National Institutes of Health Grant R01-DC00776National Science Foundation Grant IRI 89-10561National Science Foundation Grant IRI 88-05680National Science Foundation Grant INT 90-2471