Teaching bioethics in science: Does it make a difference?

Presents research that evaluated the extent to which a biotechnology course enabled female secondary students to develop the skills to analyze bioethical issues. The emergent significance of the study lies in the recognition of the value systems that underpin the ethical decision-making processes of teenage girls

Virtual teaching or virtually teaching? Does Internet-based teaching require multiple metaphors of mind?

At the time of writing the abstract of this paper, I (a teacher-researcher) am becoming increasingly mindful of the need to examine the epistemological standpoint governing my teaching role in an innovative Internet-based virtual learning environment. I have a growing concern about the epistemology governing the interactive learning activities of a postgraduate coursework unit for professional teachers learning at a distance. The 'constructivist' metaphor of mind ('knowing as thinking'), which shapes my pedagogy, might be marginalising unduly my teaching role. This is evidenced by my predominantly 'episodic' teaching actions in the Discussion Room (DR) of the Internet site; actions which involve writing fortnightly summative perspectives on learners' discursive activities. By modelling the absence of a dominating voice (or being silent) have I abandoned unwittingly the important teaching role of modelling the discursive practices that I value? Perhaps it might be fruitful to adopt an alternative metaphor ('knowing as co-participation') arising from a 'constructionist' epistemology in which mind is regarded as being distributed socially

Advances in genome-wide RNAi cellular screens: a case study using the Drosophila JAK/STAT pathway

BACKGROUND: Genome-scale RNA-interference (RNAi) screens are becoming ever more common gene discovery tools. However, whilst every screen identifies interacting genes, less attention has been given to how factors such as library design and post-screening bioinformatics may be effecting the data generated. RESULTS: Here we present a new genome-wide RNAi screen of the Drosophila JAK/STAT signalling pathway undertaken in the Sheffield RNAi Screening Facility (SRSF). This screen was carried out using a second-generation, computationally optimised dsRNA library and analysed using current methods and bioinformatic tools. To examine advances in RNAi screening technology, we compare this screen to a biologically very similar screen undertaken in 2005 with a first-generation library. Both screens used the same cell line, reporters and experimental design, with the SRSF screen identifying 42 putative regulators of JAK/STAT signalling, 22 of which verified in a secondary screen and 16 verified with an independent probe design. Following reanalysis of the original screen data, comparisons of the two gene lists allows us to make estimates of false discovery rates in the SRSF data and to conduct an assessment of off-target effects (OTEs) associated with both libraries. We discuss the differences and similarities between the resulting data sets and examine the relative improvements in gene discovery protocols. CONCLUSIONS: Our work represents one of the first direct comparisons between first- and second-generation libraries and shows that modern library designs together with methodological advances have had a significant influence on genome-scale RNAi screens

Arcs, braids and webs: Exploring constructed narratives in a web-based distance education unit

Different media tell their tales in different ways. Interactive educational sites on the World Wide Web combine some of the linearity of text with the dialogical nature of a conversation. In such an unfamiliar context, metaphors and narratives tend to be used by both the students and tutors in the unit to make sense of their learning experiences. Such narratives are to some extent imposed by the constraints and potentials of the medium, and to some extent by the values and choices of the web developer, but they are also co-constructed throughout the unit by the interactions and negotiations of the tutors and students. I wish to explore, using several different metaphors, my own narrative intentions as the unit developer, and the intersections and renegotiations of that narrative with those co-constructed with my co-tutor and with the students. I will suggest that the most useful unit of analysis and evaluation for such a project is not the learning of the individual, nor even a dyadic relationship (although these are an important part of the unit), but the story - recognising always that stories are constructed rather than found

Role of inertia in two-dimensional deformation and breakup of a droplet

We investigate by Lattice Boltzmann methods the effect of inertia on the deformation and break-up of a two-dimensional fluid droplet surrounded by fluid of equal viscosity (in a confined geometry) whose shear rate is increased very slowly. We give evidence that in two dimensions inertia is {\em necessary} for break-up, so that at zero Reynolds number the droplet deforms indefinitely without breaking. We identify two different routes to breakup via two-lobed and three-lobed structures respectively, and give evidence for a sharp transition between these routes as parameters are varied.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Deformation of the Planetary Orbits Caused by the Time Dependent Gravitational Potential in the Universe

In the paper are studied the deformations of the planetary orbits caused by the time dependent gravitational potential in the universe. It is shown that the orbits are not axially symmetric and the time dependent potential does not cause perihelion precession. It is found a simple formula for the change of the orbit period caused by the time dependent gravitational potential and it is tested for two binary pulsars.Comment: 7 page

On a biphononic origin of the 1125 cm^(-1) absorption band in cuprous oxide

We report on the IR spectroscopic studies in both reflection (50-900 cm^{-1}) and transmission (900-3000 cm^{-1}) mode of the vibration spectrum of the cuprous oxide. A detailed analysis based on a comparison of the temperature dependences of the absorption band at 1125 cm^{-1} and of IR and Raman active fundamental vibrations results in assignment of the former to a biphonon.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures (to appear in Phys.Lett. A

Electron transport in armchair single-wall carbon nanotubes

The rates of electron scattering via phonons in the armchair single-wall carbon nanotubes were calculated by using the improved scattering theory within the tight-binding approximation. Therefore, the problem connected with the discrepancy of the scattering rates calculated in the framework of the classical scattering theory and ones predicted by experimental data was clarified. Then these results were used for the solving of the kinetic Boltzmann equation to describe electron transport properties of the nanotubes. The equation was solved numerically by using both the finite difference approach and the Monte Carlo simulation procedure.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Physica E: Low-Dim. Syst. Nanost

Effects of Electron-Electron and Electron-Phonon Interactions in Weakly Disordered Conductors and Heterostuctures

We investigate quantum corrections to the conductivity due to the interference of electron-electron (electron-phonon) scattering and elastic electron scattering in weakly disordered conductors. The electron-electron interaction results in a negative $T^2 \ln T$-correction in a 3D conductor. In a quasi-two-dimensional conductor, $d < v_F/T$ ($d$ is the thickness, $v_F$ is the Fermi velocity), with 3D electron spectrum this correction is linear in temperature and differs from that for 2D electrons (G. Zala et. al., Phys. Rev.B {\bf 64}, 214204 (2001)) by a numerical factor. In a quasi-one-dimensional conductor, temperature-dependent correction is proportional to $T^2$. The electron interaction via exchange of virtual phonons also gives $T^2$-correction. The contribution of thermal phonons interacting with electrons via the screened deformation potential results in $T^4$-term and via unscreened deformation potential results in $T^2$-term. The interference contributions dominate over pure electron-phonon scattering in a wide temperature range, which extends with increasing disorder.Comment: 6 pages, 2figure

Three-body halos. V. Computations of continuum spectra for Borromean nuclei

We solve the coordinate space Faddeev equations in the continuum. We employ hyperspherical coordinates and provide analytical expressions allowing easy computation of the effective potentials at distances much larger than the ranges of the interactions where only s-waves in the different Jacobi coordinates couple. Realistic computations are carried out for the Borromean halo nuclei 6He (n+n+\alpha) for J\pi = 0+-, 1+-, 2+- and 11Li (n+n+9Li) for (1/2)+-, (3/2)+-, (5/2)+-. Ground state properties, strength functions, Coulomb dissociation cross sections, phase shifts, complex S-matrix poles are computed and compared to available experimental data. We find enhancements of the strength functions at low energies and a number of low-lying S-matrix poles.Comment: 35 pages, 14 figure