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Biomedicine is credited with many achievements, including the increased longevity and enhanced quality of life of those of us fortunate enough to live in the early twenty-first century. In the [...]

Background: Speech and language therapists (SLTs) contribute to communication with adults with learning disabilities by providing training to the networks that support them. The requirements for successful communication with this population are frequently complex and necessitate an effective training medium to transfer the target knowledge and skills. Video has increasingly been used as a tool to facilitate self-reflection and behaviour change. Currently, there is limited research into the effectiveness of video-based training in education settings for adults with learning disabilities. Therefore, this study investigated the effectiveness of video reflection training (VRT) for support staff in a college for adults with learning disabilities. Materials and Method: Ten staff members with diverse skill sets completed three VRT sessions aimed at improving their use of communication strategies. Training evaluation measures were taken before and after VRT and included use of communication strategies, self-efficacy, training pre-conceptions and training experience. Results: Overall, the majority of staff made gains either in their use of communication strategies or in their self-efficacy ratings. Yet, study limitations restrict conclusions regarding whether VRT itself caused these outcomes. Interpretation revealed five factors relating to the effectiveness of VRT: tailoring training to staff's pre-existing skills, practising facilitation techniques, providing acceptable training, increasing self-reflection skills and using video as a reflection tool. Conclusions: Regardless of the limitations, this study provides findings that VRT is a useful tool for training support staff to use client-centred communication skills in an education setting. Future training programmes should be individualised and tailored to staff depending on their skill sets.

Biodiesel is an important alternative fuel synthesized by the trans-esterification of vegetable oils, animal fats, and recycled greases. In this experiment, students prepared biodiesel through the base-catalyzed trans-esterification of several vegetable oils, which were subsequently analyzed in comparison with conventional petroleum-based fuels to assess their physical properties and to obtain a thermochemical profile. The experiment as described here could be employed by university faculty as a project in a major's level laboratory course, but we envision the ideal fit to be a module within an advanced or integrated laboratory course. Students completing the project gain valuable experience in chemical synthesis and in extensive product characterization and analysis. This project reinforces critical skills in isolation of pure products from complex mixtures and in the careful preparation of samples for chemical analysis. Finally, students are afforded the opportunity to compare theoretical predictions from chemical modeling in combination with GC-MS analysis with the practical results gained by performing bomb calorimetry.

Studies of the olfactory epithelium model system have demonstrated that production of neurons is regulated by negative feedback. Previously, we showed that a locally produced signal, the TGFβ superfamily ligand GDF11, regulates the genesis of olfactory receptor neurons by inhibiting proliferation of the immediate neuronal precursors (INPs) that give rise to them. GDF11 is antagonized by follistatin (FST), which is also produced locally. Here, we show that Fst(-/-) mice exhibit dramatically decreased neurogenesis, a phenotype that can only be partially explained by increased GDF11 activity. Instead, a second FST-binding factor, activin βB (ACTβB), inhibits neurogenesis by a distinct mechanism: whereas GDF11 inhibits expansion of INPs, ACTβB inhibits expansion of stem and early progenitor cells. We present data supporting the concept that these latter cells, previously considered two distinct types, constitute a dynamic stem/progenitor population in which individual cells alternate expression of Sox2 and/or Ascl1. In addition, we demonstrate that interplay between ACTβB and GDF11 determines whether stem/progenitor cells adopt a glial versus neuronal fate. Altogether, the data indicate that the transition between stem cells and committed progenitors is neither sharp nor irreversible and that GDF11, ACTβB and FST are crucial components of a circuit that controls both total cell number and the ratio of neuronal versus glial cells in this system. Thus, our findings demonstrate a close connection between the signals involved in the control of tissue size and those that regulate the proportions of different cell types.

Conservation agriculture is often assumed to reduce soil N2O emissions. Yet, studies analyzing the specific effect of conservation agriculture practices on N2O emissions give contradictory results. Herein, we synthesized a comprehensive database on the three main conservation agriculture practices (cover crops, diversified crop rotations, and no-till and/or reduced tillage (NT/RT)) to elucidate the role of conservation practices on N2O emissions. Further, we used a random meta-forest approach to identify the most important predictors of the effects of these practices on soil N2O emissions. Averaged across all comparisons, NT/RT significantly decreased soil N2O emissions by 11% (95% CI: –19 to –1%) compared to conventional tillage. The reductions due to NT/RT were more commonly observed in humid climates and in soils with an initial carbon content < 20 g kg–1. The implementation of cover crops and diversified crop rotations led to variable effects on soil N2O emissions. Cover crops were more likely to reduce soil N2O emissions at neutral soil pH, and in soils with intermediate carbon (~20 g kg–1) and nitrogen (~3 g kg–1) contents. Diversified crop rotations tended to increase soil N2O emissions in temperate regions and neutral to alkaline soils. Our results provide a comprehensive predictive framework to understand the conditions in which the adoption of various conservation agriculture practices can contribute to climate change mitigation. Combining these results with a similar mechanistic understanding of conservation agriculture impacts on ecosystem services and crop production will pave the way for a wider adoption globally of these management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the olfactory epithelium (OE), generation of new neurons by neuronal progenitors is inhibited by a signal from neurons themselves. Here we provide evidence that this feedback inhibitory signal is growth and differentiation factor 11 (GDF11). Both GDF11 and its receptors are expressed by OE neurons and progenitors, and GDF11 inhibits OE neurogenesis in vitro by inducing p27(Kip1) and reversible cell cycle arrest in progenitors. Mice lacking functional GDF11 have more progenitors and neurons in the OE, whereas mice lacking follistatin, a GDF11 antagonist, show dramatically decreased neurogenesis. This negative autoregulatory action of GDF11 is strikingly like that of its homolog, GDF8/myostatin, in skeletal muscle, suggesting that similar strategies establish and maintain proper cell number during neural and muscular development.