ROLE OF NATURAL SCIENTIFIC PRACTICE IN FOREST EDUCATION

The work demonstrates the possibilities of this type of study in the field of organizing the research activities of students on the example of a laboratory workshop on the mechanics of liquid and gas. In addition, the obtained by the students in the course of the usual laboratory work, result expands the general understanding of modeling the processes of thermal expansion of incompressible matter.

COVID-19 Pandemic Once Again Exposes the Weakest Link in Laboratory Services: Specimen Delivery

Objective Reorganization of the emergency department (ED) during the COVID-19 pandemic implied closure of the ED-dedicated laboratory and manual transport of all specimens to the dislocated central laboratory. The impact of such reorganization on laboratory turnaround time (TAT) was examined. Methods The TAT from blood sampling to specimen reception (TAT1), from specimen reception to test reporting (TAT2), and from sampling to test reporting (TAT3) were compared between the pandemic peak month in 2020 and the same month in 2019. We evaluated whether TAT2 fulfills the recommended 60-minute criteria. Results A statistically significant difference was observed for all comparisons (P <.001), with TAT1 prominently contributing to TAT3 prolongation (from 48 minutes to 108 minutes) and exceeding the recommended 60-minute criteria. The TAT2 was extended from 33 minutes to 49 minutes. Conclusion An ED reorganization compromised the usual laboratory services for patients in the ED, with manual specimen delivery being the main cause for TAT prolongation.

Development of research integrity in France is on the rise: the introduction of research integrity officers was a progress

Background Implementing responsible conduct of research and monitoring bad practices requires time and tact. In France, it was in 2015 that the wishes of those in charge of research proposed the appointment of research integrity officers (RIOs) in all universities, national higher education schools, and research institutions. Our objectives were to search for information to describe the RI development and to analyze the RIOs’ profiles. Methods The OFIS (Office Français de l’Intégrité Scientifique) website lists all public research institutions and universities (RIUs) and their designated RIOs. During the period between 6 and 14 October 2018, and on 2 May 2019 (updating), we entered two keywords (“plagiat” and “intégrité”) into the search engines on the RIU homepages and retrieved the relevant information (including “research” and “scientific” integrity when “intégrité” was entered). We consulted the governance and downloaded the organigram to determine whether the RIO positions and names were mentioned. We searched for the domains of expertise, sex, and age of the RIOs from their CVs (institutional websites), LinkedIn profiles, and various Google links. Results The OFIS website lists 142 RIUs. Searching for the keyword “plagiarism” retrieved 25 RIUs; however, the web information was minimal, and consisted entirely of charters, interviews, and rare training modules. The keyword “integrity” turned up 23 RIUs. Nonetheless, there was little information available beyond notices for seminars, events, and a few training modules. Of the total 142 RIUs, 66.2% (n = 94) had named 96 RIOs. Furthermore, 29.2% RIOs (n = 28) were female and 70.8% (n = 68) were male; 38 RIOs were retired (> 65 years old) 58 were active (< 65 years old), and had a RIO function added to their usual laboratory activities. Conclusion There is a lack of information about RI on the websites of French universities and research organizations, which may reflect a lack of information and commitment in the institutions themselves.

Reconstruction of the Human Heart Functional Structure Based On a Few-Channel Magnetocardiogram

The new method of magnetocardiography data analysis is proposed. The method is based on the Fourier transform of prolonged time series and on the massive inverse problem solution for all spectral components. Magnetocardiograms (MCG) were registered in the plane above the subject’s chest in the nodes of the “rectangular” (6×6) grid with the step 40 mm at usual laboratory conditions without any additional magnetic shielding. The 9-channel MCG-system “MAG-SCAN-09” with dc-SQUID-based axial second order gradiometers was used. The MCG-recording was performed in four positions of investigated subjects under the instrument to get all 36 MCGs. For each of four positions of the MCG-recording the partial functional tomogram was calculated, which is the spatial distribution of elementary magnetic dipoles, observed in this position. The complete functional tomogram of the thorax was obtained by the summation of four partial functional tomograms, containing the data about the same object, observed from various positions. Filtering and contrasting of the complete functional tomogram made it possible to extract the 3D-object, representing the functional structure of the heart. The method was used for five subjects and provided consistent results. It is possible to use this method in cardiography, because the functional tomogram contains all measured information about individual heart.

Time-Dependent Variations in Structure of Sheep Wool Irradiated by Electron Beam

Wool scoured in tap water with no special degreasing and containing a balanced humidity responding to usual laboratory conditions was irradiated by accelerated electron beam in the range of 0–350 kGy dose. Time variations of the wool structure were measured using FTIR, Raman, and EPR spectroscopy. The aim was to determine whether preexposure treatment of the wool, as well as postexposure time, affects the properties of the irradiated wool. Reactive products such as S-sulfonate, cystine monoxide, cystine dioxide, cysteic acid, disulphides, and carboxylates displayed a considerable fluctuation in quantity depending on both the absorbed dose and time. Mutual transformations of S-oxidized products into cysteic acid appeared to be faster than those in dry and degreased wool assuming that the present humidity inside the fibres is decisive as an oxygen source. EPR results indicated a longer lifetime for free radicals induced by lower doses compared with the radicals generated by higher ones. The pattern of the conformational composition of the secondary structure (α-helix, β-sheet, random, and residual conformations) also showed a large variability depending on absorbed dose as well as postexposure time. The most stable secondary structure was observed in nonirradiated wool but even this showed a small but observable change after a longer time, too.

Pseudomonas Biofilms, Cystic Fibrosis, and Phage: a Silver Lining?

ABSTRACT In contrast to usual laboratory conditions, most bacteria in the human body grow in biofilms. Encased in a structured matrix, many pathogens display heightened resistance to antibiotics. Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients represent a prime example of the clinical challenges that antibiotic resistance in biofilms can represent. In the March 6, 2012 issue of mBio, Colin Hill and his colleagues report on experiments that add to the evidence that Pseudomonas phages are a potential treatment option for these infections.

Fairness in the Mail and Opportunism in the Internet: A Newspaper Experiment on Ultimatum Bargaining

On 11 May 2001, readers of the Berliner Zeitung were invited to participate in an ultimatum bargaining experiment played in the strategy vector mode: each participant chooses not only how much (s)he demands of the DM1,000 pie but also which of the nine possible offers of DM100, 200,y, 900 (s)he would accept or reject. In addition, participants were asked to predict the most frequent type of behavior. Three randomly selected proposer-responder pairs were rewarded according to the rules of ultimatum bargaining and three randomly chosen participants of those who predicted the most frequent type of behavior received a prize of DM500. Decisions could be submitted by mail, fax or via the internet. Behavior is described, statistically analyzed and compared to the usual laboratory ultimatum bargaining results.

Enhanced Amplified Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Direct Test for Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosisComplex in Positive BACTEC 12B Broth Cultures of Respiratory Specimens

The reliability of the Gen-Probe enhanced Amplified Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Direct Test (MTD) for identification ofMycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) in BACTEC 12B broth cultures of respiratory specimens was evaluated by testing aliquots from 268 bottles with a growth index of ≥50. MTD results were compared to those obtained by usual laboratory protocol, whereby MTBC was identified by DNA probe (Gen-Probe, Inc.) testing sediment from broth samples or colonies on a solid medium. For the first 134 cultures, from which 68 mycobacterial isolates (including 27 MTBC isolates) were recovered, both fresh and frozen aliquots were tested. MTD results for the frozen aliquots agreed with the identification by usual protocol in all cases, whereas there was one false-negative MTD result with fresh aliquots. For the remaining 134 cultures, only frozen aliquots were tested. Of the total 268 broth cultures (from 210 patients) evaluated, 137 (51.1%) grew mycobacteria, including 60 MTBC isolates. All 60 isolates were MTD positive, as was one additional culture that grew Mycobacterium gordonae. The latter culture was from a patient who was diagnosed with tuberculosis a few months earlier and was on therapy; therefore, the MTD result was considered a true positive. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of MTD were 100%. The mean times from specimen receipt to identification of MTBC were 15 (±1) days (range, 4 to 27 days) for BACTEC plus MTD and 19 (±1) days (range, 6 to 36 days) for the usual protocol (P < 0.001). These data indicate that the MTD is a rapid, reliable method for identification of MTBC in fresh or frozen aliquots of broth from positive BACTEC 12B cultures of respiratory specimens.

Detection of subtle phenotypes: The case of the cell adhesion molecule csA inDictyostelium

Dictyosteliumamoebae aggregate into a multicellular organism by cAMP-driven chemotaxis and cell–cell adhesion. Cell adhesion is mediated by an EDTA-sensitive and an EDTA-resistant adhesion system. The latter is developmentally regulated and triggered by homophilic interactions of the membrane glycoprotein csA; on disruption of the encoding gene, EDTA-resistant contacts fail to form. Nevertheless, csA-null cells under usual laboratory conditions aggregate normally and complete development. By using experimental conditions that reproduce more closely the habitat ofDictyosteliumamoebae, evidence is provided that csA is required for development and that its expression confers a selective advantage to populations of wild-type cells over csA-null mutants. The latter display reduced cell–cell adhesion, increased adhesiveness to the substratum, and slower motility, which lead to their sorting out from aggregating wild-type cells. It is proposed that the experimental conditions commonly used in the laboratory are not stringent enough to assess the developmental role of csA and other proteins. The assay described can be used to detect subtle phenotypes, to reexamine the developmental role of apparently nonessential genes, and to test the validity of recent models on emergence and maintenance of apparent genetic redundancy.

Aeromonas hydrophila Adenylyl Cyclase 2: a New Class of Adenylyl Cyclases with Thermophilic Properties and Sequence Similarities to Proteins from Hyperthermophilic Archaebacteria

ABSTRACT Complementation of an Escherichia coli cya mutant with a genomic library from Aeromonas hydrophila allowed isolation of clones containing two different cya genes. Whereas one of these genes (cyaA) coded for an adenylyl cyclase (AC1) belonging to the previously described class I adenylyl cyclases (ACs), the second one (cyaB) coded for a protein (AC2) that did not match any previously characterized protein when compared to protein sequence databases. In particular, it did not align with any of members of the three known classes of ACs. The purified AC2 enzyme exhibited remarkable biochemical characteristics, namely, an optimum activity at a high temperature (65°C) and at an alkalinic pH (9.5). In order to investigate the functions of both cyclases inA. hydrophila, each gene was inactivated in the chromosome and the resulting mutant strains were examined for physiological alterations. It was shown that, in contrast to cyaA, thecyaB gene was not expressed under usual laboratory growth conditions. However, introduction of a plasmid harboring thecyaB gene in a cyaA mutant, as well as in acyaA cyaB mutant, allowed cyclic AMP production. AC2 is the first member of a new class of previously unrecognized ACs, and to date, no functional counterpart has been demonstrated in other organisms. However, scanning databases revealed a significant similarity between AC2 and the gene product of three hyperthermophilic archaebacteria: Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum,Archaeglobus fulgidus, and Methanococcus jannaschii. The possibility of a gene transfer between such phylogenetically divergent bacteria is discussed.