Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Professor Donald Kennedy, Bing Professor of Environmental Science at Stanford University. Professor Kennedy offers his reflections on research and teaching in the biological sciences. He analyzes the challenges he faced as President of Stanford and talks about his present role as Editor-in-Chief of Science magazine. He also explores the evolution of relations between government and science. (57 minutes)

Geographer Michael Watts, the Director of the UC Berkeley's Institute of International Studies, talks about his personal and political evolution as a researcher and scholar of internationalism and modernity. (62 min)

In this edition, historian Ruth Rosen talks with UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler about the evolution of the women's movement and its impact on future generations of women. (55 min)

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Coral reefs are known to partner with a number of organisms for survival. including nitrogen-fixing microbes known as diazotrophs. A new study examined how these and other microbes vary among corals of different species and from different parts of the world— namely, Hawai’i, Curaçao, and Australia. The microbial makeup of the coral microbiome was found to vary with coral species, location, and ecological life history. For example, while diazotrophs of the order Rhizobiales were common to all coral microbiomes, they were 8 times as abundant in corals from Hawai’i than in corals from Curaçao or Australia. Interestingly, however, the factor contributing to the biggest differences in community structure was coral shape. Plate-like, branching, and solitary corals, for instance, showed communities that were genetically distinct from boulder-like corals. These findings confirm the known effects of coral shape and size on attributes such as light and food capture, gas exchange, and metabolism..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene approach to sequencing genetic material has revolutionized microbiome science. But it isn’t perfect. The method relies on the assumption that counts of rRNA genes translate into microbial abundance. Exceptions to that rule, however, are known, such as the observation that rRNA gene counts can be higher in fast-growing microbes. Now, researchers report a new relationship between rRNA genes and cell volume that could help correct for biases inherent to microbiome studies. An analysis of previously reported data showed that the number of 16S or 18S RNA genes per cell follows an allometric power law of cell volume. Applying this relationship to a dataset for bacteria found in intertidal rocks allowed for more accurate biovolume and cell count distributions to be estimated for all taxa detected. The development of more comprehensive cell-size databases could help strengthen the bias-correcting relationship and boost the power of current microbiome analyses..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This video from NASA features the Cosmic Origin Spectrograph (COS), which allows scientists to use spectrographic analysis to assess the composition of intergalactic material.

This course provides an overview of astrophysical cosmology with emphasis on the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation, galaxies and related phenomena at high redshift, and cosmic structure formation. Additional topics include cosmic inflation, nucleosynthesis and baryosynthesis, quasar (QSO) absorption lines, and gamma-ray bursts. Some background in general relativity is assumed.

In this video excerpt from NOVA, find out how whole genome sequencing saved the life of Alexis, a fraternal twin who was originally diagnosed with cerebral palsy but, in fact, had an even rarer genetic condition.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive, treatment-resistant liver cancer. One factor associated with poor prognosis in patients with HCC and other cancers is elevated levels of the enzyme WIP1. WIP1 removes phosphate groups from other proteins and is involved in many potentially pathogenic processes. Researchers recently explored WIP1 as a target for HCC treatment. In both patient databases and cell culture experiments, WIP1 was consistently elevated in HCC cells compared to normal liver cells. Further experiments revealed that inhibiting WIP1 slowed cancer progression by increasing DNA damage in cancerous cells, thus killing them. With less WIP1 available, more of the key homologous recombination repair protein H2AX was phosphorylated and impaired, allowing damage to accumulate in HCC cells. Cells from cancers with impaired homologous recombination repair, like breast cancer, can be killed by inhibiting another enzyme, PARP..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Glioblastoma is a highly malignant and frequently occurring tumor of the central nervous system. Recurrences are extremely common and often resist chemotherapy and radiotherapy, so new treatment options are needed. Immune checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapies successful in treating other types of cancer have been tried, but glioblastoma has resisted them. An effective therapeutic strategy must account for 3 things: glioblastoma's ability to evade immune system surveillance; its location behind the blood-brain barrier, which generally shields it from chemical compounds; and its inherent resistance due to its mutations and the variety of cells it contains. A tumor vaccination approach, which targets innate features of glioblastoma cells, has shown some promise. Vaccines based on peptides, cells, DNA, and mRNA have been developed. Unfortunately, few trials have reached phase III, because most patients with recurrent glioblastoma are very ill..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. While radiation therapy can be powerful against NSCLC, lung cancer cells may develop resistance. A new study traces this “radioresistance” to a protein that interacts with estrogen receptor ERβ. ERβ is known to alter the radiation sensitivity of certain breast cancer cells. So researchers wondered: Might ERβ might do the same in cells affected by NSCLC? To find out, they blasted lab-grown cells with gamma rays and tracked ERβ’s behavior. Results showed that radiation indirectly activated ERβ-based defenses through the protein CLPTM1L. CLPTM1L is abnormally expressed in the cytoplasm of many human lung cancer cells, especially in cells affected by NSCLC. A closer look revealed that radiation caused CLPTM1L to migrate to the nucleus of cancer cells, where it gained direct access to ERβ’s genetic machinery and its ability to induce radioresistance..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

These materials are for use with the Openstax Biology 2e textbook. I have included a schedule and guided notes for each chapter to aid in student reading. The attached documents are all word documents so they can be changed as desired. In addition to the Biology 2e textbook, I did use some modules from simbio (DNA explored, Mitosis, Meiosis, and Cell Respiration) these also appear in the notes. If you have questions I welcome you to contact me. 

This Course Review and Approval Tool (CRAT) is the “workbook” that faculty use to design and plan their course with best practice in mind that addresses: curricular alignment with objectives, learning activities, practice assignments and quizzes, and higher-stakes assessments. The 10-tabbed spreadsheet is a digital multitool that centralizes and aggregates the entire course development, review, and approval processes. This tool is used to plan the course prior to its build in the Learning Management System (LMS) as part of an eight-module LMS-based support course that steps faculty through the process and gives them a learner-based perspective on how the tools work together and the features available to them for use in their own courses.

In addition to facilitating communication with multiple stakeholders who may share the document, the process MODELS a self- and peer-reviewed authentic assessment strategy that adapts itself well to any curriculum, whether for training, orientation, or credit-bearing coursework. It supports and models features of an intersection of agile design, backward design, and reflective practice in addition to encouraging authentic and formative assessment strategies. Providing all necessary documents in one easily accessed and bookmarkable document facilitates the process of course development by providing both a model and a touchstone for faculty who are often overwhelmed with the complexity of the process of developing or redeveloping courses regardless of delivery modality. While most of our faculty came to the program because of requirements for online or hybrid learning, most have exclaimed happily that they now apply this process to all of their courses and their learners have shown appreciation for the clarity and consistency that the tool promotes and supports.

The document also includes a dynamic link to future updates for anyone who adopts it and wants to follow its evolution. Feel free to adapt!

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Genetics can affect many aspects of human health, in part by influencing the composition of the gut microbiome. The associations between genetic variants and individual microbial taxa are often investigated with genome-wide association studies (GWASs). However, typical GWASs have low statistical power, because they require extensive multiple testing and can’t account for inherent data structure. To help solve this problem, researchers recently developed a new approach: a covariate-adjusted kernel RV (KRV) framework. This framework compares pairwise similarity in genetic profiles to pairwise similarity in microbial profiles therefore reducing the multiple testing burden without obscuring the data structure. In simulation studies, the KRV framework had greater statistical power than other microbiome GWAS approaches in a range of scenarios..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

The goal of this class was to explore the natural history of the southern part of the Cascade Range in Oregon. We discussed the complex geologic setting of the range and focused primarily on volcanic features, geologic history and landscape evolution. Adaptation of organisms to desert, alpine and forest habitats were investigated, as well as the spatial and temporal factors that influenced plant species distribution. We spent most of our time exploring Crater Lake National Park and Newberry Volcano National Monument during this immersive field experience..

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Once the lecture on anatomy, classification and evolution are covered students then complete the "create a cladogram activity." Students are given a bag of nails, screws, and bolts which they must seperate and make observations about the characters of each item. Student then must determine the important derived characters and generate a matrix and cladogram. Students then must compare their cladograms with other groups to see how results varied and why results varied. This activity gives studnets proactive with the procedure of generating cladograms and some of its complexities.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

This lesson plan engages students in constructing a simple DNA model using everyday objects like licorice, gummy candies, and toothpicks. By creating a hands-on representation of the DNA double helix, students will learn about the basic structure and function of DNA, including the concepts of base pairing and genetic coding. The activity fosters creativity, and problem-solving skills while making complex biological concepts accessible and fun.  

This webinar will demonstrate how to create more complex queries by combining the PDBe search API with numerous other calls. By introducing specific case studies, we will highlight the scope of PDBe programmatic access.

This webinar is part of a 6-part PDBe API webinar series, introducing different levels of programmatic access at PDBe.The series will range from basic data retrieval and search using the PDBe API to more advanced features, including access and reuse of PDBe data visualisation components.

Who is this course for?
This webinar is open to anyone who is interested in learning about the programmatic access of PDBe.

Outcomes
By the end of the webinar you will be able to:

Create complex queries by combining the PDBe search API with numerous other calls

Here in the Dunn lab, siphonophores are our favorite animal and the focus of much of our research. Dr. Phil Pugh is a good friend of the lab, and he also happens to have described more new species of siphonophores than anyone who has ever lived. In the video below, he describes what it’s like to come across a siphonophore in the deep sea with a submarine. What looks like one long body in this video is actually a free-swimming colony of clones — many genetically identical bodies that are all attached. But each body in the group isn’t just like its neighbor. They each do a specific job for the colony. Some individuals will swim, some will catch food, and some will reproduce.

Sophia Tintori and Cassandra Extavour talk about the evolution and development of multicellular organisms, and in particular the specialization of reproductive cells.