Course Of Experiment Research Articles

Creating Edinburgh: diffracting interdisciplinary learning and teaching in the contemporary city

This article follows an experimental interdisciplinary undergraduate course in the busy, unpredictable space of the contemporary city. It locates practice-based research of interdisciplinary higher education in a dynamic learning environment, which is comprised of unpredictable connections between disciplinary perspectives. Following Karen Barad, the aim is to diffract interdisciplinary higher education in order to recognise and work with a multiplicity of meanings and experiences. This article explores an alternative to the dominant model of challenge-based learning in the interdisciplinary classroom. Creating Edinburgh: The Interdisciplinary City is an undergraduate elective offered by Edinburgh Futures Institute at the University of Edinburgh. It provides students with opportunities to explore the city of Edinburgh in small groups of students from a wide range of degree programmes. Groups are invited to engage with a selection of themed fieldwork topics throughout the 11 weeks of the course, visiting specific sites and responding to a series of tasks and questions. These include themes such as Sustainability, Decolonisation and Wildness, which are presented as interdisciplinary field topics to explore rather than problems to solve. This article develops a research methodology that sets out to travel with students as they navigate their way through the city during their weekly field trips. Combining first-hand autoethnographic accounts with walking interviews, it offers an insight into interdisciplinary learning and teaching in the expanded field of the contemporary city. Conceiving urban space as an assemblage of digital and non-digital objects, events and activities, members of the research team accompany students during their fieldwork, equipped with audio recorders, cameras and notebooks. The documents of these research journeys are then diffracted within a new materialist framework. The article concludes with questions and prompts for working with the agency and the affordances of a field-based education practice.

Efficient parameter estimation in biochemical pathways: Overcoming data limitations with constrained regularization and fuzzy inference

In analytical modeling for biochemical pathways, precisely determining unknown parameters is paramount. Traditional methods, reliant on experimental time course data, often encounter roadblocks — limited accessibility and variable quality — that can significantly impact the algorithm’s performance. In this study, we address these hurdles by unveiling a groundbreaking parameter estimation technique, Constrained Regularized Fuzzy Inferred Extended Kalman Filter (CRFIEKF). This innovative approach eliminates the need for experimental time-course measurements and capitalizes on the existing imprecise relationships among the molecules within the network. Our proposed framework integrates a Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) block to encapsulate these approximated relationships. To fine-tune the estimated parameter values, we employ Tikhonov regularization. The selection of Tikhonov regularization and Gaussian membership functions was based on the Mean Squared Error (MSE) values observed during the parameter estimation process, contrasting our results with those of previous studies.We rigorously tested the proposed approach across various pathways, from the glycolytic processes in mammalian erythrocytes and yeast cells to the intricate JAK/STAT and Ras signaling pathways. The results were impressive, showing a significant similarity (p-value < 0.001) to the outcomes of specific prior experiments. The dynamics of the biochemical networks normalized within the [0, 1] range mirrored the transient behavior (MSE < 0.5) of both in vivo and in silico results from previous studies. In conclusion, our findings highlight the effectiveness of CRFIEKF in estimating the kinetic parameter values without prior knowledge of experimental data within a biochemical pathway in the state-space model. The proposed method underscores its potential as a game-changer in biochemical pathway analysis.

Experimental Course Reform of Applied Chemistry Specialty Under the Background of "Double First-class" Construction

In recent years, with the continuous promotion of the "double first-class" construction project in China, it has pointed out the direction for the future development of most universities in China. In this process, colleges and universities can optimize and improve the content, method and system of courses according to the development objectives of the specialty by increasing the proportion of practical courses, combining the characteristics and advantages of the specialty of applied chemistry, so as to cultivate a group of high-quality, high-level and high-capacity applied chemistry professionals for the society.

Research on Teaching Reform of Chemistry Experimental Course under New Engineering Background

With the proposal of new engineering education concept, new challenges are posed to the teaching reform of chemical experiment course. This study aims to explore the teaching reform path of chemistry experiment course under the new engineering background, so as to improve the students' practical ability and innovation ability. As an important part of engineering education, the teaching objectives of chemistry experiment should be consistent with the new engineering education concept, and pay attention to cultivating students' ability to solve practical problems and teamwork spirit. At present, there are some problems in chemistry experiment teaching, such as outdated curriculum system, too theoretical experiment content, lack of combination with engineering practice, and low participation of students. These problems restrict the improvement of teaching quality, and can not meet the needs of new engineering education for talent training. Therefore, the primary task of the reform is to update the experimental curriculum system and integrate more experimental projects with engineering background and cutting-edge technology, in order to improve the practicality and challenge of the experiment. In terms of reform strategies, it is suggested to implement the "student-centered" teaching mode, and encourage students to take the initiative to explore and innovate through project-driven and problem-oriented teaching methods. At the same time, strengthen the integration of experimental teaching and theoretical teaching, so that students can deepen the understanding of theoretical knowledge in the experiment, and use theoretical knowledge to solve practical problems. In addition, the information level of experimental teaching should be improved, and virtual simulation and other technologies should be used to expand the space-time dimension of experimental teaching and improve the teaching effect. The change of the role of teachers is also the key. Teachers should change from the teacher of knowledge to the guide and collaborator of students' learning. By building an open and interactive classroom environment, stimulate students' interest in learning and innovative thinking. At the same time, the establishment of a diversified evaluation system, in addition to the investigation of students' experimental skills, but also should pay attention to the evaluation of their innovative thinking, teamwork and solving practical problems. To sum up, the teaching reform of chemistry experimental curriculum under the background of new engineering should focus on the update of curriculum content, the transformation of teaching mode, the integration of teaching resources and the reform of evaluation system. Through the implementation of these strategies, it aims to build an experimental teaching system that can not only meet the needs of new engineering education, but also cultivate high-quality chemical engineering talents. Such reform is of great significance to enhance the competitiveness of chemical engineering education in China.

The Application of Online and Offline Hybrid Mode in Pharmacology Laboratory Teaching: A Case Study of the &amp;quot;Insulin Overdose Response and Rescue Experiment&amp;quot;

Pharmacology, as a core course for Pharmaceutical Engineering students, is a basic medical course, which is usually composed of &amp;quot;theoretical courses&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;experimental courses&amp;quot;. Pharmacology experiments are a visual validation of the theoretical knowledge learned in the classroom. Through practical operation and observation of experimental results, we can have a deeper understanding of the concepts of drug mechanism of action, pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. In order to meet diversified learning needs, optimize the utilization of teaching resources, and promote independent learning and collaboration ability, online and offline blended teaching is the mainstream teaching mode in the &amp;quot;Internet+&amp;quot; era, which provides a suitable environment and starting point for the ideological and political construction of the curriculum and the practice of the goal of cultivating people with virtue. It is especially necessary to conduct online and offline teaching methods for pharmacology experiments. This article uses the example of &amp;quot;insulin overdose reaction and rescue experiment&amp;quot; to demonstrate the blended teaching mode of online and offline teaching. It attempts to start with the necessity of strengthening students&amp;apos; innovative practical ability cultivation in pharmacology experiment teaching, analyze the problems exposed in current pharmacology experiment teaching in detail, and propose optimization measures such as effectively integrating teaching resources, designing different experimental projects, innovating experiment teaching mode, and emphasizing students&amp;apos; innovative practice based on the mastered situation, in order to provide reference for the blended teaching mode of pharmacology experiment online and offline.

Tumor biology experimental course design based on the integration of molecular biology and metabolomics

Tumor biology experimental course design based on the integration of molecular biology and metabolomics

Experimental teaching reform of polymer molar mass determination using gel permeation chromatography coupled with light scattering

Gel permeation chromatography coupled with light scattering (GPC-LS) is among the most common methods for determining the molar masses of polymers. GPC-LS is widely used in polymer science research and has been adopted for many industrial applications owing to its high sensitivity, accuracy, and precision. The determination of polymer molar masses using GPC-LS is an important experimental component of the "Polymer Physics Experiments" course. However, the present GPC-LS experimental teaching content tends to be overly simplistic and lacking in depth. Herein, the original experimental content is expanded and multiple sets of experiments are redesigned: (1) Using commercial polystyrene as an experimental sample, the molar mass, molar mass distribution, radius of gyration, and other molecular structure parameters are determined using GPC-LS; (2) Using two polyacrylonitriles with similar molecular structure parameters, subtle differences in the molar mass distributions of the samples are explored using differential mass distribution curves; (3) By comparing the chromatograms of a series of polyethylene glycols with different molar masses, the effect of molar mass on chromatographic peaks is investigated; and (4) For three different polymers (polyacrylonitrile, poly(methyl methacrylate), and poly(β-cyclodextrin)), the polymer chain conformations are analyzed using conformation plots (i.e., radius of gyration vs. molar mass). In addition, the experimental teaching method is modified to convert passive learning into active learning, thereby improving the students' self-directed learning ability. This experimental teaching reform will help students obtain a more comprehensive understanding of GPC-LS principles and applications, stimulate their enthusiasm for learning, and improve the teaching quality of the experimental course.

MS. Power Point as a LMS Platform in Arabic Learning in Islamic Boarding School

This research is motivated by the condition of the COVID-19 pandemic, which requires learning to be carried out online or online. Thus forcing teachers to be creative in preparing learning tools that can be used online. From several commonly used learning media or devices such as the Whatsapp Group, there are still obstacles to be faced. The research entitled "Development of MS-Based Arabic Learning Management System (LMS). PowerPoint 365 at Islamic Boarding Schools" was implemented. This study aimed to produce a Microsoft PowerPoint 365-based Arabic Learning Management System (LMS) product on al mihnah (profession) material at Islamic boarding school-based MTs Salafiyah Syafi'iyah Proto. The resulting LMS is a good and effective product and improves students' Arabic language learning. This Learning Management System (LMS) develops using the Borg &amp; Gall model. The procedure for creating this LKS goes through the following stages: (1) the research and data collection stage, (2) the planning stage, (3) the initial product draft planning stage, (4) the expert validity testing stage, (5) the product revision stage, (6) dissemination, and implementation stages. Based on the results of the LMS validation, overall, it was declared valid with a total percentage of 78.66%. Based on the results of the student response questionnaire as a practicality test, a portion of 88.22 was obtained. At the same time, the results of the students' post-test got an average value of the control class of 64.38, while the average of the experimental course was 86.89. This shows that the LMS is effectively used. The results of the t-test on the post-test results manually yielded a t-value of 5.2. Using db = 73 and with a significance level of 5%, a t-table value of 1.992997 is obtained. This shows that there are differences between the classes being compared. While the test results using SPSS 16.0 obtained a significance level of 0.000, there are differences between the types being compared. From the two tests above, it can be concluded that there is an effect of using LMS on al mihnah (profession) material for class VIII MTs Salafiyah Syafi'iyah Proto which is based on Islamic boarding schools.

Design of microcomputer principle virtual experiment teaching platform and study on teaching mode

In view of the characteristics of "Microcomputer Principle and Interface Technology" experiment course, such as complex abstraction, easy damage of experimental instruments and poor reuse, this paper proposes to use virtual simulation technology to digitize the microcomputer principle experiment circuit and experiment process, so that students can complete the relevant experiment content on the virtual experiment platform. The virtual experiment platform provides students with an efficient, flexible, open and free experiment environment, enhances students' interest in experiment, improves experiment efficiency and experiment quality, and is of great help to improving students' independent innovation practice ability.

Increased metamemory accuracy with practice does not require practice with metamemory.

Given that learners do not always predict their future memory performance accurately, there is a need to better understand how metamemory accuracy can be improved. Prior research suggests that one way to improve is practice-participants tend to become better at predicting their future memory performance over the course of multi-trial learning experiments. However, it is currently unclear whether such improvements result from participants having practised making metamemory judgements or whether comparable improvements occur even in their absence. This issue was investigated in three multi-trial, cued recall experiments wherein participants either did or did not receive practice making judgements of learning. Metamemory accuracy increased across study blocks but did so equally for the two groups. These results indicate that increased metamemory accuracy with practice is not due to participants having practised explicit metamemory monitoring but instead due to other factors associated with multi-trial learning such as retrieval practice and the availability of prior test performance as a metamemory cue.

Background selection for camouflage shifts in accordance with color change in an intertidal prawn.

To maximize camouflage across visually heterogeneous habitats, animals have evolved a variety of strategies, including polyphenism, color change, and behavioral background matching. Despite the expected importance of behavioral processes for mediating camouflage, such as selection for matching substrates, behavior has received less attention than color traits themselves, and interactions between color change and behavior are largely unexplored. Here, we investigated behavioral background matching in green and red chameleon prawns (Hippolyte varians) over the course of a color change experiment. Prawns were housed on mismatching green and red seaweeds for 30 days and periodically given a choice test between the same seaweeds in y-choice trials over the experiment. We found that, as prawns change color and improve camouflage (to the perspective of a fish predator), there is a reinforcing shift in behavior. That is, as prawns shift from red to green color, or vice versa, their seaweed color preference follows this. We provide key empirical evidence that plasticity of appearance (color) is accompanied by a plastic shift in behavior (color preference) that reinforces camouflage in a color changing species on its natural substrate. Overall, our research highlights how short-term plasticity of behavior and longer-term color change act in tandem to maintain crypsis over time.

Energy Budget in Terms of ATP, ADP, AMP, and Energy Charge In The Osmoregulatory Tissues of Indian Major Carp Catla catla (Hamilton) Under Thermal-Stress And Thermal-Adaptation

The heat-adapted (32°C) Catla catla registered as increased level of ATP and energy charge with concomitant lower levels of ADP, and AMP when compared to cold-adapted (22°C) fishes. All the osmoregulatory tissues like the gill, kidney, and intestine indicate greater ATP turnover adaptation to higher temperatures. In order to differentiate thermal stress from thermal adaptation, the 22°C adapted were readapted to a temperature change of 22°C 32°C at the rate of 1°C/hour as in the case of stress and at the rate of l°C/ 60 hrs as in the case of adaptation During the time course of experiments there is a gradual stepping-up in the levels of ATP and energy charge and a gradual stepping-down in ADP and AMP in all tissues. Further, there is a complete filling-up process in ATP and values reached gradually the original level of these parameters of the control of 32°C adapted fishes. The heat-adapted fishes exhibited a fairly good amount of recovery ranging from 83% to 88% in these adenylate nucleotides. On the other hand, in the temperature-stressed fishes the adenylate nucleotides did not reach the control values and the filling processes with ATP could not be completed. Further, the % recovery in these parameters is far less 47 % to 57%, when compared to temperature adapted fishes. The continuous thermal-stress (1°C/hour) action upon this fish Catla catla resulted in stress-adaptation (adaptation resulted due to stress).

Dark Horse Didactics: Design Thinking in the Teaching of International Relations

Teaching International Relations (IR) today takes place in a challenging context. While the international community appears disoriented in formulating effective answers to the overall destabilization of the world of global affairs, students of IR may feel increasingly lost applying their heavily standardized grids of analysis to a confusing and ever-changing realm. In light of significant global challenges like global warming, opening up the syllabi to new and creative approaches seems overdue. In this paper, I provide in-depth observations of an alternative approach to teaching IR, based on the innovation method Design Thinking. The insights are based on two experimental seminar style courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Over the entire duration of the respective course, the students were invited to tackle specific international problems such as migration governance in the Mediterranean, making use of the full creative potential of Design Thinking tools. The hands-on character of the method helped translate complex social or political issues into tangible ones and inspired the students to enlarge their perspective. The positive outcomes in terms of both the quality of resulting work and active student participation show that creative methods, while not in and of themselves able nor sufficient to fully replace more established concepts of teaching IR, can and should play a greater role in encouraging a more hands-on approach to understanding the international context, in which we live.

Thinking on Improving the Teaching Quality of Chemical Engineering Specialty Experiment Course in Xinjiang Universities in the New Era

This paper focuses on the practical teaching of the traditional engineering major-chemical engineering and technology major.And taking the construction of the new engineering discipline as an opportunity, with the goal of cultivating applied talents, combined with the characteristics of chemical engineering and technology majors and students in Xinjiang universities, this paper put forward some thoughts on the improvement of experimental teaching quality of chemical engineering specialty.By introducing Ideal character teaching in All Courses, strictly controlling experimental teaching and assessment processes, and appropriately combining computer operations in the three aspects of teaching content, teaching process and assessment process, we can further consolidate teaching achievements, improve teaching quality, and cultivate applied talents with more Xinjiang characteristics.

The Exploration of the Quantitative Evaluation of Each Link of the University Physics Experiment

In the university physics experiment course, how to quantify and evaluate the teaching quality in each link is an important problem. As an online teaching platform, Yuclassroom provides a wealth of data and tools that can help teachers and students to conduct effective quantitative evaluation. By analyzing the students preview completion, classroom participation and other data, the teaching effect can be objectively evaluated to find out the advantages and disadvantages in teaching, so as to make targeted improvements. At the same time, these data can also be used to stimulate students learning enthusiasm and improve their learning effect.

Isolation and identification of primary cells: A comprehensive primary cell culture experiment for graduate students.

Experimental teaching is an important part of postgraduate training in basic and clinical medicine. While primary cell isolation and identification are among the most important research techniques for medical graduate students, most graduate students do not understand and master these techniques before starting their research experience. In particular, many students lack training in this field, and high-quality teaching and learning materials are still very sparse. Here, we designed a practical experiment course for graduate students engaged in research. The target students usually have research projects involving primary cell culture in their future research, making the course highly applicable for the students. The lab exercise focused on the methods of primary cell isolation (including mechanical grinding method, explant culture method and enzymatic digestion method) and identification (including flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, and periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining). It aimed to help students master the conceptual, principle, technical, operation, and analytical skills related to primary cell culture and contributed to their foundation for future research. Students generally reflect that they have initially mastered the isolation and identification of primary cell culture as a result of the course. Student feedback also indicates significantly increased confidence in the practical application of primary cell culture in the future. Here, we provide our experience for others who may want to implement similar courses.

Utilization of waste tires in the process of thermal cracking of vacuum gas oil

The process of thermal cracking of vacuum gas oil (VGO) with the addition of 10% tire crumb at a temperature of 500 °C and feed rate of 1 h- ¹ was studied. In the course of the study experiments were carried out, which showed that the introduction of tire crumb into the composition of VG promotes the acceleration of conversion of the heavy fraction of VG. Addition of 10% of tire crumb has a positive effect on the cracking process, which is expressed in the increase in the yield of diesel fraction by weight by 2%. Analysis of the material balance of the thermal cracking process of crushed tire crumb shows that under these conditions tire crumb was poorly subjected to thermal transformation. The yield of gasoline fraction and light gas oil fraction in the catalyst composition was only 1% and 7.4% by weight, respectively. The conversion of tire crumb into light fractions including gas oil reached 20.5%. Addition of 10% by weight of tire crumb to the composition of vacuum gas oil increases the yield of gasoline and diesel fractions (light gas oil fractions), while reducing the amount of heavy gas oil. The increase in the yield of diesel fraction is 4% by weight, and the total conversion of blended feedstock reaches 59.5%. Thus, the addition of tire crumb to the composition of vacuum gas oil practically does not affect the total conversion, but increases the yield of light gas oil. This allows us to conclude that the introduction of tire crumb contributes to a more efficient conversion of heavy fractions of vacuum gas oil. After hydrotreating process the obtained diesel and gasoline fractions can be successfully used as components of automotive fuels. Thus, the addition of tire crumb to the thermal cracking process of vacuum gas oil not only improves the conversion of heavy fractions, but also increases the yield of valuable products such as diesel fuel, which is important for the refining industry.

The cacao gene atlas: a transcriptome developmental atlas reveals highly tissue-specific and dynamically-regulated gene networks in Theobroma cacao L

BackgroundTheobroma cacao, the cocoa tree, is a tropical crop grown for its highly valuable cocoa solids and fat which are the basis of a 200-billion-dollar annual chocolate industry. However, the long generation time and difficulties associated with breeding a tropical tree crop have limited the progress of breeders to develop high-yielding disease-resistant varieties. Development of marker-assisted breeding methods for cacao requires discovery of genomic regions and specific alleles of genes encoding important traits of interest. To accelerate gene discovery, we developed a gene atlas composed of a large dataset of replicated transcriptomes with the long-term goal of progressing breeding towards developing high-yielding elite varieties of cacao.ResultsWe describe the creation of the Cacao Transcriptome Atlas, its global characterization and define sets of genes co-regulated in highly organ- and temporally-specific manners. RNAs were extracted and transcriptomes sequenced from 123 different tissues and stages of development representing major organs and developmental stages of the cacao lifecycle. In addition, several experimental treatments and time courses were performed to measure gene expression in tissues responding to biotic and abiotic stressors. Samples were collected in replicates (3–5) to enable statistical analysis of gene expression levels for a total of 390 transcriptomes. To promote wide use of these data, all raw sequencing data, expression read mapping matrices, scripts, and other information used to create the resource are freely available online. We verified our atlas by analyzing the expression of genes with known functions and expression patterns in Arabidopsis (ACT7, LEA19, AGL16, TIP13, LHY, MYB2) and found their expression profiles to be generally similar between both species. We also successfully identified tissue-specific genes at two thresholds in many tissue types represented and a set of genes highly conserved across all tissues.ConclusionThe Cacao Gene Atlas consists of a gene expression browser with graphical user interface and open access to raw sequencing data files as well as the unnormalized and CPM normalized read count data mapped to several cacao genomes. The gene atlas is a publicly available resource to allow rapid mining of cacao gene expression profiles. We hope this resource will be used to help accelerate the discovery of important genes for key cacao traits such as disease resistance and contribute to the breeding of elite varieties to help farmers increase yields.

Construction and Practice of First-Class Courses on Virtual Simulation Experimental Teaching of Urban Overpasses

Virtual simulation experiment, as a new way to promote the digital transformation of education, has a broad development prospect and application value. The civil engineering experimental volume and space are huge, it has a long construction period, is highly dangerous, and is difficult to experiment with. In order to solve the contradiction between the traditional theory teaching of civil engineering and the engineering training of students, the construction of virtual simulation experimental teaching courses with a high degree of realism, intuition, and accuracy can be used as a useful supplement and innovation of experimental and practical teaching. This paper takes the virtual simulation experimental teaching course of urban overpasses as an example, introduces the necessity and practicability of the course construction, and describes the experimental principle structure of the course, the simulation scene design, the experimental teaching process, the experimental method, etc. The course has achieved good application results, and it has been recognized as the first-class virtual simulation teaching course of the Chongqing Municipal Government, which provides certain references to the construction of the same type of courses in the civil engineering profession.

Exploration of Ideological and Political Education Reform in Courses under the Background of New Engineering Construction: Taking the Course of PLC Programmable Control and Experiment as an Example

Exploration of Ideological and Political Education Reform in Courses under the Background of New Engineering Construction: Taking the Course of PLC Programmable Control and Experiment as an Example