Single cell proteins: a new source of animal feeds

In the light of predictions of future protein shortages the non-agricultural routes to protein production have become an industrial reality. These routes are based on the continuous fermentation of micro-organisms to produce single cell proteins. Seen as only a long-term possibility a few years ago, many commercial enterprises now have successful SCP production facilities, while research and development in this field continues at a rapid pace.     

Emotional Competence and its Influences on Teaching and Learning

This article provides an interdisciplinary review of theory and research linking aspects of emotional competence to learning and school-related outcomes across childhood. Drawing upon work in developmental psychology, educational psychology, and teacher education, this review also discusses the role of teachers in socializing students’ emotions and considers the strategies and the challenges they face in regulating their own emotions in the classroom context. Future directions for research in this area are proposed.     

Problem Interpretation and Resolution via Visual Stimuli: The Use of ‘Mood Boards’ in Design Education

This paper defines and discusses ‘mood boards’– those assemblages of images and, less frequently, objects, which are used to assist analysis, creativity and idea development in design activity. There is need for discussion since little published information currently exists to guide students and tutors. The paper proposes that mood boards can assist problem finding as well as problem solving. Primarily, mood boards provide a mechanism for students and practising designers to respond to perceptions about the brief, the problem as it emerges and the ideas as they develop. The construction of mood boards potentially stimulates the perception and interpretation of more ephemeral phenomena such as colour, texture, form, image and status. They are, like Debono's lateral thinking techniques, partly responses to an inner dialogue and partly provocation to become engaged in such a dialogue. Examples are drawn from recent work in the field of industrial design at Loughborough University.     

Protracted Intrusive Research in Schools: why us?

A case study of a lengthy and potentially disruptive experimental research project is used to examine ways in which the interests of researchers and schools may be reconciled. Attention is drawn particularly to the importance of joint recognition of the legitimacy of both sets of objectives. The pivotal role of a research assistant/teacher in facilitating sensitive and flexible responses to problems confronting both the research project and the school is discussed. Unexpected social benefits to the school arising from our implementation of the research assistant/teacher role are described.     

A Probability Matching Approach to Further Education/Higher Education Transition in Scotland

As part of the impetus to increase and widen participation in the UK, and in Scotland in particular, there has been considerable effort put into creating links between Further Education Colleges (FECs) and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). However, because no unique identifier is used to track students between the two sectors, little is known in quantitative terms of the nature of this progression. In this article using substantial datasets, and an approach known as Probability Matching, we are able to provide novel data on the proportions of Scottish domiciled former FEC students within Scottish HEIs, and are able to compare the characteristics of this subset of all students with the whole cohort within HE in a given year, 1999–2000.     

Discovering Expert Perspectives on Dispositions and Remediation: A Qualitative Study

The authors used a qualitative approach to discover the perceptions of 19 experts on dispositions and remediation for counseling students. Analysis revealed 4 dispositional domains related to context, severity, amenability to change, and cultural sensitivity. Counselor educators should consider dispositions at admission and examine their program’s ability to remediate severe tenacious dispositions.     

The Pendulum as a Vehicle for Transitioning from Classical to Quantum Physics: History,Quantum Concepts,and Educational Challenges

In this article we use the pendulum as the vehicle for discussing thetransition from classical to quantum physics. Since student knowledgeof the classical pendulum can be generalized to all harmonic oscillators,we propose that a quantum analysis of the pendulum can leadstudents into the unanticipated consequences of quantum phenomenaat the atomic level. We intend to illustrate how classical deterministicphysical ideas are replaced by a point of view that contains bothdeterministic and probabilistic aspects. For example, the wave functioncontains probabilistic information but it evolves in time according toa fixed law, the Schrodinger equation. Discussion of the transition fromclassical to quantum thinking is historically grounded in the work oftwentieth-century physicists who developed quantum ideas. We seeapplication to current science in areas such as semiconductors, optics,GPS systems, and superconductivity. Our notion is that ascientifically-literatepublic should have a sense of the broad, conceptual schemes in modernphysics, as well as those associated with classical physics. We discusseducational challenges and strategies connected to including quantum theoryin a general education physics course. Our work would have otherapplications in college and secondary school settings.     

Reducing the oxidative stress mediates the cardioprotection of bicyclol against ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats

Objective

To investigate the beneficial effect of bicyclol on rat hearts subjected to ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injuries and its possible mechanism.

Methods

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were intragastrically administered with bicyclol (25, 50 or 100 mg/(kg·d)) for 3 d. Myocardial IR was produced by occlusion of the coronary artery for 1 h and reperfusion for 3 h. Left ventricular hemodynamics was continuously monitored. At the end of reperfusion, myocardial infarct was measured by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining, and serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level and myocardial superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were determined by spectrophotometry. Isolated ventricular myocytes from adult rats were exposed to 60 min anoxia and 30 min reoxygenation to simulate IR injuries. After reperfusion, cell viability was determined with trypan blue; reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potential of the cardiomyocytes were measured with the fluorescent probe. The mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening induced by Ca²⁺ (200 μmol/L) was measured with the absorbance at 520 nm in the isolated myocardial mitochondria.

Results

Low dose of bicyclol (25 mg/(kg·d)) had no significant improving effect on all cardiac parameters, whereas pretreatment with high bicyclol markedly reduced the myocardial infarct and improved the left ventricular contractility in the myocardium exposed to IR (P<0.05). Medium dose of bicyclol (50 mg/(kg·d)) markedly improved the myocardial contractility, left ventricular myocyte viability, and SOD activity, as well decreased infarct size, serum LDH level, ROS production, and mitochondrial membrane potential in rat myocardium exposed to IR. The reduction of ventricular myocyte viability in IR group was inhibited by pretreatment with 50 and 100 mg/(kg·d) bicyclol (P<0.05 vs. IR), but not by 25 mg/(kg·d) bicyclol. The opening of mPTP evoked by Ca²⁺ was significantly inhibited by medium bicyclol.

Conclusions

Bicyclol exerts cardioprotection against IR injury, at least, via reducing oxidative stress and its subsequent mPTP opening.