A Model of How Different Biology Experts Explain Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms

Constructing explanations is an essential skill for all science learners. The goal of this project was to model the key components of expert explanation of molecular and cellular mechanisms. As such, we asked: What is an appropriate model of the components of explanation used by biology experts to explain molecular and cellular mechanisms? Do explanations made by experts from different biology subdisciplines at a university support the validity of this model? Guided by the modeling framework of R. S. Justi and J. K. Gilbert, the validity of an initial model was tested by asking seven biologists to explain a molecular mechanism of their choice. Data were collected from interviews, artifacts, and drawings, and then subjected to thematic analysis. We found that biologists explained the specific activities and organization of entities of the mechanism. In addition, they contextualized explanations according to their biological and social significance; integrated explanations with methods, instruments, and measurements; and used analogies and narrated stories. The derived methods, analogies, context, and how themes informed the development of our final MACH model of mechanistic explanations. Future research will test the potential of the MACH model as a guiding framework for instruction to enhance the quality of student explanations.     

Evaluation of Oxidative Stress and hsCRP in Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in a Tertiary Care Hospital

PCOS is a heterogeneous endocrine disorder with diverse clinical presentation. Oxidative stress plays a key role in the pathophysiology of this disease. Serumhigh sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), a marker of chronic low grade inflammation, is indicative of future development of cardiovascular disease. Our aim is to evaluate the oxidant status and hsCRP levels in PCOS. The study involved 61 cases and 61 controls in the age group of 18–40 years diagnosed with PCOS. Erythrocyte malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), serum hsCRP, gonadotrophins, thyroid stimulating hormone, prolactin, glycemic status and lipid profile were estimated. Erythrocyte MDA (p < 0.001), SOD (p = 0.007) and serum hsCRP (p < 0.001) were significantly elevated in PCOS patients than controls. Oxidative stress is present in women with PCOS along with elevated hsCRP.     

Association of Aberrations in One Carbon Metabolism with Intimal Medial Thickening in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

The present work was aimed to study the association of one carbon genetic variants, hyperhomocysteinemia and oxidative stress markers, i.e., serum nitrite, plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) on intimal medial thickening (IMT) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). A total number of 76 subjects from ACS Medical College and Hospital, Chennai, India were included in the study, i.e., Group I (n = 42) of T2D and Group II (n = 34) of age- and sex matched healthy controls. The glycated haemoglobin was measured by ion-exchange resin method; plasma homocysteine by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay method; serum nitrite (nitric oxide, NO), plasma MDA and GSH by spectrophotometric methods; the IMT by high frequency ultrasound. The polymorphisms of one carbon genetic variants were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism and amplified fragment length polymorphism methods. Results indicate that methyltetrahydrofolate homocysteine methyl transferase (MTR) A2756G allele was found to be protective in T2D and the other variants were not significantly associated with T2D. Glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCP II) C1561T (r = 0.34; p = 0.05) and methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T (r = 0.35; 0.04) showed positive correlation with plasma homocysteine in T2D cases. In this study, MTR A2756G allele was found to be protective in T2D; GCP II C1561T and MTHFR C677T showed positive association with plasma homocysteine in T2D cases. Among all the genetic variants, MTR A2756G was found influence IMT. RFC 1 G80A and TYMS 5′-UTR 2R3R showed synergistically interact with MTR A2756G in influencing increase in IMT.     

Advances in urinary protein biomarkers for urogenital and non-urogenital pathologies

The discovery of protein biomarkers that reflect the biological state of the body is of vital importance to disease management. Urine is an ideal source of biomarkers that provides a non-invasive approach to diagnosis, prognosis and prediction of diseases. Consequently, the study of the human urinary proteome has increased dramatically over the last 10 years, with many studies being published. This review focuses on urinary protein biomarkers that have shown potential, in initial studies, for diseases affecting the urogenital tract, specifically chronic kidney disease and prostate cancer, as well as other non-urogenital pathologies such as breast cancer, diabetes, atherosclerosis and osteoarthritis. PubMed was searched for peer-reviewed literature on the subject, published in the last 10 years. The keywords used were “urine, biomarker, protein, and/or prostate cancer/breast cancer/chronic kidney disease/diabetes/atherosclerosis/osteoarthritis”. Original studies on the subject, as well as a small number of reviews, were analysed including the strengths and weaknesses, and we summarized the performance of biomarkers that demonstrated potential. One of the biggest challenges found is that biomarkers are often shared by several pathologies so are not specific to one disease. Therefore, the trend is shifting towards implementing a panel of biomarkers, which may increase specificity. Although there have been many advances in urinary proteomics, these have not resulted in similar advancements in clinical practice due to high costs and the lack of large data sets. In order to translate these potential biomarkers to clinical practice, vigorous validation is needed, with input from industry or large collaborative studies.Key words: urine, protein, biomarker     

The study of systems and methods for scientometric analysis of scientific publications

This paper provides an overview of the methods and systems that are applied for scientometric analysis of scientific publications. Methods to identify promising research directions are described. The results of an experimental study aimed at determining the directions of scientific research within the subject area of “regenerative medicine” by using various methods are presented. Conclusions are made about the prospects and shortcomings of the applied methods. Directions for further research are proposed.     

Methods and means of intellectual planning: Implementation of the management of process control in the construction of an integrated expert system

The problems of intellectualization in the process development of integrated expert systems on the basis of the task-oriented methodology and the AT-TECHNOLOGY instrumental software complex are considered. The experience from carrying out intellectual planning for the synthesis of architectural layouts of prototypes in integrated expert systems, a usage-based intelligent scheduler, reusable components, typical project procedures, and other components of the intellectual software environment in the AT-TECHNOLOGY complex is described.     

The use of economic classifiers for the indexing of scientific publications

The experience from the application of the OKVED 2 economic classifier for indexing scientific publications is considered. More than 9500 articles on the subject of “Automation. Computer Engineering” in authoritative Russian magazines were the material for the study. Some means for the comparative analysis of economic statistics and results of the classification of scientific publications are shown.     

Peer review: still king in the digital age

The article presents one of the main findings of an international study of 4,000 academic researchers that examined how trustworthiness is determined in the digital environment when it comes to scholarly reading, citing, and publishing. The study shows that peer review is still the most trustworthy characteristic of all. There is, though, a common perception that open access journals are not peer reviewed or do not have proper peer‐review systems. Researchers appear to have moved inexorably from a print‐based system to a digital system, but it has not significantly changed the way they decide what to trust. They do not trust social media. Only a minority – although significantly mostly young and early career researchers – thought that social media are anything other than more appropriate to personal interactions and peripheral to their professional/academic lives. There are other significant differences, according to the age of the researcher. Thus, in regard to choosing an outlet for publication of their work, young researchers are much less concerned with the fact that it is peer reviewed.