This is a photo essay linked to a New York Times story …
This is a photo essay linked to a New York Times story about climate-related stressors on forests -- including mountain pine beetles, forest fires, forest clearance, and ice storms -- and the importance of protecting forests as an important carbon sink.
Objectives Prospective registration of animal studies has been suggested as a new …
Objectives Prospective registration of animal studies has been suggested as a new measure to increase value and reduce waste in biomedical research. We sought to further explore and quantify animal researchers’ attitudes and preferences regarding animal study registries (ASRs). Design Cross-sectional online survey. Setting and participants We conducted a survey with three different samples representing animal researchers: i) corresponding authors from journals with high Eigenfactor, ii) a random Pubmed sample and iii) members of the CAMARADES network. Main outcome measures Perceived level of importance of different aspects of publication bias, the effect of ASRs on different aspects of research as well as the importance of different research types for being registered. Results The survey yielded responses from 413 animal researchers (response rate 7%). The respondents indicated, that some aspects of ASRs can increase administrative burden but could be outweighed by other aspects decreasing this burden. Animal researchers found it more important to register studies that involved animal species with higher levels of cognitive capabilities. The time frame for making registry entries publicly available revealed a strong heterogeneity among respondents, with the largest proportion voting for “access only after consent by the principal investigator” and the second largest proportion voting for “access immediately after registration”. Conclusions The fact that the more senior and experienced animal researchers participating in this survey clearly indicated the practical importance of publication bias and the importance of ASRs underscores the problem awareness across animal researchers and the willingness to actively engage in study registration if effective safeguards for the potential weaknesses of ASRs are put into place. To overcome the first-mover dilemma international consensus statements on how to deal with prospective registration of animal studies might be necessary for all relevant stakeholder groups including animal researchers, academic institutions, private companies, funders, regulatory agencies, and journals.
This is a laboratory based assignment that is for Introductory level geoscience …
This is a laboratory based assignment that is for Introductory level geoscience classes (Physical Geology, Historical Geology, Earth Science) that brings an authentic research experience to your students. In the assignment, students are asked to process and interpret screenwash from the 2004 Aurora Mastodont Project, and to contribute authentic research results to the ongoing post-dig analyses. Students then contribute their results to a database to compare theirs to their colleagues around the country. This is an ongoing and free exercise available by requesting samples of screenwash (details below). This is one of several exercises that I ask my Earth Science students to complete as an introduction to the nature of science and the geosciences, that I call GSI (GeoScience Investigations) which was presented as a poster during the 2013 GSA in Denver.
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Accumulating evidence indicates high risk of bias in preclinical animal research, questioning …
Accumulating evidence indicates high risk of bias in preclinical animal research, questioning the scientific validity and reproducibility of published research findings. Systematic reviews found low rates of reporting of measures against risks of bias in the published literature (e.g., randomization, blinding, sample size calculation) and a correlation between low reporting rates and inflated treatment effects. That most animal research undergoes peer review or ethical review would offer the possibility to detect risks of bias at an earlier stage, before the research has been conducted. For example, in Switzerland, animal experiments are licensed based on a detailed description of the study protocol and a harm–benefit analysis. We therefore screened applications for animal experiments submitted to Swiss authorities (n = 1,277) for the rates at which the use of seven basic measures against bias (allocation concealment, blinding, randomization, sample size calculation, inclusion/exclusion criteria, primary outcome variable, and statistical analysis plan) were described and compared them with the reporting rates of the same measures in a representative sub-sample of publications (n = 50) resulting from studies described in these applications. Measures against bias were described at very low rates, ranging on average from 2.4% for statistical analysis plan to 19% for primary outcome variable in applications for animal experiments, and from 0.0% for sample size calculation to 34% for statistical analysis plan in publications from these experiments. Calculating an internal validity score (IVS) based on the proportion of the seven measures against bias, we found a weak positive correlation between the IVS of applications and that of publications (Spearman’s rho = 0.34, p = 0.014), indicating that the rates of description of these measures in applications partly predict their rates of reporting in publications. These results indicate that the authorities licensing animal experiments are lacking important information about experimental conduct that determines the scientific validity of the findings, which may be critical for the weight attributed to the benefit of the research in the harm–benefit analysis. Similar to manuscripts getting accepted for publication despite poor reporting of measures against bias, applications for animal experiments may often be approved based on implicit confidence rather than explicit evidence of scientific rigor. Our findings shed serious doubt on the current authorization procedure for animal experiments, as well as the peer-review process for scientific publications, which in the long run may undermine the credibility of research. Developing existing authorization procedures that are already in place in many countries towards a preregistration system for animal research is one promising way to reform the system. This would not only benefit the scientific validity of findings from animal experiments but also help to avoid unnecessary harm to animals for inconclusive research.
OER | Biology Overview: On this webpage you will find OER Biology …
OER | Biology Overview:
On this webpage you will find OER Biology textbooks along with supplemental materials and a few lecture videos. The purpose of these discipline-specific webpages is to display content that might be of interest to faculty who are considering adopting open educational resources for use in their classes. This list of content is by no means exhaustive. The nature of open educational resources is very collaborative and it is in that spirit that we encourage any comments about the content featured on this page or recommendations of content that are not already listed here.
BI 101 is an introductory lab science course intended for majors in …
BI 101 is an introductory lab science course intended for majors in disciplines other than the biological sciences. This course is designed to help you discover the applications of science to your everyday life, as well as provide elements of critical thinking. This course has four Credit Units that emphasize a variety of topics including ecological principles, biodiversity, and impact of human activities on the environment.
Course Outcomes: 1. Discuss biological community interactions. 2. Explain how changes in human population and/or actions impact natural ecosystems. 3. Describe the movement of energy & nutrients through trophic levels. 4. Recognize the appropriate taxonomic level of an organism based on key characteristics or traits.
Syllabus and lab manual to accompany course using OpenStax Concepts of Biology …
Syllabus and lab manual to accompany course using OpenStax Concepts of Biology (https://openstax.org/details/books/concepts-biology).
Course description: Centers on concepts of unity of living organisms including evolution, biochemistry, cell biology (morphology and physiology), genetics and development.
This is an introductory lab science course intended for majors in disciplines …
This is an introductory lab science course intended for majors in disciplines other than the biological sciences. The topics presented include biological molecules, cellular biology, genetics and inheritance, biotechnology, and evolutionary processes. Additionally, the course is designed to help you discover the applications of science in your everyday life, as well as provide elements of critical thinking.
Course Outcomes: 1. Explain how natural selection drives evolution. 2. Express how changes in the genome can affect the phenotype or traits within a population. 3. Be able to describe the patterns of inheritance. 4. Be able describe selected key cell processes. 5. Distinguish between the groups of biomolecules.
Syllabus for Microbiology course at Clackamas Community College. Course Description: An introductory …
Syllabus for Microbiology course at Clackamas Community College.
Course Description: An introductory microbiology lab course required for health science and science majors. Includes characteristics, physiology and growth requirements of microorganisms, interactions between humans and microorganisms, immunology, infection, and principles of microbial control. This course emphasizes critical thinking and analytical skills in a collaborative laboratory environment.
Word Count: 12858 (Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by …
Word Count: 12858
(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)
The Syllabus for Bio. 013, Writing in the Sciences - Evolutionary Themes, …
The Syllabus for Bio. 013, Writing in the Sciences - Evolutionary Themes, is a College Writing 2 course that develops student skill in science writing for different audiences: Scientists writing for themselves (the Field journal); Scientists writing for other scientists (the Review article); and Scientists writing for students/ society ( an Essay for a periodical that utilizes analogy/metaphor). To inform this writing, students read and discuss Darwin's original works and the writings of more contemporary evolutionary theorists, including E. Mayr and S.J. Gould. This course is appropriate for incoming students as well as more advanced biology students.
This course is designed for students who want to learn about and …
This course is designed for students who want to learn about and appreciate basic biological topics while studying the smallest units of biology: molecules and cells.
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