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 birth of a child involves many big transitions, but one of these changes occurs inside the child, who transitions from the sterile womb to an outside environment full of microbes. While this has lasting effects on growth, inflammation, and immunity, remarkably little is known about how gut bacteria and viruses are acquired by infants. Recently, researchers used next-generation sequencing to evaluate microbes from the guts of 28 pairs of twins and their mothers. They found that the majority of the infant’s gut bacteria were similar to their mother’s gut bacteria. Viruses were less similar, suggesting they might be transmitted through other routes. Twins also shared more of their gut microbiota with each other, emphasizing the strong effect of environmental exposure, and mode of delivery had very little effect on how much of the infants’ gut microbiome was inherited from their mothers..."

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:

"Crohn’s disease is an incredibly painful inflammatory bowel disease that frequently reoccurs after treatment. The growth of a certain type of abdominal fat has been associated with Crohn's disease recurrence. This fat, called mesenteric adipose tissue, is tucked up against the membrane connecting the intestines to the abdominal wall. Microbes can escape the intestines in Crohn's disease and may affect the mesenteric fat. Recently, researchers explored this relationship by investigating the mesenteric microbiome of patients with Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s disease patients had distinct mesenteric microbiomes, host gene expression patterns, and metabolites compared to controls. To explore the specifics, the researchers isolated bacterial strains from the mesenteric microbiome of these patients. In a mouse model of colitis, introducing a mixture of five of the isolated bacterial strains made disease symptoms worse. One of these strains, _A..."

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

Bacteria often get a bad rap, but they’re some of our best partners in science and medicine! In this episode, we’ll explore what bacteria are doing with their DNA — including how they can trade it around. We’ll learn about chromosomes and plasmids, gene expression and recombinant DNA, and how E. coli are used to make insulin.
Chapters:
Introduction: The Microbiome
Prokaryotes & DNA
Plasmids & Horizontal Gene Transfer
Insulin
Gene Expression
Dr. Rebecca Lancefield
Review & Credits
Credits

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:

"Our microbiomes are in continuous exchange with the microorganisms living in our indoor environments. In hospitals, this interaction may play a critical role in hospital-acquired infections and the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. However, the bacterial colonization dynamics in newly opened hospitals are poorly understood. In a recent study, researchers used a longitudinal metagenomic approach to characterize this process in a newly occupied hospital ward. Sequencing data showed that the taxonomic succession was site-specific and led to stable community structures after only a few weeks. This fast colonization process was characterized by a significant increase in the bacterial biomass and its alpha-diversity. The bacterial composition of the environment could also be linked to exchanges with patient microbiota. They did not detect a rise in pathogenic bacteria during the 30-week study, but the number of antibiotic resistance genes found on the hospital floor increased over time..."

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:

"Microbes are all around us. With around the same number of bacteria as cells in each human body, our microbiomes are constantly interacting with microbes in the surrounding environment. And indoor environmental microbes can influence our health, affecting allergies, asthma, and other health conditions. To better characterize indoor microbial communities, researchers conducted an environmental assessment as part of an epidemiologic study of 50 elementary schools in a large city in the United States. They identified more than 2,000 bacterial species in floor dust collected from 500 classrooms. The most abundant bacterial phyla were Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, and interestingly, the genus Halospirulina was reported for the first time in a classroom sample. Outdoor-associated and gram-negative bacteria were more abundant in classroom floor dust compared to homes, where human-associated and gram-positive bacteria are more abundant..."

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:

"Infectious microbes don’t stop at the hospital door upon admission. Hospital surfaces serve as a reservoir of microbial life that may colonize patients, resulting in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The most vulnerable are critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), where HAIs represent the leading cause of death. Unfortunately, little is known about how the microbiome of the ICU is established or how it is influenced over time. A new study took advantage of a unique opportunity to examine the evolution of the ICU microbiome. Researchers examined microbes isolated from ICU surfaces before, during, and after hospital renovations closed the unit. Using DNA sequencing, they found that the greatest bacterial diversity existed before ICU closure..."

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:

"In ecology research, population density is an important metric for community analysis studies. Yet even though microbiomes are small ecosystems, microbiome studies rarely report the bacterial density. To evaluate the significance of bacterial density in gut microbiome research, a recent retrospective study examined rectal swabs from hospitalized patients. The authors found that bacterial density had important methodologic significance, as it predicted vulnerability to sequencing contamination. Specifically, low-bacterial-density specimens had higher levels of sequencing contamination. Clinical factors like age, exposure to antibiotics, and comorbidities also varied with bacterial density. Older patients and those with multiple co-morbidities had high bacterial density, while antibiotic exposure correlated with low density. Lastly, bacterial density showed potential as a prognostic indicator, as the density at time of admission correlated with subsequent infection..."

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:

"Trees support so much life on Earth – but one important component might easily be overlooked. The phyllosphere – the aerial surfaces of plants, including leaves – is a microbial habitat for diverse microorganisms. Phyllosphere bacteria play key roles in plant health, human health, and ecosystem function, but unfortunately, not much is known about how plants and their associated microbes influence each other. A recent study evaluated this relationship in a diverse neotropical forest. Using shotgun metagenomics, researchers found that the metabolic functions of phyllosphere microbes varied based on their tree hosts. While overall there was low variability in plant-associated microbes, suggesting that certain microbes form a “core microbiota” for neotropical trees, bacterial metabolism and membrane transport functions varied between plant species..."

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

The next time you are in the kitchen, try this experiment: pick up a box of butter (four sticks) in one hand and a box of saltines (four packets) in the other. Which is heavier? If you said the butter, you are not alone. Most people would identify the box of butter as the heavier object even though, if you look at the labels, you'll see that they both weigh exactly one pound! This is an example of the size-weight illusion, and it is incredibly common. Read more to see the evolution (and baseball) connection ...

Beginning January 2014, Psychological Science gave authors the opportunity to signal open data and materials if they qualified for badges that accompanied published articles. Before badges, less than 3% of Psychological Science articles reported open data. After badges, 23% reported open data, with an accelerating trend; 39% reported open data in the first half of 2015, an increase of more than an order of magnitude from baseline. There was no change over time in the low rates of data sharing among comparison journals. Moreover, reporting openness does not guarantee openness. When badges were earned, reportedly available data were more likely to be actually available, correct, usable, and complete than when badges were not earned. Open materials also increased to a weaker degree, and there was more variability among comparison journals. Badges are simple, effective signals to promote open practices and improve preservation of data and materials by using independent repositories.

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:

"Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia in the aged population. The key feature of AD is the deposition of two different kinds of protein aggregates in the brain, and at the point of aggregate formation, treatment becomes difficult. A recent study focused on how to prevent the aggregation of one protein: the microtubule-associated protein Tau, which forms neurofibrillary tangles. Following up on research indicating that polyphenolic compounds can serve as neuroprotective agents, researchers analyzed the ability of the polyphenol Baicalein to inhibit the aggregation of Tau. In vitro, Baicalein blocked Tau aggregation and paired helical filament dissolution via an oligomer capture and dissociation mechanism. It also dissolved preformed mature fibrils of Tau, creating Tau oligomers, with no effect on the viability of neuronal cells..."

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 transcription factor Nrf2 plays paradoxical roles in cancer biology. Transient Nrf2 activation can protect against cancer development, but permanent Nrf2 activation promotes progression and treatment resistance. Persistent activation can be triggered by Keap1-inactivating mutations that cause Nrf2 nuclear accumulation and/or by mutations in the ETGE and DLG motifs of Nrf2, which are important regions for Nrf2–Keap1 interaction. Epigenetic silencing of Keap1 and disruption of the Nrf2–Keap1 interaction by other proteins can also aberrantly activate Nrf2. Given the detrimental effects of excessive activation, pharmacologically balancing Nrf2 activity is a promising avenue for cancer treatment. Numerous Nrf2 activators have been discovered or developed, such as the synthetic compound oltipraz (OPZ) and the plant-derived compound curcumin (CUR). In general, Nrf2 activators can promote the functions of antioxidants, phase II detoxification factors, and transducers..."

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

In forested areas, students are often intrigued by mysterious sticks covered in carved tunnels–but students often think the patterns were made by human artists or termites. After students complete this activity, they’ll have the skills to identify bark beetle galleries, to make explanations about the patterns of beetle galleries, and to interpret what these tracks tell us about the life history of the organisms that made them.

In an optional discussion, students can consider outbreak levels of bark beetles that cause the death of many trees, make arguments based on evidence about possible effects on ecosystems, then brainstorm and critique possible management strategies. An optional extension for investigating student questions about bark beetles is also included.

Students utilize the historical imagery function in Google Earth to determine the position of a barrier island on two different images collected in 1995 and 2013; they also compare to different topographic maps, one created in 1994 and the other in 2011. They use the measure tool in Google Earth to determine how far the island has migrated. They then calculate the migration rate, how far it would migrate in a give time period, and how long it would take to migrate a given distance. Finally, students navigate to a variety of locations to identify coastal landforms.

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This document includes two activities related to earthquake base isolation. Learners explore earthquake hazards and damage to buildings by constructing model buildings and subjecting the buildings to ground vibration (shaking similar to earthquake vibrations) on a small shake table. Base isolation a powerful tool for earthquake engineering. It is meant to enable a building to survive a potentially devastating seismic impact through a proper initial design or subsequent modifications. The buildings are constructed by two- or three-person learner teams.

(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 baseflow recession exercise will help students build skills in analyzing time series data in a spreadsheet. It should also open their eyes to the variation in streamflow, both at a single location over a year, and between locations across the US. Data have been gathered from 6 locations across the US. Each student is tasked with characterizing streamflow decline (baseflow recession) after precipitation events.

Index terms: hydrology, streamflow, baseflow recession

(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.)

A grasp of the logic and practice of science is essential to understand the rest of the world around us. To that end, the CMB4e iText (like earlier editions) remains focused on experimental support for what we know about cell and molecular biology, and on showing students the relationship of cell structure and function. Rather than trying to be a comprehensive reference book, CMB4e selectively details investigative questions, methods and experiments that lead to our understanding of cell biology. This focus is nowhere more obvious than in the chapter learning objectives and in external links to supplementary material. The Basic CMB3e version of the iText includes links to external web-sources as well as the author’s short, just-in-time YouTube VOPs (with edited, optional closed captions), all embedded in or near relevant text. Each video is identified with a descriptive title and video play and QR bar codes.

Cells are the fundamental unit of all living things. Cells are composed of a variety of organelles that underlie the structure and function of the cell. In this experience we will complete a brief overview of cell theory and look at the basics of how we study cells.StandardsBIO.A.1.2.2 Describe and interpret relationships between structure and function at various levels of biological organization (i.e., organelles, cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, and multicellular organisms).