Adding Authenticity to Inquiry in a First-Year, Research-Based, Biology Laboratory Course.

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are an effective way to integrate research into an undergraduate science curriculum and extend research experiences to a large, diverse group of early-career students. We developed a biology CURE at the University of Miami (UM) called the UM Authentic Research Laboratories (UMARL), in which groups of first-year students investigated novel questions and conducted projects of their own design related to the research themes of the faculty instructors. Herein, we describe the implementation and student outcomes of this long-running CURE.

Āwhina Revolution: A Bayesian Analysis of Undergraduate and Postgraduate Completion Rates from a Program for Māori and Pacific Success in STEM Disciplines.

Māori and Pacific students generally do not attain the same levels of tertiary success as New Zealanders of European descent, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. Te Rōpū Āwhina (Āwhina), an equity initiative at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand between 1999 and 2015, aimed to produce Māori and Pacific professionals in STEM disciplines who contribute to Māori and Pacific community development and leadership. A hierarchical Bayesian approach was used to estimate posterior standardized completion rates for 3-year undergraduate and 2-year postgraduate degrees undertaken by non-Māori-Pacific and Māori-Pacific students.

Competency-based reforms of the undergraduate biology curriculum: integrating the physical and biological sciences.

The National Experiment in Undergraduate Science Education project funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a direct response to the Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians report, which urged a shift in premedical student preparation from a narrow list of specific course work to a more flexible curriculum that helps students develop broad scientific competencies. A consortium of four universities is working to create, pilot, and assess modular, competency-based curricular units that require students to use higher-order cognitive skills and reason across traditional disciplinary boundaries. Purdue University; the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and the University of Miami are each developing modules and case studies that integrate the biological, chemical, physical, and mathematical sciences.

Long head of the biceps tendon pain: differential diagnosis and treatment.

Unlabelled: Though the role of the long head of the biceps tendon (LHBT) in shoulder pathology has been extensively investigated, it remains controversial. Historically, there have been large shifts in opinions on LHBT function, ranging from being a vestigial structure to playing a critical role in shoulder stability. Today, despite incomplete understanding of its clinical or biomechanical involvement, most investigators would agree that LHBT pathology can be a significant cause of anterior shoulder pain.

Characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci for two species of phyllostomid bats from the Greater Antilles (Erophylla sezekorni and Macrotus waterhousii).

We developed 12 polymorphic microsatellite loci for the buffy flower bat (Erophylla sezekorni) and 10 loci for Waterhouse's big-eared bat (Macrotus waterhousii). In E. sezekorni, we tested 65 individuals from three islands, Cuba, Exuma, and Abaco.

AL-12182, a novel 11-oxa prostaglandin analog with topical ocular hypotensive activity in the monkey.

A series of 11-oxa prostaglandin analogs was evaluated for FP receptor binding and activation. Several compounds having aryloxy-terminated lower chains were found to be potent agonists. Topical ocular dosing of AL-12182, the isopropyl ester prodrug of the potent agonist 13, lowered intraocular pressure in the monkey by 40% accompanied by minimal conjunctival hyperemia in the rabbit.

Demography of the western harvest mouse, Reithrodontomys megalotis, in eastern Kansas.

Reithrodontomys megalotis was live-trapped on three open field grids in eastern Kansas from August 1979 to August 1982. One grid was a control on which normal demography was monitored, and two were experimental grids where periodic removal of residents allowed the investigation of the demographic and fitness consequences of emigration. Popullations on the control grid showed an annual cycle in numbers, reaching peaks in density during the winter of each year, falling to low densities during the summer.

The Influences of Conspecific and Heterospecific Residents on Colonization.

To determine if dispersing prairie voles, Microtus ochrogaster, are prevented from establishing home ranges in habitat already occupied by conspecifics or potentially competitive species, voles were introduced into enclosed populations of: the same species; southern bog lemmings, Synaptomys cooperi; cotton rats, Sigmodon hispidus; or an empty enclosure. The results indicated that colonization by dispersing voles was negatively affected by resident conspecifics. Introduced females were more strongly affected than males during the vegetative growing season but not during the nongrowing season when reproductive activity is typically low.

Are transferrin and leucine aminopeptidase electromorphs reliable genetic markers in the prairie vole, Microtus ochrogaster?

The reliability of TF and LAP electromorphs as genetic markers in Microtus ochrogaster was examined by taking 18 voles captured in the wild during the summer and subjecting them to winter conditions for one month. During this time voles were bled each week and their plasma scored for TF and LAP phenotypes using starch gel electrophoresis. There were no changes in the mobility of the TF and LAP electromorphs in the same animal when fresh samples were used for electrophoresis.

Demographic attributes of dispersing southern bog lemmings (Synaptomys cooperi) in eastern Kansas.

Demographic attributes of southern bog lemmings colonizing two removal grids were compared with those of residents on neighboring control grids over a two year period in eastern Kansas. There was a positive association between the number of lemmings colonizing the removal grids and density of the control grids. Overall, 41% of the losses from the two control grids was accounted for by dispersal.