Motivation, belonging, and inclusion are all critical factors for student success but can be difficult to support in asynchronous online courses. Active learning and required group work have been shown to increase student motivation in in-person and synchronous online courses, but little is known about their impact in online asynchronous settings.…

Metals enable numerous physiological processes ranging from respiration to nitrogen fixation. However, the role of metals in biology and biocatalysis is not appreciated by the general public. This lack of knowledge around biological metals can lead to misinformation, especially regarding vaccines and health products. Here, we present a series of…

In this article, the authors consider the possibility that groups could be different, because of the different conditions of a factor. This is as far as the analysis can extend: the consideration is restricted to groups characterized by the different category of the factor being considered. In many biological experiments, the factor considered may…

Gas exchange in animals is ultimately diffusion based, generally occurring across dedicated respiratory organs. In many aquatic amphibians, however, multiple modes of gas exchange exist, allowing for the partitioning of O[subscript 2] uptake and CO[subscript 2] excretion between respiratory organs with different efficiencies. For example, due to…

This final article in the authors' series draws together some of the ideas they have addressed, and suggests important "ingredients" that make a paper palatable to the reviewer and the reader. These ingredients include: (1) Describe the methods; (2) Plan the analysis; (3) Design the study; (4) Use the correct experimental unit; and (5)…

Temperature and other environmental stressors are known to affect blood pressure and heart rate. In this activity, students perform the cold pressor test, demonstrating increased blood pressure during a 1- to 2-min immersion of one hand in ice water. The cold pressor test is used clinically to evaluate autonomic and left ventricular function. This…

This practical paper describes a novel fluorescence imaging experiment to study the three processes of photochemistry, fluorescence and thermal energy dissipation, which compete during the dissipation of excitation energy in photosynthesis. The technique represents a non-invasive tool for revealing and understanding the spatial heterogeneity in…

An educational device was created to develop a hands-on activity to illustrate how atherosclerosis can dramatically reduce blood flow in human vessels. The device was conceived, designed, and built at the University of Coimbra, in response to a request from the Exploratorio Infante D. Henrique Science Centre Museum, where it is presently…

Multidisciplinary cooperation in health care requires a solid knowledge in the basic sciences for a common ground of communication. In speech pathology, these fundamentals improve the accuracy of descriptive diagnoses and support the development of new therapeutic techniques and strategies. The aim of this study is to briefly discuss the benefits…

Numerous models have been constructed to aid teaching respiratory mechanics. A simple model using a syringe and a water-filled bottle has been described by Thomas Sherman to explain inspiration and expiration. The elastic recoil of the chest wall and lungs has been described using a coat hanger or by using rods and rubber bands. A more complex…

Organ blood flow is determined by perfusion pressure and vasomotor tone in the resistance vessels of the organ. Local factors that regulate vasomotor tone include myogenic and metabolic autoregulation, flow-mediated and conducted responses, and vasoactive substances released from red blood cells. The relative importance of each of these factors…

A physical model was used in a laboratory exercise to teach students about countercurrent exchange mechanisms. Countercurrent exchange is the transport of heat or chemicals between fluids moving in opposite directions separated by a permeable barrier (such as blood within adjacent blood vessels flowing in opposite directions). Greater exchange of…

It is challenging for biomedical engineering programs to incorporate an indepth study of the systemic interdependence of cells, tissues, and organs into the rigorous mathematical curriculum that is the cornerstone of engineering education. To be sure, many biomedical engineering programs require their students to enroll in anatomy and physiology…

The experiment used [to the third power]H-labeled estradiol to determine the binding constant of estradiol to bovine serum albumin. Estradiol must complex with serum proteins for the transport in the blood stream because of its low solubility in aqueous systems and estradiol-protein binding constant, where K[subscript B] is important to understand…

This paper describes an easy experiment to study the absorption and action spectrum of photosynthesis, as well as the inhibition by heat, high light intensity and the presence of the herbicide 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU) on the photosynthetic process. The method involves measuring the chlorophyll fluorescence emitted by intact…