Alan J. Cann

Analysis of the virus population present in equine faeces indicates the presence of hundreds of uncharacterized virus genomes.

Virus DNA was isolated from horse faeces and cloned in a sequence-independent fashion. 268 clones were sequenced and 178140 nucleotides of sequence obtained. Statistical analysis suggests the library contains 17560 distinct clones derived from up to 233 different virus genomes. TBLASTX analysis showed that 32% of the clones had significant identity to GenBank entries. Of these 63% were viral; 20% bacterial; 7% archaeal; 6% eukarya; and 5% were related to mobile genetic elements. Fifty-two percent of the virus identities were with Siphoviridae; 26% unclassified phages; 17% Myoviridae; 4% Podoviridae; and one clone (2%) was a vertebrate Orthopoxvirus. Genes coding for predicted virus structural proteins, proteases, glycosidases and nucleic acid-binding proteins were common.

Reflection on-line or off-line: the role of learning technologies in encouraging students to reflect

This paper presents case studies that describe the experiences of the two authors in trying to use learning technologies to facilitate reflective thinking in their students. At the University of Leicester, a Web-based biology tutorial called ‘How Now Mad Cow’, which covers the topics of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and a new variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (nvCJD). At the University of Southampton, a web-based hyper-mail discussion list to support teaching on a first year psychosocial science module for occupational therapy and physiotherapy students has been established. In both examples, the tutors had attempted to create a learning environment that would engage students in the learning experience and facilitate reflection by helping them to create meaning from the learning experience and see things in a different way. The evaluation data from both case studies provides some evidence that the learning technologies helped to facilitate reflection for some students. However, the evidence for reflection is not overwhelming and the data provides some evidence that four key factors may have influenced how successful the use of learning technologies were in facilitating reflection. These factors are the way the learning technology is used, the nature of the student groups, the role of the tutor and student preferences for ‘off-line reflection’. These are discussed and ways forward are identified.

Molecular Determinants of the V3 Loop of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Glycoprotein gp120 Responsible for Controlling Cell Tropism

We and others have identified the major determinant of cell tropism in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) as the V3 loop of glycoprotein gp120. We have conducted a detailed study of two molecularly cloned isolates of HIV-1, HIVJR-CSF and HIVNL4-3, that differ in their tropism for immortalized CD4+ cell lines, by constructing a series of site-directed mutations within the V3 loop of HIVJR-CSF based on the sequence of HIVNL4-3. The phenotypes of these mutants fall into two classes, those which are viable and those which are not. A spontaneous mutant with significantly altered growth properties was also recovered and found to have an additional single amino acid change in the V3 loop sequence. The carboxy-terminal beta-strand part of the V3 loop is the major determinant of cell tropism. However, the results presented here indicate that the functional role of the V3 loop sequences can only be interpreted properly in the context of the original gp120 backbone from which they were derived. These findings show that over-simplistic interpretation of sequence data derived from unknown mixtures of HIV variants in infected persons may be highly misleading.

e-Learning versus e-Teaching: Seeing the Pedagogic Wood for the Technological Trees.

Abstract Most Virtual Learning Environments are designed to be simple to use by staff and students alike. We report a case study where this feature has led academic staff to reject formal centralised training and teach themselves how to use the system. What has resulted is widespread use of the system but with poor pedagogic development, leading primarily to an electronic document repository rather than an online learning tool which makes full use of the potential of the full suite of available tools. We describe what steps can be taken to avoid or remedy this problem.

Seeing Eye-to-Eye? Staff and Student Views on Feedback

Abstract Feedback on academic performance is of critical importance to students’ learning, and in their perception of the quality of instruction they receive. Here we report the outcomes of a study comparing the views and expectations of first year biological science undergraduate students and academic staff regarding feedback provision and utilisation. The results indicate that while students and staff are generally satisfied with the feedback process, there are some tensions generated by perceived differences in desired academic outcomes. In particular, these tensions focus on perceptions of inconsistency in the feedback processes and in the use made of feedback to inform future practice.

New poliovirus vaccines: a molecular approach☆

This article summarizes recent work on the determinants of antigenicity in poliovirus type 3 and reports on experiments in progress aimed at understanding the molecular basis of attenuation in Sabins type 3 vaccines. Ways in which this new information might be used to produce alternative, safe, inexpensive, multivalent vaccines against polio and other enteroviruses are discussed.

Engaging students with audio feedback

Abstract Students express widespread dissatisfaction with academic feedback. Teaching staff perceive a frequent lack of student engagement with written feedback, much of which goes uncollected or unread. Published evidence shows that audio feedback is highly acceptable to students but is underused. This paper explores methods to produce and deliver audio feedback to a range of students engaged in a variety of academic tasks with the aim of maximising student engagement while working towards a framework which could increase the use of audio feedback by teaching staff.

Assessing the accessibility of online learning

A wide range of tools is now available to enable teaching practitioners to create web‐based educational materials from PowerPoint presentations, adding a variety of different digital media, such as audio and animation. The pilot study described in this paper compared three different systems for producing multimedia presentations from existing PowerPoint files. The resulting resources were tested by a group of disabled students and a group of non‐disabled students. Our findings show that there were statistically significant differences between the two groups in relation to their interaction with the resources. In particular, the students with disabilities were significantly more active in using the available controls to customise the running of the presentations. The data suggest that future work on why students with accessibility issues made different uses of these resources could encourage practitioners’ deployment of multimedia resources for the benefit of all learners.

Visitors and Residents: mapping student attitudes to academic use of social networks

The Visitors and Residents model of internet use suggests a continuum of modes of engagement with the online world, ranging from tool use to social spaces. In this paper, we examine evidence derived from a large cohort of students to assess whether this idea can be validated by experimental evidence. We find statistically significant differences between individuals displaying ‘Visitor’ or ‘Resident’ attitudes, suggesting that the Visitors and Residents model is a useful typology for approaching and understanding online behaviour. From our limited sample, we have been able to produce evidence that the Visitors and Residents labels are statistically robust. This demonstrates that the Visitors and Residents approach provides a valuable framework for those considering the use of social tools in educational contexts.

To Cheat or Not to Cheat? A Trial of the JISC Plagiarism Detection Service with Biological Sciences Students

In the UK, there is great concern about the perceived increase in plagiarized work being submitted by students in higher educations. Although there is much debate, the reasons for the perceived change are not completely clear. Here we present the results of a 2‐year trial of the JISC Plagiarism Detection Service (PDS) involving hundreds of students. The effectiveness of the service in detecting plagiarized material and in acting as a deterrent are discussed. Although an increased number of cases of plagiarism were detected during the trial, the relative contributions of the electronic detection system and increased staff awareness remain unknown.