Lectures and discussions explore the clinical, behavioral, and molecular aspects of brain …
Lectures and discussions explore the clinical, behavioral, and molecular aspects of brain aging processes in humans. Topics include: loss of memory and other cognitive abilitites in normal aging; neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Based on lectures, readings taken from the primary literature, and discussions. Students are expected to present topics based on their readings. One written mid-term test and one final examination. Alternate years.
Stimulate a neuron and monitor what happens. Pause, rewind, and move forward …
Stimulate a neuron and monitor what happens. Pause, rewind, and move forward in time in order to observe the ions as they move across the neuron membrane.
This activity illustrates the interrelationship between science and engineering in the context …
This activity illustrates the interrelationship between science and engineering in the context of extinction prevention. There are two parts to the activity. The first part challenges students to think like scientists as they generate reports on endangered species and give presentations worthy of a news channel or radio broadcast. The second part puts students in the shoes of engineers, designing ways to help the endangered species.
Acting as biomedical engineers, students design, build, test and redesign prototype heart …
Acting as biomedical engineers, students design, build, test and redesign prototype heart valves using materials such as waterproof tape, plastic tubing, flexible plastic and foam sheets, clay, wire and pipe cleaners. They test them with flowing water, representing blood moving through the heart. As students creatively practice engineering problem solving, they demonstrate their understanding of how one-way heart valves work.
Every time we scientists think that we have dissected the precise biological …
Every time we scientists think that we have dissected the precise biological nature of a process, an incidental finding, a brilliantly designed experiment, or an unexpected result can turn our world upside down. Until recently thought by many to be cellular "junk" because they do not encode proteins, non-coding RNAs are gaining a growing recognition for their roles in the regulation of a wide scope of processes, ranging from embryogenesis and development to cancer and degenerative disorders. The aim of this class is to introduce the diversity of the RNA world, inhabited by microRNAs, lincRNAs, piRNAs, and many others. This course is one of many Advanced Undergraduate Seminars offered by the Biology Department at MIT. These seminars are tailored for students with an interest in using primary research literature to discuss and learn about current biological research in a highly interactive setting. Many instructors of the Advanced Undergraduate Seminars are postdoctoral scientists with a strong interest in teaching.
Principles of tomographic imaging using ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and ultrasound. Emphasis …
Principles of tomographic imaging using ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and ultrasound. Emphasis is placed on fundamental physics and mathematics involved in image formation, including basic interactions, data acquisition and reconstruction. Planar radiographic imaging, multi-dimensional tomography (X-ray CAT, PET, SPECT), ultrasound, and NMR imaging covered. 22.56J aims to give graduate students and advanced undergraduates background in the theory and application of noninvasive imaging methods to biology and medicine, with emphasis on neuroimaging. The course focuses on the modalities most frequently used in scientific research (X-ray CT, PET/SPECT, MRI, and optical imaging), and includes discussion of molecular imaging approaches used in conjunction with these scanning methods. Lectures by the professor will be supplemented by in-class discussions of problems in research, and hands-on demonstrations of imaging systems.
This is a peer-reviewed chapter in an open access book, Mineral Deficiencies. …
This is a peer-reviewed chapter in an open access book, Mineral Deficiencies. This chapter serves as an introduction to the emerging field of nutrigenomics (NG), a specialized branch of nutritional research which examines gene-diet interactions and its role in chronic disease. The chapter highlights the effects of specific food components on the genes which predispose individuals to chronic diseases such as: obesity, CVD, diabetes and cancer. The chapter does contain some grammatical and spelling errors, but the information contained is clear and relevant. It is a technical reading that is best suited to nurses, physicians, nutritionists, and other allied health professionals at both the undergraduate and graduate level.
NUTR& 101 is a nutrition course designed for science majors. It emphasizes …
NUTR& 101 is a nutrition course designed for science majors. It emphasizes the key nutritional concepts that students going into health care need to learn. It addresses the biochemical underlying causes of heart disease, stroke and diabetes due to lack of appropriate nutrition and exercise. It also details the digestive process, the digestion and absorption of macro and micronutrients including vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. The course also examines the role of cultural factors, biochemical signals and psychological factors such as stress in eating habits. Various diets and overall metabolism are covered in relation to their effect on health. Nutrition for special populations is also discussed.
Our project involves students learning about the values of a natural area …
Our project involves students learning about the values of a natural area in their community and producing a public service announcement and map to show its value and how it could be developed.
Student teams create, test and improve oil spill cleanup kits, designing them …
Student teams create, test and improve oil spill cleanup kits, designing them to be inexpensive and accessible for homeowners to use or for big companies to give to individual workers to aid in personal home, community or corporate environmental oil cleanup. After deciding on a target user and scenario, teams conduct research and draw from an assortment of ordinary materials and supplies made available by the teacher. As a concluding gallery walk, each group presents its final prototype and summary poster to the rest of the class.
The goal of these resources is to give a bird's eye view …
The goal of these resources is to give a bird's eye view of the developments in open scientific research. That is, we cover both social developments (e.g. the culture in various communities) as well as technological ones. As such, no part of the contents are especially in-depth or geared towards advanced users of specific practices or tools. Nevertheless, certain sections are more relevant to some people than to others. Specifically:
The most interesting sections for graduate students will be about navigating the literature, managing evolving projects, and publishing and reviewing. Lab technicians may derive the most benefit from the sections about capturing data, working with reproducibility in mind and sharing data. For data scientists, the sections on organizing computational projects as workflows, managing versions of data and source code, open source software development, and data representation will be most relevant. Principal investigators may be most interested in the sections on data management, data sharing, and coping with evolving projects. Scientific publishers may be interested to know how scientists navigate the literature, what the expectations are for enhanced publications, and the needs for data publishing. Science funders and policy makers may easily find value in the capturing data, data management, data sharing and navigating the literature. Science communicators may be more interested in exploring the content by starting with navigating the literature, working with reproducibility in mind and sharing data.
This course teaches the fundamentals of engineering operating systems. The following topics …
This course teaches the fundamentals of engineering operating systems. The following topics are studied in detail: virtual memory, kernel and user mode, system calls, threads, context switches, interrupts, interprocess communication, coordination of concurrent activities, and the interface between software and hardware. Most importantly, the interactions between these concepts are examined. The course is divided into two blocks; the first block introduces one operating system, UNIXĺ¨ v6, in detail. The second block of lectures covers important operating systems concepts invented after UNIXĺ¨ v6, which was introduced in 1976.
This lesson covers the topic of human bones and joints. Students learn …
This lesson covers the topic of human bones and joints. Students learn about the skeleton, the number of and types of bones in the body, and how outer space affects astronauts' bones. Students also learn how to take care of their bones here on Earth to prevent osteoporosis or weakening of the bones.
Students learn about the human body's system components, specifically its sensory systems, …
Students learn about the human body's system components, specifically its sensory systems, nervous system and brain, while comparing them to robot system components, such as sensors and computers. The unit's life sciences-to-engineering comparison is accomplished through three lessons and five activities. The important framework of "stimulus-sensor-coordinator-effector-response" is introduced to show how it improves our understanding the cause-effect relationships of both systems. This framework reinforces the theme of the human body as a system from the perspective of an engineer. This unit is the second of a series, intended to follow the Humans Are Like Robots unit.
This lesson goes over the parts of the human respiratory system and …
This lesson goes over the parts of the human respiratory system and the gas exchange process that occurs in the lungs. It also covers changes in the respiratory system that occur during spaceflight, such as decreased lung capacity.
The sensing, thinking, moving body is the basis of our experience in …
The sensing, thinking, moving body is the basis of our experience in the world; it is the very foundation on which cognitive intelligence is built. Physical Intelligence, then, is the inherent ability of the human organism to function in extraordinary accord with its physical environment. This class--a joint DAPER/ME offering for both PE and academic credit--uses the MIT gymnastics gym as a laboratory to explore Physical Intelligence as applied to ME and design. Readings, discussions and experiential learning introduce various dimensions of Physical Intelligence which students then apply to the design of innovative exercise equipment.
Students are presented with a short lesson on the Coulter principle—an electronic …
Students are presented with a short lesson on the Coulter principle—an electronic method to detect microscopic particles and determine their concentration in fluid. Depending on the focus of study, students can investigate the industrial and medical applications of particle detection, the physics of fluid flow and electric current through the apparatus, or the chemistry of the electrolytes used in the apparatus.
Students apply concepts of disease transmission to analyze infection data, either provided …
Students apply concepts of disease transmission to analyze infection data, either provided or created using Bluetooth-enabled Android devices. This data collection may include several cases, such as small static groups (representing historically rural areas), several roaming students (representing world-travelers), or one large, tightly knit group (representing urban populations). To explore the algorithms to a deeper degree, students may also design their own diseases using the App Inventor framework.
In this activity, students will learn how water can be polluted by …
In this activity, students will learn how water can be polluted by algal blooms. They will grow algae with different concentrations of fertilizer or nutrients and analyze their results as environmental engineers working to protect a local water resource.
In this activity students analyze a familys pedigrees to make a claim …
In this activity students analyze a familys pedigrees to make a claim based on evidence about mode of inheritance of a lactose intolerance trait, determine the most likely inheritance pattern of a trait, and analyze variations in DNA to make a claim about which variants are associated with specific traits. This activity serves as a supplement to the film Got Lactose? The Co-evolution of Genes and Culture (http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/making-fittest-got-lactase-co-evolution-genes-and-culture). The film shows a scientist as he tracks down the genetic changes associated with the ability to digest lactose as adults. A detailed teachers guide that includes curriculum connections, teaching tips, time requirements, answer key and a student guide can be downloaded at http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/pedigrees-and-inheritance-lactose-intolerance. Six supporting resource and two click and learn activities are also found on the link.
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