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Com pleting a M aterial Transfer
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sa - '- T U T .
, Agreement c THEjyfte*TIMES* - f -
THE REMARKABLE ST
T f O F A WONDER DRi:
d In pairs, read th e follow ing statem ents and say which form(s) o f
comm unication fro m Exercise la the speakers should use to fin d the
inform a tion they want.
1 r ^
I'm try in g to learn m ore a b o u t th e Hadron c o llid e r I'm having a problem
because it's big news, b u t it's n o t even close to my w ith one o f my
area so I'm fin d in g th e papers on it heavy-going. protocols. I've trie d a
fe w d iffe re n t things, but
w ith no luck - I could do
A t my university, I d o n 't m ee t e no ug h people in w ith some suggestions
my fie ld - I really need to n e tw o rk and b uild some fro m o th e r people o f
connections w ith people w o rk in g a ro u n d th e w o rld . w h a t to try next.
Tea and coffee drinkers have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes,
I
a large body of evidence shows. And the protection may not be down
to caffeine since decaf coffee has the greatest effect, say researchers in
Archives o f Internal Medicine. They looked a t ...
I
... can be rapidly generated by lentivirus mediated transgenesis. RNAi also
holds great promise as a novel therapeutic approach. This report provides
an insight into the current gene silencing techniques in mammalian systems.
I
Hi! Has anyone had any experiences with nanoparticles sticking to glassware
:-( ? If so, does anyone know if theres a suitable silylation protocol to
pre-treat the glassware to do something about this annoying non-specific
adsorption? Thanks!
E Animal and in vitro studies suggest that aspirin may inhibit breast cancer
metastasis. We studied whether aspirin use among women with breast
cancer decreased their risk of death from breast cancer. This was a
prospective observational study based on ...
b How easy was it to decide where e xtracts came from ? How did you decide
on the rig h t answer?
Read th e posts again. For each post, say which sentence o r sentences
( 1 - 3 ) in each one th e w rite r uses to:
a ask the question
b say what the problem is
c thank the reader
C
In pairs, discuss the fo llo w in g questions.
Subject: Quality of scientific writing
1 What kinds of te xt do you need to write considered in peer review?
in English for your work or studies?
2 Why is it im portant to write your texts in (1)1 was wondering how important
an appropriate style? the quality of the writing of a submitted
3 What can you do to take note of the paper is in the peer review process.
different styles of language used in English (2) I dont mean the quality of the data,
texts? but the actual writing. (3) In other words,
will a nicely written paper with the same
data be more likely to be accepted?
1 Do you think the claims made in the headlines seem likely or unlikely? Why?
2 In general, how can the science reported in the media differ from the actual
science? Why do you think there is a difference?
3 If you wanted to learn more about the research you see reported in the
newspaper, where could you look for more information?
b Before reading, Ryuchi w rite s seven questions to help him. M atch the
questions (1 - 7 ) to the section o f th e research paper below where you
would expect to fin d the answer.
1 What variables were investigated?
2 How did the authors interpret the results? . . ..
In trod uction:
3 What were the main findings?
M e th o d :___
4 Why is this research relevant?
R e s u lts:____
5 Who/What was studied?
Discussion: _
6 What procedure was used?
7 What was the hypothesis?
Read the Summary column. Which questions from Exercise 7b can you answer?
Reference: Martin, f-P.J, fo iti. S., Pere-Trepat, t et a. (Zoof). 'Metabolic effects of dark chocolate consumption
on energy, gut microbiota, and stress-related metabolism in free-living subjects' T. Proteome P-es, 8 (iz), pp 55t-
5511
Section of paper Summary Opinion
Method: to 'joung health') adults small sample
4o g of dark chocolate/da') * i4 da-js ( 1) ----------- . trial period
(Z0 q am, ZO g prn)
^ 2.2 Before w ritin g his c ritica l review, Ryuchi discusses his notes with
M a rtin a . Listen and com plete th e notes in th e Opinion column, using one
word fro m th e recording fo r each answer.
From th e in form a tion in Ryuchis notes, discuss in pairs w hether you th ink
the research is:
credible? significant?
original? valid?
reliable?
A 30 young h ea lth y adu lts com p leted a p re-trial q u es tion n aire to assess th e ir anx iety levels
and based on th is, they w ere classified as eith e r high or low anxiety. All particip a nts ate
40 g of d ark chocolate a day for 14 days. O n days 1, 8 an d 15 u rin e an d blood sam ples
were ta k en and changes in cortiso l and catecholam ines in th e u rin e w ere analysed, as
well as energy m etabolism an d g ut m icrobial activity. T h e research fou nd th a t a fter 14
days, th e level o f stress h o rm o n es in th e u rin e w as reduced in all participants. In a d dition ,
there w as less difference b etw e en th e tw o grou ps in energy m etabolism an d gut m icrobial
activity.
B One problem w ith th e research is the sm all sam ple size (only 30 people) w hich w as
fu rth e r d ivided in to sm aller groups. T h e re w as also no control group in the study,
m aking it im possible to conclude th a t cho colate w as the cause of the changes seen rath e r
th a n som e o th e r facto r such as o th e r food o r drin k , lifestyle change o r activity level.
F u rth e rm o re, on ly yo un g h ea lth y ad u lts w ere in vestigated an d so th e resu lts ca n n ot be
applied to those w h o are older o r have pre-ex isting h e a lth issues.
b Read the six extractsbelow from a critica l review o f anothe r paper. Replace
the underlined phrases w ith an underlined expression from Exercise 8a.
a A bad thing about this research is there were only 20 participants. Another
problem is ali the subjects were hospital employees,
b Also, the blood flow in the brachial artery was measured before they drank
the coffee, and 30 and 60 minutes after,
c The researchers looked a t how the blood flow changed.
d The result o f the research was that the people who drank caffeinated coffee
had decreased blood flow to their upper arm.
e The results might not be the same fo r the general population. There was
also no measurement of the changes in blood pressure and blood flow after
one hour, so we can't know when blood flow returns to normal,
f 20 subjects, between the ages of 25 and 50, who usually drank little coffee,
were given either a caffeinated or decaffeinated Italian espresso coffee. Theu
gave blood before the coffee was drunk, and an hour later.
Find a piece o f published research you are interes ted in and then make a
ta ble like the one in Exercise 7d and take notes. Use your notes to w rite
tw o paragraphs o f a critic a l review in an a p p ro p ria te style.
e <<o
: + m
ft ) fe o .. Nguyen Thanh Binh, Marc Fiedler, Tasha Doran, Pardip Johal.
' From ... Liam Sands
Senii subject Re: Technology Transfer - a reminder ~
Dear all,
Sooner or later, issues of Technology Transfer (sharing and using discoveries, inventions, materials,
data etc.) will become important in your research career. Protecting your work from competitors and,
where appropriate, making it attractive to the commercial sector will be important during your career
as a professional scientist. What are the key issues that you must think about?
The next p a rt o f the email id e n tifie s some key issues and o ffe rs advice on
them . M atch the headings (A -E ) to th e extracts (1 -5 ).
A Huh??? What do 1 do now?? D Your research is valuable - to others!
B Always read the small print! E Who, me?
C Look out! There may be a
thief about!
1
Sooner or later someone in your field is going to ask you for some materials. Never send out any
material without first checking if a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) is needed.
2 _______________
Dont leave sensitive information, notebooks, etc. open on your desk or in unlocked rooms at the end
of the day. You never know who might be in the building ...
3 ________________
if you request materials from another lab, you will probably be asked for an MTA to sign. Not all MTAs
are the same (some say we claim ownership of everything developed in your lab) so read carefully
before signing and always ask if youre not sure.
Yes, you! Your research may have a commercial application. Always talk possible applications over
with your supervisor or division head/director before you publish.
5 ________________
If you are still none the wiser, or unsure about any of the issues in this email, please talk to your group
leader or contact me (Liam Sands) at the Technology Transfer Office.