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1. What is the “modified” CTAB protocol? Characterizing modifications to the CTAB DNA extraction protocol

   https://doi.org/10.1002/aps3.11517  

   Schenk, John J.; Becklund, L. Ellie; Carey, S. James; Fabre, Paige P. (May 2023, Applications in Plant Sciences)

   Abstract Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)–based methods are widely used to isolate DNA from plant tissues, but the unique chemical composition of secondary metabolites among plant species has necessitated optimization. Research articles often cite a “modified” CTAB protocol without explicitly stating how the protocol had been altered, creating non‐reproducible studies. Furthermore, the various modifications that have been applied to the CTAB protocol have not been rigorously reviewed and doing so could reveal optimization strategies across study systems. We surveyed the literature for modified CTAB protocols used for the isolation of plant DNA. We found that every stage of the CTAB protocol has been modified, and we summarized those modifications to provide recommendations for extraction optimization. Future genomic studies will rely on optimized CTAB protocols. Our review of the modifications that have been used, as well as the protocols we provide here, could better standardize DNA extractions, allowing for repeatable and transparent studies. 

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2. Animation Analytics in an Interactive Textbook for Material and Energy Balances

   Stone, S. J.; Crockett, B.; Xu, Kevin S.; Liberatore, M. W. (August 2022, ASEE Annual Conference proceedings)

   Interactive textbooks generate big data through student reading participation, including animations, question sets, and auto-graded homework. Animations are multi-step, dynamic visuals with text captions. By dividing new content into smaller chunks of information, student engagement is expected to be high, which aligns with tenets of cognitive load theory. Specifically, students’ clicks are recorded and measure usage, completion, and view time per step and for entire animations. Animation usage data from an interactive textbook for a chemical engineering course in Material and Energy Balances accounts for 60,000 animation views across 140+ unique animations. Data collected across five cohorts between 2016 and 2020 used various metrics to capture animation usage including watch and re-watch rates as well as the length of animation views. Variations in view rate and time were examined across content, parsed by book chapter, and five animation characterizations (Concept, Derivation, Figures and Plots, Physical World, and Spreadsheets). Important findings include: 1) Animation views were at or above 100% for all chapters and cohorts, 2) Median view time varies from 22 s (2-step) to 59 s (6-step) - a reasonable attention span for students and cognitive load, 3) Median view time for animations characterized as Derivation was the longest (40 s) compared to Physical World animations, which resulted in the shortest time (20 s). 

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3. Molecular and Cellular Biomechanics

   https://doi.org/10.1201/b18093  

   Dahl, K; Shah, S; Simmons, C; Blaser, M; Buehler, M; Charlebois, B; Morss, A (January 2015, CRC news)

   This book bridges the gap between life sciences and physical sciences by providing several perspectives on cellular and molecular mechanics on a fundamental level. It begins with a general introduction to the scales and terms that are used in the field of cellular and molecular biomechanics and then moves from the molecular scale to the tissue scale. It discusses various tissues or cellular systems through the chapters written by prominent engineers and physicists working in various fields of biomechanics. 

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4. Applications of Polynomial Systems

   Cox, D; D'Andrea, C; Dickenstein, A; Hauenstein, J; Schenck, H; Sidman, J (January 2020, CBMS Lecture notes 134)

   null (Ed.)

   CBMS notes from a series of 10 Lectures by David Cox, with supplemental lectures by C. D'Andrea, A. Dickenstein, J. Hauenstein, H. Schenck, J. Sidman. Systems of polynomial equations can be used to model an astonishing variety of phenomena. This book explores the geometry and algebra of such systems and includes numerous applications. The book begins with elimination theory from Newton to the twenty-first century and then discusses the interaction between algebraic geometry and numerical computations, a subject now called numerical algebraic geometry. The final three chapters discuss applications to geometric modeling, rigidity theory, and chemical reaction networks in detail. Each chapter ends with a section written by a leading expert. 

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5. Geology of West Antarctica

   Siddoway, Christine Smith (January 2021, Beiträge zur regionalen Geologie der Erde)

   Kleinschmidt, Georg (Ed.)

   The work is Chapter Three in a volume that provides a comprehensive overview of the geology of the Antarctic continent. The book represents the first comprehensive update of Antarctic geology in 25 years or more. Knowledge of the geology of Antarctica -- even if based on the meager <2% of rock exposure for this continent-- has immeasurably increased over that quarter-century. Individual chapters cover the regional geology of the seven main physiographic regions of Antarctica: -the Antarctic Peninsula, -West Antarctica (Marie Byrd Land and Enderby Land), -Transantarctic Mountains, -the Shackleton Range and its surroundings (including the Bertrab, Littlewood and Moltke Nunataks), -Dronning Maud Land, -Lambert Glacier and the area surrounding it, -East Antarctica from Kaiser-Wilhelm-II.-Land to George V Land/Terre Adélie. Each chapter contains a topographic, historical and geological overview, a description of the respective geological units, their stratigraphy and related data and the tectonic structure of the respective region. The seven chapters were written by acknowledged specialists in their field who place the regional geology into a continent-wide/plate tectonic/geological context. 

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