A high level of transparency in reported research is critical for several reasons, such as ensuring an acceptable level of trustworthiness and enabling replication. Transparency in qualitative research permits the identification of specific circumstances which are associated with findings and observations. Thus, transparency is important for the repeatability of original studies and for explorations of the transferability of original findings. There has been no investigation into levels of transparency in reported technology education research to date. With a position that increasing transparency would be beneficial, this article presents an analysis of levels of transparency in contemporary technology education research studies which employed interviews within their methodologies, and which were published within the International Journal of Technology and Design Education and Design and Technology Education: An International Journal (n = 38). The results indicate room for improvement, especially in terms of documenting researcher positionality, determinations of data saturation, and how power imbalances were managed. A discussion is presented on why it is important to improve levels of transparency in reported studies, and a guide on areas to make transparent is presented for qualitative and quantitative research.
D-amino acids are responsible for cell wall re-modelling in Staphylococcus and are capable of inhibition and mature biofilm disassembly. Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis are recognised as recurrent nosocomial pathogens and a common cause of biofilm-associated infections. The combination of amino acids used in the study consisted of d- and l- isomers of tyrosine, methionine, tryptophan and phenylalanine. A semiquantitative microplate crystal violet assay was used to assess the effect of amino acids on biofilm development. Biofilm viability staining using fluorescent microscopy was performed to assess the effect of the amino acid mixtures on biofilm development on submerged surfaces. None of the amino acids when tested individually or as a mixture could reduce biofilm formation. However, at the highest concentration tested 25 mmol 1−1 equimolar D-amino acid mixture of tryptophan, phenylalanine, tyrosine and methionine caused a considerable biofilm inhibition in three Staphylococcus strains. Microscopy analysis showed that initial surface attachment remained unaffected at 25 mmol 1−1 mixture of d-amino acids but bacteria did not proceed to form mature biofilms. This suggests inhibition of protein synthesis or a lack of polysaccharide extracellular adhesin formation as no aggregates were observed. The reported bioactivity of D-amino acid on biofilm development and disassembly has been conflictual. It has been established that D-amino acids are incorporated in the bacterial cell wall suggesting they play a role in the complexity of biofilm lifecycle. However, our study indicates that they play no direct role in the inhibition of biofilm formation in Staphylococcus.
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