Research articles are the coin of the realm for anyone working in academia, and success or failure to publish determines a biomedical researcher's career path. At the same time, the dramatic increase in foreign faculty and trainees in U.S. academia, as well as in international scientific collaboration, adds another dimension to this developmental vacuum: limited English-language skills. Paradoxically, few programs exist to develop and support the skills needed to accomplish the vital task of writing English-language research articles, which does not come naturally to most. To better prepare all trainees for research careers, editors in the Department of Scientific Publications at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center created an in-depth training program that would target the writing skills gap effectively. Instruction focused on structure, rhetorical organization, and the conventions of biomedical publishing. More than 300 trainees have participated in 22 workshops. Results of a survey of 46 participants at 6 months to 2.5 years after workshop completion indicated that participants from all language backgrounds believed the course to have improved their writing (97.8% strongly agreed or agreed), made it easier to begin a manuscript (80.4%), and helped them to get published (56.8%), with nonnative speakers of English reporting somewhat greater perceived benefit than native English speakers. On the basis of these results, the authors conclude that researchers of varied linguistic backgrounds appreciate the need for, and benefit from, instruction in the conventions of scientific writing.
Die vorliegenden Untersuehungen besch~ftigen sieh vor allem mit systematisehen Fett-und Lipoidanalysen tuberkulSs erkrankten Lungengewebes auf histologisehem Wege. Sie bezweeken zun~chst die schlichte Aufzeichnung der erhobenen Befunde, ohne zur Frage der Herkunft, histologischen Bestimmbarkeit, nosologisehen Stellung und Bedeutung der Fette und fett~hnlichen Stoffe iiberhaupt oder in der tuberkulSsen Lunge im einzelnen absehlieftend Stellung zu nehmen. Eine t~egistrie-rung der Befunde erscheint notwendig angesichts der Tatsaehe, daft einsehl~gige Untersuehungen vom Ziel und Umfange der unserigen anseheinend noeh nicht vorliegen.Zwar hat man yon jeher dem Vorkommen doppeltbrechender Fettsubstanzen in den Alve01arepithelien unter physiologisehen wie p~thologisehen Bedingungen seine Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt. Gerade das Auftreten dieser K6rper in den Alveolarepithelien hatte ja bekanntlieh sehon Virchow yon der Annahme abgebraeht, als sei das ,,Myelin" etwas unbedingt an das Nervenmark Gebundenes und die beriihmte Arbeit ,,~ber das ausgebreitete Vorkommen einer dem Nervenmark analogen Substanz in den tierisehen Geweben" mit veranlaBt. Wit verweisen ferner auf die Untersuchungen yon Buhl, Guttmann-Schmidt, E. Albrecht, Kaiserling und Orgler, Schmidt, Ft. Mi~ller, W. Schultze, Ascho]], Bene~e, Hochhelm, R. Frank sowie endlich die bier zugrunde gelegge Sehrif~ Kawamuras u. a.Indessen beziehen doeh die genannten Autoren in der Hauptsaehe die Cholesterines~erverfettung in den Kreis ihrer Untersuehungen ein. Eine systematische Fett-und Lipoidanalyse des tuberkul6s erkrankten Lungengewebes naeh Maggabe der yon Ascho]] und Kawamura 1) seiner Zeit an den reinen Substanzen geprtiften Gruppenreaktionen ist unseres Wissens in der Literatur noch nieht vorgenommen worden.Die yon uns geiibte Methodik gestaltete sieh so, daft zun~ehst das optisehe Verhalten yon frisehen Abstriehpr~paraten und Geffiersehnitten formalinfixierten Materials im kalten und erw~rmten Zustande festgestellt wurde. Sodann wurden die Schnitte mit lJberosmiumsi~ure, Sudan, Nilblau sowie naeh den Methoden yon Christeller, Smith-Dietrich,
Within the international research environment, English is indisputably the lingua franca, and thus, the majority of the world's scientists must adapt to a second language. Linguistic barriers in science affect not only researchers' career paths but institutional productivity and efficiency as well. To address these barriers, we designed and piloted a specialized course, Scientific English. The pedagogical approach is based on English for specific purposes methodology in which curriculum and content are driven by the types of daily language used and interactions which occur in the participants' occupation, in this case, cancer research. The 11-week program was organized into three sections: presentation skill, meeting and discussion skills, and writing skills. Effectiveness of the course was measured by the number of participants able to produce the presentations and written products with a score of at least 75 of 100 possible points. From January to December 2008, participant scores averaged 90.4 for presentation and 86.8 for written products. The authors provide insights and recommendations on the development and delivery of the program.
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