Research Abstract

ANS3043

 Growth & Development of Domestic Animals

 

Objective:  The objective of this assignment is to provide an opportunity for the student to explore in-depth, an area of interest in the field of physiology of reproduction. This research abstract is also intended to introduce the student to objective, critical evaluation, and abstraction of scientific reports and reviews, and scholarly scientific writing. A research abstract will introduce the student to one of our most valuable resources, the library, accessible through the web.

Topic:  The subject of the research abstract may be any topic of interest to the student in the following areas:

Abstract A - Endocrinology

Abstract B - Placental and Fetal Development

Abstract C - Muscle, Bone and Fat Development

Abstract D - Hormonal Regulation of Growth

Guideline:

1]  The abstract will be a maximum of one page (double spaced, Times Roman font-size 12, 1 inch margins) that contains no typographical or spelling errors.

2]  Scholarly English is required. A single article from a scientific journal, at least 5 pages in length, and published 2006 or 2008 is to be reviewed and abstracted in a style similar to the attached example.

3]  Each abstract from a different journal introduces the student to four different journals. Journals that are recommended but not limiting are Journal of Animal Science, Journal of Dairy Science, Journal of Poultry Science, Endocrinology, Meats Science, and Journal of Food Science. Articles published in refereed journals are reviewed critically by independent scientists and only those that meet the standards for a particular journal are published.

4]  Scientific Journals at the Medical School and Marston Library are accessible via the web under Links..Libraries.  You must logon with your Gator link account in order to access these journals.

 

Instructions for locating Journal articles for abstracts:

 

1. Go to ufl.edu, under Academics (left side), hit the "libraries link".

2. Go to GeoIrge A. Smathers libraries.

3. Under the heading research gateway, go to "off campus access".

4. Log in on the left side using your gatorlink username and password. Note: (If it does not work, check in with a librarian to put you in the library system.)

 5. Go to the "UF Smathers Library" link.

6. Under the heading "find" use the "Databases" link.

7. It will say "By title", type in the database you wish to use.

(I use the database Pubmed, it has worked well in the past).

8. Click on "pubmed". (or other database link).

9. Now search for the topic. (You can also search by topic and date, which will put the newest articles first). (i.e. 2006-2008)

10. Now comes the tricky part, if the article is available in full text, there will be a link when you open the abstract in the top right hand corner of the article page. Usually saying "FULL TEXT" and "FREE". Some are not available in full text, due to UF not subscribing to that particular journal. It might take a few trys, but this should work. Print in PDF format to save ink and for an easy read..

 

5]   Staple a copy of the complete article reviewed to your abstract.

Grading: This assignment and unannounced quizzes represent 15% of the final grade. Reports not meeting deadline dates will be penalized a letter grade. Grading will be based on the above instructions including content, organization, clarity of presentation, and scholarly English.

Activities

 

Honors Section: Students participating in the Honors Section have the additional responsibility of attending a one hour session offered by Dr. Sally Johnson. This section will offer students an opportunity to explore additional material particularly in the molecular realm of growth and development of the embryo to the mature animal. Students will be afforded an opportunity to shadow scientist conducting research in this area of biology. Information on the Honors Section can be found under

Teaching at website www.animal.ufl.edu/fields

 

Seminars: A second honors section will be opened to give students an opportunity to attend seminars on some aspect of Developmental Biology that occur across campus throughout the semester. These seminars offer undergraduate students an opportunity for exposure to the latest research presented by leading scientist in their area of expertise, meet the faculty, and graduate students and in general observe the scientific enterprise here at the University of Florida. Seminar announcements will sent to the students via email lister for the course. The student is required to identify and locate an article on the seminar topic, preferably by the speaker.  S/he will bring the highlighted/underlined article to seminar and the student will address questions to the speaker written on the back of the article. These papers are to be turned in at lecture.

 

Opportunity: The University of Florida is a major research university with 3700 distinguished faculty members attracting more than $583 million in research and training grants. Florida ranked tenth among all universities for the number of US patents awarded and ninth in total amount of licensing income. A recently completed private support campaign attracted more than $750 million in private donations; the third most successful campaign by a public university. The University of Florida houses one of the largest university art museums in the nation and a natural history museum with more than 10 million artifacts and specimens. Among the more recent additions are the micro Kelvin laboratory capable of producing the coldest temperature in the universe, the $60 million Brain Institute, and the $60 million Engineering Particle Research Institute. The city of Gainesville has one of the highest per capita uses of personal computers in the nation, is one of the nation’s most livable cities, ranked #1 in the nation by Money Magazine for the year 1995 and has one of the highest populations of college graduates, ranked #6 in the nation in 1997 by Fortune Magazine. In 2003 Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Gainesville #9 in the nation with Campus Scenes that Rock. In 2004, Esquire magazine celebrated Gainesville as the #5 City that Rocks.  More recently, in 2007 the University of Florida topped the Princeton Review as the #3 Jock School and #4 Party School in the nation.   Us News & World Report ranked UF #17 amongst public universities in 2007. The University of Florida is a sports mecca being the first university to simultaneous hold the national championship for both basketball and football in the same year.                                       

Academic Honesty:  The University of Florida states that plagiarism is the attempt to represent the work of another as the product of one's own thought, whether the work is published or unpublished, or simply the work of a fellow student. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, quoting oral or written materials without citation on an exam, term paper, homework, or other written materials or oral presentations for an academic requirement; submitting a paper which was purchased from a term paper service as your own work; submitting anyone else's paper as your own work.  Most importantly, you are here to learn and gain skills that will serve you during your entire career and life; to plagiarize is to cheat.

 

Example of an abstract:

 

Checklist:

 

1]  Title of article

2]  Authors of the article

3]  Location of the first/senior author

4]  Objective of the research

5]  Study Design of the research

6]  Results of the research

7]  Conclusions from the research

8]  Title of the journal followed by volume number, inclusive pages, and year from which the article was printed

9]  Your name, abstract #, and course Growth