Undergraduate medical student’s perceptions and experiences of m-learning in pharmacology

Background: The current generation of medical students has grown up surrounded by information and communication technology (ICT). The ICT has been a critical component of teaching and learning in  higher education over the last few decades. Mobile devices, such as smart phones, can have a significant contribution to  modern medical education. Mobile learning or m‑learning is a new concept in learning process. M‑learning is supported by a variety of devices including smartphones. These devices integrate a series of features used in various learning environments. Pharmacology is a crucial subject for medical students who are going to be future medical practitioners. The aim of this study was to know how pharmacology students perceive mobile phones as an educational tool?Methods: Prevalidated Questionnaires were distributed among 145 pharmacology students by simple randomization out of which 105 were returned completely filled. Analysis was done by manual calculators, Vassar Stats, and SPSS. Results are expressed in frequencies and percentages.Results: Among the respondents 56.2% were males and 43.8% were females. All the respondents owned a mobile phone. 77.1% revealed that they mainly use mobile phones for internet purposes. 26.7% revealed that they use it solely for social networking, 9.5% for educational purposes and 63.8% used it for both social networking as well as educational purposes. Educational activities smartphones were used for included: reading lecture notes (24.8%), downloading lecture related videos (38.1%), downloading medical e‑books (29.5%), medical dictionaries (27.6%), opening doc and pdf files (35.2%), lab references (10.5%), medical calculators (6.7%). 78.1% had the opinion that m‑learning has a positive impact on learning and 68.6% indicated that mobile phone has improved their learning. Small screen size of phone (13.3%), costly bundled data (49.5%), limited phone storage (25.7%), low battery backup (28.6%), slow internet (48.6%), theft risk (3.8%), and parental prohibition to mobile phone use (12.4%) were the various barriers to m‑learning, indicated by the respondents.Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that medical students have a positive attitude toward m‑learning. M‑learning will facilitate the learning process without being tied to a physical location

Comparison of [11C]TZ1964B and [18F]MNI659 for PET imaging brain PDE10A in nonhuman primates

Phosphodiesterase 10A (PDE10A) inhibitors show therapeutic effects for diseases with striatal pathology. PET radiotracers have been developed to quantify in vivo PDE10A levels and target engagement for therapeutic interventions. The aim of this study was to compare two potent and selective PDE10A radiotracers, [(11)C]TZ1964B and [(18)F]MNI659 in the nonhuman primate (NHP) brain. Double scans in the same cynomolgus monkey on the same day were performed after injection of [(11)C]TZ1964B and [(18)F]MNI659. Specific uptake was determined in two ways: nondisplaceable binding potential (BP(ND)) was calculated using cerebellum as the reference region and the PDE‐10A enriched striatum as the target region of interest (ROI); the area under the time–activity curve (AUC) for the striatum to cerebellum ratio was also calculated. High‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of solvent‐extracted NHP plasma identified the percentage of intact tracer versus radiolabeled metabolites samples post injection of each radiotracer. Both radiotracers showed high specific accumulation in NHP striatum. [(11)C]TZ1964B has higher striatal retention and lower specific striatal uptake than [(18)F]MNI659. The BP(ND) estimates of [(11)C]TZ1964B were 3.72 by Logan Reference model (LoganREF) and 4.39 by simplified reference tissue model (SRTM); the BP(ND) estimates for [(18)F]MNI659 were 5.08 (LoganREF) and 5.33 (SRTM). AUC ratios were 5.87 for [(11)C]TZ1964B and 7.60 for [(18)F]MNI659. Based on BP(ND) values in NHP striatum, coefficients of variation were ~10% for [(11)C]TZ1964B and ~30% for [(18)F]MNI659. Moreover, the metabolism study showed the percentage of parent compounds were ~70% for [(11)C]TZ1964B and ~50% for [(18)F]MNI659 60 min post injection. These data indicate that either [(11)C]TZ1964B or [(18)F]MNI659 could serve as suitable PDE10A PET radiotracers with distinguishing features for particular clinical application

Filmed clinical cases improved communication skills of student of Pharmacology in Podiatry degree

Solving clinical case by writing-report lacks of students sympathies and interest in many cases. Make a short film is a novelty that really like to the students and may improve their arguing and planning capacities and their communication skills. Aim: To evaluate the impact of presenting and resolving clinical cases through filming a short-film in the communication skills development and in the learning of medicines in Podiatry undergraduate students. Methods: A two-year study in which students were invited to voluntarily form groups (3 students maximum). Each group has to design and film a short-film (8 min maximum) showing a clinical case in which medicines’ use was needed to treat feet pathology. A camera, a mobile-phone's video editor or whatever they may use was allowed. The job of each group was supervised and helped by a teacher. The students were invited to present their work to the rest of the class. After each short-film projection the students were encouraged to ask questions if they wanted to do it. After all the projections the students voluntarily answered a satisfaction survey. Results: Students of Pharmacology of Podiatry Degree, N=101, 55.6% female, 20±1.3 years old were enrolled. 37 short-films showing a clinical case were made. The average time spent by students in making the film was 12.4±8 h. The percentage of students which were satisfied with this way of presentation of the clinical cases was 75.2%. Conclusion: Filmed clinical cases performed by student of Pharmacology of the Podiatry Degree improved their communication skills.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. Convocatoria de Ayudas de la Universidad de Málaga a Proyectos de Innovación Educativa, convocatoria 2013-2015, PIE 13-156 en Área de Ciencias de la Salud

Effects of filtration sterilization on the stability of ketamine, selected benzodiazepines and metabolites in female urine

Benzodiazepines (Benzos) and ketamine (K) are compounds that have been encountered in Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault (DFSA) cases. Due to the intimate nature of these crimes, evidence collection is often postponed due to delays and/or reluctance in reporting these crimes. Further delays in analysis may be encountered in laboratories with large caseloads and/or backlogs. Drug identification in biological samples is important to determine whether victims knowingly or unknowingly took an impairing substance, however, the results could be negative due to chemical degradation over a long storage period. The purpose of this project was to study if degradation could be prevented with a new preservation method at the time of collection. Urine samples were prepared by the addition of K and metabolites and selected benzos and metabolites that were subjected to different sample pre-treatment techniques, and were analyzed after storage at room temperature (25°C), refrigerator (4°C) and freezer (-20°). The samples were either pre-treated with preservative (0.5% toluene) or filtration sterilization (sterile filter kit) within two hours after sample collection, and a control group with no pre-treatment was incorporated into the study for comparison. The changes in concentrations over 50 days (Benzos group) and 210 days (K group) were evaluated between different pre-treated methods and different temperature conditions. Sample that were treated with 0.5% toluene showed the most degradation: 44% of oxazepam and 96% of diazepam degraded over 10 days, and 80% of dehydronorketamine degraded after storage of 150 days regardless the temperature conditions. Clonazepam and flunitrazepam concentrations were reduced by 80% of the original concentration when stored at room temperature for 10 days. The major benzodiazepines evaluated in this study were stable when stored in the freezer. In K group, ketamine and norketamine that were stored at room temperature and refrigerated over 210 days were stable, however, degradation was observed after 150 days when the samples were stored in the freezer. There was no statistically different change observed among the samples pre-treated with or without filtration sterilization. Each sample pH was measured and it was determined that those stored at room temperature had an average pH of 8.5, while samples stored in the refrigerator and freezer had an average pH of 6.7 and 6.5, respectively. This finding revealed that pH could be the major factor affecting compound degradation rather than the bacterial contamination with high pH contributing to degradation, and low pH potentially preventing sample lost

Big Data Transforms Discovery-Utilization Therapeutics Continuum.

Enabling omic technologies adopt a holistic view to produce unprecedented insights into the molecular underpinnings of health and disease, in part, by generating massive high-dimensional biological data. Leveraging these systems-level insights as an engine driving the healthcare evolution is maximized through integration with medical, demographic, and environmental datasets from individuals to populations. Big data analytics has accordingly emerged to add value to the technical aspects of storage, transfer, and analysis required for merging vast arrays of omic-, clinical-, and eco-datasets. In turn, this new field at the interface of biology, medicine, and information science is systematically transforming modern therapeutics across discovery, development, regulation, and utilization

Curcumin Prevents Acute Neuroinflammation and Long-Term Memory Impairment Induced by Systemic Lipopolysaccharide in Mice

Systemic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces an acute inflammatory response in the central nervous system (CNS) (\u201cneuroinflammation\u201d) characterized by altered functions of microglial cells, the major resident immune cells of the CNS, and an increased inflammatory profile that can result in long-term neuronal cell damage and severe behavioral and cognitive consequences. Curcumin, a natural compound, exerts CNS anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective functions mainly after chronic treatment. However, its effect after acute treatment has not been well investigated. In the present study, we provide evidence that 50 mg/kg of curcumin, orally administered for 2 consecutive days before a single intraperitoneal injection of a high dose of LPS (5 mg/kg) in young adult mice prevents the CNS immune response. Curcumin, able to enter brain tissue in biologically relevant concentrations, reduced acute and transient microglia activation, pro-inflammatory mediator production, and the behavioral symptoms of sickness. In addition, short-term treatment with curcumin, administered at the time of LPS challenge, anticipated the recovery from memory impairments observed 1 month after the inflammatory stimulus, when mice had completely recovered from the acute neuroinflammation. Together, these results suggest that the preventive effect of curcumin in inhibiting the acute effects of neuroinflammation could be of value in reducing the long-term consequences of brain inflammation, including cognitive deficits such as memory dysfunction