Students' Preferences Between Blackboard Teaching and PowerPoint Presentations: A Cross-Sectional Survey

INTRODUCTION: With evolution of technology, teachers have, or are shifting to various methods other that blackboard teaching (e.g. PowerPoint, Over Head Projectors, Integrated Learning, Online Apps, etc)AIM: To assess students’ Preferences between blackboard teaching and PowerPoint Presentations among different university students in the city of Melbourne, AustraliaMATERIALS AND METHOD: Data was collected using a pre-tested and pre-validated questionnaire and distributed online to students studying in various Universities in Melbourne, Australia. Statistical tests involved the Shapiro-Wilk test, Independent samples t-test, multivariate linear regression and the Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The analysis was done using SPSS version 21.0.RESULTS: There were a total of 827 complete responses (response rate: 82.6%) and females formed a majority of the study population (62%). Majority of the students (53.1%) preferred PowerPoint presentations as compared to blackboard teaching (46.9%), although the difference was minimal; responses of females was statistically significant (p=0.02). Significant differences (p=0.03) were also observed as 58.8 % students considered blackboard teaching more interesting as compared to PowerPoint Lectures.CONCLUSION: Students preferred PowerPoint presentations as compared to Blackboard teaching and the teachers should aim to make it as interesting as possible and allow student interaction in between

Genomic Instability and DNA Repair in Cancer

Mutations in genome are essential for evolution but if the frequency of mutation increases it can evince to be detrimental, for a steady maintenance there exist a detailed complex system of surveillance and repair of DNA defects. Therefore, fault in DNA repair processes raises the probability of genomic instability and cancer in organisms. Genome instability encompasses various aspects of mutations from indels to various somatic variants. The chapter tries to present an overview of how cancer puts up several ways to ensure suppression of the fidelity in our DNA repair system. Cancer cells assure failure of efficient DNA repair mechanisms by innumerous ways, by mutation and epigenetic modifications in repair genes themselves or genes controlling their expression and functions, other by some catastrophic events like kataegis, chromothripsis and chromoplexy. These are clustered mutations taking place at a particular genomic locus which deluge the repair process. Cancer generation and evolution is dependent largely on genome instability, so it applies many strategies to overcome one of its basic obstacles that is DNA repair, targeting these DNA repair genes has also demonstrated to be helpful in cancer therapy; but an intricate understanding of recalcitrant process and mechanisms of drug resistant in cancer will further enhance the potential in them

Mosquito abundance and pig seropositivity as a correlate of Japanese encephalitis in human population in Assam, India

Background & objectives: Assam is the most vulnerable state for Japanese encephalitis (JE) in India. The situation warrants characterization of epidemiological patterns of JE in vectors, pigs and human population. This investigation was aimed to determine the relative abundance of mosquito species and seroprevalence of JE in pigs in order to draw an epidemiological association with reported human JE cases in Assam. Methods: Pig sera and mosquitoes from selected farms in Sivasagar and Kamrup districts of Assam were collected fortnightly for one year during June 2015–May 2016. Pig sera were tested for JE antibodies by haemagglutination and virus neurtralization tests. Mosquito species were identified microscopically following the taxonomic keys. The results were analyzed with data on confirmed human JE cases in the selected districts. Results: Culex gelidus (26.07%) and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus (24.07%) were the most abundant species in collected mosquitoes (n = 997). A total of 22.99% of pigs (n = 335) were JEV seropositive and 45.65% of human acute encephalitis syndrome cases (n = 230) were positive for JE virus (JEV) infection. Relative mosquito abundance, pig positivity and human cases were highest during monsoon (June–September) and least during winter (December–February). Rise in mosquito population was observed during pre-monsoon season (March–May) and concurrently higher number of human cases and pig seropositivity were recorded. A good correlation was observed between mosquito number and JEV positivity in pigs/human, and between pigs and human cases (p < 0.05). Human population in Sivasagar was at higher risk for JE infection (OR: 6.46, p < 0.0001) than in Kamrup rural district. Interpretation & conclusion: This study indicates that a seasonal correlation exists between mosquito abundance and JEV seroconversion in pigs with concurrent human JEV outbreaks under field conditions in Sivasagar and Kamrup rural districts of Assam and that monitoring mosquito abundance/density and pig JEV seropositivity may help in predicting JEV outbreak in human population in the region

An integrated clinical score to predict remission in cushing's disease

Objective: To derive a clinical score from parameters that favor remission of Cushing's disease (CD) after pituitary surgery. Methods: This is an analysis of 11 clinical, hormonal, and post-operative parameters that each favored remission in a cohort of 145 patients with CD treated by trans-sphenoidal surgery (TSS). Each parameter was designated as a categorical variable (presence/absence), and several favorable parameters present for each patient were calculated. From this, a median parameter score (clinical score) of the entire cohort was derived, which was then compared to the event of remission/persistence of CD. Results: The median number of favorable parameters present in the entire cohort was 3 (0–7). The significant count of patients in remission increased with the increasing number of parameters. The receiver-operator characteristic curve showed that the presence of ≥3 parameters was associated with remission in CD with a sensitivity of 84.2% and a specificity of 80%. Patients with a clinical score ≥3 had significantly higher remission rates (88.9%) than those who had persistent disease (27.3%; P = 0.001).Conclusion: A clinical score of ≥3 predicts remission in CD treated by TSS; however, it requires validation in other large cohorts. Rather than assessing individual parameters to predict remission in CD, an integrated clinical score is a better tool for follow-up and patient counseling