Comparative Efficacy of Video and Text Instructional Modalities for an Oral Surgery Technique among Dental Students

Purpose: To gauge the efficacy of video media in pre-doctoral oral and maxillofacial surgery education and compare it to traditional text-based learning materials. Methods: Twenty novice dental students were randomly divided into two groups to place an Erich arch bar to the maxillary dentition of a dentoform. Group A was given a 10 minute video instruction while Group B was given 10 minutes to review written text instruction. All participants were given 45 minutes to place the arch bar on a dentoform while being recorded. This session concluded with a survey of student perceptions using the SEEQ. The students then alternated instructional modalities and again evaluated using the SEEQ. Two double-blinded clinical OMS faculty evaluated the recordings in accordance with the standards detailed in the ABPAS. Results: The difference in the post-instructional skill scores of Group A and Group B students was deemed not significant (p = 0.46). Overall, the students expressed significant preference for the video modality compared to the textual modality. The difference of the scores in each preference category between the video and text modalities were all found to be significant with p-values well below 0.05. Conclusion: Educators must remain cognizant towards the benefits of new technology and continue to explore newer, potentially more efficacious modalities such as interactive teaching materials. These benefits may be utilized to help increase student engagement and increase long-term retention of the material. It is imperative to understand the limits of each method and balance them strategically to offer comprehensive healthcare training

Novel Allosteric Sites on Ras for Lead Generation

Aberrant Ras activity is a hallmark of diverse cancers and developmental diseases. Unfortunately, conventional efforts to develop effective small molecule Ras inhibitors have met with limited success. We have developed a novel multi-level computational approach to discover potential inhibitors of previously uncharacterized allosteric sites. Our approach couples bioinformatics analysis, advanced molecular simulations, ensemble docking and initial experimental testing of potential inhibitors. Molecular dynamics simulation highlighted conserved allosteric coupling of the nucleotide-binding switch region with distal regions, including loop 7 and helix 5. Bioinformatics methods identified novel transient small molecule binding pockets close to these regions and in the vicinity of the conformationally responsive switch region. Candidate binders for these pockets were selected through ensemble docking of ZINC and NCI compound libraries. Finally, cell-based assays confirmed our hypothesis that the chosen binders can inhibit the downstream signaling activity of Ras. We thus propose that the predicted allosteric sites are viable targets for the development and optimization of new drugs

The Role of Oligomerization and Cooperative Regulation in Protein Function: The Case of Tryptophan Synthase

The oligomerization/co-localization of protein complexes and their cooperative regulation in protein function is a key feature in many biological systems. The synergistic regulation in different subunits often enhances the functional properties of the multi-enzyme complex. The present study used molecular dynamics and Brownian dynamics simulations to study the effects of allostery, oligomerization and intermediate channeling on enhancing the protein function of tryptophan synthase (TRPS). TRPS uses a set of α/β–dimeric units to catalyze the last two steps of L-tryptophan biosynthesis, and the rate is remarkably slower in the isolated monomers. Our work shows that without their binding partner, the isolated monomers are stable and more rigid. The substrates can form fairly stable interactions with the protein in both forms when the protein reaches the final ligand–bound conformations. Our simulations also revealed that the α/β–dimeric unit stabilizes the substrate–protein conformation in the ligand binding process, which lowers the conformation transition barrier and helps the protein conformations shift from an open/inactive form to a closed/active form. Brownian dynamics simulations with a coarse-grained model illustrate how protein conformations affect substrate channeling. The results highlight the complex roles of protein oligomerization and the fine balance between rigidity and dynamics in protein function

Comparative Efficacy of Video and Text Instructional Modalities for an Oral Surgery Technique among Dental Students

Purpose: To gauge the efficacy of video media in pre-doctoral oral and maxillofacial surgery education and compare it to traditional text-based learning materials. Methods: Twenty novice dental students were randomly divided into two groups to place an Erich arch bar to the maxillary dentition of a dentoform. Group A was given a 10 minute video instruction while Group B was given 10 minutes to review written text instruction. All participants were given 45 minutes to place the arch bar on a dentoform while being recorded. This session concluded with a survey of student perceptions using the SEEQ. The students then alternated instructional modalities and again evaluated using the SEEQ. Two double-blinded clinical OMS faculty evaluated the recordings in accordance with the standards detailed in the ABPAS. Results: The difference in the post-instructional skill scores of Group A and Group B students was deemed not significant (p = 0.46). Overall, the students expressed significant preference for the video modality compared to the textual modality. The difference of the scores in each preference category between the video and text modalities were all found to be significant with p-values well below 0.05. Conclusion: Educators must remain cognizant towards the benefits of new technology and continue to explore newer, potentially more efficacious modalities such as interactive teaching materials. These benefits may be utilized to help increase student engagement and increase long-term retention of the material. It is imperative to understand the limits of each method and balance them strategically to offer comprehensive healthcare training

New Generation Leadership: Looking After Tomorrow

This chapter looks forward, asking how to envision a social work we need for the twenty-first century. It challenges easy notions of succession, mentoring and leadership preparation by proposing a tension between innovation and simply being guided by what has gone before. What types of leaders do we need to navigate complex futures? Will their skill sets and competencies need to be different, and how do we prepare them for next generation leadership? How can today’s leaders exercise generosity of spirit in facilitating this transition, creating space and crafting enabling environments that foster such development? The authors argue for ethical leadership in the profession that guides new ways of thinking about and enabling a distinctive approach for new generation leadership in social work education, practice and research