Recent Decisions

Comments on recent decisions by Norman H. McNeil, David N. McBride, Robert J. Hepler, John P. Coyne, and Allan Schmid

Recent Trends on the Future of Graduate Education in the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research

Harmonization of pharmacy education has to be made a global agenda that will encompass the developments that have taken place in basic, medical, pharmaceutical sciences in serving the needs and expectations of the society. The professional pharmacy curriculum is designed to produce pharmacists who have the abilities and skills to provide drug information, education, and pharmaceutical care to patients; manage the pharmacy and its medication distribution and control systems; and promote public health. Required coursework for all pharmacy students includes pharmaceutical chemistry; pharmaceutics (drug dosage forms, delivery, and disposition in the human body) pharmacology; therapeutics (the clinical use of drugs and dietary supplements in patients); drug information and analysis; pharmacy administration (including pharmacy law, bioethics, health systems, pharmacoeconomics, medical informatics); clinical skills (physical assessment, patient counseling, drug therapy monitoring for appropriate selection, dose, effect, interactions, use); and clinical pharmacy practice in pharmacies, industry, health maintenance organizations, hospital wards, and ambulatory care clinics

Structure-Activity Studies Of 7-Heteroaryl-3-Azabicyclo[3.3.1]Non-6-Enes: A Novel Class Of Highly Potent Nicotinic Receptor Ligands

The potential for nicotinic ligands with affinity for the α4β2 or α7 subtypes to treat such diverse diseases as nicotine addiction, neuropathic pain, and neurodegenerative and cognitive disorders has been exhibited clinically for several compounds while preclinical activity in relevant in vivo models has been demonstrated for many more. For several therapeutic programs, we sought nicotinic ligands with various combinations of affinity and function across both subtypes, with an emphasis on dual α4β2-α7 ligands, to explore the possibility of synergistic effects. We report here the structure-activity relationships (SAR) for a novel series of 7-heteroaryl-3-azabicyclo[3.3.1]non-6-enes and characterize many of the analogues for activity at multiple nicotinic subtypes. © 2012 American Chemical Society

Teaching strategies and gender in higher education instrumental studios

This study investigates instrumental music teaching strategies in higher education settings, in order to identify those employed and their frequency and context of use. An instrument- and gender-balanced sample of 24 lessons from five institutions was analysed using a researcher-designed observational instrument. The results reveal the predominance of teacher demonstration, general directives and praise as most frequent teaching strategies employed in lessons. Gender differences emerged in the teaching approaches: the male teachers gave more general directives and explanations and the female teachers offered more answers and practice discussions; the male students received the most specific teacher criticism despite uniform use of praise. The findings provide new evidence of teaching practices in advanced instrumental studios and raise questions regarding gender issues in music teaching

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity and asymmetrical accumulation of F-actin are necessary for establishment of cell polarity in the early development of monospores from the marine red alga Porphyra yezoensis

The polarized distribution of F-actin is important in providing the driving force for directional migration in mammalian leukocytes and Dictyostelium cells, in which compartmentation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and phosphatidylinositol phosphatase is critical for the establishment of cell polarity. Since monospores from the red alga Porphyra yezoensis are a real example of migrating plant cells, the involvement of the cytoskeleton and PI3K was investigated during their early development. Our results indicate that the asymmetrical localization of F-actin at the leading edge is fixed by the establishment of the anterior–posterior axis in migrating monospores, which is PI3K-dependent and protein synthesis-independent. After migration, monospores adhere to the substratum and then become upright, developing into multicellular thalli via the establishment of the apical–basal axis. In this process, F-actin usually accumulates at the bottom of the basal cell and development after migration requires new protein synthesis. These findings suggest that the establishment of anterior–posterior and apical–basal axes are differentially regulated during the early development of monospores. Our results also indicate that PI3K-dependent F-actin asymmetry is evolutionally conserved in relation to the establishment of cell polarity in migrating eukaryotic cells

Sound-contingent visual motion aftereffect

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>After a prolonged exposure to a paired presentation of different types of signals (e.g., color and motion), one of the signals (color) becomes a driver for the other signal (motion). This phenomenon, which is known as contingent motion aftereffect, indicates that the brain can establish new neural representations even in the adult's brain. However, contingent motion aftereffect has been reported only in visual or auditory domain. Here, we demonstrate that a visual motion aftereffect can be contingent on a specific sound.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Dynamic random dots moving in an alternating right or left direction were presented to the participants. Each direction of motion was accompanied by an auditory tone of a unique and specific frequency. After a 3-minutes exposure, the tones began to exert marked influence on the visual motion perception, and the percentage of dots required to trigger motion perception systematically changed depending on the tones. Furthermore, this effect lasted for at least 2 days.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results indicate that a new neural representation can be rapidly established between auditory and visual modalities.</p

Association of Accelerometry-Measured Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Events in Mobility-Limited Older Adults: The LIFE (Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders) Study.

BACKGROUND:Data are sparse regarding the value of physical activity (PA) surveillance among older adults-particularly among those with mobility limitations. The objective of this study was to examine longitudinal associations between objectively measured daily PA and the incidence of cardiovascular events among older adults in the LIFE (Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders) study. METHODS AND RESULTS:Cardiovascular events were adjudicated based on medical records review, and cardiovascular risk factors were controlled for in the analysis. Home-based activity data were collected by hip-worn accelerometers at baseline and at 6, 12, and 24&nbsp;months postrandomization to either a physical activity or health education intervention. LIFE study participants (n=1590; age 78.9±5.2 [SD] years; 67.2% women) at baseline had an 11% lower incidence of experiencing a subsequent cardiovascular event per 500&nbsp;steps taken per day based on activity data (hazard ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.84-0.96; P=0.001). At baseline, every 30&nbsp;minutes spent performing activities ≥500&nbsp;counts per minute (hazard ratio, 0.75; confidence interval, 0.65-0.89 [P=0.001]) were also associated with a lower incidence of cardiovascular events. Throughout follow-up (6, 12, and 24&nbsp;months), both the number of steps per day (per 500&nbsp;steps; hazard ratio, 0.90, confidence interval, 0.85-0.96 [P=0.001]) and duration of activity ≥500&nbsp;counts per minute (per 30&nbsp;minutes; hazard ratio, 0.76; confidence interval, 0.63-0.90 [P=0.002]) were significantly associated with lower cardiovascular event rates. CONCLUSIONS:Objective measurements of physical activity via accelerometry were associated with cardiovascular events among older adults with limited mobility (summary score &gt;10 on the Short Physical Performance Battery) both using baseline and longitudinal data. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01072500