Practices and perceptions of online teaching among faculty of medical colleges

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has enormously impacted the medical education system owing to a nationwide lockdown. The faculty of medical colleges had to face an abrupt switch from traditional classroom teaching to online teaching methods, which proved challenging. We aimed to evaluate the practices and perceptions of online teaching among faculty of medical colleges. Methods: An online survey tool consisting of socio-demographic variables, teaching experience details, online teaching practices, perceived self-efficacy and training and support received was used. Results: Only 89 of 108 faculty members participated were eligible for the survey. Majority (69.7%) belonged to the age 25-40 years, were Assistant Professors (44.9%) and from Private medical colleges (79.8%) and used Zoom application (71.6%) as their teaching tool. About 16.9% had previous experience of online teaching. Among the teaching practices, content related practices were frequently utilised by the faculty followed by effective communication practices. The overall responses for perceived self- efficacy were above neutral. The faculty received highest and least training/support in content specific knowledge and online classroom management respectively. Linear regression analysis revealed statistically significant positive association of perceived professional and technological self-efficacy with effective communication [(β=0.238, p=0.05), (β=0.510, p<0.001)] and content related practices [(β=0.309, p=0.007), (β=0.477, p<0.001)]. Conclusions: Addressing faculty concerns and appropriate training in the use of digital platforms can help improve online teaching practices thus facilitating effective e-learning. Post-pandemic, a blended classroom and online teaching curriculum would probably provide a better learning environment

Satellite Remote Sensing and Field Studies on Narrowing of Three Sea Mouths of Pulicat Lake Sanctuary and Ecological Impact

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchiv

EVALUATION OF IMMUNOMODULATORY ACTIVITY OF PETROLEUM ETHER EXTRACT OF SEEDS OF PITHECELLOBIUM DULCE IN WISTAR RATS

Objective: The present study was planned to assess the immunomodulatory action of petroleum ether extracts of seeds of Pithecellobium dulce (PEPD) in experimental models of immunity.Methods: Metronidazole, pyrogallol and ethanol models were used for suppression of the immune system in Wistar rats. Humoral immunity was analyzed by haemmagglutination assay, whereas, cellular immunity was carried out by paw edema and carbon clearance assay. PEPD (400 mg/kg, p. o.) was selected by acute toxicity study. Levamisole (50 mg/kg, p. o.) was used as standard.Results: Metronidazole, pyrogallol and ethanol significantly decreased the humoral and cellular immunity, whereas, PEPD and levamisole significantly increased the circulating antibody titer in the indirect haemagglunation test. PEPD and levamisole also produced significant increases in paw edema and increase in the phagocytic index in the carbon clearance assay. Animals treated with metronidazole, pyrogallol and ethanol decreased in peripheral blood RBCs and monocytes whereas, PEPD and levamisole treated groups significantly increased in peripheral blood RBCs and monocytes.Conclusion: Our data showed that PEPD possesses potential for augmenting immune activity by cellular and humoral mediated mechanisms and also significantly restores the biochemical and histopathological parameters. The present study concluded that PEPD may have therapeutic and prophylactic value as immunostimulants.Â

Investigation of the presence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in groundwater of Jazan area, Saudi Arabia

Purpose: To investigate the possible occurrence of some selected  pharmaceutical compounds in the groundwater of Jazan area, Saudi Arabia.Methods: Water samples from 46 wells were collected from different sites covering Jazan area of Saudi Arabia between February and March 2017. These samples were first analyzed to investigate the presence of eleven drugs mostly used in the study area. Thereafter, samples were subjected to liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) by direct injection and external standard calibration.Results: Despite the low detection limit (0.001 - 0.02 μg/L) applied to the investigated compounds with a variety chemical groups (acetylsalicylic acid, paracetamol, ibuprofen, metronidazole, caffeine, olmesartan, omeprazole, nifedipine, diclofenac sodium, glibenclamide and loratidine), none of these compounds was detected in any of the analyzed samples.Conclusion: The main source of environmental contamination with  pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) is wastewater. The results obtained reveal the absence of groundwater contamination by these compounds in Jazan area. However, further extended investigations and monitoring are recommended.Keywords: Pharmaceuticals, Groundwater, Wastewater, Pollution, Personal care products, Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS

Zero Order Spectrophotometric Method for Estimation of Escitalopram Oxalate in Tablet Formulations

A new, simple, fast and reliable zero order spectrophotometric method has been developed for determination of Escitalopram Oxalate in bulk and tablet dosage forms. The quantitative determination of drug was carried out using the zero order values (absorbance) measured at 238 nm. Calibration graph constructed at 238 nm was linear in concentration range of 2-20 µg/ml with correlation coefficient 0.9999. The method was found to be precise, accurate, specific, and validated as per ICH guidelines and can be used for determination of Escitalopram Oxalate in tablet formulations

Synthesis of a New Class of Heteroaryl Dipyrazolylcarbothioamides and Heteroaryl Dipyrazolyl Thiazoles and Evaluation as Antioxidants

A new class of indolyl dipyrazoles and indolyl dipyrazolyl thiazoles were prepared from the Michael acceptor (E)-3-(1H-indol-3-yl)-1-(4-aryl-1H-pyrazol-3-yl)prop-2-en-1-one under ultrasonication. All the compounds were obtained in higher yields and in shorter reaction times under ultrasound irradiation method. The lead compounds were tested for antioxidant activity. Amongst all the tested compounds methoxy substituted indolyl dipyrazolyl thiazole displayed pronounced antioxidant activity. © 2019 Author(s)

Microstructural evolution of copper-titanium alloy during in-situ formation of TiB2 particles

Bulk Cu-Ti alloy reinforced by TiB2 nano particles was prepared using in-situ reaction between Cu-3.4%Ti and Cu-0.7%B master alloys along with rapid solidification and subsequent heat treatment for 1-10 h at 900 C. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) characterization showed that primary TiB2 nano particles and TiB whiskers were formed by in-situ reaction between Ti and B in the liquid copper. The formation of TiB whiskers within the melt led to coarsening of TiB2 particles. Primary TiB2 particles were dispersed along the grain boundaries and hindered grain growth at high temperature, while the secondary TiB2 particles were formed during heat treatment of the alloy by diffusion reaction of solute titanium and boron inside the grains. Electrical conductivity and hardness of the composite were evaluated during heat treatment. The results indicated that the formation of secondary TiB2 particles in the matrix caused a delay in hardness reduction at high temperature. The electrical conductivity and hardness increased up to 8 h of heat treatment and reached 33.5% IACS and HV 158, respectively.

Synthesis and Spectral Characterization of 1,2,4-triazole derivatives

The olefin moiety presents in styrylsulfonylmethyl-1,2,4-triazolylamine (1) was exploited to build up five-member heterocycle-pyrazoles. The series of novel pyrazolyl-1,2,4-triazole amine derivatives (2-3) have been synthesized. All the entitles compounds were characterized by 1H and 13C NMR spectra. © 2022 Author(s).The authors G. Sravya and N. Bakkthavatchala Reddy are thankful to Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, Russia for financial assistance and thankful to Prof. A. Padmaja for providing necessary lab facility to carry out this research work

SYNTHESIS AND SPECTRAL CHARACTERIZATION OF 1,2,4- TRIAZOLE DERIVATIVES

The azole derivatives are the prominent players in the pharmaceutical research as they possess several biological properties. In particular, triazoles represent a class of heterocyclic compounds with a wide variety of biological activities. Furthermore, heterocyclic compounds containing a 1,2,4-triazole nucleus have a broad spectrum of pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticancer, antiproliferative and apoptotic properties. Hence biological importance of heterocyclic compounds containing 1, 2, 4-triazole with their pharmacological potential has thereby made them extremely attractive research targets. Based on the above essential information, we have designed and synthesized different 1,2,4-triazole derivatives

Nasal Host Response-Based Screening for Undiagnosed Respiratory Viruses: A Pathogen Surveillance and Detection Study

BACKGROUND: Symptomatic patients who test negative for common viruses are an important possible source of unrecognised or emerging pathogens, but metagenomic sequencing of all samples is inefficient because of the low likelihood of finding a pathogen in any given sample. We aimed to determine whether nasopharyngeal CXCL10 screening could be used as a strategy to enrich for samples containing undiagnosed viruses. METHODS: In this pathogen surveillance and detection study, we measured CXCL10 concentrations from nasopharyngeal swabs from patients in the Yale New Haven health-care system, which had been tested at the Yale New Haven Hospital Clinical Virology Laboratory (New Haven, CT, USA). Patients who tested negative for a panel of respiratory viruses using multiplex PCR during Jan 23-29, 2017, or March 3-14, 2020, were included. We performed host and pathogen RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and analysis for viral reads on samples with CXCL10 higher than 1 ng/mL or CXCL10 testing and quantitative RT-PCR (RT-qPCR) for SARS-CoV-2. We used RNA-Seq and cytokine profiling to compare the host response to infection in samples that were virus positive (rhinovirus, seasonal coronavirus CoV-NL63, or SARS-CoV-2) and virus negative (controls). FINDINGS: During Jan 23-29, 2017, 359 samples were tested for ten viruses on the multiplex PCR respiratory virus panel (RVP). 251 (70%) were RVP negative. 60 (24%) of 251 samples had CXCL10 higher than 150 pg/mL and were identified for further analysis. 28 (47%) of 60 CXCL10-high samples were positive for seasonal coronaviruses. 223 (89%) of 251 samples were PCR negative for 15 viruses and, of these, CXCL10-based screening identified 32 (13%) samples for further analysis. Of these 32 samples, eight (25%) with CXCL10 concentrations higher than 1 ng/mL and sufficient RNA were selected for RNA-Seq. Microbial RNA analysis showed the presence of influenza C virus in one sample and revealed RNA reads from bacterial pathobionts in four (50%) of eight samples. Between March 3 and March 14, 2020, 375 (59%) of 641 samples tested negative for 15 viruses on the RVP. 32 (9%) of 375 samples had CXCL10 concentrations ranging from 100 pg/mL to 1000 pg/mL and four of those were positive for SARS-CoV-2. CXCL10 elevation was statistically significant, and a distinguishing feature was found in 28 (8%) of 375 SARS-CoV-2-negative samples versus all four SARS-CoV-2-positive samples (p=4·4 × 10 INTERPRETATION: These results confirm CXCL10 as a robust nasopharyngeal biomarker of viral respiratory infection and support host response-based screening followed by metagenomic sequencing of CXCL10-high samples as a practical approach to incorporate clinical samples into pathogen discovery and surveillance efforts. FUNDING: National Institutes of Health, the Hartwell Foundation, the Gruber Foundation, Fast Grants for COVID-19 research from the Mercatus Center, and the Huffman Family Donor Advised Fund