Antibacterial Effectiveness of Essential Oils Against Common Pathogens

Introduction: The idea of holistic medicine is becoming more popular by the day. More and more people are using essential oils rather than prescribed antibiotics. Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the antibacterial effectiveness of Melaleuca alternifolia (Tea Tree Oil), Lavandula officinalis (Lavender Oil), and Eucalyptus citriodora (Eucalyptus Oil), against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Materials & Methods: Blank filter paper disks were placed into 1mL of each essential oil. The disks soaked in the oil at room temperature for two hours. Three blood agar plates (BAP) were inoculated with each organism using the lawning technique. The disks from each essential oil tube were placed in a triangular manner on the lawned plates. Plates were incubated in ambient air at 37 degrees Celsius for twenty four hours. Plates were then read for zones of inhibition around the kirby bauer disks. The zone of inhibition, if present, was recorded in mm. Results: Pseudomonas aeruginosa demonstrated resistance to all essential oils tested. Tea tree oil consistently recorded the largest zone of inhibition with S. aureus and E. coli. Lavender oil recorded the second largest zones of inhibition followed by eucalyptus oil. Conclusion: Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli have been shown to be susceptible to all essential oils tested while, Pseudomonas aeruginosa demonstrated resistance to all essential oils. Further studies with more organisms as well as oils should be performed

An analysis of lecture video utilization in undergraduate medical education: associations with performance in the courses

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Increasing numbers of medical schools are providing videos of lectures to their students. This study sought to analyze utilization of lecture videos by medical students in their basic science courses and to determine if student utilization was associated with performance on exams.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Streaming videos of lectures (n = 149) to first year and second year medical students (n = 284) were made available through a password-protected server. Server logs were analyzed over a 10-week period for both classes. For each lecture, the logs recorded time and location from which students accessed the file. A survey was administered at the end of the courses to obtain additional information about student use of the videos.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was a wide disparity in the level of use of lecture videos by medical students with the majority of students accessing the lecture videos sparingly (60% of the students viewed less than 10% of the available videos. The anonymous student survey revealed that students tended to view the videos by themselves from home during weekends and prior to exams. Students who accessed lecture videos more frequently had significantly (p < 0.002) lower exam scores.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We conclude that videos of lectures are used by relatively few medical students and that individual use of videos is associated with the degree to which students are having difficulty with the subject matter.</p

A Clinical Update and Radiologic Review of Pediatric Orbital and Ocular Tumors

While pediatric orbital tumors are most often managed in tertiary care centers, clinicians should be aware of the signs of intraocular and orbital neoplasms. In the pediatric population, a delay in diagnosis of orbital and intraocular lesions, even if benign, can lead to vision loss and deformity. Intraocular lesions reviewed are retinoblastoma, medulloepithelioma, and retinal astrocytic hamartoma. Orbital neoplasms reviewed are rhabdomyosarcoma, neuroblastoma metastases, optic pathway glioma, plexiform neurofibroma, leukemia, lymphoprolipherative disease, orbital inflammatory syndrome, dermoid and epidermoid inclusion cysts, and Langerhans’ cell histiocytosis. Vascular lesions reviewed are infantile hemangioma and venous lymphatic malformation. In conjunction with clinical examination, high-resolution ophthalmic imaging and radiologic imaging play an important role in making a diagnosis and differentiating between benign and likely malignant processes. The radiologic imaging characteristics of these lesions will be discussed to facilitate prompt diagnosis and treatment. The current treatment modalities and management of tumors will also be reviewed

Diagnostic utility of fine needle aspiration cytology in pediatric thyroid nodules based on Bethesda Classification

ObjectivesThe Bethesda system for reporting cytopathology (TBSRTC) has been widely adopted in the management of thyroid nodules. Based on the limited pediatric data available, the implied malignancy risk for each of the&nbsp;categories may be significantly different in pediatrics vs. adults, especially in the indeterminate categories (Bethesda Class III or IV). We report the diagnostic utility of fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy at our institution based on the Bethesda system and the risk of malignancy in each category.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed all patients who underwent a thyroid FNA at our tertiary pediatric hospital from 12/1/2002 to 11/30/2018. FNA results were classified according to TBSRTC. Patient demographics, cytology, histopathology, radiological and clinical follow-ups were examined.ResultsA total of 171 patients were included with 203&nbsp;cytological samples. Average age at initial FNA was 14.7 years (range 6.9-18.6 years). The numbers of nodules reported for Bethesda categories I-VI were 29, 106, 22, 14, 6 and 26, respectively, and the rate of malignancy was: 13.8,&nbsp;4.7, 22.7, 35.7, 83.3 and 100%, respectively. Use of ultrasound guidance reduced the non-diagnostic rate from 38.1 to 11.5%. Introduction of on-site adequacy testing further reduced the non-diagnostic rate to 6.5% since 2014.ConclusionsThe risk of malignancy for thyroid nodules in&nbsp;this pediatric cohort is higher than reported in adults. However, rates described here are much closer to adult ranges than previously published pediatric cohorts. The addition of adequacy testing improved the non-diagnostic rate of FNA procedures performed with ultrasound guidance