32 research outputs found

    The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey: an analysis of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in 25 UK medical schools relating to timing, duration, teaching formats, teaching content, and problem-based learning

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    Background What subjects UK medical schools teach, what ways they teach subjects, and how much they teach those subjects is unclear. Whether teaching differences matter is a separate, important question. This study provides a detailed picture of timetabled undergraduate teaching activity at 25 UK medical schools, particularly in relation to problem-based learning (PBL). Method The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey used detailed timetables provided by 25 schools with standard 5-year courses. Timetabled teaching events were coded in terms of course year, duration, teaching format, and teaching content. Ten schools used PBL. Teaching times from timetables were validated against two other studies that had assessed GP teaching and lecture, seminar, and tutorial times. Results A total of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in the academic year 2014/2015 were analysed, including SSCs (student-selected components) and elective studies. A typical UK medical student receives 3960 timetabled hours of teaching during their 5-year course. There was a clear difference between the initial 2 years which mostly contained basic medical science content and the later 3 years which mostly consisted of clinical teaching, although some clinical teaching occurs in the first 2 years. Medical schools differed in duration, format, and content of teaching. Two main factors underlay most of the variation between schools, Traditional vs PBL teaching and Structured vs Unstructured teaching. A curriculum map comparing medical schools was constructed using those factors. PBL schools differed on a number of measures, having more PBL teaching time, fewer lectures, more GP teaching, less surgery, less formal teaching of basic science, and more sessions with unspecified content. Discussion UK medical schools differ in both format and content of teaching. PBL and non-PBL schools clearly differ, albeit with substantial variation within groups, and overlap in the middle. The important question of whether differences in teaching matter in terms of outcomes is analysed in a companion study (MedDifs) which examines how teaching differences relate to university infrastructure, entry requirements, student perceptions, and outcomes in Foundation Programme and postgraduate training

    Increasing frailty is associated with higher prevalence and reduced recognition of delirium in older hospitalised inpatients: results of a multi-centre study

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    Purpose Delirium is a neuropsychiatric disorder delineated by an acute change in cognition, attention, and consciousness. It is common, particularly in older adults, but poorly recognised. Frailty is the accumulation of deficits conferring an increased risk of adverse outcomes. We set out to determine how severity of frailty, as measured using the CFS, affected delirium rates, and recognition in hospitalised older people in the United Kingdom. Methods Adults over 65 years were included in an observational multi-centre audit across UK hospitals, two prospective rounds, and one retrospective note review. Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), delirium status, and 30-day outcomes were recorded. Results The overall prevalence of delirium was 16.3% (483). Patients with delirium were more frail than patients without delirium (median CFS 6 vs 4). The risk of delirium was greater with increasing frailty [OR 2.9 (1.8–4.6) in CFS 4 vs 1–3; OR 12.4 (6.2–24.5) in CFS 8 vs 1–3]. Higher CFS was associated with reduced recognition of delirium (OR of 0.7 (0.3–1.9) in CFS 4 compared to 0.2 (0.1–0.7) in CFS 8). These risks were both independent of age and dementia. Conclusion We have demonstrated an incremental increase in risk of delirium with increasing frailty. This has important clinical implications, suggesting that frailty may provide a more nuanced measure of vulnerability to delirium and poor outcomes. However, the most frail patients are least likely to have their delirium diagnosed and there is a significant lack of research into the underlying pathophysiology of both of these common geriatric syndromes

    Metformin inhibits cell growth through reduction of Dvl3 in gynecological cancer

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    Conference Theme: Integrated cellular pathology - systems biology of human diseas

    AMPK activators inhibit cervical cancer cell growth through inhibition of Dvl3 mediated Wnt/b-catenin signaling

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    Conference Theme: Combat against Cervical Cancer - Challenges in Asia Oceani

    Metformin inhibits cell growth through reduction of Dvl3 in gynecological cancer

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    Poster Presentation - Theme 6: Cancer: 6.12The 15th Research Postgraduate Symposium (RPS 2010), the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, 1-2 December 2010

    Correcting power-law viscoelastic effects in elastic modulus measurement using depth-sensing indentation

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    The standard Oliver - Pharr method for measuring the elastic modulus by depth-sensing indentation makes use of the unloading response of the material as it is assumed that the unloading behaviour is purely elastic. However, under certain conditions, the unloading behaviour can be viscoelastic, and if the viscosity effects are not corrected, the calculated modulus can be seriously erroneous. Feng and Ngan have proposed a correction formula which can eliminate the creep effects. However, this formula has been proven to be correct for the case of linear viscoelasticity only; the general case of power-law viscoelasticity has not been proven. In this paper, this formula is proved for the general power-law viscoelastic situation using a Maxwell material model. Finite-element calculations are also performed to illustrate the result. The correction formula is applied to experimental data on amorphous selenium at ambient and elevated temperatures and is found to be effective in correcting for creep effects which are very prominent in this material. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex
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