Evaluation of Module Based Medical Ethics Training Among Medical Students of a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital in National Capital Region, India.

Introduction: The medical education world-wide is adapting competency based learning; it is high-time that the medical syllabus is inculcated with integrated-medical ethics training. An educational training program with a pre- and post-test method of analysis has better student outcome with respect to retention, thinking and understanding. Objective: To assess the understanding and application of medical ethics in students after structured module based training.Methods: One hundred and fifty students of 1st professional Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) were provided a 10 hours’ duration module based teaching of basic principles and core concepts of medical ethics in patient care. The assessment was conducted using a pre and post analysis questionnaire having 15 multiple choice questions with one correct response. Data were analysed using paired student’s t-test for comparing pre- and post-test scores. P < 0.05 was considered as significantResults: Total post-test correct responses were highly significant than pre-test responses. Gender wise, both males and females- post-test response significantly improved (p<0.001), indicating that there is improvement in understanding the principles and key concepts of medical ethics provided during the training. Upon completion of the training, most students strongly agreed that the training has inspired them towards the moral code of conduct, attitude and behavioural change and it provided necessary information on medical ethics.Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that the structured medical ethics training module yielded a significant enhancement of not only the knowledge and understanding level of the students but also in their perception, attitude and behavioural interest about the importance of ethical medical practice in the future patient care

Knowledge, attitude and practice of pharmacovigilance among community pharmacists in Delhi, India

Background: Lack of knowledge of Pharmacovigilance (PhV) and Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) reporting culture among the prescribers have been identified as major factors for under reporting of ADRs. In an attempt to increase the reporting many countries have allowed pharmacists to report ADRs. This study was planned to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of PhV among community pharmacist in Delhi, India.Methods: Cross sectional, questionnaire based study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice of PhV among 200 community pharmacists of Delhi (west Delhi) India.Results: Majority (74%) of the respondents felt that ADR reporting is necessary but only 9% were aware of existing PhV Program of India. Only 5% of pharmacists knew about elements of PhV. Forty percent (40%) of pharmacists did not know where to report ADRs and 26% felt that there is no need to report ADRs. Significant number (77%) of pharmacists felt that ADRs reporting will damage their image. 96% never try to find ADRs and in case if they get ADRs from patients, majority (95%) of them never report to anybody. Almost all (96%) of respondents cited busy schedule as the main reason for non-reporting and 86% said that it will be very convenient if ADRs are collected by someone from them.Conclusions: Community pharmacists had positive attitude towards ADRs reporting but their knowledge and practice regarding PhV need to be improved. There is a need of regular training to increase their role in PhV

Performance evaluation of commercial miRNA expression array platforms

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>microRNAs (miRNA) are short, endogenous transcripts that negatively regulate the expression of specific mRNA targets. The relative abundance of miRNAs is linked to function <it>in vivo </it>and miRNA expression patterns are potentially useful signatures for the development of diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic biomarkers.</p> <p>Finding</p> <p>We compared the performance characteristics of four commercial miRNA array technologies and found that all platforms performed well in separate measures of performance.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The Ambion and Agilent platforms were more accurate, whereas the Illumina and Exiqon platforms were more specific. Furthermore, the data analysis approach had a large impact on the performance, predominantly by improving precision.</p

Can Fitts\u27 Throughput Be A Predictor Of Muscle Fatigue – A Study Based On Metacarpal Gloves?

In this study, Fitts’ throughput was used to estimate throughput for metacarpal gloves. Fitts’ throughput combines speed and accuracy during target transfer/movement tasks into a single performance index. It was hypothesized that the throughput will be affected by the glove condition and it will exhibit a relationship with the physiological response of hand muscles and perceived exertions. Fifteen healthy participants (10 males, 5 females) were recruited for data collection. Each participant performed a series of target transfer tasks using four glove conditions: (1) a pigskin leather (glove 1); (2) a synthetic fiber glove (glove 2); (3) a goat-grain leather glove (glove 3); (4) bare hand. The physiological response of hand muscles was recorded during a separate gripping study. The participants performed 60-second static gripping tasks using each glove condition at force levels of 35% of their maximum gripping strength. Surface electromyography (SEMG) was used to record activation levels of four-hand muscles: (i) Flexor Digitorum Superficialis, (ii) Flexor Carpi Radialis, (iii) Extensor Carpi Radialis Longus, and (iv) Extensor Digitorum. Glove condition had a significant effect on throughput (p\u3c0.05). The highest throughput was observed for bare hand (3.17 bits/s), followed by Glove 3 (2.44 bits/s). High throughput signifies high accuracy and low task completion time. Glove 2 and Glove 1 had a similar throughput of 2.34 bits/s. The lowest muscle activation was observed for bare hand (51%), followed by glove 1 (59%), glove 2 (60%) and glove 3 (64%). A drop in the median frequency of SEMG data, which is an indication of muscle fatigue was significantly affected by the glove condition (p\u3c0.05). The lowest drop was observed for bare hand (9%), followed by glove 2 (17%), glove 1 (18%) and glove 3 (23%). A similar trend was also observed for perceived exertions. Overall, the results of this study indicate that during gloved exertions, a direct relationship exists between throughput and the physiological response of hand muscles. The Fitts’ throughput holds the potential to be used as a performance measure to evaluate and compare different types of gloves

The Global Monkeypox (Mpox) Outbreak: A Comprehensive Review

Monkeypox (Mpox) is a contagious illness that is caused by the monkeypox virus, which is part of the same family of viruses as variola, vaccinia, and cowpox. It was first detected in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970 and has since caused sporadic cases and outbreaks in a few countries in West and Central Africa. In July 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public-health emergency of international concern due to the unprecedented global spread of the disease. Despite breakthroughs in medical treatments, vaccines, and diagnostics, diseases like monkeypox still cause death and suffering around the world and have a heavy economic impact. The 85,189 reported cases of Mpox as of 29 January 2023 have raised alarm bells. Vaccines for the vaccinia virus can protect against monkeypox, but these immunizations were stopped after smallpox was eradicated. There are, however, treatments available once the illness has taken hold. During the 2022 outbreak, most cases occurred among men who had sex with men, and there was a range of 7–10 days between exposure and the onset of symptoms. Three vaccines are currently used against the Monkeypox virus. Two of these vaccines were initially developed for smallpox, and the third is specifically designed for biological-terrorism protection. The first vaccine is an attenuated, nonreplicating smallpox vaccine that can also be used for immunocompromised individuals, marketed under different names in different regions. The second vaccine, ACAM2000, is a recombinant second-generation vaccine initially developed for smallpox. It is recommended for use in preventing monkeypox infection but is not recommended for individuals with certain health conditions or during pregnancy. The third vaccine, LC16m8, is a licensed attenuated smallpox vaccine designed to lack the B5R envelope-protein gene to reduce neurotoxicity. It generates neutralizing antibodies to multiple poxviruses and broad T-cell responses. The immune response takes 14 days after the second dose of the first two vaccines and 4 weeks after the ACAM2000 dose for maximal immunity development. The efficacy of these vaccines in the current outbreak of monkeypox is uncertain. Adverse events have been reported, and a next generation of safer and specific vaccines is needed. Although some experts claim that developing vaccines with a large spectrum of specificity can be advantageous, epitope-focused immunogens are often more effective in enhancing neutralization