ASSESSMENT OF DISTANCE LEARNING QUALITY CRITERIA FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION OF MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS

Distance learning is a favourable form of education in all professional fields. The necessity for repeated education and continuous renewal of knowledge and skills is acknowledged to be a fundamental demand in nowadays society. Distance learning is widespread and extensively studied from several aspects in many countries. In Latvia distance learning in medical studies is an underdeveloped sphere, which requires more attention, to acquire such an education strategy goal as lifelong learning. Along with technological development and introduction of distance learning it is essential to maintain quality and efficiency of education. Quality has more importance in open and distance learning, considering the virtual characteristics and physical distance between the trainees and the teaching staff. The literature review displays the significance of the teacher and student support mechanisms, internal and external evaluation processes, as well as strengthens academic culture and provides permanent cooperation and interaction with the interested parties in order to ensure a high quality study process of the distance learning. A competence-based approach is an important aspect in the professional development of medical practitioners and the assessment of knowledge, skills and competences from the student's point of view is an important indicator of the quality of education

DISTANCE LEARNING FOR HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS – CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES AND SOLUTIONS

The research was done in the framework of internal scientific project grant of Riga Medical College of the University of Latvia. The study took place between 01.04.2016.- 01.11.2016. Aim of the research. To evaluate feasibility and necessity for further education courses for medical personnel in form of distance learning and to assess the newly developed distance learning course methodological material for continuing education. Methodology: quantitative – 2 surveys, where the results apply to the focus group only. Results. There is a low supply of vocational further education in medicine in form of distance learning and the majority - 61% of nurses and physician assistants have never used such materials, while 77% of respondents acknowledge that distance learning is necessary. The main barriers, interfering with successful learning according to 33% of respondents are lack of time and 28% lack of self-motivation. Distance learning materials, are very interesting and of high quality, as the respondents evaluated with 5 and 6 points (in 6-point scale). Conclusion. Distance learning is needed not only for broadening the supply, but the necessity is also determined by the demand, which is attributed to the time and financial savings

Cytoskeletal Dynamics: Concepts in Measles Virus Replication and Immunomodulation

In common with most viruses, measles virus (MV) relies on the integrity of the cytoskeleton of its host cells both with regard to efficient replication in these cells, but also retention of their motility which favors viral dissemination. It is, however, the surface interaction of the viral glycoprotein (gp) complex with receptors present on lymphocytes and dendritic cells (DCs), that signals effective initiation of host cell cytoskeletal dynamics. For DCs, these may act to regulate processes as diverse as viral uptake and sorting, but also the ability of these cells to successfully establish and maintain functional immune synapses (IS) with T cells. In T cells, MV signaling causes actin cytoskeletal paralysis associated with a loss of polarization, adhesion and motility, which has been linked to activation of sphingomyelinases and subsequent accumulation of membrane ceramides. MV modulation of both DC and T cell cytoskeletal dynamics may be important for the understanding of MV immunosuppression at the cellular level

Foot problems of female medical personnelSubjective complaints and results of the podometric test

The research was carried out in a multi-profile clinic where female medical workers included nurses, doctors and nurse assistants. The number of respondents included in the data analysis of this research was 102. A standardised questionnaire was used to obtain data on age group, position, body mass index, physical activities, ergonomic factors at work, performed objective foot examination methods, awareness of the ways of feet deformation correction. A computerised foot diagnostic system Pad Professional was used to objectively assess the feet condition. The podometric examination was carried out on 78 respondents. The data indicated a widespread foot problem spread among medical workers. Of 102 respondents only 10 (4.2%) had no complaints, and of 78 respondents who underwent the podometric test, none were diagnosed as having a totally healthy foot. The podometric examination showed that 65 (83.3%), which was the vast majority of respondents, had transverse arch flattening. Explicit transverse arch flattening was diagnosed in 8 (10.3%) and longitudinal arch flattening in 5 (6.4%) respondents.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Induction of Membrane Ceramides: A Novel Strategy to Interfere with T Lymphocyte Cytoskeletal Reorganisation in Viral Immunosuppression

Silencing of T cell activation and function is a highly efficient strategy of immunosuppression induced by pathogens. By promoting formation of membrane microdomains essential for clustering of receptors and signalling platforms in the plasma membrane, ceramides accumulating as a result of membrane sphingomyelin breakdown are not only essential for assembly of signalling complexes and pathogen entry, but also act as signalling modulators, e. g. by regulating relay of phosphatidyl-inositol-3-kinase (PI3K) signalling. Their role in T lymphocyte functions has not been addressed as yet. We now show that measles virus (MV), which interacts with the surface of T cells and thereby efficiently interferes with stimulated dynamic reorganisation of their actin cytoskeleton, causes ceramide accumulation in human T cells in a neutral (NSM) and acid (ASM) sphingomyelinase–dependent manner. Ceramides induced by MV, but also bacterial sphingomyelinase, efficiently interfered with formation of membrane protrusions and T cell spreading and front/rear polarisation in response to β1 integrin ligation or αCD3/CD28 activation, and this was rescued upon pharmacological or genetic ablation of ASM/NSM activity. Moreover, membrane ceramide accumulation downmodulated chemokine-induced T cell motility on fibronectin. Altogether, these findings highlight an as yet unrecognised concept of pathogens able to cause membrane ceramide accumulation to target essential processes in T cell activation and function by preventing stimulated actin cytoskeletal dynamics

Serum Metabolome and Lipidome Changes in Adult Patients with Primary Dengue Infection

10.1371/journal.pntd.0002373PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases78

Transcriptomic Profiling of Virus-Host Cell Interactions following Chicken Anaemia Virus (CAV) Infection in an In Vivo Model.

Chicken Anaemia Virus (CAV) is an economically important virus that targets lymphoid and erythroblastoid progenitor cells leading to immunosuppression. This study aimed to investigate the interplay between viral infection and the host's immune response to better understand the pathways that lead to CAV-induced immunosuppression. To mimic vertical transmission of CAV in the absence of maternally-derived antibody, day-old chicks were infected and their responses measured at various time-points post-infection by qRT-PCR and gene expression microarrays. The kinetics of mRNA expression levels of signature cytokines of innate and adaptive immune responses were determined by qRT-PCR. The global gene expression profiles of mock-infected (control) and CAV-infected chickens at 14 dpi were also compared using a chicken immune-related 5K microarray. Although in the thymus there was evidence of induction of an innate immune response following CAV infection, this was limited in magnitude. There was little evidence of a Th1 adaptive immune response in any lymphoid tissue, as would normally be expected in response to viral infection. Most cytokines associated with Th1, Th2 or Treg subsets were down-regulated, except IL-2, IL-13, IL-10 and IFNγ, which were all up-regulated in thymus and bone marrow. From the microarray studies, genes that exhibited significant (greater than 1.5-fold, false discovery rate <0.05) changes in expression in thymus and bone marrow on CAV infection were mainly associated with T-cell receptor signalling, immune response, transcriptional regulation, intracellular signalling and regulation of apoptosis. Expression levels of a number of adaptor proteins, such as src-like adaptor protein (SLA), a negative regulator of T-cell receptor signalling and the transcription factor Special AT-rich Binding Protein 1 (SATB1), were significantly down-regulated by CAV infection, suggesting potential roles for these genes as regulators of viral infection or cell defence. These results extend our understanding of CAV-induced immunosuppression and suggest a global immune dysregulation following CAV infection

The Role of Sphingomyelin Breakdown in Measles Virus Immunmodulation

Measles virus (MV) efficiently causes generalized immunosuppression which accounts to a major extent for cases of measles-asscociated severe morbidity and mortality. MV infections alter many functions of antigen presenting cells (APC) (dendritic cells (DCs)) and lymphocytes, yet many molecular targets of the virus remain poorly defined. Cellular interactions and effector functions of DCs and lymphocytes are regulated by surface receptors. Associating with other proteins involved in cell signaling, receptors form part of receptosomes that respond to and transmit external signals through dynamic interctions with the cytoskeleton. Alterations in the composition and metabolism of membrane sphingolipids have a substantial impact on both processes. In this review we focus on the regulation of sphingomyelinase activity and ceramide release in cells exposed to MV and discuss the immunosuppressive role of sphingomyelin breakdown induced by MV

DC-SIGN Mediated Sphingomyelinase-Activation and Ceramide Generation Is Essential for Enhancement of Viral Uptake in Dendritic Cells

As pattern recognition receptor on dendritic cells (DCs), DC-SIGN binds carbohydrate structures on its pathogen ligands and essentially determines host pathogen interactions because it both skews T cell responses and enhances pathogen uptake for cis infection and/or T cell trans-infection. How these processes are initiated at the plasma membrane level is poorly understood. We now show that DC-SIGN ligation on DCs by antibodies, mannan or measles virus (MV) causes rapid activation of neutral and acid sphingomyelinases followed by accumulation of ceramides in the outer membrane leaflet. SMase activation is important in promoting DC-SIGN signaling, but also for enhancement of MV uptake into DCs. DCSIGN-dependent SMase activation induces efficient, transient recruitment of CD150, which functions both as MV uptake receptor and microbial sensor, from an intracellular Lamp-1+ storage compartment shared with acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) within a few minutes. Subsequently, CD150 is displayed at the cell surface and co-clusters with DC-SIGN. Thus, DCSIGN ligation initiates SMase-dependent formation of ceramide-enriched membrane microdomains which promote vertical segregation of CD150 from intracellular storage compartments along with ASM. Given the ability to promote receptor and signalosome co-segration into (or exclusion from) ceramide enriched microdomains which provide a favorable environment for membrane fusion, DC-SIGN-dependent SMase activation may be of general importance for modes and efficiency of pathogen uptake into DCs, and their routing to specific compartments, but also for modulating T cell responses

Multi-Word Expression in English. Fixed Adjective -Noun Clusters in English

Šis bakalaura darbs pēta frazeoloģiskas konstrukcijas kā lingvistisku parādību kā arī analizē vairākvārdu savienojumus kā vienu no to tipiem, sniedzot detalizētāku ieskatu par to tipiem un īpašībām. Darbs sastāv no 4 nodaļām un tām izrietošām apakšnodaļām, kā arī darbā ir iekļauts pielikums. 1. nodaļā tiek iztirzāti dažādie skatījumi uz šo Angļu valodas fenomenu. 2. nodaļā tiek analizēti vairāk vārdu savienojumi kā viens no frazeoloģisku konstrukciju valodas tipiem. 3. nodaļā ir apskatīti ilustratīvi piemēri, kā šie vārdu savienojumi tiek atspoguļoti vārdnīcās un kā vārdu krātuvēs (corpora). 4. nodaļā ir aprakstīts empīriskais pētījums par semantisko prozodiju un īpašības vārdu savienojumiem ar leksēmām krīze un atbalsts Angļu un Latviešu valodā. Atslēgvārdi: frazeoloģiskas konstrukcijas; vairāk vārdu savienojumi; nelokāmība/ nemainība, semantiskā prozodija, nozīmeThis paper explores the phenomenon of formulaic languages and analyzes concept of multi-word expressions as one of its types. In this paper deeper insight has been given in types of multi-word expressions as collocations, idioms, phrasal verbs and compounds as well as properties of multi-word expressions have been discussed. The paper consists of 4 chapters and resultant subchapters and 1 appendix. Chapter 1 discusses the Formulaic languages as the phenomenon of English language and the concept of it by different authors. Chapter 2 analyses multi-word expressions as one of the types of Formulaic languages. Chapter 3 offers illustrative examples how this language phenomenon and adjective-noun constructions are portrayed in dictionaries versus corpora. Chapter 4 presents the empirical investigation of semantic prosody and tendencies for lexemes crisis and support to collocate with adjectives in English and Latvian. Key words: Formulaic languages; Multi-Word expressions; Fixedness, Semantic prosody, the meanin