Virtual libraries of tissue and clinical samples: potential role of a 3-D microscope.

Our international innovative teaching group from different European Universities (De Montfort University, DMU, UK; and the Spanish University of Alcalá, University Miguel Hernández and University of San Pablo CEU), in conjunction with practicing biomedical scientists in the National Health Service (UK) and biomedical researchers, are developing two complete e-learning packages for teaching and learning medical parasitology, named DMU e-Parasitology (accessible at: http://parasitology.dmu.ac.uk), and biology and chemistry, named DMU e-Biology (accessible at: http://parasitology.dmu.ac.uk/ebiology/index.htm), respectively. Both packages will include a virtual microscope with a complete library of digitised tissue images, clinical slides and cell culture slides/mini-videos for enhancing the teaching and learning of a myriad of techniques applicable to health science undergraduate and postgraduate students. Thus, these packages include detecting human parasites, by becoming familiar with their infective structures and/or organs (e.g. eggs, cysts) and/or explore pathogenic tissues stained with traditional (e.g. haematoxylin & eosin) or more modern (e.g. immunohistochemistry) techniques. The Virtual Microscope (VM) module in the DMU e-Parasitology package is almost completed (accessible at: http://parasitology.dmu.ac.uk/learn/microscope.htm) and contains a section for the three major groups of human-pathogenic parasites (Peña-Fernández et al., 2018) [1]. Digitised slides are provided with the functionality of a microscope by using the gadget Zoomify®, and we consider that they can enhance learning, as previous studies reported in the literature have reported similar sensitivity and specificity rates for identification of parasites for both digitised and real slides. The DMU e-Biology’s VM, currently in development, will provide healthy and pathological tissue samples from a range of mammalian tissues and organs. This communication will provide a description of both virtual libraries and the process of developing them. In conjunction, we will use a three-dimensional (3D) super-resolution microscopy, 3D Cell Explorer (Nanolive, Lausanne, Switzerland), to incorporate potential 3D microscopic photographs/short videos of cells to provide students with information about the spatial arrangement and morphologies of cells that are essential for life

Interventions to enhance the teaching status of parasitology.

Recent surveys have highlighted an erosion of the teaching of parasitology in medical and veterinary schools across Europe and other developed countries, despite reports of increasing instances of food and water borne parasitic infections in these regions. To facilitate the teaching of this subject, essential to develop future health care professionals, we are performing different interventions at De Montfort University (DMU, UK). Briefly, these include: a) curriculum modifications to increase the time dedicated to the study of parasitology; and b) implementation of web-based resources in the curricula for enhancing teaching (e.g. through introduction of blended learning) and to encourage self-learning and participation among the students. Thus, DMU is leading the development of an on-line package for teaching and learning parasitology named DMU e-Parasitology in collaboration with different European academics and clinicians. This package has four sections: a theoretical section with mini e-learning modules to study major human parasitic diseases; virtual laboratory describing major techniques used in parasitology; a microscopy section with resources to enhance the study of parasites; a section with virtual clinical case studies to encourage self-learning. To assess the effectiveness of DMU e-Parasitology as a learning resource, we have done preliminary testing with final year BSc Biomedical Science students at DMU (n=194; 2017/18). 94.5% of students highlighted they gained appropriate knowledge of the pathology, prevention and treatment of some parasitic diseases; and 93.1% indicated that they learnt basic skills to investigate parasitic disease. The interventions and resources described could be used to improve the teaching status of medical parasitology in human health degrees

Introducing medical parasitology at the University of Makeni, Sierra Leone

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version.Capacity building in Sierra Leone (West Africa) is critical to prevent potential future outbreaks similar to the 2013-16 Ebola outbreak that had devastating effects for the country and its poorly developed healthcare system. De Montfort University (DMU) in the United Kingdom (UK), in collaboration with parasitologists from the Spanish Universities of San Pablo CEU and Miguel Hernández de Elche, is leading a project to build the teaching and research capabilities of medical parasitology at the University of Makeni (UniMak, Sierra Leone). This project has two objectives: a) to introduce and enhance the teaching of medical parasitology, both theoretical and practical; and b) to implement and develop parasitology research related to important emerging human parasites such as Cryptosporidium spp. due to their public health significance. Two UniMak academics, hired to help initiate and implement the research part of the project, shared their culturally sensitive public health expertise to broker parasitology research in communities and perform a comprehensive environmental monitoring study for the detection of different emerging human parasites. The presence of targeted parasites are being studied microscopically using different staining techniques, which in turn have allowed UniMak’s academics to learn these techniques to develop new practicals in parasitology. To train UniMak’s academics and develop both parts of our project, a DMU researcher visited UniMak for two weeks in April 2019 and provided a voluntary short training course in basic parasitology, which is currently not taught in any of their programmes, and was attended by 31 students. These sessions covered basic introduction to medical parasitology and life-cycle, pathogenesis, detection, treatment and prevention of: a) coccidian parasites (Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora and Cystoisospora); b) Giardia intestinalis, Entamoeba and free-living amoebas; c) malaria and d) microsporidia. A theoretical session on common staining techniques was also provided. To facilitate the teaching and learning of these parasites, the novel resource DMU e-Parasitology was used, a package developed by the above participating universities and biomedical scientists from the UK National Health Service (NHS): http://parasitology.dmu.ac.uk/ index.htm. Following the two weeks of training, UniMak’s academics performed different curriculum modifications to the undergraduate programme ‘Public Health: Medical Laboratory Sciences’, which includes the introduction of new practicals in parasitology and changes to enhance the content of medical parasitology that will be subjected to examination. Thus, a new voluntary practical on Kinyoun stain for the detection of coccidian parasites was introduced in the final year module of ‘Medical Bacteriology and Parasitology’; eighteen students in pairs processed faecal samples from pigs provided by the Department of Agriculture and Food Security from a nearby farm. Academics at UniMak used the Kinyoun staining unit (available at http://parasitology.dmu.ac.uk/learn/lab/Kinyoun/story_html5.html; [1]) to deliver this practical. Although our project is at a preliminary stage, it has been shown to be effective in promoting the introduction and establishment of medical parasitology at UniMak and could be viewed as a case-study for other universities in low-income countries to promote the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and improve public health understanding of infectious diseases

Structural Variations Induced by Temperature Changes in Rotavirus VP6 Protein Immersed in an Electric Field and Their Effects on Epitopes of The Region 300-396

Rotavirus diarrhea is an infectious intestinal disease that causes about 215 thousand deaths annually in infants under five years old. This virus is formed by three layers of concentric proteins that envelop its genome, from which VP6 structural protein is the most conserved among rotavirus serotypes and an excellent vaccine candidate. Recent studies have shown that structural proteins are susceptible to losing their biological function when their conformation is modified by moderate temperature increments, and in the case of VP6, its antigen efficiency decreases. We performed an in silicoanalysis to identify the structural variations in the epitopes 301-315, 357-366, and 376-384 of the rotavirus VP6 protein -in a hydrated medium- when the temperature is increased from 310 K to 322 K. In the latter state, we applied an electric field equivalent to a low energy laser pulse and calculated the fluctuations per amino acid residue. We identified that the region 301-315 has greater flexibility and density of negative electrical charge; nevertheless, at 322 K it experiences a sudden change of secondary structure that could decrease its efficiency as an antigenic determinant. The applied electric field induces electrical neutrality in the region 357-366, whereas in 376-384 inverts the charge, implying that temperature changes in the range 310 K-322 K are a factor that promotes thermoelectric effects in the VP6 protein epitopes in the region 300-396

Novel resources for learning the identification of human-related parasites.

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Microscopic detection of human-related parasites in a range of clinical samples remains the cornerstone of parasitological diagnosis despite recent advances in technology and molecular sciences. However, the use of the light microscope for diagnostic purposes requires comprehensive training, skills and parasitology knowledge that it is difficult to appropriately provide to future health professionals due to different challenges including shortages of health science academics, resources, time and specimens for delivering appropriate training. An international teaching innovation team from different European universities, led by De Montfort University (UK), is building a novel resource for learning and teaching parasitology, which is equipped with a Virtual Laboratory and Microscope. In the Virtual Laboratory (http://parasitology.dmu.ac.uk/learn/laboratory.htm), we are building a complete subsection with a series of engaging units for learning different parasitological staining/fresh preparations techniques for detecting common and rare (emerging and re-emerging) human parasites from several taxa: protozoa (mostly cysts, oocysts) and helminths (eggs and organs for parasitological differentiation such as scolex or proglottids for Taenia spp.) and fungi (spores), which will be publicly available in 2019. Examples of staining techniques included are Kinyoun and Trichrome (normal and modified) stain and fresh preparations for investigating eggs as well as more recent techniques such as immunofluorescence. The Virtual Laboratory will also provide resources to undertake appropriate sample (faeces, blood, urine) collection, management and preparation for parasitological diagnosis and the use of different microscopes including the light microscope for parasite analysis. These units will be equipped with short videos of academics and technicians performing the different techniques, which will include audio and subtitles in English, and will be supported by photos, artworks, designs and self-assessment mini-quizzes and exercises, to provide students with the most practical experience possible. Finally, a complete library of digitised clinical slides of different specimens and parasites is provided here: http://parasitology.dmu.ac.uk/learn/microscope.htm. Each virtual slide is provided with the functionality of a microscope, so the user will be able to zoom in and out and explore all of the clinical sample to learn the morphological characteristics of cysts, oocysts, eggs and spores for parasitological diagnosis. When relevant, a variety of virtual slides for the different species for the same parasite will be provided to enhance the identification of parasites to species level in conjunction with a short description and tips for easy identification. The resources that are being created will cover the theoretical foundation and current scientific information so they will be suitable for undergraduate/postgraduate students as well as for more professional training. This paper will present a complete overview of these novel resources that are aimed to help train future professionals in parasitic disease diagnosis with microscopic identification of parasites; these web-based resources could help to overcome current limitations that are eroding the teaching status of parasitology. Finally, different strategies will be presented to facilitate the introduction and use of this novel resource in any human health programme

Building on-line materials for teaching parasitology to health sciences’ students: initial impressions.

Background: It is widely recognised that the use of web-based teaching resources is an increasingly important method for delivering education, and it will be particularly important in the near future due to the progressively increasing number of health science students and the current number of academics in the “European Higher Education Area”. The study of parasitology and infectious diseases is essential to build professionals in the health sector with the key knowledge and skills to face global public health threats such as food-, water- or vector-borne infectious diseases outbreaks. However, the current time dedicated to the teaching of this discipline in all health sciences degrees at De Montfort University (DMU, Leicester, UK) is very little or non-existent depending on the degree/master. Methods: An innovative teaching group at DMU is trying to fill this gap in the currently available teaching offer in line with new trends in global health education, the large number of students enrolled in any health degree and the increasing number of students that would like to study this discipline (but due to different commitments do not have enough time or resources to study on a full time basis). Thus, an innovative teaching group from different EU Universities (DMU and the Spanish universities: University of San Pablo CEU, University of Alcalá, and University Miguel Hernández de Elche) and clinicians (University Hospitals of Leicester, UK) have started to design, create and develop a complete on-line package in Parasitology for undergraduate and postgraduate students that study health sciences. Results: The e-Parasitology package will be accessible through the DMU website (http://parasitology.dmu.ac.uk) in 2017 and will be focused on infection, prevention and treatment of major and emerging parasitological diseases. Conclusions: This teaching resource will aid our undergraduate and postgraduate students to gain a significant knowledge in parasitology by promoting self-learning and internationalization. This poster will explore one of the first mini-modules developed so far related with Toxocara, a helminthiasis with prevalence rates that can reach as high as 40% or more in parts of the world, and the challenges for its development

Developing a novel resource for teaching and learning parasitology: DMU e-Parasitology.

Background: The study of parasitology has become essential to develop future health care professionals with skills to respond to public health threats such as the recent outbreak of Cryptosporidium in the UK. To facilitate the teaching of parasitology, which is negligible across the different undergraduate and taught masters degrees at De Montfort University (DMU, UK), a group from different EU Universities [DMU and the Spanish universities: University of San Pablo CEU (USP-CEU) and University Miguel Hernández] and clinicians are developing an on-line package for teaching and learning parasitology named DMU e-Parasitology. The development of this teaching resource will cover a gap in the traditional teaching and learning methods that are currently used and provided in the participating universities. Materials/methods: The DMU e-Parasitology resource is being created for undergraduate and postgraduate human health science students, with corresponding degrees of difficulty on the DMU website (http://parasitology.dmu.ac.uk/). To develop the theoretical section, a preliminary unit about the helminth Toxocara was initially developed to be used as a model for this section: http://parasitology.dmu.ac.uk/learn/modules/toxocara/story.html. Volunteers that studied Parasitology during the first term in 2016/17 [n=27; 6 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System credits (ECTS); 3rd year module] from the bilingual Pharmacy and Biotechnology degree at USP-CEU provided comprehensive feedback for this preliminary unit at the beginning of the second term. The module was tested with these students because of their knowledge of parasitology. Results: Students described the initial unit as interactive and presenting the appropriate content and resources to study the parasitic disease addressed (toxocariasis). Limitations were the poor navigability in the formative exercise section and the excessive information provided in some slides that could hinder their understanding. Conclusions: The team has addressed these limitations and is using this unit as a model to build the DMU e-Parasitology, which will be accessible through the website (http://parasitology.dmu.ac.uk) in 2018. We consider that this teaching and learning resource will overcome barriers of time, space, equipment and resource. Finally, this resource could facilitate the introduction of parasitology in any health science programme with limited time for teaching this subject in their curriculums

Creating a model module for the novel resource DMU e-Parasitology.

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI linkThe study of parasitology has become essential to build future health care professionals with skills to respond to public health threats such as the recent outbreaks due to Cryptosporidium spp. or Giardia in the United Kingdom (UK). To facilitate the teaching of parasitology, which negligible across the different undergraduate and taught masters degrees at De Montfort University (DMU, Leicester, UK), a group from different EU Universities [DMU and the Spanish universities: University of San Pablo CEU (USP-CEU) and University Miguel Hernández], clinicians and practising Biomedical Scientists from the UK National Health Service are developing an on-line package for teaching and learning parasitology named DMU e-Parasitology. This package will have three sections or modules: a theoretical module with mini e-learning units to study major human parasites such as Leishmania spp. or malaria; a virtual laboratory module with units to enhance the learning and study of parasitic diseases such as culture of parasites, staining and use of light microscope to identify these organisms or molecular techniques for the identification of parasites to species level; and a virtual microscope with a real slide collection of clinical samples of parasites. The e-Parasitology resource is being created for undergraduate/postgraduate human health science students, with corresponding degrees of difficulty. Units will include a tool to assess the learning process of the students, in form of a quiz, activity and/or exam, and several formative activities throughout each mini-module. The development of this teaching resource will cover a gap in the traditional teaching and learning methods that are currently used and provided in the participating Universities. The DMU e-Parasitology will aid to our undergraduate students to gain a significant knowledge in parasitology by promoting self-learning. A unit related with Toxocara, a helmintiasis with prevalence rates that can reach as high as 40% or more in different parts of the world, was firstly developed to use as a model for the development of the DMU e-Parasitology. Three undergraduate students that studied parasitology during the first term in 2016/17 [n=27; 6 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System credits (ECTS); 3rd year module] from the bilingual Pharmacy and Biotechnology degree at USP-CEU were voluntarily recruited to provide comprehensive feedback for this model unit at the beginning of the second term. This unit was tested with these students because of their comprehensive knowledge of parasitology. Students described it as interactive and presenting the appropriate content and resources to study the parasitic disease addressed (toxocariasis). Limitations were the poor navigability in the formative exercise section and the excessive information provided in some slides that could hinder their understanding. The team has addressed these limitations and is using this unit as a model to build the DMU e-Parasitology, which will be accessible through the DMU website (http://parasitology.dmu.ac.uk) in 2018. We consider that this teaching and learning resource will overcome barriers of time, space, equipment and resources; and may help students and scientists around the world in the diagnostic of different parasitic diseases that impact human health