Can a single brief intervention improve participants' readiness for interprofessional learning?

Interprofessional learning (IPL) was introduced for University of Nottingham 3rd year medical and nursing students at the Lincoln County Hospital. An evaluation of the subsequently implemented IPL intervention allowed us to ask the research question: can a single brief IPL intervention improve attitudes to IPL? A low fidelity simulation intervention was chosen as the mode of IPL, focusing on teamwork in the context of the assessment of the acutely ill patient. To assess the intervention's effect on students' attitudes, a validated questionnaire (RIPLS) was completed before and after the session. Nine of the nineteen questions in RIPLS had significantly different responses following the intervention. This reflected a more positive attitude to IPL following the intervention. This evaluation of this intervention suggests that IPL is valued by students and significantly improves attitudes to IPL, at least in the immediate post-intervention period.

Nickel(II), copper(II) and zinc(II) binding properties and cytotoxicity of tripodal, hexadentate tris(ethylenediamine)--analogue chelators.

Three tripodal hexamine chelators based on cis,cis-1,3,5-triaminocyclohexane (tach) have been synthesized and their aqueous coordination chemistry with Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) is reported. The chelators have a 2-aminoethyl pendant arm attached to each nitrogen of tach, specifically 'tachen'(N,N',N''-tris(2-aminoethyl)cyclohexane-cis,cis-1,3,5-triamine), and two with S,S,S-chiral pendant arms, 'tachpn'(N,N',N''-tris(2-aminopropyl)cyclohexane-cis,cis-1,3,5-triamine) and 'tachbn'(N,N',N''-tris(2-amino-3-phenylpropyl)cyclohexane-cis,cis-1,3,5-triamine. These chelators complex Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) in aqueous or aqueous/methanolic medium. The crystalline products [M(II)L](X)2 are isolated, where M = Ni(II), Cu(II) or Zn(II), L = tachen, tachpn or tachbn, and X = ClO4-. Crystallographic study of selected tachpn and tachbn complexes shows the chelate arms are constrained in a Lambda(deltadeltadelta) configuration about M(II), which is attributed to their chirality. Solution UV-vis spectroscopy of the Ni(II) and Cu(II) complexes indicates six-coordination and little effect of the pendant arm substitution on ligand-field strength. The single exception is [Cu(tachbn)]2+, whose spectrum is consistent with five-coordination in solution. The cytotoxicities of tachen, tachpn and tachbn toward cultured cancer cells is in the order tachen < tachpn < tachbn < tachpyr, where tachpyr is the aminopyridyl chelator N,N',N''-tris(2-pyridylmethyl)cyclohexane-cis,cis-1,3,5-triamine. The cytotoxicity difference is attributed to an order of increasing lipophilicity, tachen < tachpn < tachbn.