Investigating the Impact of Face-to-Face vs Online Learning on the Eating Habits of Non-Clinical Students Registered at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, St. Augustine

University students lack adequate and balanced meals due to the separation from their families, insufficient funds, or lack of time and information about healthy nutrition. Most university students' diets are not nutritionally adequate or balanced during their school years. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the closure of schools and the implementation of lockdowns, resulting in isolation at home to curb the spread of the virus. The transition to online school disrupted the normal routine of most students making it difficult to maintain a healthy eating habit. However, not all students reported an unhealthy change. Information gathered can be used to promote healthy eating amongst students and make them aware of eating habits that would promote better health and wellbeing.

The Use of Recombinant Tissue Plasminogen Activator (rTPA) in The Treatment of Fibrinous Pleuropneumonia in Horses: 25 Cases (2007-2012).

BACKGROUND: Information about treatment protocols, adverse effects and outcomes with intrapleural recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rTPA) use in horses with fibrinous pleuropneumonia is limited. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: Describe factors that contribute to clinical response and survival of horses treated with rTPA intrapleurally. ANIMALS: Horses with bacterial pneumonia and fibrinous pleural effusion diagnosed by ultrasonography, that were treated with rTPA intrapleurally. METHODS: Retrospective multicenter case series from 2007-2012. Signalment, history, clinical and laboratory evaluation, treatment, and outcome obtained from medical records. Regression analysis used to identify associations between treatments and outcomes. RESULTS: Thirty three hemithoraces were treated in 25 horses, with 55 separate treatments. Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (375-20,000 µg/hemithorax) was administered 1-4 times. Sonographically visible reduction in fibrin mat thickness, loculations, fluid depth, or some combination of these was seen in 32/49 (65%) treatments. Response to at least 1 treatment was seen in 17/20 (85%) horses with sonographic follow-up evaluation after every treatment. Earlier onset of rTPA treatment associated with increased survival odds. No association was found between cumulative rTPA dose or number of rTPA doses and survival, development of complications, duration of hospitalization or total charges. Clinical evidence of hypocoagulability or bleeding was not observed. Eighteen horses (72%) survived to discharge. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Treatment with rTPA appeared safe and resulted in variable changes in fibrin quantity and organization within the pleural space. Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator could be a useful adjunct to standard treatment of fibrinous pleuropneumonia, but optimal case selection and dosing regimen remain to be elucidated.

Evaluation of wound healing activity of Vanda roxburghii R.Br(Orchidacea): a preclinical study in a rat model.

The extract of Vanda roxburghii was administered topically to rats at a dose of 150mgkg(-1) day(- 1) for 10 days and was studied for its effect on wound healing, using the excision wound model. A 60 per cent reduction in wound diameter was observed in the test group rats receiving the extract compared to controls (48 per cent). Significant increases in wet and dry granulation tissue weights (P < .001), hydroxyproline (P < .001), and hexosamine (P < .003) contents were detected. An increase in protein content was also detected in the test group (P > .05, ns). These findings are consistent with wound healing at cellular levels. The pro-healing action may be attributed either to increased collagen deposition or to better alignment and maturation or both. The test wounds (extract-treated wounds) were, on average, fully healed by the 13th day, whereas the control group healed, on average, by the 20th day. These data suggest that the extract of Vanda roxburghii administered topically has wound-healing potential in rats.

Gender stress: a preliminary survey with specific reference to female physicians.

Practicing female physicians in Trinidad and Tobago were studied to identify major causal factors of negative stress. Results indicated that major stressors were as follows: job (36%), finance (32%), children (20%), relationships (20%). The minor stressors identified were: children (48%), finance (36%), relationships (36%), job (32%), and health (20%). The physicians showed the ability to cope with the stress and this was attributed to, inter alia, self-sufficiency, empowerment, self-fulfillment and gender.

Gender stress: a preliminary survey with specific reference to female physicians

Practising female physicians in Trinidad and Tobago were studied to identify major casual factors of negative stress. Results indicated that major stressors were as follows: job (36 per cent ), finance (32 per cent ), children (20 per cent ) relationships (20 per cent ). The minor stressors identified were: children (48 per cent ), finance (36 per cent ), relationships (36 per cent ), job (32 per cent ), and health (20 per cent ). The physicians showed the ability to cope with the stress and this was attributed to, inter alia, self-sufficiency, empowerment, self-fulfilment and gender.

The utilization of quality assurance methods in emergency medical services.

OBJECTIVE: The concept of the necessity of a good quality assurance (QA) plan for emergency medical services (EMS) is well-accepted; guidelines as how best to achieve this and how current systems operate have have not been defined. The purpose of this study was to survey EMS systems to discover current methods used to perform medical control and QA and to examine whether the existence of an emergency medicine residency affected these components. METHODS: A survey was mailed in 1989 to the major teaching hospitals associated with all of the emergency medicine residency programs (n = 79) and all other hospitals with greater than 350 beds within the 50 largest United States metropolitan areas (n = 172). If no response was received, a second request was sent in 1990. The survey consisted of questions concerning four general EMS-QA categories: 1) general information; 2) prospective; 3) immediate; and 4) retrospective medical control. RESULTS: Completed surveys were received from 78.5% of residency and 50% of non-residency programs. The majority had an emergency medicine physician as medical director (80.1% vs 61.5%, p = .03). While both residency and non-residency hospitals participated in initial public and prehospital personnel education, academic programs were more likely to be involved in continuing medical education (98.2% vs 82.3%, p = .009). On-line (direct) supervision was more likely to be provided by residency institutions (96.4% vs 81.0%, p = .017) which was provided by a physician in 88.3%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Intern candidates who withdraw from contracts: incidence and internal medicine program directors' attitudes.

OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence of intern candidates accepted through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) or after the match who subsequently withdraw and the attitudes of program directors regarding this issue. DESIGN: Mailed survey. SETTING: Four hundred fifty-four internal medicine program directors. MEASUREMENTS: Questionnaires assessing program directors' attitudes toward interns who contract for positions after having verbal or written agreements elsewhere (and the program directors who accept them), the importance of this problem, and the incidence of this problem. MAIN RESULTS: Fifty-five programs (of the 221 responding) experienced intern withdrawals. Programs with larger numbers of open positions after the match had more intern withdrawals (p = 0.03). Eleven of the program directors knew of the prior commitment of the intern, and in all cases the other program director was called for permission to accept the intern. Program directors had negative feelings about both the interns who withdrew and the program directors who accepted them. Community, municipal, and Veterans Affairs hospital program directors were significantly less negative than those in university and university-affiliated hospitals toward interns who withdrew from written commitments (p = 0.001) and the program directors who accepted them (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Problems with intern candidate withdrawals from offered/matched programs affect a significant proportion of programs, especially those with larger numbers of unmatched positions. Program directors are generally disapproving.

Stress and the female physician

Discusses the area of stress as it relates to the female physician. Based on an analysis of a questionnaire entitled Stress and the female physician

Stress and the female physician

Discusses the area of stress as it relates to the female physician. Based on an analysis of a questionnaire entitled Stress and the female physician

The ethnobotany of chamairo: Mussatia hyacinthina.

Recent fieldwork in the eastern lowlands of Bolivia and Peru has revealed a traditional use of coca (Erythroxylum coca Lam.) as a medicine and stimulant that is distinct from the well-documented customs of the Northwest Amazon and the Andean highlands. In Bolivia some nine indigenous tribes centered mainly in the Rio Beni drainage masticate entire sun-dried coca leaves, yet use as an alkaline additive the crude ash of the spathe or leafbase of the motacú palm (Scheelea princeps (Mart.) Karst.). To the quid they add a piece of the bark of the bignoniaceous liana chamairo (Mussatia sp.), which markedly sweetens the chew. In the montaña of Peru, the liana is also used and a new species is reported from the upper Apurimac river. The ethnobotany of chamairo throughout its range is examined and the need for pharmacological screening is emphasised.

The ethnomedicine of the Waorani of Amazonian Ecuador.

The Waorani Indians of eastern Ecuador are one of the least acculturated tribes in South America and hence provide a unique opportunity for studying the role of medicinal plants in an isolated Amazonian people. Biomedical studies conducted by a team from Stanford and Duke Universities have revealed a surprising dearth of endemic disease among recently contacted Waorani. An intensive ethnobotanical study in the spring of 1980 found a perspicacious knowledge of ethno-ecology among all adult Waorani, but discovered relatively few medicinal plants. Partial results of this survey and a discussion of Waorani disease concepts are presented. The implications in terms of the origin of plant medicines among indigenous peoples are discussed. Are the Waorani unique because of their isolation or do they represent a pattern of medicinal plant use closer to the aboriginal situation before the impact of Western disease? The conclusions challenge the orthodox view of the native and the origins of his prodigious knowledge of medicinal botany.

The ethnobiology of the Haitian zombi.

For many years students of Haitian society have suggested that there is an ethnopharmacological basis for the notorious zombies, the living dead of peasant folklore. The recent surfacing of three zombies, one of whom may represent the first potentially verifiable case, has focused scientific attention on the reported zombi drug. The formula of the poison was obtained at four widely separated localities in Haiti. The consistent ingredients include one or more species of puffer fish (Diodon hystrix, Diodon holacanthus or Sphoeroides testudineus) which contain tetrodotoxins, potent neurotoxins fully capable of pharmacologically inducing the zombi state. The ingredients, preparation and method of application are presented. The symptomology of tetrodotoxication as described in the biomedical literature is compared with the constellations of symptoms recorded from the zombies in Haiti. The cosmological rationale of zombies within the context of Voodoo theology is described. Preliminary laboratory tests are summarized.