Educational Paradigms in Islamic Medical History: A Review.

The rise of Islam in Arabia witnessed a scientific pursuit from 8th CE to 14th CE in its vast dominion. Medicine was one among many disciplines that was reshaped during the golden ages of Islamic world. Physicians and scholars from diverse faiths and background flocked in learning centers of Baghdad, Cordoba, and other cities. A multicultural environment of medical research was evolved with fundings from state. From medical teaching and clinical training to the licensing of physicians, many of the modern attributes of medical education were pioneered in Islamic world. The scholarly transfusion from European territories of Islamic world to the Western world in medieval era laid the foundation of modern medical education.

Role of Living Anatomy in Medical Education: A Narrative Review.

Introduction: There has been a significant change noticed in the way in how anatomy is taught and learned in last two decades. The use of teaching approaches such as body painting, peer physical examination, medical imaging, and virtual anatomy software in the teaching and learning of living anatomy was made possible by advancements in medical technology. This study focuses on a review of the historical context and contemporary developments in teaching and learning of live and surface anatomy with a special emphasis on its pedagogical elements, some opinions of medical educationists, and undergraduates. Conclusions: It is suggested that living anatomy be included as a core subject in the curriculum. Learning about living anatomy will be improved in an integrated and pertinent framework with the inclusion and execution of teaching and learning modalities such as body painting, peer physical examination, medical imaging, and virtual anatomy software.

Medical Faculty Perspectives Toward Cadaveric Dissection as a Learning Tool for Anatomy Education: A Survey Study in India.

Cadaveric dissection, as a learning tool, has been a part of Indian medical education. Worldwide, with reforms in medical education and the introduction of new learning modalities, cadaveric dissection has been complemented with other modalities such as living anatomy and virtual anatomy. This study aims to collect the feedback of faculty members regarding the role of dissection in the present context of medical education. The method of the study involved a 32-item questionnaire to collect responses; they were collected using the 5-point Likert scale along with two open-ended questions. In general, the closed questions covered these sections: learning styles, interpersonal skills, teaching and learning, dissection, and other learning modes. The principal component analysis was used to explore the multivariate relationships among the items' perceptions. The multivariate regression analysis was conducted between the construct and the latent variable to develop the structural equation model. Four themes, PC1 (learning ability with structural orientation), PC2 (interpersonal skill), PC3 (multimedia-virtual tool), and PC5 (associated factors) had positive relation and were treated as a latent variable motivation for dissection, and theme 4 (PC4, safety) had a negative correlation and was treated as a latent variable repulsion for dissection. It was found that the dissection room is an important place for learning clinical and personal skills, along with empathy, in anatomy education. Safety issues and implementation of stress-coping activities during the induction phase are required. There is also a need to use mixed-method approaches that integrate technology-enhanced learning such as virtual anatomy, living anatomy, and radiological anatomy with cadaveric dissection.

Leukemia Inhibitory Factor a Marker of Implantation Success in Unexplained Infertility: a Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Uterine receptivity and implantation are complex processes requiring coordinated expression of molecules by zygote and uterus. Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is one of the most important cytokines in the reproductive tract. Without expression of LIF in the uterus, implantation of a blastocyst cannot begin. Our objectives were to measure the leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) concentration in serum with or without endometrial scratch-ing in women with unexplained infertility. METHODS: This study is a randomized control trial, carried out at the infertility clinic of Qena University hospital, South Valley University, Egypt. The study included 200 women with unexplained infertility divided into two groups: Group 1 included 100 patients undergoing endometrial scratching at mid luteal phase. Group 2 included 100 patients undergoing expectant management. Serum leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) concentration was measured at mid-luteal phase of cycle and follow up of pregnancy occurrence in both groups. RESULTS: LIF was significantly higher in the group of endometrial scratching compared to group 2. LIF was significantly higher in pregnant women compared to non-pregnant ones in both the endometrial scratching group and group 2. For the endometrial scratching group, LIF was a significant marker for successful implantation at cutoff point of 97.2 with sensitivity of 97.3% and specificity of 77.8% while PPV was 72% and NPV was 98. CONCLUSIONS: Endometrial scratching was associated with higher level of LIF and pregnancy rate. LIF was significantly higher in pregnant women with or without endometrial scratching.

Assessment of presurgical clefts and predicted surgical outcome in patients treated with and without nasoalveolar molding.

Obtaining an esthetic and functional primary surgical repair in patients with complete cleft lip and palate (CLP) can be challenging because of tissue deficiencies and alveolar ridge displacement. This study aimed to describe surgeons' assessments of presurgical deformity and predicted surgical outcomes in patients with complete unilateral and bilateral CLP (UCLP and BCLP, respectively) treated with and without nasoalveolar molding (NAM). Cleft surgeon members of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association completed online surveys to evaluate 20 presurgical photograph sets (frontal and basal views) of patients with UCLP (n = 10) and BCLP (n = 10) for severity of cleft deformity, quality of predicted surgical outcome, and likelihood of early surgical revision. Five patients in each group (UCLP and BCLP) received NAM, and 5 patients did not receive NAM. Surgeons were masked to patient group. Twenty-four percent (176/731) of surgeons with valid e-mail addresses responded to the survey. For patients with UCLP, surgeons reported that, for NAM-prepared patients, 53.3% had minimum severity clefts, 58.9% were anticipated to be among their best surgical outcomes, and 82.9% were unlikely to need revision surgery. For patients with BCLP, these percentages were 29.8%, 38.6%, and 59.9%, respectively. Comparing NAM-prepared with non-NAM-prepared patients showed statistically significant differences (P < 0.001), favoring NAM-prepared patients. This study suggests that cleft surgeons assess NAM-prepared patients as more likely to have less severe clefts, to be among the best of their surgical outcomes, and to be less likely to need revision surgery when compared with patients not prepared with NAM.

2012 American Board of Pediatric Dentistry College of Diplomates annual meeting: the role of pediatric dentists in the presurgical treatment of infants with cleft lip/cleft palate utilizing nasoalveolar molding.

The pediatric dentist plays a crucial role in the treatment and management of infants born with cleft deformities of the lip, alveolus, and palate. At New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City, 70% of infants with cleft lip/cleft palate (CLCP) are detected on prenatal ultrasound analysis. Thus, the role of the pediatric dentist can start as early as prenatal counseling. Nasoalveolar molding (NAM) is delivered during the first 3 to 5 months of life. During this stage of treatment, the pediatric dentist establishes the foundation of the "cleft dental" home and initiates the first stage of anticipatory guidance. Consequently, parents are educated and motivated to initiate oral hygiene care upon eruption of the first primary teeth. The purpose of this paper was to describe the role of the pediatric dentist in performing nasoalveolar molding and also describe its indications, appliance design, fabrication, biomechanics, complications, and patient management.

A new class of antimetabolites: pyridine thioglycosides as potential anticancer agents.

The present study was designed for highlighting and focusing on the cytotoxic activity of a new class of antimetabolites both on human cell lines, namely liver carcinoma cell line (Hepg2), lung carcinoma cell line (H460), breast carcinoma cell line (MCF7), brain carcinoma cell line (U251), and animal cell line EAC (Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells). The results revealed that some of these modified deazapyrimidine thioglycosides have significant cytotoxic activity against EAC cells with growth inhibition percentage ranged between 80% to 90%. The possible inhibitory mechanism of the pyridine thioglycosides was explored by studying the cell cycle perturbation of thioglycosides against human cell lines (in vitro) as well as the most suitable time for maximum compound cytotoxic activity after 6, 18, and 24 h of incubation. To confirm the cytotoxic activity of these compounds, they have been tested for their apoptotic and antiproliferative activity in vivo against solid Ehrlich tumours using five groups of Swiss albino mice for 37 days from inoculation and three treatments, 250, 500 and 1000 microg/kg body weight. There was significant reduction in Ehrlich tumour size in case of the 500 and 1000 microg/kg body weight group but mild significant tumour reduction in the 250 microg/kg body weight group. Histograms of DNA per cell for each treatment group indicated that there was a dose-dependent increase in the preG1 phase with a corresponding complete arrest of cells from entering the G2/M phase compared to the untreated EAC group. In conclusion, pyridine thioglycosides have proven good cytotoxic effects against EAC cells and also significant cytotoxic activity against the four tested human cell lines. Flow cytometric DNA ploidy analysis of pyridine thioglcyosides against the Hepg2 and U251 cell lines revealed that the postulated mechanism of action of pyridine thioglcyosides is cell cycle arrest in the S phase. This is similar to antimetabolites and cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase (M phase) in the same way as microtubule inhibitors like pyridine thioglycosides are cell-cycle-specific in the S phase and the M phase (in case of human cell lines) and have apoptotic effects (in case of animal cell line).