[Evaluation of in vitro immune response of opioid dependent individuals by measurement of cytokines [interferon-gamma and interleukin-10] induced by cell stimulation compared with normal individuals]

Few studies concerning the effects of opioid drugs on the function of immune system have been conducted and conflicting results have been reported. This study evaluates the in-vitro immune responses of drug abusers and investigates the pattern of production of IFN- gamma and IL-10 which represents the subsets of CD4 +T-helper cells Blood samples were taken from healthy drug addicted volunteers. Blood samples were also taken from healthy individuals with no history of drug abuse as control. Cell culture was performed in whole blood culture assay. Diluted blood samples were stimulated with phytohemagglutinin [PHA] and lipopolysaccharide [LPS] and the supernatants were collected to measure the cytokine production. The results demonstrated that a significant decrease in IFN- gamma production and increase in IL-10 production in heroin addicts, whereas the production of these cytokines in opium addicts was not significantly different from those in control group. The results indicated a significant decrease in mitogenic responsiveness of T-cells in heroin addicts relative to control group, whereas mitogenic responsiveness of T-cells in opium addicts was not significantly different from control group

Teacher's effective teaching criteria as viewed by the students of Kerman university of medical sciences

Background: The most valuable element in a medical university is its faculty members and one important function of them is teaching,, but one major problem in university education is the lack of effective teaching criteria to assess this main function of faculty members

Purpose :To identify the most important feature of effective teaching from students point of view

Methods: A self-administered questionnaire assessing the effective teaching criteria from the students' point of view was developed. It was filled by the students and the result was analysed with SPSS

Results: Of all participants 51% were female. The average age was 22.1+/-2.46 for females and 24.6 +/-4.6 for males. 72% of the population were single, 27% were married and the remaining were divorced "being knowledgeable" with 86.6 percent was the first priority in "knowledge seeking" feature [P<0.01]. In "Communication ability" feature, 39.7% of the students mentioned "promoting students participation in discussions" to be the most prominent character. In "Personality" feature, 28.8% of the respondent believed that" fluent explanation" was the most essential character. Students decided that "Teaching method", "communication ability", "knowledge seeking" and "personality" were the required features for effective teaching in the descending order

Conclusion: Our results showed that students considered "teaching method" as the most essential feature of a professor's effective teaching, but similar studies in other universities of medicine shoed other factors personality. Further study seems reasonable since students as one major component of education will produce better outcomes, personally and professionally, they are satisfied with their teachers