“Quiz – An Innovative Method Of Teaching Microbiology To Medical Undergraduate Students”.

Background & Objective: Many undergraduate medical students prefer to concentrate on clinical subjects and tend to neglect paraclinical subjects like Microbiology. A time has come when motivation is mandatory for the current generation of students. The present study attempts to introduce quiz as an innovative learning method. A quiz is a quick way of gathering information on how well our students are meeting their learning objectives. The present study is aimed to assess the students’ knowledge and interest in Microbiology subject. Methodology: The present study was conducted in the department of Microbiology, D.Y. Patil medical college, Kolhapur, on second MBBS students. Five teams were enrolled from the neighboring medical colleges. We assessed the students’ knowledge by giving pre and post MCQ tests followed by various rounds of quiz competition. Results: There was a significant increase in students’ knowledge in post MCQ test than that of pre MCQ test (P< 0.0001). It was also observed that all the students had developed interest in Microbiology subject. Conclusion: We observed from the present study that even a simple intervention like quiz can make a significant improvement in the knowledge of medical students and help them to develop interest in microbiology subject.

Role of Nitric Oxide During Liver Transplantation.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a gaseous molecule produced from Nitric Oxide Synthases (NOS) enzyme. Three isoforms of NOS have been observed: endothelial NOS (eNOS), inducible NOS (iNOS) and neuronal NOS (nNOS). All three of these isoforms are expressed in liver in varying spatial and temporal ways. In liver, both nNOS and eNOS maintain homeostasis. Whereas iNOS is not expressed constitutively in liver, but rather is expressed in most liver cell types given the appropriate stimulatory conditions. Conflicting results have been observed on the behaviour and possible roles of the NO in several models of ischemia/ reperfusion injury during liver transplantation. Indeed, endogenous NO production has been associated with either protective or cytotoxic effects. Thus some, not all studies suggest that although eNOSderived NO production is protective in ischemia/reperfusion, iNOS derived NO production may contribute to ischemia/ reperfusion injury. This review article focuses on possible role of NO in liver transplantation.