Students' opinion on effectiveness of CBL in army medical college Rawalpindi, Pakistan

To assess students' opinion regarding group working, quality of learning and assessment in newly introduced case based learning at Army Medical College, Pakistan. Descriptive study. Army Medical College, 03 months. In this study, students from the second year MBBS class at Army Medical College were given a questionnaire on completion of their second year of medical school [2012] regarding their opinion about CBL. The questionnaire used in this study consisted of 18 statements with Likert-tyep responses ranging from Strongly Agree [1] to Strongly Disagree [5]. Statements were grouped using 3 categories: Group working, Quality of Learning and Assessment. Process of learning through group work and problem solving as a learning tool was appreciated by >80% of students. Also, >84% acknowledged that CBL has promplted them to come well prepared in the session and has helped them in improving their understanding of key concepts .>83% students opine that their efforts in CBL discussions are being evaluated fairly. Feedback from the students clearly asserts superiority of CBL in imparting knowledge, cultivating the habit of self-learning and inculcating skills of group discussions which is in consistence with the published literature. At the same time, weak point highlighted by the students need rectification

Contractile functions of slow and fast skeletal muscles in streptozotocin induced type 1 diabetic sprague dawley rats

To evaluate the contractile functions of slow and fast skeletal muscles in streptozotocin induced type 1 diabetic male Sprague Dawley rats. Randomized control trial. Department of Physiology, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, from April 2010 to April 2011. Thirty healthy male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into two groups. The rats in group I [male control; n = 15] were fed on normal pellet diet and water ad libitum and received single intraperitoneal injection of normal saline at the start of study [day 1]. The rats in group II [male diabetic; n = 15] were fed on normal pellet diet and water ad libitum and rendered diabetic by single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin [STZ] 65 mg/kg body weight at the start of study [day 1]. Development of diabetes was confirmed within 72 hours by measuring blood glucose levels by glucometer. At the end of four weeks, i.e on day 29, dissection of slow soleus and fast extensor digitorum longus [EDL] muscles was carried out. These muscles were selected because they represent two distinctly different fiber type populations, that is, soleus [80% type I, 20% type IIA, 0% type IIB] and EDL [0% type I, 11% type IIA, 89% type IIB]. Their contractile parameters were recorded by iWorx advanced animal/human physiology data acquisition unit [AHK/214], including maximum isometric twitch tension, time to peak twitch tension, time taken to relax to 50% of the peak twitch tension, maximum fused tetanic tension, maximum fused tetanic tension after the fatigue protocol and tetanic tension after 5 minutes of rest period following the fatigue protocol. After four weeks, no significant difference was found when maximum isometric twitch tension [ITT] in isolated soleus and EDL muscles of the male diabetic group was compared with the control group. Time to peak twitch tension [TPT] and time taken to relax to 50% of the peak twitch tension [HRT] in isolated soleus muscle of the male diabetic group were significantly longer [p<0.001] as compared to the control group. On the contrary, TPT and HRT in isolated EDL muscle of the diabetic group were similar to the control group. Maximum fused tetanic tension in isolated soleus muscle of the diabetic group was similar to the control group. On the contrary, maximum fused tetanic tension in isolated EDL muscle of the male diabetic group was significantly lower [p<0.001] as compared to the control group. Maximum fused tetanic tension after the fatigue protocol and tetanic tension after 5 minutes of rest period following the fatigue protocol in isolated soleus and EDL muscles of the male diabetic group were significantly lower [p<0.001] as compared to the control group. Streptozotocin induced type 1 diabetes mellitus manifests differential effects on the contractile properties of slow and fast skeletal muscles of male Sprague Dawley rats.