DIETARY SILVER NANOPARTICLES REDUCE FITNESS IN A BENEFICIAL, BUT NOT PEST, INSECT SPECIES.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have antimicrobial and insecticidal properties and they have been considered for their potential use as insecticides. While they do, indeed, kill some insects, two broader issues have not been considered in a critical way. First, reports of insect-lethal AgNPs are often based on simplistic methods that yield nanoparticles of nonuniform shapes and sizes, leaving questions about the precise treatments test insects experienced. Second, we do not know how AgNPs influence beneficial insects. This work addresses these issues. We assessed the influence of AgNPs on life history parameters of two agricultural pest insect species, Heliothis virescens (tobacco budworm) and Trichoplusia ni (cabbage looper) and a beneficial predatory insect species, Podisus maculiventris (spined soldier bug), all of which act in agroecosystems. Rearing the two pest species on standard media amended with AgNPs led to negligible influence on developmental times, pupal weights, and adult emergence, however, they led to retarded development, reductions in adult weight and fecundity, and increased mortality in the predator. These negative effects on the beneficial species, if also true for other beneficial insect species, would have substantial negative implications for continued development of AgNPs for insect pest management programs.

Targeting triple negative breast cancer cells by N3-substituted 9,10-phenanthrenequinone thiosemicarbazones and their metal complexes.

Novel N(3)-substituted 9,10-Phenanthrenequinone thiosemicarbazones and their copper, nickel and palladium complexes are structurally characterized and reported along with the single crystal X-ray structures of three ligands and one nickel complex. All compounds were evaluated for their antiproliferative potential against Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) cells which have poor prognosis and no effective drugs to treat with. All compounds exhibited antiproliferative activity against these cells. Among the metal complexes evaluated, redox active copper complexes were found to be more potent. The possible mechanism for such enhanced activity can be attributed to the generation of oxidative stress, which was amenable for targeting through metal complexation.

Pharmacy faculty members' perspectives on the student/faculty relationship in online social networks.

OBJECTIVE: To describe pharmacy faculty members' use of the online social network Facebook and compare the perspectives of faculty members with and without Facebook profiles regarding student/faculty relationships. METHODS: An electronic survey instrument was sent to full-time faculty members (n = 183) at 4 colleges of pharmacy in Ohio seeking their opinions on student/faculty relationships on Facebook. If respondents answered "yes" to having a Facebook profile, they were asked 14 questions on aspects of being "friends" with students. If respondents answered "no," they were asked 4 questions. RESULTS: Of the 95 respondents (52%) to the survey instrument, 44 faculty members (46%) had a Facebook profile, while 51 faculty members (54%) did not. Those who had a profile had been faculty members for an average of 8.6 years, versus 11.4 years for those who did not have a Facebook profile. Seventy-nine percent of faculty members who used Facebook were not "friends" with their students. The majority of respondents reported that they would decline/ignore a "friend" request from a student, or decline until after the student graduated. Although a limited number of faculty members had used Facebook for online discussions, teaching purposes, or student organizations, the majority of universities did not have policies on the use of social networking sites. CONCLUSION: Online social network sites are used widely by students and faculty members, which may raise questions regarding professionalism and appropriate faculty/student relationships. Further research should address the student/preceptor relationship, other online social networking sites, and whether students are interested in using these sites within the classroom and/or professional organizations.

Assessing the impact of lifestyle modification education on knowledge and behavior changes in gastroesophageal reflux disease patients on proton pump inhibitors.

OBJECTIVES: To assess patients' knowledge of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) lifestyle modifications and to identify patients' behaviors associated with GERD management before and after an educational intervention. METHODS: The study was conducted at five indigent health centers in Columbus, OH, from January to May 2007. A total of 30 adult patients with GERD receiving proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy were assessed. In both the control and intervention groups, a pretest consisting of 23 questions assessed patients' knowledge regarding GERD and lifestyle modifications. A presurvey consisting of eight questions assessed patients' current behaviors associated with GERD management using both lifestyle modifications and PPIs. The intervention group also received approximately 10 minutes of education on lifestyle modifications. A posttest and postsurvey were given 8 to 12 weeks after the initial session to both groups. Main outcome measures included change in test score for patients in the control versus intervention groups. Outcomes measured on the pre- and postsurvey included source of heartburn information/education, smoking status, trigger foods eaten weekly, frequency of monthly heartburn episodes, and PPI adherence. RESULTS: The average change in test scores was 1.33 and 2.73 in the control and intervention groups, respectively (P = 0.11; two-sample t test). The frequency of monthly heartburn episodes increased postsurvey in the control group; however, the frequency of monthly episodes decreased in the intervention group. For the presurvey, no patients reported ever having received GERD education from a pharmacist. For the postsurvey, all 15 patients in the intervention group stated that they had received education from a pharmacist. CONCLUSION: The intervention group patients had higher mean change in test scores compared with the control group, although this difference did not reach statistical significance. The failure to achieve statistical significance may have resulted from the small sample size. The pharmacist-patient interaction improved patient knowledge and some behaviors made in GERD management and symptom reduction.