A Cross-sectional Study on Learning Preferences for Research Methodology among Medical Students.

BACKGROUND: The modalities of learning could be Visual, Auditory, Reading/ writing, and Kinesthetic (VARK). VARK concept has been used to know the learning preferences among First Year Medical Students. But learning preferences for "Research Methodology" have rarely been reported. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to know the learning preferences for "Research Methodology" using VARK concept. METHODS: A questionnaire-based study was conducted among medical undergraduate students who had completed their student research project during their 4th semester. The questionnaire was constructed using VARK concept to know: 1. Learning preference of research methodology, 2. Characteristics of learning preference of participants are classified under "Visual(V), Auditory(A), Read/write(R), and Kinaesthetic(K). The students were approached in the classrooms, and the data was collected and was analysed using SPSS version 11.5. Results were expressed as proportions in appropriate tables and graphs. RESULTS: Totally 157 students were participated in the study. Most (1164/1570 [74.1%]) of them expressed Unimodal learning preference as compared to Multimodal learning (84/1570 [5.4%]). Majority preferred Auditory (641/1560 [40.8%]) followed by Visual (542/1570 [34.5%]) for learning "Research Methodology". This study showed that gender of the students did not influence learning preference. However, the total number of preference for "Kinaesthetic" in those who had additional research experience through ICMR-STS and workshop on research methodology are more compared to those who didn't. CONCLUSION: Unimodal with Auditory followed by Visual mode was preferred for learning "Research Methodology".

Correlation of ECG Findings with Age, Sex, Co-morbid Conditions and Angiographic Presentation among Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients in South India.

BACKGROUND: Proximal LAD and LCx occlusion usually associated with poorer clinical outcome in ACS. Hence, a rapid and efficient tool is needed to identify those conditions and initiate reperfusion at the earliest. We studied ECG features in relation to angiographic findings to identify the culprit artery in AWMI and IWMI. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to compare and correlate the ECG features with angiographic findings in STEMI. METHODOLOGY: In this observational study, 73 AWMI and 59 IWMI patients having their completed ECG and coronary angiography reports were included. The required data were obtained by a pretested proforma. The ECG was analysed to predict the culprit vessel, and correlate it with angiographic finding. RESULTS: Among 132 patients, 71.2% were male and mean age was 60.95±11.52; whereas diabetes (35.6%) was the commonest comorbidity. The criteria with maximum specificity in prediction proximal LAD lesion in AWMI are RBBB and ST↓in inferior leads; whereas ST↓in inferior leads and ST↑V1>2.5mm had high sensitivity for proximal LAD lesion. ST↓lead I, ST↑III >II and ST↓aVL were highly specific in differentiating diseased RCA from LCx in IWMI. In identifying proximal RCA occlusion, LCx in IWMI. In identifying proximal RCA occlusion,ST↓V3/ST↑<0.5 nd ST↑V1 were the most sensitive and the most specific criteria respectively. On the other hand, ST↑lead I and ST↑II>III had the highest specificity and sensitivity respectively in locating LCx lesion. Conclusion: Those criteria help in predicting the culprit artery; but they cannot replace the invasive procedure in confirming culprit vessel. CONCLUSION: Those criteria help in predicting the culprit artery; but they cannot replace the invasive procedure in confirming culprit vessel.

Antifungal effect of cow's urine distillate on Candida species.

BACKGROUND: Increase in resistance of Candida species, to routinely used antifungal agents has necessitated the quest for new drugs. Few studies have revealed that cow's urine can suppress the growth of pathogenic fungi. However there is no published report on antifungal effects of cow's urine on clinical Candida isolates. OBJECTIVE: The present study aims at exploring the antifungal potential of cow's urine on clinical isolates of Candida species. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this in-vitro experimental study four standard strains and 37 clinical isolates of Candida species were tested for their susceptibility to amphotericin B, fluconazole and voriconazole, by disk diffusion method. Detection of MIC of cow's urine for the Candida isolates was done by agar dilution method using 20-50% concentration of cow's urine. RESULTS: Clinical isolates of Candida albicans n = 22 (59.5%) Candida glabrata n = 6 (16.2%), Candida tropicalis n = 3 (8.1%) and other Candida species n = 6 were tested for their antifungal susceptibility. Among them, 18.9% were resistant to voriconazole, 24.3% to amphotericin B and 35.1% to fluconazole. Statistically significant association was observed between susceptibility of voriconazole and that of cow's urine (p = 0.045). C. albicans ATCC14053, Candida parapsilosis ATCC22019 and 75.7% of clinical isolates of Candida were susceptible to cow's urine. CONCLUSION: Cow's urine distillate has concentration dependent inhibitory effect on Candida species and is effective on the isolates that are either resistant or sensitive to the routinely used antifungal agents.