Endometrial stromal cell inflammatory phenotype during severe ovarian endometriosis as a cause of endometriosis-associated infertility.

Research Question: Do endometrial stromal cells from primary infertile patients with severe ovarian endometriosis display differential secretory profiles of inflammation-associated cytokines during the implantation window that may cause infertility?

Design: Forty-eight cytokines were measured in conditioned medium of isolated endometrial stromal cells obtained from primary infertile patients without endometriosis (control group, n = 12) or with stage IV ovarian endometriosis (ovarian endometriosis group, n = 14) using multiplex assays. Key cytokines showing differential secretory profiles were validated using Western immunoblotting. Cellular phenotypic validation was carried out in vitro by comparing proliferation and migration capacity between control (n = 6) and ovarian endometriosis (n = 7) groups.

Planning, implementation, and evaluation of multicomponent, case-based learning for first-year Indian medical undergraduates.

Didactic lecture is an effective method to quickly pass on a high volume of information to a large number of students. However, if not well designed, lectures can be monotonous and provide only passive learning, with little scope for higher order learning skills. To address this drawback of lectures, we supplemented it with case-based learning (CBL), which has been shown to promote self-learning.