Enhanced numeracy skills following team-based learning in United States pharmacy students: a longitudinal cohort study.

Purpose: The literature suggests that the ability to numerate cannot be fully understood without accounting for the social context in which mathematical activity is represented. Team-based learning (TBL) is an andragogical approach with theoretical links to sociocultural and community-of-practice learning. This study aimed to quantitatively explore the impact of TBL instruction on numeracy development in 2 cohorts of pharmacy students and identify the impact of TBL instruction on numeracy development from a social perspective for healthcare education.

An Electrophysiological and Pharmacological Study of the Properties of Human iPSC-Derived Neurons for Drug Discovery.

Human stem cell-derived neurons are increasingly considered powerful models in drug discovery and disease modeling, despite limited characterization of their molecular properties. Here, we have conducted a detailed study of the properties of a commercial human induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPSC)-derived neuron line, iCell [GABA] neurons, maintained for up to 3 months in vitro. We confirmed that iCell neurons display neurite outgrowth within 24 h of plating and label for the pan-neuronal marker, βIII tubulin within the first week.

Ten Tips for Pharmacy Faculty Members for Successfully Navigating Promotion and Tenure.

This paper presents 10 key tips or recommendations for successful navigation of the promotion and tenure process. The 10 key tips are: know institutional expectations, develop an action plan at least two to three years in advance; identify your balance of teaching, scholarship, service; synergize activities and develop a niche; prioritize time to activities of high-impact to promotion and tenure; track achievements in the format expected for promotion and tenure application; seek out faculty guidance on promotion and tenure; meet with mentor(s) regularly to review progress; have a well-written personal statement; and have your final dossier reviewed by colleagues. Faculty members are more likely to be successful through timely and appropriate planning, balancing and synergizing activities, tracking activities and achievements, developing a well-written personal statement, and requesting help from experienced colleagues.

The impact of team-based learning on the critical thinking skills of pharmacy students.

Introduction: Critical thinking is an important ability for pharmacists, but few studies have found improvements in pharmacy student critical thinking skills as a consequence of their education. Team-based learning (TBL) is an active learning strategy that encourages students to think critically to solve problems. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of TBL on the critical thinking skills of pharmacy students.

The Past, Present, and Future of Virtual Reality in Pharmacy Education.

To characterize how virtual reality (VR) has been and is being used in pharmacy education, and evaluate the projected utility of VR technology in pharmacy education in the future. Virtual reality technology has been used in pharmacy education for many years to provide engaging learning experiences. Although these learning experiences were not available in the three-dimensional digital environments provided by current VR, they demonstrated improvements in learning.

Exploring virtual reality as a platform for distance team-based learning.

Background And Purpose: Online distance education has become popular in pharmacy education, but it can be challenging to provide engaging experiences such as team-based learning (TBL) in this format. This study explored the utility of virtual reality (VR) as a platform to provide the engaging elements of TBL, without students needing to be physically present in the same room.

Educational Activity And Setting: Volunteers participated in a modified TBL exercise in VR, followed by a survey of the experience.

An innovative addition to team-based-learning pedagogy to enhance teaching and learning: Students' perceptions of team exams.

Background And Purpose: The study investigates students' perceptions of the value of implementing a team exam to enhance learning prior to a summative assessment. Team exams are similar to midterm exams, except that answering questions is a team effort.

Educational Activity And Setting: Data was collected from second year pharmacy students at California Northstate University College of Pharmacy (CNUCOP) through a self-administered online survey.

NSAIDs in the treatment and/or prevention of neurological disorders.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been used extensively in the treatment of inflammatory disorders and pain. In recent years, emerging data suggest that some NSAIDs possess pharmacological properties, in addition to cyclooxygenase inhibition, which may be beneficial in the treatment of several neurological conditions. For example, fenamate NSAIDs potentiate GABA-A receptor function, indomethacin scavenges nitric oxide free radicals, and acetylsalicylic acid inhibits the translocation of NF-κB, all of which may contribute to their neuroprotective actions in selected experimental models of stroke.

Neuropharmacological properties of neurons derived from human stem cells.

Human pluripotent stem cells have enormous potential value in neuropharmacology and drug discovery yet there is little data on the major classes and properties of receptors and ion channels expressed by neurons derived from these stem cells. Recent studies in this lab have therefore used conventional patch-clamp electrophysiology to investigate the pharmacological properties of the ligand and voltage-gated ion channels in neurons derived and maintained in vitro from the human stem cell (hSC) line, TERA2.cl.

The product of the gene GEF1 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae transports Cl- across the plasma membrane.

Expression of GEF1 in Xenopus laevis oocytes and HEK-293 cells gave rise to a Cl- channel that remained permanently open and was blocked by nitro-2-(3-phenyl-propylamino) benzoic acid and niflumic acid. NPPB induced petite-like colonies, resembling the GEF1 knock-out. The fluorescent halide indicator SPQ was quenched in a wild-type strain, in contrast to both a GEF1 knock-out strain and yeast grown in the presence of NPPB.

Characterization of the interaction between fenamates and hippocampal neuron GABA(A) receptors.

Fenamate NSAIDs have several central effects, including anti-epileptic and neuroprotective actions. The underlying mechanism(s) of these actions are not presently understood. In this study, the effects of five members of the fenamate NSAID group were investigated on native ligand-gated ion channels expressed in cultured rat hippocampal neurons.

Seeking a mechanism of action for the novel anticonvulsant lacosamide.

Lacosamide (LCM) is anticonvulsant in animal models and is in phase 3 assessment for epilepsy and neuropathic pain. Here we seek to identify cellular actions for the new drug and effects on recognised target sites for anticonvulsant drugs. Radioligand binding and electrophysiology were used to study the effects of LCM at well-established mammalian targets for clinical anticonvulsants.

An interaction between benzodiazepines and neuroactive steroids at GABA A receptors in cultured hippocampal neurons.

Neurosteroids are modulators of several receptors and ion channels and are implicated in the pathophysiology of several neuropsychiatric diseases including hepatic encephalopathy (HE). The neurosteroid, allopregnanolone, a positive allosteric modulator of GABA(A) receptors, accumulates in the brains of HE patients where it can potentiate GABA(A) receptor-mediated responses. Attenuation of the effects of neurosteroids on GABA-ergic neurotransmission is therefore of interest for the management of HE.

Mechanisms for resin acid effects on membrane currents and GABA(A) receptors in mammalian CNS.

Resin acids from bleached wood pulp are toxic to fish. 12,14-Dichlorodehydroabietic acid (12,14-Cl(2)DHA) raises cytoplasmic Ca(2+) in synaptosomes and blocks neural GABA(A) receptors; however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear in these earlier rodent studies. 12,14-Cl(2)DHA (50μM) almost completely blocked native GABA(A) currents (rat cortical cultures) but had no significant effect on picrotoxin-sensitive recombinant human receptors in oocytes (α1, β2 and γ2L: the most prevalent isoforms in mammalian brain).

Modifying quinolone antibiotics yields new anxiolytics.

Patients taking fluoroquinolone antibiotics such as norfloxacin exhibit a low incidence of convulsions and anxiety. These side effects probably result from antagonism of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) at the brain GABA(A) receptor complex (GRC). Modification of norfloxacin yields molecules such as compound 4 that potentiate GABA action with alpha(2) subunit selectivity.

The sleep hormone oleamide modulates inhibitory ionotropic receptors in mammalian CNS in vitro.

1. We examine the sensitivity of GABA(A) and glycine receptors (same ionotropic superfamily) to oleamide. We address subunit-dependence/modulatory mechanisms and analogies with depressant drugs.