Using starling murmuration as a model for creating a global health community of practice to advance equity in scholarship.

Background: Disparities in scholarship exist between authors in low- or middle-income countries (LMIC) and high-income countries. Recognizing these disparities in our global network providing pediatric, adolescent, and maternal healthcare to vulnerable populations in LMIC, we sought to improve access and provide resources to address educational needs and ultimately impact the broader scholarship disparity.

Methods: We created a virtual community of practice (CoP) program underpinned by principles from starling murmuration to promote interdisciplinary scholarship.

Twelve Tips for Creating and Supporting a Meaningful Asynchronous Learning as Parts of Virtual Transition of a Curriculum.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. With increasing use of online learning, the focus is rapidly shifting from in-person learning to virtual asynchronous learning (ASL).

Creating a 'Community of Inquiry': A Framework for Optimizing the Virtual Education Experience.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Medical educators must learn to implement technologic advances to create meaningful learning experiences, implementing media tools that are effective in meeting evolving academic needs and fostering interpersonal engagement.

Twelve Tips for Creating an All-Day Writing Retreat for Health Profession Educators: An Immersive, Product-Oriented Learning Experience.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Health profession educators are keenly aware of the challenges associated with meeting institutional expectations to disseminate their scholarship in forms of publications.

Reflections on 50 Years of Neuroscience Nursing: Neuro-Oncology, Moving Forward by Looking Back.

During the past 50 years, there have been more than 100 articles published in the Journal of Neuroscience Nursing covering the topic of neuro-oncology. This article will explore the historical implications and milestones from these articles. The analysis highlights the scope and depth of the many articles as they relate to the advancements in neuro-oncology.

Creating a medical education enterprise: leveling the playing fields of medical education vs. medical science research within core missions.

Background: Unlike publications of medical science research that are more readily rewarded, clinician-educators' scholarly achievements are more nebulous and under-recognized.

Objective: Create an education enterprise that empowers clinician-educators to engage in a broad range of scholarly activities and produce educational scholarship using strategic approaches to level the playing fields within an organization.

Design: The authors analyzed the advantages and disadvantages experienced by medical science researchers vs.

Developing a Writing Workshop for Clinician-Educators: A Synergistic Integration of Ethics, Rhetoric and Education Theories, and Social Science.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Clinician-educators often need specific direction in writing to publish their scholarly works.

Highlighting common pitfalls to avoid when writing the medical education manuscript.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Medical educators have an unprecedented opportunity to advance the field through dissemination of their work in academic publications.

Regulation of pancreatic islet cell survival and replication by gamma-aminobutyric acid.

Aims/hypothesis: Pancreatic islets have evolved remarkable, though poorly understood mechanisms to modify beta cell mass when nutrient intake fluctuates or cells are damaged. We hypothesised that appropriate and timely adjustments in cell number occur because beta cells release proliferative signals to surrounding cells when stimulated by nutrients and 'bleed' these growth factors upon injury.

Materials And Methods: In rat pancreatic islets, we measured DNA content, insulin content, insulin secretion after treatment, immunoblots of apoptotic proteins and the uptake of nucleoside analogues to assess the ability of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is highly concentrated in beta cells, to act as a growth and survival factor.

Plague: a review of its history and potential as a biological weapon.

The increased threat of terrorism has revealed the importance of various diseases as potential weapons of destruction. Among the diseases that have been identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as being caused by category A organisms is plague. An ancient disease, it has played a role in both natural disasters and war and has been used as a weapon since at least medieval times.

Reemergence of an unusual disease: the chikungunya epidemic.

Since the beginning of 2006, a crippling mosquito-borne disease has shown an explosive emergence in nations in the Indian Ocean area. By March 7, 2006, 157,000 people had been infected in the French island La Réunion, and the disease had spread to the islands of Seychelles, Mauritius, and Mayotte (French). Subsequently, the disease appeared in India, China, and European countries.

Infectious diseases that pose specific challenges after natural disasters: a review.

In a time span of less than one year, December 2004 to October 2005, several natural disasters of extreme proportions struck different areas of the world, causing unparalleled destruction and loss of lives and property. In each of these instances, the potential existed for acquisition of infectious diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, mold, and mildew and demonstrated that such disasters represent a public health concern, which is exacerbated by the fact that many factors may work synergistically to increase the risk of morbidity and mortality caused by communicable diseases. This article reviews causes, symptoms, and treatments of various infectious diseases that pose a threat in the event of a natural disaster.

Albert Ludwig Sigesmund Neisser: discoverer of the cause of gonorrhea.

The history of sexually transmitted diseases is thought to date back to earliest times, and many ancient texts describe conditions that may be those of syphilis and gonorrhea, which at one time were thought to be the same disease. A main figure in the research in this area was Albert Ludwig Sigesmund Neisser, who discovered the gonococcus in 1879 and later produced the most comprehensive account of experimental syphilis ever published. This article provides a brief biography of Albert Neisser, focusing on his discoveries in the area of infectious diseases, the so-called Neisser-Hansen controversy, and the situation leading to changes in defining bioethics.

Avian influenza virus H5N1: a review of its history and information regarding its potential to cause the next pandemic.

Avian influenza virus H5N1, which has been limited to poultry, now has spread to migrating birds and has emerged in mammals and among the human population. It presents a distinct threat of a pandemic for which the World Health Organization and other organizations are making preparations. This article reviews information about the virus itself and its spread among poultry, migrating birds, mammals, and humans.

Outbreak of Marburg hemorrhagic fever in Angola: a review of the history of the disease and its biological aspects.

Transmission of a dangerous infectious disease threatens not merely a local population but the world at large as the result of immigration and increased and faster travel. Any outbreak elicits considerable concern and demands that various precautionary methods be instituted and that the disease be contained as quickly as possible. Recently, an old disease, one that may have been present for centuries and was identified decades ago, reared its ugly head, killing more than 200 people before it was contained.

Calcium dependence of proteinase-activated receptor 2 and cholecystokinin-mediated amylase secretion from pancreatic acini.

Pancreatic acini secrete digestive enzymes in response to a variety of secretagogues including CCK and agonists acting via proteinase-activated receptor-2 (PAR2). We employed the CCK analog caerulein and the PAR2-activating peptide SLIGRL-NH(2) to compare and contrast Ca(2+) changes and amylase secretion triggered by CCK receptor and PAR2 stimulation. We found that secretion stimulated by both agonists is dependent on a rise in cytoplasmic Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) and that this rise in [Ca(2+)](i) reflects both the release of Ca(2+) from intracellular stores and accelerated Ca(2+) influx.

Secretin differentially sensitizes rat pancreatic acini to the effects of supramaximal stimulation with caerulein.

Supramaximal stimulation of the rat pancreas with CCK, or its analog caerulein, triggers acute pancreatitis and a number of pancreatitis-associated acinar cell changes including intracellular activation of digestive enzyme zymogens and acinar cell injury. It is generally believed that some of these various acinar cell responses to supramaximal secretagogue stimulation are interrelated and interdependent. In a recent report, Lu et al.

Gnathostomiasis: a review of a previously localized zoonosis now crossing numerous geographical boundaries.

Expansion in international travel and increases in immigration have resulted in an increased number of persons in Europe and other Western countries who have returned from foreign travel with parasitic infections rarely seen previously in the United States. Among the diseases caused by helminthic parasites is gnathostomiasis, a disease caused by Gnathostoma spp. Once confined primarily to Southeast Asia, it now is a public health concern in Mexico and other countries.

Basal receptor activation by locally produced glucagon-like peptide-1 contributes to maintaining beta-cell function.

Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is a physiological stimulus of pancreatic beta-cell function. This enteroendocrine hormone is produced by intestinal L cells, and is delivered via the bloodstream to GLP-1 receptors (GLP-1Rs) on pancreatic beta-cells. In addition, there is evidence that beta-cell GLP-1Rs maintain sustained basal activity even in the absence of intestinal peptide, an observation that has raised the question whether these receptors have some degree of ligand-independent function.

Monkeypox: a review of the history and emergence in the Western hemisphere.

A mysterious disease was reported on May 24, 2003, when the Wisconsin Division of Public Health (DPH) received notice of a 3-year-old girl who had been hospitalized in central Wisconsin with cellulites and fever after being bitten by a prairie dog on May 13. The laboratory isolated a gram-negative bacillus, raising concerns that it might be tularemia or plague; ultimately, it was identified as an acinetobacter species and was considered to be a contaminant. Because no other such cases were reported at the time, the case was thought to be merely an isolated event.