Predictive relationship of osteopathic manual medicine grades and COMLEX-USA Level 1 total scores and osteopathic principles and practice subscores.

Context: Osteopathic manual medicine (OMM) encompasses hands-on diagnosis and treatment as part of patient care. The area of osteopathic principles and practice (OPP) is considered a core competency for students and practitioners of this medical tradition. The Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination-USA (COMLEX-USA) is a useful tool for assessing candidates' competency.

Assessment of clinical reasoning: A Script Concordance test designed for pre-clinical medical students.

Background: The Script Concordance test (SCT) measures clinical reasoning in the context of uncertainty by comparing the responses of examinees and expert clinicians. It uses the level of agreement with a panel of experts to assign credit for the examinee's answers.

Aim: This study describes the development and validation of a SCT for pre-clinical medical students.

The influence of regional basic science campuses on medical students' choice of specialty and practice location: a historical cohort study.

Background: Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) employs eight regional basic science campuses, where half of the students complete their first two years of medical school. The other half complete all four years at the main campus in Indianapolis. The authors tested the hypothesis that training at regional campuses influences IUSM students to pursue primary care careers near the regional campuses they attended.

Proteomics of tendinopathy.

Recent advances in the basic understanding of both human biology and animal models have enabled an unprecedented level of information to be gathered about the genetic regulation of human disease. However, a corresponding insight into functional interactions between genetic information and protein expression has been slower to accumulate. Measuring mRNA transcripts does not yield a complete set of information about the protein dynamics involved in tissue injury and repair.

Impact of online learning modules on medical student microbiology examination scores.

Medical students have a limited amount of time in which to acquire working knowledge of an enormous amount of information, and this is especially relevant for microbiology. One large midwestern medical school is unique in having medical microbiology taught at nine regional campuses using a single core curriculum. A committee of statewide course directors writes a licensure board-style final examination that is referenced to the core and used at all campuses.

Localized pulsed magnetic fields for tendonitis therapy.

Energy medicine has existed for centuries in some parts of the world, but in recent years, western health care practitioners have taken a heightened interest in these therapies. Treatment by use of pulsed magnetic fields (PMF) is currently being explored in both chronic and inflammatory diseases such as cancer, epilepsy, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and tendinitis. In the U.

Characterization of pulsed magnetic field therapy in a rat model for rheumatoid arthritis.

Recent studies have shown that pulsed magnetic fields (PMF) provide a practical, exogenous method for inducing cell and tissue modifications, as therapy for selected pathological states. A number of clinical studies, in vivo animal experiments and in vitro cellular and membrane research reports suggest that PMF stimulation can significantly reduce pain and accelerate the healing process. However, PMFs are still not widely used in clinical medicine.

Th2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-13 downregulate paxillin expression in bronchial airway epithelial cells.

Asthma is characterized by infiltration and shedding of the bronchial epithelium. The Th2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-13 are involved in the cellular recruitment and infiltration seen in asthma. The effects of IL-4 and IL-13 on cell-matrix interactions and epithelial shedding are unknown.

Noninvasive treatment of inflammation using electromagnetic fields: current and emerging therapeutic potential.

Magnets, electric current and time varying magnetic fields always have played a role in human medicine. Natural magnetic stones were used in ancient cultures to induce a therapeutic effect and modern clinical practice would be far less effective without nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, cardiac pacemakers, and bone growth stimulators. This paper presents a summary of natural and artificial electromagnetic field (EMF) characteristics that are currently in use or under investigation for other therapeutic applications.

Effect of hydrogen peroxide on proliferation, apoptosis and interleukin-2 production of Jurkat T cells.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is well known as a cell damaging agent that is produced during normal cell metabolism of aerobic organisms. An excessive production of oxygen metabolites such as H2O2 leads to oxidative stress and disease. On the other hand, it recently was discovered that H2O2 is not only a deleterious oxidant for cells but can also play an important role as a beneficial signaling molecule in certain cells such as T lymphocytes.

Effects of cold stress on spleen cell proliferation and cytokine production during chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection.

Background: Cell-mediated immunity is critical for controlling infection and preventing reactivation during the chronic phase of Toxoplasma gondii infection. In people suffering from AIDS, T. gondii is one of the major opportunistic infectious agents.

The Bactericidal And Cytotoxic Effects Of Antimicrobial Wound Cleansers.

OBJECTIVE: Wound care is a part of daily activity for many athletic trainers. Knowing which cleansers are effective against the bacteria that most commonly cause infection and whether they are toxic to healthy cells enables athletic trainers to make educated decisions on which cleanser to use. We compared the bactericidal effectiveness and cytotoxicity to human fibroblast cells of 4 cleansers at various dilutions.

Characterization of a real time H2O2 monitor for use in studies on H2O2 production by antibodies and cells.

It was recently shown that antibodies catalyze a reaction between water and ultraviolet light (UV) creating singlet oxygen and ultimately H2O2. Although the in vivo relevance of these antibody reactions is unclear, it is interesting that among a wide variety of non-antibody proteins tested, the T cell receptor is the only protein with similar capabilities. In clinical settings UV is believed to exert therapeutic effects by eliminating inflammatory epidermal T cells and we hypothesized that UV-triggered H2O2 production is involved in this process.

Use of proteomics methodology to evaluate inflammatory protein expression in tendinitis.

In previous studies we established a rat model of acute tendinitis including functional and mechanical measures of healing. Achilles' tendinitis was induced by injection of collagenase, an enzyme that produces localized fiber digestion and edema formation. As quantitative measures of tissue inflammation, hypercellularity and edema were evaluated in injured tendons in comparison with controls.

Autoradiographic evaluation of electromagnetic field effects on serotonin (5HT1A) receptors in rat brain.

Serotonin (5HT1A) is a chemical mediator of inflammation and the largest single neurotransmitter system of the brain. Its secretion and physiological actions mediate stress and pain, affecting both immune and nervous system functions through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Serotonin receptor dysfunction is well-characterized in mental disturbances like depression and anxiety.

Quantitative characterization of rat tendinitis to evaluate the efficacy of therapeutic interventions.

Tendinitis is a painful soft tissue pathology that accounts for almost half of all occupational injuries in the United States. It is often caused by repeated movements and may result in loss of work and income. Current treatments for tendinitis are aimed at reducing inflammation, the major cause of the pain.

Effect of short duration electromagnetic field exposures on rat mass.

Daily preexposure and postexposure mass measurements of 65 rats (young males and females, old males) a proprietary pulsed wound healing field, pulsed electromagnetic field, (PEMF), or their control fields for 4 h/day for 21 days. Statistical analysis of mass changes over time showed that young rats exposed to PEMF lost more mass and recovered it more slowly compared to controls (2-4% more loss) than did older PEMF exposed rats or any 60 Hz exposed rats. We conclude that daily preexposure and postexposure mass measurements are needed to adequately assess the effects of electromagnetic fields on body mass.