Assessing outcomes and perceived benefits of a professional development seminar series.

Objective: To evaluate the outcomes of alumni who were enrolled in a professional development seminar series during their doctor of pharmacy program.

Design: A weekly development seminar series was administered over 5 semesters with the goal of bringing academic advisees together to help develop performance-based abilities, prepare them for entry into the profession after graduation, and provide exposure to different career opportunities.

Assessment: A survey instrument containing 39 Likert-type scale items, 2 open-ended questions, and a 10-item demographic survey was created and content-validated to assess the effect of the seminar series on alumni advisees' perceived outcomes and professional development since their graduation.

Guest speakers in a professional development seminar series.

Objective: To evaluate the impact guest speakers have on student development in a professional development seminar series.

Design: Over a 5-semester period, presentations were given by 18 guest speakers as part of a professional development seminar series.

Assessment: A 28-item survey instrument was constructed and administered to 68 students to assess the impact of the guest speakers on the students' professional development.

A microteaching exercise to develop performance-based abilities in pharmacy students.

Objective: To create, implement, and evaluate a microteaching exercise to enhance student development of communication skills, critical-thinking skills, and problem-solving abilities.

Methods: A microteaching exercise was developed and implemented in 2 semesters of a professional development series. Advisees from 3 classes developed 7-minute presentations for classmates, followed by a brief question-and-answer session.

Regulation of collagenase activities of human cathepsins by glycosaminoglycans.

Cathepsin K, a lysosomal papain-like cysteine protease, forms collagenolytically highly active complexes with chondroitin sulfate and represents the most potent mammalian collagenase. Here we demonstrate that complex formation with glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) is unique for cathepsin K among human papain-like cysteine proteases and that different GAGs compete for the binding to cathepsin K. GAGs predominantly expressed in bone and cartilage, such as chondroitin and keratan sulfates, enhance the collagenolytic activity of cathepsin K, whereas dermatan, heparan sulfate, and heparin selectively inhibit this activity.

Fungal cell wall septation and cytokinesis are inhibited by bleomycins.

When the essential and distinctive cell walls of either pathogenic or nonpathogenic fungi break, cytoplasmic membranes rupture and fungi die. This fungicidal activity was discovered previously on nonproliferating Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells treated briefly with the oxidative tool and anticancer drug family of bleomycins. The present studies investigated effects of bleomycin on growing fungal organisms.