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In their journey to becoming doctors, students engage with a range of teachers and trainers. Among these are simulated patients (SPs), who, through role-playing, assist students to develop their communication and physical examination skills, in contexts of formative and summative assessments. This paper explores the teaching and learning relationship between medical students and SPs, and considers how this might affect feedback and assessment. 14 SPs were interviewed on the subject of medical students' professional identity development in 2014. Data were examined using narrative analysis in conjunction with positioning theory to identify the positions that SPs assigned to themselves and to students. Narrative analysis yielded three interpretative positioning themes: "Occupational, familial and cultural" and "discursive and embodied" positioning. The interview process revealed that SPs adopt different positions intra-and interpersonally. SPs appear to hold dissonant perceptions of students in terms relating to their emerging professional identities, which may confound assessment and feedback. Training should include reflections on the SP/student relationship to uncover potential biases and positions, giving SPs the opportunity to reflect on and manage their individual and occupational selves.

NMR metabolomics provides a potent method for monitoring alterations in the metabolic signature within tissues and biofluids. In this study, NMR analysis was utilized to determine variation in metabolite levels of human DU145 prostate cancer and non-tumorigenic PNT1A prostate epithelial cells after treatment with selenomethionine (SeM) and Se-methylselenocysteine (SeMSC). Currently, these are the first [sup.1]H NMR spectroscopic data on selenium-treated prostate cell lines. Fluorescence microscopy of SeM-incubated PNT1A cells revealed morphological features characteristic of apoptosis. SeMSC-treated PNT1A and DU145 prostate cells indicated greater changes in cellular morphology and in metabolite levels than SeM-treated cells. NMR of prostate cells treated with selenium showed a decreasing trend in metabolite levels with the largest change exhibited by creatine. This is mainly due to disrupted energy metabolism, and probably due to loss of structural integrity combined with dissipation of metabolites. Lactate, choline-containing compounds, and glycine levels increased depending on the type of selenium and cell line used. No clear pattern of variation in metabolite concentration levels from [sup.1]H NMR spectroscopy to distinguish apoptotic versus non-apoptotic pathway was observed. Factor analysis (FA) indicated the change in the concentration levels of twelve metabolites was able to distinguish DU145 cells from PNT1A cells when treated using SeM. This study indicated that NMR of intact cells treated with selenium can provide information on the biochemical processes of tissues; thus metabolic fingerprints for compromised cells can be acquired. Keywords: NMR spectroscopy, metabolomics, selenomethionine, Se-methylselenocysteine, prostate cancer, apoptosis, INTRODUCTION Selenium is an essential nonmetallic trace element necessary for normal metabolic functions in humans and animals. It serves as a cofactor for the antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase and thioredoxin [...]

This study examined the professional development mentoring experiences of African American and non-African American doctorate recipients who participated in the Southern Regional Educational Board (SREB) Doctoral Scholars Program or the McKnight Doctoral Fellows (MDF) Program, and are currently employed as faculty at an American college or university'. An independent t-test was used to analyze the data. It was anticipated that the findings of this study would provide a better understanding of the types of professional development mentoring activities that are needed to a) bridge the gap that exists between doctoral education and career preparation, and b) increase the number of well-trained African Americans entering the professoriate in the US higher education system., Introduction The graduate experience is the first stage of a graduate student's academic career. Critics argue that doctoral students are a) educated and trained too narrowly; b) lack professional, organizational, [...]

Non-pregnant women can avoid alcohol-exposed pregnancies (AEPs) by modifying drinking and/or contraceptive practices. The purpose of this study was to estimate the number and characteristics of women in the United States who are at risk of AEPs. We analyzed data from in-person interviews obtained from a national probability sample (i.e., the National Survey of Family Growth) of reproductive-aged women conducted from January 2002 to March 2003. To be at risk of AEP, a woman had to have met the following criteria in the last month: (1) was drinking; (2) had vaginal intercourse with a man; and (3) did not use contraception. During a 1-month period, nearly 2 million U.S. women were at risk of an AEP (95 % confidence interval 1,760,079-2,288,104), including more than 600,000 who were binge drinking. Thus, 3.4 %, or 1 in 30, of all non-pregnant women were at risk of an AEP. Most demographic and behavioral characteristics were not clearly associated with AEP risk. However, pregnancy intention was strongly associated with AEP risk (prevalence ratio = 12.0, P < 0.001) because women often continued to drink even after they stopped using contraception. Nearly 2 million U.S. women are at AEP risk and therefore at risk of having children born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. For pregnant women and women intending a pregnancy, there is an urgent need for wider implementation of prevention programs and policy approaches that can reduce the risk for this serious public health problem., Author(s): Michael J. Cannon[sup.1] , Jing Guo[sup.1] , Clark H. Denny[sup.1] , Patricia P. Green[sup.1] , Heidi Miracle[sup.1] , Joseph E. Sniezek[sup.1] , R. Louise Floyd[sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) National [...]

The metalloproteinase ADAM17 plays a pivotal role in initiating inflammation by releasing TNF from its precursor. Prolonged TNF release causes many chronic inflammatory diseases, indicating that tight regulation of ADAM17 activity is essential for resolution of inflammation. In this study, we report that the endogenous ADAM17 inhibitor TIMP-3 inhibits ADAM17 activity only when it is bound to the cell surface and that cell surface levels of TIMP-3 in endotoxin-activated human macrophages are dynamically controlled by the endocytic receptor LRP1. Pharmacological blockade of LRP1 inhibited endocytic clearance of TIMP-3, leading to an increase in cell surface levels of the inhibitor that blocked TNF release. Following LPS stimulation, TIMP-3 levels on the surface of macrophages increased 4-fold within 4 h and continued to accumulate at 6 h, before a return to baseline levels at 8 h. This dynamic regulation of cell surface TIMP-3 levels was independent of changes in TIMP-3 mRNA levels, but correlated with shedding of LRP1. These results shed light on the basic mechanisms that maintain a regulated inflammatory response and ensure its timely resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]