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Authors report here a survey of medical student feedback on the effectiveness of two different anatomy curricula at Christian Medical College, Vellore, India. Undergraduate medical students seeking the Bachelor in Medicine and Bachelor in Surgery (M.B.B.S.) degrees were divided into two groups by the duration of their respective anatomy curriculum. Group 1 students had completed a longer, 18-month curriculum whereas Group 2 counterparts followed a shorter, 12-month curriculum. Students' responses to a questionnaire were studied. Analysis of feedback from Groups 1 and 2 contrasted the effectiveness of the two anatomy curricula. The coverage of gross anatomy was rated adequate or more than adequate by 98% of Group 1 and 91% of Group 2. A desire for greater emphasis on gross anatomy teaching was expressed by 24% of Group 1 and 50% of Group 2 (P = 0.000). Two-thirds of all students felt that the one-year program was not adequate, and 90% of Group 1 and 74% of Group 2 felt that clinically oriented anatomy teaching required more emphasis. Dissection was helpful or very helpful for 94% of Group 1 and 88% of Group 2. This study suggests that a better understanding of gross anatomy was gained from a course of longer duration (18 months with 915 contact hr vs. 12 months with 671 contact hr). Students who completed the longer anatomy course had greater appreciation of the need for clinically oriented anatomy teaching and dissection. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.)

Hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology include acetylcholine (ACh) deficiency and plaque deposition. Emerging studies suggest that acetylcholinesterase (AChE) may interact with amyloid β (Aβ) to promote aggregation of insoluble Aβ plaques in brains of patients. Current therapeutic options available for AD patients, such as AChE inhibitors, provide only symptomatic relief. In this study, we screened four natural compounds believed to harbor cognitive benefits—curcumin, piperine, bacoside A, and chebulinic acid. In the first section, preliminary screening through computational molecular docking simulations gauged the suitability of the compounds as novel AChE inhibitors. From here, only compounds that met the in silico selection criteria were selected for the second section through in vitro investigations, including AChE enzyme inhibition assay, 3-(4,5-dimenthylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-dimethyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, Thioflavin T (ThT) assay, and biochemical analysis via a neuronal cell line model. Of the four compounds screened, only curcumin (−9.6 kcal/mol) and piperine (−10.5 kcal/mol) showed favorable binding affinities and interactions towards AChE and were hence selected. In vitro AChE inhibition demonstrated that combination of curcumin and piperine showed greater AChE inhibition with an IC50 of 62.81 ± 0.01 μg/ml as compared to individual compounds, i.e., IC50 of curcumin at 134.5 ± 0.06 μg/ml and IC50 of piperine at 76.6 ± 0.08 μg/ml. In the SH-SY5Y cell model, this combination preserved cell viability up to 85%, indicating that the compounds protect against Aβ-induced neuronal damage (p < 0.01). Interestingly, our results also showed that curcumin and piperine achieved a synergistic effect at 35 μM with an synergism quotient (SQ) value of 1.824. Synergistic behavior indicates that the combination of these two compounds at lower concentrations may provide a better outcome than singularly used for Aβ proteins. Combined curcumin and piperine managed to inhibit aggregation (reduced ThT intensity at 0.432 a.u.; p < 0.01) as well as disaggregation (reduced ThT intensity at 0.532 a.u.; p < 0.01) of fibrillar Aβ42. Furthermore, combined curcumin and piperine reversed the Aβ-induced up-regulation of neuronal oxidative stress (p < 0.01). In conclusion, curcumin and piperine demonstrated promising neuroprotective effects, whereas bacoside A and chebulinic acid may not be suitable lead compounds. These results are hoped to advance the field of natural products research as potentially therapeutic and curative AD agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Authors report here a survey of medical student feedback on the effectiveness of two different anatomy curricula at Christian Medical College, Vellore, India. Undergraduate medical students seeking the Bachelor in Medicine and Bachelor in Surgery (M.B.B.S.) degrees were divided into two groups by the duration of their respective anatomy curriculum. Group 1 students had completed a longer, 18-month curriculum whereas Group 2 counterparts followed a shorter, 12-month curriculum. Students' responses to a questionnaire were studied. Analysis of feedback from Groups 1 and 2 contrasted the effectiveness of the two anatomy curricula. The coverage of gross anatomy was rated adequate or more than adequate by 98% of Group 1 and 91% of Group 2. A desire for greater emphasis on gross anatomy teaching was expressed by 24% of Group 1 and 50% of Group 2 ( P = 0.000). Two-thirds of all students felt that the one-year program was not adequate, and 90% of Group 1 and 74% of Group 2 felt that clinically oriented anatomy teaching required more emphasis. Dissection was helpful or very helpful for 94% of Group 1 and 88% of Group 2. This study suggests that a better understanding of gross anatomy was gained from a course of longer duration (18 months with 915 contact hr vs. 12 months with 671 contact hr). Students who completed the longer anatomy course had greater appreciation of the need for clinically oriented anatomy teaching and dissection. Anat Sci Educ 2:179-183, 2009. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer disease is a neurodegenerative disease that is signified by cognitive decline, memory loss, and erratic behavior. Till date, no cure for Alzheimer exists and the current Alzheimer medications have limited effectiveness. However, herbal medicines may slow down the disease's progression, which may hopefully reduce the number of cases in the years to come. Numerous studies have been done on characterizing the neuroprotective properties from plants belonging to Scrophulariaceae family, particularly Bacopa monnieri and its polyphenolic compounds known as bacosides. This review presents the findings on bacosides in therapeutic plants and their impact on Alzheimer disease pathology. These reports present data on the clinical, cellular activities, phytochemistry, and biological applications that may be used in new drug treatment for Alzheimer disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Entrapment of the neurovascular bundle in the neck may occur in scalene triangle and costoclavicular region; by abnormal muscular architecture. Case report: During routine dissection we found an anatomical variation of muscular boundaries of posterior triangle of the neck. The upper part of trapezius is broader and is attached to medial half of superior nuchal line and is mostly fibrous in origin. Upper part of sternocleidomastoid is also broader and is attached to the lateral half of superior nuchal line. As a result, both trapezius and sternocleidomastoid muscles are in contact forming a single muscle sheet in the upper half of the neck. At their junction the posterior external jugular vein was descending to enter the posterior triangle. The apex of the posterior triangle does not extend above the middle of the neck. Attachments of the two muscles to the clavicle is more extensive and results in the reduction of the size of the posterior triangle. Both the muscles had greater connective tissue components between the muscular fasiculi. Conclusion: The cleido-occipitalis part of the trapezius in our case was larger and it over laps the third part of subclavian artery and lower trunk of brachial plexus. This can entrap the lower trunk of brachial plexus leading to "thoracic outlet syndrome". The upper part of brachial plexus is overlapped by the upper expanded part of sternocleidomastoid, it can compress the plexus, leading to "cervical outlet syndrome". Chronic tension type headache usually arises from the trigger points in the upper half of the trapezius muscle, because of the fusion of trapezius and sternocleidomastoid muscles in their upper half. It may also arise from certain trigger points in the sternocleidomastoid muscle. Such abnormal muscular variation may lead to torticollis of the neck and subluxation of the atlantooccipital joint on that side [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aim of this report is to refine further knowledge on the cutaneous distribution pattern of the superficial peroneal nerve in the lower 3rd of the leg and in the dorsum of the foot. Case report: Superficial peroneal nerve after supplying the peroneal muscles, gave a medial cutaneous branch which pierced the deep fascia between the flexor digitorum longus and peroneous longus tendons to emerge in the middle of the anterior compartment of the leg. This branch descended in front of the middle of the ankle to the dorsum of the foot and branched to supply the whole of the medial side of the great toe, the medial side of the 1st metatarsal region and the 1st web space. Superficial peroneal nerve continued in the peroneal tunnel in the anterior intermuscular septum, about 2.5cm, above the ankle joint it pierced the deep fascia to descend in front of the lateral malleous to enter the lateral aspect of the dorsum of the foot. It divided into medial and lateral terminal branches to supply the adjacent sides of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th toes and lateral side of the little toe. Conclusion: Identifying and locating the Superficial Peroneal nerve in this region is mandatory: a) when either the deep or superficial peroneal nerve must be resected in the treatment of pain on the dorsum of the foot. b) whenever neurolysis is required. c) during fasciotomy, done for compression syndromes of the branches of common peroneal nerve frequently occurring primary or secondary to trauma or surgery. d) during elevation of fasciocutaneous flaps or fibular flaps. Clinical implication of anatomical variations of Superficial peroneal nerve are of utmost importance to surgeons during surgery as they must be aware of such variable branching pattern of the nerve and its distribution in the leg and dorsum of the foot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]