Discipline Of Pathology Research Articles

Web-Based Data Management Techniques for Coordinated Trials of Sugarcane Technologies

Sugarcane production technologies being developed by research institutions are highly location specific and require multi-location trials in diverse conditions before adoption. In India, multi-location trials of technologies are conducted under All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Sugarcane through a network of 36 centres in four disciplines of crop improvement, crop production, entomology and plant pathology. Monitoring and evaluation of trials is accomplished through experts’ field visits, meetings and workshop. Sugarcane being a long duration crop, a large amount of trial observation data are recorded by centres at various crop stages. Data are analysed, compiled and documented by centre officials, principal investigator and project coordinator for interpretation of trial results. Traditional system of data management poses many issues such as retyping of data, late reporting, wrong/missing data, poor documentation, wrong interpretation and poor decision support. A web-based software AICRP Reporter has been implemented for recording and reporting of AICRP trial data to solve these problems and to increase efficiency. Paper gives brief information about the data management technique used in this system for an effective coordination among various AICRP stakeholders for achieving its objectives. System enables timely reporting of data; consistent and reliable reports; and remote monitoring. Data once recorded can be utilized in historical perspective for new knowledge discovery. System is generic in nature and can be implemented for other such research organizations at national and international level with specific knowledge updation.

Multidisciplinary Subspecialty Capacity Building for Global Pediatric Oncology

PURPOSE Specialized multidisciplinary care is central to childhood cancer control. Expertise and infrastructure in the pediatric disciplines of hematology, surgery, critical care, nursing, and pathology are as critical as pediatric oncology. Survival of the majority of children with cancer globally remains dismal because of the scarcity of multidisciplinary pediatric subspecialty services. We present the innovative approach and impact of Texas Children’s Global HOPE initiatives to cost-effectively develop capacity for specialized multidisciplinary cancer care for children in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). METHODS Global HOPE designed and supports subspecialty training and contingent infrastructure building in SSA in the following disciplines that are critical to pediatric cancer care: pediatric hematology and oncology (PHO), pediatric surgery, pediatric critical care, anatomic and molecular pathology, and pediatric oncology nursing. Key principles underlying the design of each disciplinary program are that it enables the implementation of current best evidence-based practices, primarily uses a problem-based learning approach, and is integrated and accredited by the local health sciences university. Training primarily occurs at an African hub where Global HOPE also supports infrastructure for clinical care and research, in addition to onsite faculty and offsite telemedicine support from the headquarters in Houston, TX. RESULTS The PHO and pediatric surgery fellowship programs based at Makerere University, Kampala, are the most advanced thus far. Twenty pediatricians from 6 African countries have enrolled and 8 have graduated from the 2-year PHO program. One surgeon enrolled in the 3-year pediatric surgery fellowship annually and 6 have graduated since inception. The fellowship programs have directly affected patient outcomes because of evidence-based clinical rigor and enhanced clinical infrastructure. All graduates from the 2 fellowships are currently practicing in SSA. CONCLUSION Formal in situ pediatric subspecialty training is feasible in low- and middle-income countries and carries the critical advantages of infrastructure development, direct patient impact, and is less susceptible to brain drain.

The perspectives of allied health clinicians on the working alliance with people with stroke-related communication impairment

ABSTRACT The processes by which working alliances develop in stroke rehabilitation are not well understood. The aim of this study was to explore the ways in which experienced allied health clinicians establish and maintain alliances with people with stroke-related communication impairment, and to identify factors that may influence the strength of these alliances. In-depth interviews were completed with 11 clinicians from the disciplines of occupational therapy, speech-language pathology and physiotherapy. Interview transcripts were coded and analysed using strategies consistent with constructivist grounded theory. Participants described processes that were captured by the themes of enabling interaction, being responsive, building relational capital and building credibility. Practices that supported communication and emphasized responding, both within an interaction and over time, aligned with examples of strong alliances. Professional credibility and relational practices such as everyday conversations and the use of humour were viewed as important. Difficulty accessing a shared mode of communication due to stroke-related communication impairment altered relational processes and influenced perceptions of the alliance, although examples of strong alliances were present. In this study, reflections on challenging alliances highlighted potentially helpful practices. A responsive approach to rehabilitation, supported by reflective practice, may assist clinicians to better navigate their working alliances with this population.

Giving Correct names to Disciplines in Pathology in the 21st Century: A Review of Working Environments among Pathologists across Nigeria

A name gives one identity, inspiration, strength, vision and an ability to see far into the future end from the beginning. Pathology disciplines therefore need correct and proper names that will carry along it all those attributes to enable them explore all her potentials unhindered in the 21st century practice of Medicine in the country. This study reviewed the functions of Medical Microbiologists and Haematologists in the midst of incessant inter-professional rivalry involving medical laboratory scientist in the country's teaching hospitals. Data was collected based on information from electronic, online and print media, and social media platforms. Questionnaires were administered to assess the knowledge of students of Adeyemi College of Education Ondo-City on the difference between Consultant Medical Microbiologists and Academic Microbiologists. We found out that in over 85% of the crisis in the medical laboratories in the country are from either Medical Microbiology and or Haematology laboratories; disciplines whose names have little to do with pathology, and that Anatomic Pathology and Chemical Pathology disciplines are usually only in solidarity with the two. Also other health personnel including scientists do not feel fully convinced that Consultants in the former two disciplines (Medical Microbiology and Haematology) are truly Pathologists. It was also found that 90% of members of the general public cannot differentiate between a Pathologist who specializes in Microbiology from an individual who graduated with BSc or MSc in Microbiology and so could hardly understand why such could not also practice as Consultant Microbiologist or Lecture in Clinical Pathology departments. At the University of Medical Sciences teaching Hospital Complex (UNIMED THC) where both the discipline and the Department are named Microbial Pathology, the tension has substantially been put under check. The two subspecialties should be properly named as: Microbial Pathology and Haematologic Pathology instead of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, and Haematology respectively along with their respective Departments.

Digital spatial profiling application in breast cancer: a user's perspective.

The disciplines of oncology and pathology are at present experiencing a wave of changes as precision medicine becomes embedded as standard-of-care. Consequently, the need to assess increasing numbers of biomarkers simultaneously has become more urgent and recognising the vast intra-tumoural heterogeneity, including within the microenvironment, requires a complex dimensional understanding of the localisation of the biomarker expression. Digital spatial profiling (DSP; nanoString™) technology spatially resolves and digitally quantifies proteins in a highly multiplexed assay, underpinned by the nCounter® barcoding platform. We present the application of this technology to breast cancer samples. Applying the 'off the shelf' cancer panel and a custom-conjugated E-cadherin antibody, we quantify vast intra-tumoural heterogeneity in immunological and tumour markers, and demonstrate a need for focussed selection of target cell populations. The technology offers enormous potential not only for making research advances but also for improving standard operating procedures in diagnostic applications.

Provisional guidelines on autopsy practice for deaths associated with COVID-19

COVID-19 has been included in Category B infectious diseases and is prevented and controlled according to Category A infectious diseases. In order to establish a diagnosis or conduct further research, a post-mortem examination may be desired on a possible COVID-19 death. To guide the personnel engaged in the autopsy to carry out the correct operation, and ensure the safety of the pathologists and disease control staffs during the epidemic, the Chinese Pathological Society, the Chinese Pathologist Association and the Pathology and Pathophysiology national key discipline at Shantou University Medical College, formulated this guidance for the autopsy for deaths associated with COVID-19 during the prevention and control period of COVID-19 in China.

Information Graphs Incorporating Predictive Values of Disease Forecasts.

Diagrammatic formats are useful for summarizing the processes of evaluation and comparison of forecasts in plant pathology and other disciplines where decisions about interventions for the purpose of disease management are often based on a proxy risk variable. We describe a new diagrammatic format for disease forecasts with two categories of actual status and two categories of forecast. The format displays relative entropies, functions of the predictive values that characterize expected information provided by disease forecasts. The new format arises from a consideration of earlier formats with underlying information properties that were previously unexploited. The new diagrammatic format requires no additional data for calculation beyond those used for the calculation of a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. While an ROC curve characterizes a forecast in terms of sensitivity and specificity, the new format described here characterizes a forecast in terms of relative entropies based on predictive values. Thus it is complementary to ROC methodology in its application to the evaluation and comparison of forecasts.

Lived experience of people who stutter: a descriptive review of qualitative studies from 1990–2017

Since the 1970s, research has illuminated the personal and social dimensions of the experience of stuttering in the discipline of speech-language pathology. However, the disabling experiences of individuals who stutter remain underrepresented within the body of scholarship. We searched for articles published in English, between 1990/01/01 and 2017/12/31, in the Pubmed, Web of Science, Scopus, PsychInfo and PsychArticles databases. After screening, 31 full text articles met the criteria for inclusion. Five themes emerged: implementation context, theories and methods, population, definitions of stuttering and areas of research. This descriptive review lays the groundwork for future disability research in the context of the lived experience of people who stutter. Points of interest Over the last four decades, there has been increased interest in the personal and social experience of people who stutter. However, limited research has explored the disabling experiences of people who stutter. We present a review in order to illuminate the trends and patterns in the current body of qualitative research. We found that various aspects of the experience of people who stutter were explored using different approaches and methods. This descriptive review identifies opportunities for further development of the field and lays the groundwork for future disability research in the context of the experiences of people who stutter, taking account of other aspects of their identities such as gender, race and age.

Technology development of breathing thermal manikin and its application and prospect in healthy building

The core concept of healthy building is “people-oriented”. Indoor environment directly affects human health, comfort level, and work efficiency. The intuitive feeling and health effects of indoor occupants should be key evaluation indicators in constructing indoor environment. However, limited by existing experimental methods, testing techniques, and ethical considerations, many experiments related to indoor human health and comfort cannot be carried out on human bodies. In addition, although existing indoor environmental monitoring techniques and equipments can meet parameter control and energy efficiency requirements, they are relatively independent, and have not been integrated on a comprehensive platform. Furthermore, indicators are needed to reflect the comprehensive influence of multiple environmental parameters on the health effects of occupants. Therefore, in order to evaluate human thermal comfort in different environments and determine the effective doses of pathogenic sites in personal exposure studies, advanced and reliable measurement tools must be developed first. As a sophisticated and complex device, thermal manikin plays an important role in the evaluation of indoor health effects. It was originally used to measure and evaluate clothing performance parameters; with the development of control methods and manufacturing technology, many scholars have put forward sweating thermal manikin, thermal regulation manikin, and breathing thermal manikin on the basis of clothing thermal manikin. This paper systematically reviews the progress of research in three aspects, that is, the development history of thermal manikin, the construction of human microenvironment, and the construction of in vitro respiratory tract model. In different development stages and application environments, the implementation method, functions, features, and control methods of thermal manikin show diversity, but its implementation principles are basically similar. That is, it consists of morphological shell, surface skin, heating element, and sensor. The manikin’s structural characteristics and surface thermal plumes seriously affect the human micro-environment. Based on the latest research progress in the field of personal exposure, this paper summarizes the characteristics of flow field and the influencing factors of pollutant exposure in human micro-environment under experimental conditions with varying degrees of human model simplification. After that, it discusses the current status and difficulties of research on human inhalation exposure, and explains the significance of CT scanning, 3D printing, in vitro cell culture, and organ chip technology in the establishment of dose-effect relationship model, as well as their applications in the targeted therapy and biomarker research of lung diseases. On this basis, it talks about the development prospects of health effect research using a thermal manikin that has integrated 3D printing technology and breathing simulation function. This paper systematically reviews the research progress and applications of breathing thermal manikin and various advanced lung models in the fields of building environment and human health. Starting from airflow creation in human micro-environment, in vitro respiratory tract model, in vitro cell culture, and organ chip construction, it sums up the latest research progress of thermal manikin, draws the main conclusions of this field, presents the vision of the future prospects, and points out the limitations and shortcomings in this area. This paper aims to promote the development of more reasonable and accurate environmental control techniques, achieve healthy building, and promote the progress of pathology, pharmacology, and other disciplines.

STARTING THE CONVERSATION: RESULTS FROM AN INTERPROFESSIONAL WORKSHOP ABOUT ADVANCE CARE PLANNING

Advance care planning is more than documenting end of life medical decisions; it should be the beginning of an important and ongoing conversation about personal values, goals, and preferences. Health profession students must be prepared to have these conversations and overcome any existing barriers to effective patient-provider communication. To this end, a multidisciplinary planning team from Marquette University and the Medical College of Wisconsin developed a 2-hour workshop directed at students in the health professions. It was designed to be highly interactive, including guided self-reflection, drawing, writing, videos, small group work, case presentations, and large group discussion. The workshop was scheduled to coincide with National Healthcare Decisions Day (April 16th). A total of 149 students participated, representing the disciplines of medicine, nursing, physician assistants, counseling psychology, speech pathology, and biomedical sciences. Feedback from both students and faculty was overwhelmingly positive, indicating interest and need for this type of program. A post-event questionnaire, which included a retrospective pre/post-test, assessed learners’ gains in knowledge and self-efficacy. Significant (< 0.001) gains were found on all measured items. Data from an electronic follow-up survey suggested the majority of participants took additional actions steps related to advance care planning in the month following the workshop. In conclusion, this is a low-cost, replicable workshop that aligns with current recommendations for advanced care planning (IOM, 2015), is well received by students and faculty in the health professions, and may serve as a springboard for increasing the number of advance care planning conversations.

Pathology awareness in patients and patient's relatives applying to a pathology laboratory.

Objectives:To investigate pathology awareness in patients applying to a pathology laboratory.Method:This cross-sectional study included 150 patients and patients’ relatives. A questionnaire, prepared by the researchers according to the literature, was administered at the Pathology Laboratory, Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey on May 2018.Results:Of the participants, 79 (52.7%) were female and 71 (47.3%) were male. The mean age was 39.56±14.16 years old. Ninety-eight (65.3%) of them thought that patients do not have right to choose their pathologist. Of the participants, 24 (16%) did not know that the medical school had to be completed in order to become a pathologist and 73 (48.7%) of them did not know that 4 years postgraduate training was required. Fifty-nine (39.3%) of the participants did not know the pathologists were a medical doctor. While 89 participants (59.4%) had no idea what “frozen section” means, 66 people (44%) did not know that the pathologist uses microscope and 64 (42.7%) of them thought that all diseases could be diagnosed 100% by pathological examination. Forty-six (30.7%) of the participants thought that all specimens are not needed to be examined.Conclusion:The knowledge and awareness of the participants about the pathology discipline came out to be inadequate.

Scientific and Regulatory Policy Committee Points to Consider*: The Toxicologic Pathologist's Role in the 3Rs.

Pathologists are trained medical professionals with special expertise in diagnostics, research, and pathophysiology. In these roles, pathologists are well qualified and positioned to engage in conversations about animal use replacement, reduction, and refinement (3Rs), thereby championing the guiding principles of the 3Rs. In particular, toxicology or nonclinical safety assessment is an important area where the discipline of toxicologic pathology can have a critical role in adopting 3Rs principles. As such, a working group of the Society of Toxicologic Pathology Scientific and Regulatory Policy Committee was formed to investigate and summarize some of the areas where veterinary pathologists working in the field of toxicology can increase involvement and impact on 3Rs. This "Points to Consider" publication provides an overview of areas within toxicology where the veterinary pathologist's perspective may maximize animal value, including refinement of study design, optimizing sample collection, the development of 3Rs focused regulatory policy, and humane end point determination.[Box: see text].

Moving Beyond Traditional Understandings of Evidence-Based Practice: A Total Evidence and Knowledge Approach (TEKA) to Treatment Evaluation and Clinical Decision Making in Speech-Language Pathology.

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a well-established framework for supporting clinical decision making in the discipline of speech-language pathology. The benefits of using evidence to inform clinical practice are acknowledged by clinicians and researchers alike. Even so, after over two decades of EBP advocacy, much clinical uncertainty remains and models supporting the evaluation of interventions require review and reconsideration. The EBP model, while promoting positive principles, can be argued to be conceptually flawed because it suffers from a lack of attention to and explicit valuing of other forms of knowledge crucial to the formation of realistic and judiciously informed decisions. We propose that the evaluation of interventions would be better supported by an explicit knowledge management approach reflecting a range of evidence and knowledge. One worked example is presented to demonstrate what using such an approach can produce in terms of intervention information.

Abstracts Presented at the Australian and New Zealand Association of Clinical Anatomists (ANZACA) 15th Annual Meeting “Advances in Human Biology – Education, Research and Technology” Held Between 2 and 5 December 2018 in the Discipline of Anatomy and Pathology, College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia

Clinical AnatomyVolume 33, Issue 2 p. E44-E63 Abstracts Abstracts Presented at the Australian and New Zealand Association of Clinical Anatomists (ANZACA) 15th Annual Meeting “Advances in Human Biology – Education, Research and Technology” Held Between 2 and 5 December 2018 in the Discipline of Anatomy and Pathology, College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia First published: 27 July 2019 https://doi.org/10.1002/ca.23426Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume33, Issue2March 2020Pages E44-E63 This article also appears in:Abstracts from Clinical Anatomy Conferences RelatedInformation

Antecedents, development, adoption, and application of Duchenne’s trocar for histopathologic studies of neuromuscular disorders in the nineteenth century

ABSTRACTDuchenne de Boulogne was one of the founders of clinical neurology. His name has been eponymically linked to the most common form of muscular dystrophy, originally described by him as pseudo-hypertrophic muscular paralysis or myo-sclerotic paralysis. Obtaining muscle biopsy specimens was essential to gain insight about the etiopathogenensis of the disease. Duchenne invented a novel instrument: l’emporte-pièce histologique, also known as “Duchenne’s trocar,” to perform muscle biopsies. Following Duchenne’s design and instructions, a Parisian company, Charrière, constructed the first instrument probably in 1864. That instrument was essential for Duchenne’s description of the histopathological abnormalities typical of pseudo-hypertrophic muscular paralysis. The innovative needle-biopsy technique enabled physicians to analyze the spectrum of pathological changes at varying stages of different neuromuscular diseases. Duchenne’s trocar was a forerunner of several types of modern muscle-biopsy needles. His invention was instrumental in the development of the disciplines of muscle pathology and clinical myology.

A New Rubric to Formatively and Summatively Assess Case‐Based Learning (CBL) of Pharmacology and Pathology in Preclinical Learners

Curricular reforms have dictated using active learning methods like case‐based learning (CBL) to stimulate critical thinking, problem solving, and collaborative learning in preclinical medical and healthcare learners. Despite this transition, most preclinical programs rely on recognition‐recall multiple choice questions for formative and summative assessment. Limited tools exist for assessing preclinical case‐based learning. The purpose of this abstract is to introduce a newly developed rubric for assessing CBL in preclinical learners as well as to share preliminary outcomes on implementation in pharmacology and pathology focused cases.The Endocrine‐Reproductive module (E‐R‐M) at UCF COM previously used a 6‐criteria clinical reasoning rubric (R1), validated for residents, to determine whether second year medical students (M2) ‘mastered’ these competencies: Medical knowledge, Clinical reasoning, Practice‐based improvement, Communication, Management. Unfortunately, formative and summative use of R1 to assess CBL didn't promote improvement beyond “passing” as time progressed within the E‐R‐M as the rubric design was insufficient to assess basic pathology and pharmacology knowledge/application within the CBL, and lacked scaffolded feedback needed for novices to improve CBL problem solving and critical thinking skills. An improved rubric (R2) was developed from R1 criteria using a 10 point scale per criteria above to assess learners in increments designed to rate performance from early preclinical (1) to the practicing clinical level (10), with criteria like ”management” being divided into 10 levels from basic physiologic/pharmacologic principles to complex evidence‐based management. R2 was pilot tested on de‐identified 2017 case 3 team CBL reports ("C3" =diabetes cases rich in pharmacology and pathology) submitted previously to confirm that it measured M2 level content in CBL sessions. R2 was then used to assess 2018 E‐R‐M CBL reports and provide formative feedback to 20 M2 teams. Prior formative feedback using R2 for earlier cases resulted in progressive improvement in criteria performance (Mean case 1=3.9) evident by 2018 E‐R‐M C3 (Mean C3=7.0). In comparing R2 scores from 2017 C3 (same diabetes case where R1 was used for 2017 formative feedback) versus 2018 C3 (where R2 was used for previous formative feedback), the R2 criteria performance mean was significantly higher for 2018 C3 (Mean 2018 C3 =7 vs Mean 2017 C3 = 4 on R2 rubric criteria (out of 10 maximum), significance by t‐test, p&lt;0.01). This pilot data suggests that R2 provides formative assessment and helpful feedback for M2s to improve CBL pharmacology and pathology application, critical thinking, and communication skills. While further study is needed to confirm reliability of R2 for summative CBL scoring, preliminary evaluation supports that R2 may be an excellent formative tool to help preclinical learners master basic CBL competencies related to pharmacology, pathology, or other disciplines. Further, this rubric may be beneficial to healthcare educational programs transitioning to preclinical competency‐based curricula given most competency rubrics in current use are not designed for preclinical assessment.Support or Funding InformationEducational outcome not funded researchThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Jürgen Döbereiner: a life dedicated to science

ABSTRACT: Dr. Jürgen Döbereiner was born in Germany, on the 1st of November 1923, and lived in Brazil for 68 years during which time he developed a range of scientific projects in veterinary pathology and related disciplines. His main interests were the identification of new poisonous plants and mineral deficiencies and the causes of “cara inchada” (“swollen face” a periodontal disease) and botulism in livestock. This research has resulted in the improved health and saving of hundreds of thousands of animals, mainly cattle, annually, and is consequently of enormous economic value to the country. This contribution remains largely under appreciated. He was also involved in organizing diagnostic methods for identifying infectious diseases such as African swine fever and glanders in horses. One of his other major achievements has been the foundation and editing of specialized scientific journals for the documentation of veterinary science research results. At the beginning of his career in the 1950s, he and colleagues from the Institute for Animal Biology (IBA) were struggling to find a national scientific journal where research results from veterinary medicine could be published with practical application to the Brazilian reality. In consequence, the team founded “Arquivos do Instituto de Biologia Animal” and published three volumes (1959-1961). He then founded and edited “Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira” (The Brazilian Journal of Agricultural Research”) that included a veterinary section. A series of veterinary volumes were published (1966-1976). Finally, in 1978 he helped create the Brazilian College of Veterinary Pathology (CBPA) that published “Pesquisa Veterinária Brasileira” (The Brazilian Journal of Veterinary Research) from 1981. The main goal was to communicate the most relevant disease problems of Brazilian livestock, in particular pathology and related subjects such as epidemiology, clinical study series and laboratory diagnosis to field veterinarians and academics. Dr. Jürgen Döbereiner was president of CBPA (1978-2018) and chief editor of “Pesquisa Veterinária Brasileira” (1981-2018). He passed away on the 16th of October, 2018, at the age of 94 at his home in Seropédica/RJ, Brazil.

The Integrated Clinical Education Strategic Initiatives Project-Development of Parameters to Guide Harmonization in Clinical Education: A Scoping Review.

Clinical education curricular models specifically related to integrated clinical education (ICE) vary across physical therapist education programs. The interconnectedness of ICE to the advancement of a shared vision for clinical education in professional physical therapist education needs investigating. The purpose of this scoping review was to: (1) define ICE, (2) define baseline expectations and parameters of ICE, and (3) discern and describe current ICE models. Databases accessed included Medline, MedlinePlus with Full, CINAHL, and CINAHL Plus with full text. A multimodal data collection scoping review was completed. Data collection included survey research, a systematic review of the literature, and a series of focus groups. The McMaster Critical Appraisal Tool assessed methodological study quality. A qualitative, metasynthesis approach was used for data synthesis. Consensus agreement produced results. Twenty-two articles were included in the literature review from the health disciplines of medicine, nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology. Data synthesis produced 8 parameters defining the factors essential to categorizing clinical education experiences as ICE in physical therapist education. The 8 parameters and ICE definition are supported by a description of models of ICE that currently exist within health profession curricula. Data synthesis followed a qualitative, metasynthesis approach. Themes emerged from the surveys, literature review, and focus group data. Patterns were compared, analyzed, and synthesized to generate the themes and ICE parameters. Selection bias from the literature search could have limited the richness of the model descriptions by unintentional exclusion of articles, and might limit the applicability of results beyond the United States. Sampling bias from survey and focus groups, although purposeful, might have limited a broader description of current viewpoints about ICE. However, the data sources, including multiple health profession perspectives coupled with consensus agreement, provide sound evidence in development of profession-based parameters. The results of this scoping review provide the profession with a standard definition of ICE and parameters that can guide a program in designing a curriculum using ICE experiences as a foundation. A recommended next step is to design education research studies using reliable and valid outcome measures across programs to determine impact and effectiveness of ICE as an educational intervention.

Pathology Study Design, Conduct, and Reporting to Achieve Rigor and Reproducibility in Translational Research Using Animal Models.

In translational research, animal models are an important tool to aid in decision-making when taking potential therapies into human clinical trials. Recently, there have been a number of papers that have suggested limited concordance of preclinical animal experiments with subsequent human clinical experience. Assessments of preclinical animal studies have led to concerns about the reproducibility of data and have highlighted the need for an emphasis on rigor and quality in the planning, conduct, analysis, and reporting of such studies. The incorporation of a wider role for the comparative pathologist using pathology best practices in the planning and conduct of animal model-based research is one way to increase the quality and reproducibility of data. The use of optimal design and planning of tissue collection, incorporation of pathology methods into written protocols, conduct of pathology procedures using accepted best practices, and the use of optimal pathology analysis and reporting methods enhance the quality of the data acquired from many types of preclinical animal models and studies. Many of these pathology practices are well established in the discipline of toxicologic pathology and have a proven and useful track record in enhancing the data from animal-based studies used in safety assessment of human therapeutics. Some of this experience can be adopted by the wider community of preclinical investigators to increase the reproducibility of animal study data.

Screening of lovastatin from higher basidiomycetous fungi from NTCC, forest pathology discipline, Dehradun, India

fA study was carried out to screen lovastatin producing ability in Higher Basidiomycetous Fungi isolates from India. For this an extended screening was performed for lovastatin production in Potato Dextrose medium (solid and liquid medium), among a total of 40 basidiomycetous isolates which were obtained from NTCC, Forest Pathology Discipline, Forest Protection Division, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India). Lovastatin production was evaluated by the disc diffusion method and agar well diffusion method. During the bioassay experiment with Neurospora crassa 159 only six isolates were found to be lovastatin producers viz., Pleurotus ostreatus (NTCC 1253), P. sajor-caju (NTCC 1010), P. floridanus (NTCC 1126), P. eous (NTCC 1264), P. eryngii (NTCC 1070) and P. cystidiousus (NTCC 1006) in liquid and solid growth media with centrifugation and the filtration method.