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Introduction The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic-imposed changes in educational practices worldwide. It forced medical institutions to adapt to an online teaching mode, which has advantages and disadvantages. The present study aims to investigate the perceptions of medical students regarding online learning during COVID-19. Purpose This study assesses whether online teaching methods are feasible, suitable, preferred, and effective compared to traditional in-class teaching for Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students. Methodology It is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted on 120 second-year MBBS students of Silchar Medical College, Silchar, India. Using Google Forms, a closed-ended pre-formed questionnaire was distributed to the students to get feedback on the advantages and challenges of online learning. The respondents were prompted to respond to the questions on a Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5. The data were analyzed using Excel 16 (Microsoft® Corp., Redmond, WA). Results The majority of the participants positively supported the feasibility, suitability, utility, and effectiveness of online learning. The most preferred online web conferencing platform for e-learning in the survey was Google Classroom. Despite the advantages, online medical education was limited by network-related issues and a lack of socializing with peers. Moreover, looking forward, about 90% of the students preferred online or a combination of online and classroom teaching. Conclusion The study highlights the positive attitude toward online education among second-year MBBS Students in a tertiary care hospital in Assam. It provides valuable insights into the challenges faced in e-learning in medical education, forming the groundwork for devising future education strategies.
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Understanding the neuropathology of multiple sclerosis (MS) is essential for improved therapies. Therefore, identification of targets specific to pathological types of MS may have therapeutic benefits. Here we identify, by laser-capture microdissection and proteomics, proteins unique to three major types of MS lesions: acute plaque, chronic active plaque and chronic plaque. Comparative proteomic profiles identified tissue factor and protein C inhibitor within chronic active plaque samples, suggesting dysregulation of molecules associated with coagulation. In vivo administration of hirudin or recombinant activated protein C reduced disease severity in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and suppressed Th1 and Th17 cytokines in astrocytes and immune cells. Administration of mutant forms of recombinant activated protein C showed that both its anticoagulant and its signalling functions were essential for optimal amelioration of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. A proteomic approach illuminated potential therapeutic targets selective for specific pathological stages of MS and implicated participation of the coagulation cascade.
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Perfilación de la Expresión Génica , Esclerosis Múltiple/metabolismo , Esclerosis Múltiple/patología , Proteómica , Adulto , Animales , Coagulación Sanguínea , Encefalomielitis Autoinmune Experimental/inmunología , Encefalomielitis Autoinmune Experimental/metabolismo , Encefalomielitis Autoinmune Experimental/patología , Femenino , Humanos , Inflamación/metabolismo , Inflamación/patología , Masculino , Ratones , Persona de Mediana Edad , Esclerosis Múltiple/clasificación , Esclerosis Múltiple/tratamiento farmacológico , Proteína C/genética , Proteína C/metabolismo , Proteína C/farmacología , Células TH1/inmunología , Células Th2/inmunología , Trombina/antagonistas & inhibidores , Trombina/metabolismoRESUMEN
Monovalent-cation-activated enzymes are abundantly represented in plants and in the animal world. Most of these enzymes are specifically activated by K+, whereas a few of them show preferential activation by Na+. The monovalent cation specificity of these enzymes remains elusive in molecular terms and has not been reengineered by site-directed mutagenesis. Here we demonstrate that thrombin, a Na+-activated allosteric enzyme involved in vertebrate blood clotting, can be converted into a K+-specific enzyme by redesigning a loop that shapes the entrance to the cation-binding site. The conversion, however, does not result into a K+-activated enzyme.
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Ingeniería de Proteínas/métodos , Trombina/química , Trombina/metabolismo , Sitios de Unión , Cationes Monovalentes , Humanos , Técnicas In Vitro , Cinética , Modelos Moleculares , Mutagénesis Sitio-Dirigida , Potasio/metabolismo , Sodio/metabolismo , Especificidad por Sustrato , Termodinámica , Trombina/genéticaRESUMEN
Three-dimensional models of the catalytic domains of Nudel (Ndl), Gastrulation Defective (Gd), Snake (Snk), and Easter (Ea), and their complexes with substrate suggest a possible organization of the enzyme cascade controlling the dorsoventral fate of the fruit fly embryo. The models predict that Gd activates Snk, which in turn activates Ea. Gd can be activated either autoproteolytically or by Ndl. The three-dimensional models of each enzyme-substrate complex in the cascade rationalize existing mutagenesis data and the associated phenotypes. The models also predict unanticipated features like a Ca(2+) binding site in Ea and a Na(+) binding site in Ndl and Gd. These binding sites are likely to play a crucial role in vivo as suggested by mutant enzymes introduced into embryos as mRNAs. The mutations in Gd that eliminate Na(+) binding cause an apparent increase in activity, whereas mutations in Ea that abrogate Ca(2+) binding result in complete loss of activity. A mutation in Ea predicted to introduce Na(+) binding results in apparently increased activity with ventralization of the embryo, an effect not observed with wild-type Ea mRNA.