Aileen Linn

Analysis of Campylobacter jejuni infection in the gnotobiotic piglet and genome-wide identification of bacterial factors required for infection

To investigate how Campylobacter jejuni causes the clinical symptoms of diarrhoeal disease in humans, use of a relevant animal model is essential. Such a model should mimic the human disease closely in terms of host physiology, incubation period before onset of disease, clinical signs and a comparable outcome of disease. In this study, we used a gnotobiotic piglet model to study determinants of pathogenicity of C. jejuni. In this model, C. jejuni successfully established infection and piglets developed an increased temperature with watery diarrhoea, which was caused by a leaky epithelium and reduced bile re-absorption in the intestines. Further, we assessed the C. jejuni genes required for infection of the porcine gastrointestinal tract utilising a transposon (Tn) mutant library screen. A total of 123 genes of which Tn mutants showed attenuated piglet infection were identified. Our screen highlighted a crucial role for motility and chemotaxis, as well as central metabolism. In addition, Tn mutants of 14 genes displayed enhanced piglet infection. This study gives a unique insight into the mechanisms of C. jejuni disease in terms of host physiology and contributing bacterial factors.

Flipping the classroom: is it worth the bother?

The undergraduate medical curriculum at the University of Glasgow has recently undergone a curriculum review, and is now a spiral curriculum with core vertical themes delivered via a blend of teaching approaches, such as problembased learning (PBL), casebased learning tutorials and bedside clinical teaching. Traditionalstyle lectures still dominate, however, fulfi lling the requirement of delivering key information to a large cohort.

Serious Digital Games Using Virtual Patients and Digital Chalk-talk Videos: a Novel Approach to Teaching Acute Diabetes Care in the Undergraduate Medical Curriculum

The event is characterized by a starting point and a breakdown: • The starting point is the first stage of the SHE. Every SHE had a history with an individual beginning perceived by the patients and their spouses. • The second stage is the actual collapse. Patients and spouses described what they experienced in this exceptional situation and how important the involvement of spouses and health care professionals was.

Creation of E-Tutorials to Enhance Medical Student Anatomy Learning Experience Using Articulate Storyline 2

With technological advances and accessibility continually improving, it is becoming increasingly relevant to incorporate this in education. Increasingly, there has been a shift in self-directed learning with teaching methodologies incorporating both traditional means and online learning. With this in mind, we ran a Student Selected Component (SSC) for second year medical students where they would create their educational anatomical content using the software Articulate Storyline 2. Nine students completed this module, with three groups of three students creating individual anatomical packages. Using interactive videos, images, Anatomy.TV, photogrammetry, text and cartoon characters, these students created anatomy packages for cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and hand and wrist anatomy. During the SSC process, the students were required to complete initial alpha testing of the e-tutorials within their SSC group. Students from the MBChB programme were invited to partake in the beta evaluation studies to assess the effectiveness of the content created. The students who participated in the SSC benefitted from the process of being active participants and cocreators of their learning experience while producing extremely useful educational resource for their peers. This type of approach to educational resource development, created by the student for the student, is recommended as a policy to adopt on a wider basis, not just for medical students but the wider higher education sector.

Teaching digital professionalism: a role for problem-based learning?

We read with interest the article by Kang et al. in which UK medical students answered questions on social media use before and after having received the General Medical Council (GMC) social media guidelines. 1 The authors hypothesise that the fall in ‘correct’ responses may be explained by individual interpretation of the context of each question. We feel that this approach highlights students’ diffi culties in applying guidelines to individual scenarios, because professionalism must be taught. 2