Undergraduate research in medical education: a descriptive study of students' views

Background: Medical students engage in curricular and extracurricular activities, including undergraduate research (UR). The advantages, difficulties and motivations for medical students pursuing research activities during their studies have rarely been addressed. In Brazil, some medical schools have included undergraduate research into their curriculum. The present study aimed to understand the reality of scientific practice among medical students at a well-established Brazilian medical school, analyzing this context from the students' viewpoint.Methods: A cross-sectional survey based on a questionnaire applied to students from years one to six enrolled in an established Brazilian medical school that currently has no curricular UR program.Results: The questionnaire was answered by 415 students, 47.2% of whom were involved in research activities, with greater participation in UR in the second half of the course. Independent of student involvement in research activities, time constraints were cited as the main obstacle to participation. Among students not involved in UR, 91.1% said they favored its inclusion in the curriculum, since this would facilitate the development of such activity. This approach could signify an approximation between the axes of teaching and research. Among students who had completed at least one UR project, 87.7% said they would recommend the activity to students entering the course.Conclusion: Even without an undergraduate research program, students of this medical school report strong involvement in research activities, but discussion of the difficulties inherent in its practice is important to future developments.

Is the internal connection more efficient than external connection in mechanical, biological, and esthetical point of views? A systematic review

This systematic review aimed to evaluate if the internal connection is more efficient than the external connection and its associated influencing factors. A specific question was formulated according to the Population, Intervention, Control, and Outcome (PICO): Is internal connection more efficient than external connection in mechanical, biological, and esthetical point of views? An electronic search of the MEDLINE and the Web of Knowledge databases was performed for relevant studies published in English up to November 2013 by two independent reviewers. The keywords used in the search included a combination of dental implant and internal connection or Morse connection or external connection. Selected studies were randomized clinical trials, prospective or retrospective studies, and in vitro studies with a clear aim of investigating the internal and/or external implant connection use. From an initial screening yield of 674 articles, 64 potentially relevant articles were selected after an evaluation of their titles and abstracts. Full texts of these articles were obtained with 29 articles fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Morse taper connection has the best sealing ability. Concerning crestal bone loss, internal connections presented better results than external connections. The limitation of the present study was the absence of randomized clinical trials that investigated if the internal connection was more efficient than the external connection. The external and internal connections have different mechanical, biological, and esthetical characteristics. Besides all systems that show proper success rates and effectiveness, crestal bone level maintenance is more important around internal connections than external connections. The Morse taper connection seems to be more efficient concerning biological aspects, allowing lower bacterial leakage and bone loss in single implants, including aesthetic regions. Additionally, this connection type can be successfully indicated for fixed partial prostheses and overdenture planning, since it exhibits high mechanical stability.

Changes in T-cell phenotype and cytokines profile in maternal blood, cord blood and colostrum of diabetic mothers

The present study evaluated the cells and cytokine of maternal blood, cord blood and colostrum of diabetic mothers. The women evaluated were divided according to their body mass index (BMI) and glycemic status into non-diabetic (ND - N = 15), mild gestational hyperglycemic (MGH - N = 15), diabetes mellitus gestational (DMG - N = 13) and type-2 diabetes mellitus (DM2 - N = 15) groups. The subsets of cells and cytokine profile were determined by flow cytometry. Maternal blood from MGH group had increase percentage of CD3(+)T cells, and DM-2 group had decrease percentage of CD4(+) T cells. The cord blood from hyperglycemic groups showed lower percentage of CD3(+) T cells expressing CD45RO(+) and higher of CD4(+) T cells and CD4(+) T cells expressing CD45RA(+). In the colostrum, the CD4(+) T cells and CD4(+) T cells expressed CD45RA(+) increase in hyperglycemic groups. The DM2 group exhibited higher IL17 levels in maternal blood. IFN-γ was lower in cord blood from MGH and DMG groups with overweight/obese. Irrespective of the glycemic status, IL6 was higher in colostrum. The results obtained suggest that maternal hyperglycemia modifies the phenotypes of T cells and cytokines profile in maternal, cord blood and colostrum.

Assessment of the effects of a parental intervention with mothers of children with internalizing problems

The present study assesses the effects of a semi-structured intervention held exclusively with mothers and its effects on internalizing problems, social skills of children, and positive and negative parenting practices. The single subject experimental design with three participants was adopted. The three mothers had, in baseline, children diagnosed with internalizing and externalizing problems. The instruments used were CBCL, RE-HSE-P, QRSH-Pais and PHQ-9, they were performed in baseline, pre-test, post-test, and follow-up assessments. The intervention held is characterized as semi-structured for it promotes the development of parental practices that are considered positive by the literature on behavior problems, however, contingently to the difficulties and demands of each case. The number of sessions performed for each case was 14, 15 and 17, which lasted about two hours each. The data were analyzed according to the instruments' norms and under the perspective of each singular case. The results found include remission of internalizing problems, increase in frequency of the children's social skills, increase in frequency of positive parental practices, and decrease in variability of negative parental practices. All the improvements were maintained on the six months follow-up, with the exception of variability on the negative parental practices of one client. Results are discussed in a context of mental health promotion and indicate the need for strategies to prevent internalizing problems in children.