Master of Education in Teaching Program with an Emphasis in the Health Sciences

Introduction: Concerns about the quality of physician education have changed current medical education practices. Learners must demonstrate competency in core areas, rather than solely participating in educational activities. Academic medical institutions are challenged with identifying leaders to direct curricular and evaluation reforms. An innovative partnership between the University of Houston College of Education and Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, and the University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston offers a Masters of Education in Teaching degree with an emphasis in Health Sciences. Courses encompass fundamental areas including curriculum, instruction, technology, measurement, research design and statistics. [See PDF for complete abstract]

Comparison of OG1RF and an isogenic fsrB deletion mutant by transcriptional analysis: the Fsr system of Enterococcus faecalis is more than the activator of gelatinase and serine protease.

The FsrABC system of Enterococcus faecalis controls the expression of gelatinase and a serine protease via a quorum-sensing mechanism, and recent studies suggest that the Fsr system may also regulate other genes important for virulence. To investigate the possibility that Fsr influences the expression of additional genes, we used transcriptional profiling, with microarrays based on the E. faecalis strain V583 sequence, to compare the E. faecalis strain OG1RF with its isogenic mutant, TX5266, an fsrB deletion mutant. We found that the presence of an intact fsrB influences expression of numerous genes throughout the growth phases tested, namely, late log to early stationary phase. In addition, the Fsr regulon is independent of the activity of the proteases, GelE and SprE, whose expression was confirmed to be activated at all three time points tested. While expression of some genes (i.e., ef1097 and ef0750 to -757, encoding hypothetical proteins) was activated in late log phase in OG1RF versus the fsrB deletion mutant, expression of ef1617 to -1634 (eut-pdu orthologues) was highly repressed by the presence of an intact Fsr at entry into stationary phase. This is the first time that Fsr has been characterized as a negative regulator. The newly recognized Fsr-regulated targets include other factors, besides gelatinase, described as important for biofilms (BopD), and genes predicted to encode the surface proteins EF0750 to -0757 and EF1097, along with proteins implicated in several metabolic pathways, indicating that the FsrABC system may be an important regulator in strain OG1RF, with both positive and negative effects.

Characterization of the cytochrome P-450 drug metabolism system of LS174T human colon tumor cell line

The human colon tumor cell line, LS174T, has been shown to have four major components of the drug metabolizing system; cytochrome b$\sb5$ reductase, cytochrome b$\sb5$, cytochrome P450 reductase and cytochrome P450, by activity measurements, spectral studies and antibody cross-reactivity. Cytochrome P450IA1 is induced by benzanthracene in these cells as shown by activity with the specific substrate, ethoxyresorufin, cross-reactivity with rabbit antibodies to rat IA1, and by a hybridizing band on a Northern blot to a rat IA1 probe.^ Further, this system has proven responsive to various inducers and conditions of growth. The enzyme activities were found stable over limited cell passages with control values of 0.03 and 0.13 $\mu$mol/min/mg protein for NADPH and NADH cytochrome c (cyt c) reducing activity, 0.05 nmol cyt b$\sb5$ per milligram and 0.013 nmol cytochrome P450 per milligram of microsomal protein. Phenobarbital/hydrocortisone treatment showed a consistent, but not always significant increase in the NADPH and NADH cyt c reducing activity and benzanthracene treatment an increase in the NADH cyt c reducing activity. Delta-aminolevulinic acid (0.5mM) caused a significant decrease in the specific activity of all enzyme contents and activities tested.^ Finally, the cytochrome b$\sb5$ to cytochrome P450, by the coordinate induction of the cytochrome b$\sb5$ pathway by P450 inducers, by the high ratio of NADH to NADPH ethoxycoumarin deethylase activity in uninduced cell microsomes, and by the increase in NADH and NADPH ethoxycoumarin deethylase activity when the microsomes were treated with potassium cyanide, a desaturase inhibitor. ^

An evaluation of the impact of Inner City Development's Cooperative Home School: An educational alternative program to increase the quality and level of education in San Antonio's West Side community

The research study was intended to evaluate the effectiveness of Inner City Development's (I.C.D.) Cooperative Home School, an educational alternative program to the Title I public schools of San Antonio's West Side community. The study investigated students', parents' and tutors' perception of parental involvement and educational resources. The study also investigated each student's academic achievement. ^ The study found that students progressed toward expected math proficiency at a faster rate than they did in reading proficiency. However, because the target population size was small and a comparison group was not used, the results of this study are only suggestive. This research also indicated that study subjects believed students' quality and level of education increased substantially since program exposure. Study subjects mainly attributed the students' strides in academic performance to the increased amount of individualized attention students received in the small twelve-student class size. Study subjects were more satisfied with the home school's educational resources than those of the Title I public schools. Study subjects also perceived that parental involvement both at home and at school increased since enrollment in the home school program because: (1) there were more opportunities for involvement in the home school; and (2) parents felt closer to the tutors than the teachers in public school. ^ This evaluation also suggested improvements to program operations. With the help of additional volunteers, I.C.D. program operators could improve collection and organization of academic records. Furthermore, as suggested by program participants, science could be added to the curriculum. Lastly, a formal tutor orientation could be implemented to familiarize and train tutors on classroom management procedures. ^

Food availability in the home and dietary intake of the Harris County Department of Education Head Start population

Background. The prevalence of obesity and overweight children has been an ongoing health epidemic in the US for the last several decades. The problem has consistently worsened and has disproportionately been the most prevalent among low socioeconomic status (SES) populations. Food availability in the home has been suggested to be a potential factor related to overweight and obesity, as availability is likely associated with intake. Food availability of low SES preschool aged children has not been well examined. The purpose of this study was to explore the food environment of the Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) Head Start population, and describe reported frequency of intake of particular food groups. The effect of food availability on reported intake was also examined.^ Methods. This was a cross-sectional study of secondary data analysis. Data obtained from 17 HCDE Head Start Centers was analyzed using PASW 18 Statistical Software. Demographic analyses included population, age, gender, race, parent occupation, type of home, and language spoken in the home. Descriptive statistics included reported availability of foods in the home as well as frequency of intake.^ Regression analysis examined the relationship of availability of foods on intake. The food categories included were: dark leafy green and orange vegetables, other vegetables, fruits, soda, salty snacks, and sweet snacks. For both vegetable categories reported intake of fresh, frozen, and canned vegetables were included. For the fruit category, intake of fresh, frozen, canned, and dried fruits were reported.^ Results. Results showed that 90-95% of parents reported having vegetables and fruits available in the home. However, the only significant relationship between availability and intake was for fresh fruit and dried fruit. No associations were seen among the vegetable groups. Other vegetables (bell peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, onions, iceberg lettuce, asparagus) that were frozen, approached significance for availability on intake, however once adjusted for confounders the relationship was no longer present. Among soda, salty snacks, and sweet snacks the only significant relationship was seen for soda availability and intake. Salty snacks and sweet snacks presence in the home was not a predictor of increased frequency of intake.^ Conclusions. This research supported the hypothesis that availability of foods has an impact on intake for fresh fruits, dried fruits and soda. No associations were seen for vegetables, salty snacks and sweet snacks. Additionally, most of the parents reported having fruits and vegetables in the home, but reported intakes were not meeting the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendations. Strengths of the study included the large sample size taken from numerous HCDE Head Start Centers. Limitations included questionable reliability of participant’s responses, ability to generalize to other populations, and the use of secondary data rather than prospectively collected data.^