Developing a Peer Review Process for Web-based Curricula

The World Wide Web creates new challenges and opportunities for medical educators. Prominent among these are the lack of consistent standards by which to evaluate web-based educational tools. We present the instrument that was used to review web-based innovations in medical education submissions to the 2003 Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) national meeting, and discuss the process used by the SGIM web-based clinical curriculum interest group to develop the instrument. The 5 highest-ranked submissions are summarized with commentary from the reviewers.     

Highly resolved in vivo 1H NMR spectroscopy of the mouse brain at 9.4 T.

An efficient shim system and an optimized localization sequence were used to measure in vivo 1H NMR spectra from cerebral cortex, hippocampus, striatum, and cerebellum of C57BL/6 mice at 9.4 T. The combination of automatic first- and second-order shimming (FASTMAP) with strong custom-designed second-order shim coils (shim strength up to 0.04 mT/cm2) was crucial to achieve high spectral resolution (water line width of 11-14 Hz). Requirements for second-order shim strengths to compensate field inhomogeneities in the mouse brain at 9.4 T were assessed. The achieved spectral quality (resolution, S/N, water suppression, localization performance) allowed reliable quantification of 16 brain metabolites (LCModel analysis) from 5-10-microL brain volumes. Significant regional differences (up to 2-fold, P < 0.05) were found for all quantified metabolites but Asp, Glc, and Gln. In contrast, 1H NMR spectra measured from the striatum of C57BL/6, CBA, and CBA/BL6 mice revealed only small (<13%, P < 0.05) interstrain differences in Gln, Glu, Ins, Lac, NAAG, and PE. It is concluded that 1H NMR spectroscopy at 9.4 T can provide precise biochemical information from distinct regions of the mouse brain noninvasively that can be used for monitoring of disease progression and treatment as well as phenotyping in transgenic mice models.     

Metabolic consequences of very-low-calorie diet therapy in obese non-insulin-dependent diabetic and nondiabetic subjects

To determine the effects of very-low-calorie diets on the metabolic abnormalities of diabetes and obesity, we have studied 10 obese, non-insulin-dependent diabetic (NIDDM) and 5 obese, nondiabetic subjects for 36 days on a metabolic ward during consumption of a liquid diet of 300 kcal/day with 30 g of protein. Rapid improvement occurred in the glycemic indices of the diabetic subjects, with mean (+/- SEM) fasting plasma glucose falling from 291 +/- 21 to 95 +/- 6 mg/dl (P less than 0.001) and total glycosylated hemoglobin from 13.1 +/- 0.7% to 8.8 +/- 0.3% (P less than 0.001) (normal reference range 5.5-8.5%). Lipid elevations were normalized with plasma triglycerides reduced to less than 100 mg/dl and total plasma cholesterol to less than 150 mg/dl in both groups. Hormonal and substrate responses were also comparable between groups with reductions in insulin and triiodothyronine and moderate elevations in blood and urinary ketoacid levels without a corresponding rise in free fatty acids. Electrolyte balance for sodium, potassium, calcium, and phosphorus was initially negative but approached equilibrium by completion of the study. Magnesium, in contrast, remained in positive balance in both groups throughout. Total nitrogen loss varied widely among all subjects, ranging from 70 to 367 g, and showed a strong positive correlation with initial lean body mass (N = 0.83, P less than 0.001) and total weight loss (N = 0.87, P less than 0.001). The nondiabetic group, which had a significantly greater initial body weight and lean body mass than the diabetic group, also had a significantly greater weight loss of 450 +/- 31 g/day compared with 308 +/- 19 g/day (P less than 0.01) in the diabetic subjects. The composition of the weight lost at completion was similar in both groups and ranged from 21.6% to 31.3% water, 3.9% to 7.8% protein, and 60.9% to 74.5% fat. The contribution of both water and protein progressively decreased and fat increased, resulting in unchanged caloric requirements during the diet. This study demonstrates that short-term treatment with a very-low-calorie diet in both obese diabetic and nondiabetic subjects results in: safe and effective weight loss associated with the normalization of elevated glucose and lipid levels, a large individual variability in total nitrogen loss determined principally by the initial lean body mass, and progressive increments in the contribution of fat to weight loss with stable caloric requirements and no evidence of a hypometabolic response.     

Tri-meridional analysis using arbitrary meridians

The evaluation of the sphero-cylindrical components of curvature or refraction from measurements taken along three distinct meridians has been solved for various sets of three fixed meridians. A constraint of those solutions has been that the meridians of measurement are necessarily predetermined, which introduces an unwelcome restriction in experimental or clinical applications of tri-meridional analysis. A new solution is presented (in three formats: analogue computer, graphical and algebraic), which enables any set of three meridians to be used for tri-meridional analysis. A computer program listing (in BASIC) is included.     

Injection of botulinum A toxin into the gastrocnemius muscle of patients with cerebral palsy: a 3-dimensional motion analysis study

Botulinum A toxin (BOTOX^®) was injected into the gastrocnemius muscle of 26 cerebral palsy subjects with equinus gait. All subjects were equinus walkers without fixed contracture of the triceps-surae muscle. Injections were performed at 3 month intervals, if needed, as determined by the treating clinician. There were 14 subjects with spastic hemiplegia, 11 subjects with spastic diplegia and 1 subject with spastic quadriplegia. In the case of those subjects with bilateral equinus gait the dose was divided and given into both the right and left gastrocnemius muscle. Gait analysis data was collected prior to the first injection and subsequently at 3 month intervals for 1 year. Kinematic and electromyographic data was obtained. This data was analyzed to provide objective information about the outcome of treatment. Four subjects moved away and were lost to follow-up. Seven subjects left the study to have surgery. The data collected revealed statistically significant improvements in dynamic ankle dorsiflexion in both stance and swing phases, stride length, and electromyography of the tibialis anterior. There were no complications. While the results of this study are promising, additional prospective studies are needed to determine the feasibility of preventing muscle contractures over a longer time period. Furthermore, there is a need for inclusion of other muscles in future research. Future research should also compare BOTOX^® treatment with alternative methods of dealing with muscle spasticity such as: casting, orthotic devices, physical therapy, selective dorsal rhizotomy, and surgical lengthening.     

Transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the neonatal intensive care unit from a patient with community-acquired disease.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has traditionally been a nosocomial pathogen. However, several recent studies have noted community-acquired MRSA among young, healthy patients with no risk factors or healthcare system exposure. We report the transmission of a strain of community-acquired MRSA in our neonatal intensive care unit.