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Volume 6,
Issue 6,
2024
Volume 6, Issue 6, 2024
- Pedagogy
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Unearthing new learning opportunities: adapting and innovating through the ‘Antibiotics under our feet’ citizen science project in Scotland during COVID-19
Rebecca Mary Cornwell, Kirsty Ross, Caius Gibeily, Isobel Guthrie, Pak Hei Li, Laurence Taylor Seeley, Yaxuan Kong, Ava True, Arun Barnes, Emma Nimmo, Gloriya Len, Ioana Oprea, Boyang Lin, Aswin Sasi, Vicky Chu, Chloe Davidson, Daniil Ulasavets, Grace Renouf-Bilanski, Maria Dmitrieva, Yana Leung, Ziying Ye, Sasha Brown, Meghna Vaidya, Jenna Hynes, Catherine Mullner, Priyansha Agarwal, Paul Johnston, Charlotte Thorley and Clarissa Melo Czekster‘Antibiotics under our feet’ is a Scottish citizen science project that aimed to raise science capital in primary school learners and their teachers through measurement of microbial diversity in urban soil samples in the search for novel antimicrobial compounds. Resistance to antibiotics is rising, posing a global threat to human health. Furthermore, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills are in crisis, jeopardising our capacity to mobilise as a society to fight antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Originally conceived as a response to the AMR and STEM emergencies, our project was hit by the unprecedented challenge of engaging with schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. We describe how we adapted our project to enable remote participation from primary schools and youth groups, utilising COVID-19 response initiatives as opportunities for multi-level co-creation of resources with learners in primary, secondary, and higher education. We produced portable kit boxes for soil sample collection with learning activities and videos linked to the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence. We also addressed glaring project specific content gaps relating to microbiology on English and Simple English Wikipedia. Our hybrid model of working extended our geographical reach and broadened inclusion. We present here the inception, implementation, digital resource outputs, and discussion of pedagogical aspects of ‘Antibiotics under our feet’. Our strategies and insights are applicable post-pandemic for educators to develop STEM skills using soil, microbes, and antibiotics as a theme.
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Using photovoice to engage students in a non-major microbiology course
More LessIn the past decade, it has become increasingly difficult to engage and encourage critical thinking and deeper learning in students who participate in higher education, particularly in non-major subjects. Photovoice is a participatory action research methodology that has been used in community-based research in many different areas including social science, health science and education. In this study, photovoice was used as a pedagogical tool in a third-year BSc Bioscience non-major microbiology module at Dundalk Institute of Technology. In order to ascertain if photovoice was an effective way of engaging these students, a qualitative descriptive methodological approach, in the form of a focus group, was employed. Six of the 13 students who took the module participated in the focus group, reporting a positive experience overall of using photovoice. Further analysis of the focus group data resulted in the overarching theme of choice, with creativity and critical thinking and research skills as sub-themes to emerge. These findings suggest that photovoice is an effective way to engage students in microbiology as a non-major subject. However, as it was a small sample size, future research would need to use a larger cohort of students to provide further evidence of using photovoice as a pedagogical engagement tool for non-major subjects.
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- Case Reports
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Sarcina ventriculi in association with gastric ulcer: a case report
More LessSarcina ventriculi is a species of Gram-positive bacteria which has been reported in patients with delayed gastric emptying as well as in association with cases of gastric ulcer and gastric carcinoma. Although it has been reported frequently in veterinary cases as a cause of fatal diseases, the exact pathogenesis in humans has yet to be identified. We report here a case of an elderly male who presented with haematemesis following which an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was done and a gastric ulcer was revealed. Histopathological examination revealed S. ventriculi in association with the ulcer.
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Clinical and genomic features of a Listeria monocytogenes fatal case of meningitis in Madagascar
Listeriosis constitutes a significant public health threat due to its high mortality rate. This study investigates the microbiological and genomic characteristics of Listeria monocytogenes isolates in Madagascar, where listeriosis is a notifiable disease. The analysis focuses on a fatal case of meningeal listeriosis in a 12-year-old child. Genomic analysis revealed a novel cgMLST type (L2-SL8-ST8-CT11697; CC8, serogroup Iia) with typical virulence and antibiotic resistance profiles. These isolates, unique to Madagascar, formed an independent clade in the phylogenetic tree. This study presents the first genomic characterization of Listeria isolates in Madagascar, highlighting the necessity of ongoing genomic surveillance to strengthen listeriosis prevention and control strategies in the region.
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Prevalence and resistance pattern of uropathogens from community settings of different regions: an experience from India
Sarita Mohapatra, Rajashree Panigrahy, Vibhor Tak, Shwetha J. V., Sneha K. C., Susmita Chaudhuri, Swati Pundir, Deepak Kocher, Hitender Gautam, Seema Sood, Bimal Kumar Das, Arti Kapil, Pankaj Hari, Arvind Kumar, Rajesh Kumari, Mani Kalaivani, Ambica R., Harshal Ramesh Salve, Sumit Malhotra and Shashi Kant
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High SARS-CoV-2 viral load is associated with a worse clinical outcome of COVID-19 disease
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