Human biomonitoring can be a reliable tool to protect the health of the citizens of major urban environments. Human hair may be an invaluable specimen to determine chronic exposure to any environmental contaminant in an individual, especially in the young population. However, different factors including a lack of studies that have established reference values for metals and metalloids (trace elements) in human scalp hair make the use of this matrix controversial. A monitoring study was performed to establish possible normal or tentative reference values of Al, As, Be, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Pb, Sn, Ti, Tl and Zn in adolescents' (aged 13-16) hair who have lived since birth in Alcalá de Henares, Madrid region (Spain). Strict inclusion criteria were followed to study the effect of sex on the hair metal content, and the levels of the above contaminants were also studied in park topsoils from Alcalá de Henares. Scalp hair samples were collected from 96 healthy adolescents (28 boys and 68 girls), and reference values were calculated following the recommendations of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. The levels of Cd, Cu, Pb, Sn and Zn in hair of adolescents from Alcalá de Henares show a sex dependency, being significantly higher in female participants. Sex should be a factor taken into account when developing future reference values and hair metal content. Soil metal contamination was not correlated with the levels found in hair. To conclude, the values of metals and metalloids here analysed and discussed could be considered as tentative reference values for Spanish adolescents aged 13-16 years living in the Madrid region, and may be used to identify the level of exposure of adolescents in this Spanish region to the various metals and metalloids.
Involving teachers in scientific research can increase schoolchildren's interest in studying science from an early stage which is critical to increase the numbers of high-school students studying scientific subjects. This will impact on the number of students enrolled in university science degrees to satisfy many basic human needs. A group of academics at De Montfort University (DMU, UK) have involved the Ravenhurst Primary School (RPS) in biomedical research, specifically a human biomonitoring (HBM) study involving schoolchildren (aged 6-9 years) and university students (aged 18-22 years) in Leicester (UK) to determine their nutritional status and exposure to metals. We have adopted a school-based approach to recruit participants from both educational arenas following the recommendations for executing HBM studies in Europe [1] with some modifications.Permission from the school authorities was requested after gaining ethical approval from the DMU Research Ethics Committee (Ref. 1674). Parental/student consent was obtained by invitation and appointment letter, with the project details and ethical and data protection aspects written in simple language. Appropriately developed flyers, posters and information leaflets for each audience were also used to enhance the recruitment processes. Scheduling and facilitating flexible face-to-face appointments was critical for collecting the human samples needed for the project (urine and scalp hair) as well as comprehensive details about participants' diet and anthropometric measurements. The involvement of teachers and lecturers in conjunction with a registered general nurse (school nursing) was of paramount importance for achieving these goals, as they were encouraging participation throughout the process. During the appointments, parents and participants were debriefed in more detail about the project and the relevance of performing HBM to improve health in the community.The school-based approach achieved the following results: a) the recruitment of a relevant number of participants (12 schoolchildren and 111 university students); b) the provision of a satisfying educational experience for parents, teachers/academics and participants in both educational arenas; c) the involvement of school-children in scientific research; d) the acquisition of awareness of the impact of environmental contamination by metals on human health; e) informing participants about their diets and body composition (e.g. percentage of body fat) promoting the necessity of adopting a healthy diet and lifestyle.In conclusion, the project was successful in involving School teachers, University lecturers, schoolchildren, University students and community health workers in a research project. It provided an opportunity for educational development, promote staff motivation and students' interest and involvement in scientific research. Teachers updated their biomedical knowledge and skills by participating in this research and learnt new methods to engage schoolchildren (by promoting healthy lifestyl...
Recent outbreaks threatening public health involving contaminated water or food with different microorganisms such as Escherichia coli or Cyclospora spp. in Europe as well as the 2014-16 Ebola crisis in West Africa have highlighted the relevance of teaching parasitology and infectious diseases to future biomedical scientists. The BSc Biomedical Science (BMS) programme at De Montfort University (DMU, Leicester, UK) is accredited by the Institute of Biomedical Sciences (IBMS). However, the dedicated time to study these topics was very little, limited to two 15 credit modules focused on general and basic medical microbiology. A series of important modifications have been undertaken since 2016 to ensure that our graduates receive comprehensive knowledge in parasitology/infectious diseases following the subject-specific threshold standards described by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA, 2015). New lectures in these topics (virus, fungi, helminths, infectious diseases) were incorporated in our Basic Microbiology level 4 module after expanding this to 30 credits in the academic course 2016/17. Highly specialised training related with emerging parasites (e.g. Cyclospora, microsporidia) and haemorrhagic fever virus (e.g. Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever virus) was introduced in our level 6 Medical Microbiology module (15 credits), based on a successful novel teaching experience created by first responders to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Validated feedback questionnaires to assess the training were collected as well as final module level feedback (MLF) for each module through Blackboard. Students have highlighted high levels of engagement in both modules, specifically in the training provided in Medical Microbiology (n=121). Thus, some students have highlighted in the MLF that the case studies (e.g. related with free-living amoebas and Cyclospora spp.) "improved my understanding" and were "engaging". The specific questionnaire highlighted that 77.5% of final year students enjoyed the novel workshop created to respond to an outbreak of infection affecting the UK following evidence-based public health methodology. However, the module that showed most improvement in student satisfaction was Basic Microbiology (n=196), which showed a significant increase from 20% in the 2015/16 academic year to 64% in the current academic session. The MLF for Basic Microbiology also reported the following results: 95% (41% definitely agree, 54% agree) of students highlighted that this first year module provided them with opportunities to apply what they learnt; and 94% considered that the feedback provided was clear and fair. Although these results should be considered as preliminary, we consider that the initial changes undertaken in the BMS programme at DMU to date could improve students' understanding of emerging diseases, specifically about how to study and prevent emerging infectious diseases to protect public health. Future proposed improvements include the development of a complete elearning package for students and academics for ...
Human health courses at universities are facing different challenges to provide students with real laboratory experiences due to the combination of large course cohorts with a shortage of academic staff, resources and time. Future health professionals are encouraged to have a complete understanding of human anatomy and histology as well as to have some pathology and diagnostic skills including the necessary skills to use a microscope. However, students often find learning histology challenging as they usually need to learn how to use a microscope in a limited time during a practical timetabled with several peers, in which they are also required to undertake other activities such as tissue embedding, cutting and staining. To address these factors, different web-based resources have been made available to enhance learning of anatomy and histology, however they are directed to medical students so their use by non-medical students (e.g. pharmacy, biomedical science, nursing, etc.) is limited due to their complexity. As a result, De Montfort University (DMU, UK) is leading an international project to develop an on-line package for teaching and learning biology, named DMU e-Biology, which will cover not only the foundation but also the latest scientific knowledge on human biology. This novel resource is also equipped with a Virtual Microscope and a Virtual Laboratory. The Virtual Laboratory will present different subsections with a range of units regarding biomedical techniques and equipment, which will be developed following previous successful experience from the team. Units will be highly engaging and will contain short videos of academics and/or technicians working hands-on with equipment and/or techniques to bring the laboratory to the student's house. Videos will be enhanced with audio and subtitles in English and the user will be able to complete a series of voluntary self-assessments throughout each unit to enhance engagement and provide the user with tools to evaluate their acquisition of knowledge. A subsection will cover all the elements to perform routine histological techniques in a biomedical laboratory, including the use and practicalities of the microtome, how to perform paraffin embedding and tissue sampling, and common staining techniques such as haematoxylin & eosin (H&E) and periodic acid-Schiff stain (PAS). The histology section will be publicly available from the DMU website in late 2018 here http://parasitology.dmu.ac.uk/ebiology/ biologyLaboratory_units.htm.Additionally, this resource is supported by a virtual microscope in which the user will be able to explore a library of virtual histological slides from different human tissues and organs; the virtual microscope will transfer the practicalities of a microscope to study human histology. These resources will be tested with first year BSc Biomedical Science and BMedSci Medical Science students enrolled in the module Basic Anatomy and Physiology at DMU by implementing blended learning, i.e. a pedagogy that integrates e-learning resources and mate...
Environmental recovery in the aftermath of a biological incident is one of the key areas to consider when tailoring a response to protect human health and minimise the spread of the biological agent(s) involved. However, recent studies have highlighted general national and international emergency weaknesses including a lack of preparedness in health care professionals and emergency responders to tackle these events. We undertook a web-based, non-systematic search for biological response training in human health undergraduate programmes in the UK, by using the Google™ search engine. To the best of our knowledge, there are no undergraduate courses in the UK that directly address this topic. Only a few postgraduate programmes present some information about responding to biological incidents but they do not cover the different phases of a biological incident response, which are: preparedness and situation assessment; exposure assessment; acute health effects; long term health effects; and recovery phase. In order to develop appropriate training, academics from De Montfort University (DMU, Leicester, UK) and the University of Alcalá (Spain) in collaboration with first responders (biomedical scientists) to the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, have developed specific training for undergraduate human health degree students to respond to biological incidents. We have created basic competences to develop this training and distributed them into six domains following the recommendations of the European Commission for medical responders to CBRN emergencies [1]: identification of the risk and risk analysis; toxicological effect of biological agents; planning and organisation of an intervention programme; environmental planning; communication and information management; safety and personal protective equipment; societal and ethical reflections. Following the basic competences created, we developed different training sessions with two components, theoretical (lectures and seminars) and practical (research-led workshop), to cover each of the different phases of an appropriate response to any biological incident. The specific training that covers the recovery phase has been delivered to postgraduate students from the MSc programme in Advanced Biomedical Science at DMU since 2016/17 due to the more manageable student number, time available to deliver the training and greater background knowledge of the class. The analysis of the feedback provided by the first cohort of students indicated high levels of engagement and interest in this training session. We performed some minor modifications following the students' feedback and delivered it this academic course 2017/18 (n=9) to gain more information about its effectiveness in facilitating the specific basic competences covered in this training including the resources used to tailor a recovery response to the case scenario proposed (an outbreak due to Cyclospora spp.) such as the UK Recovery Handbook for Biological Incidents (UKRHBI; PHE, 2015 [2]). All students were satisfied w...
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