Moodle is applied as an online learning management system in the Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University (TU), where the curriculum has been based on problem-based learning (PBL) since 2015. Little research on the effectiveness of Moodle and students’ attitudes during their studies at the pre-clinical medical level within a PBL curriculum has been conducted. Hence, this cross-sectional study focuses on second- and the third-year (MD-2 and MD-3) preclinical medical students’ attitudes towards Moodle and its effectiveness in the PBL curriculum by using a 27-itemed self-constructed online questionnaire. Additionally, students’ preferences as regards the materials managed by the Moodle platform were also evaluated as students’ preferred behaving style (SPBS). After obtaining ethical approval from the Human Ethics Committee of TU No. 1 (Faculty of Medicine), the data was collected and analyzed by medians and inter-quartile ranges, Mann-Whitney U test, and Spearman correlation (ρ). After analyzing the data, the results indicated the following: (1) the top four attitudes scores, (2) the two lowest-attitude scores, (3) the top five effectiveness scores (Ef), (4) the three lowest effectiveness scores, and (5) the top three SPBS scores. Interestingly, a stronger positive Spearman’s correlation (ρ) between ‘Prefer doing quizzes in Moodle to in classroom’ and ‘Moodle enhances learning capability’ was found for MD-3 compared with MD-2. This study reports that Moodle is preferable as a platform supporting students’ self-learning within a PBL curriculum. However, to use the Moodle platform to the highest benefit, instructors need to upgrade its capabilities, especially in the area of student-teacher interaction and the enhancement of students’ critical thinking and creativity, as demonstrated by the lowest scores obtained in this study.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Dietary inclusion of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) such as olive oil (OO) can reduce CHD risk. Tea seed oil (TSO) from Camellia oleifera grown in Thailand, with a MUFA content similar to OO, may be an alternative to OO when a higher cooking smoke point is desired. The lipid profiles, liver histology, and serum chemistries of hamsters fed high‐fat diets (TSO, OO, grape seed oil or butter; 14% by weight) are analyzed. After three weeks of feeding, TSO and OO groups have similar plasma low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C), very‐low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL‐C), triacylglycerols (TAG), high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C), and total cholesterol (TC) levels. Moreover, TC/HDL‐C and LDL‐C/HDL‐ C ratios are also comparable. Similar to the OO group, the TSO group has significantly lower plasma LDL‐C, VLDL‐C, TAG, TC, and a lower TC/ HDL‐C ratio as compared to the butter group. Some minor liver pathological lesions commonly found in rodents fed high‐fat diets are observed. Thai TSO may be a healthy option for cooking, and clinical studies are warranted. Practical Applications: With its high smoking point, TSO is attractive to Asian consumers for their styles of cuisine. As it is produced locally, its price is cheaper than imported OO. This study demonstrates TSO's health benefits in lowering lipid profiles similar to OO. Based on this fact, this study supports Thai TSO cultivation in northern Thailand as a means of increasing rural villagers’ income. Hamsters are divided into five groups: tea seed oil, olive oil, grape seed oil, low fat, and butter. Tea seed oil favorably lowers plasma low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C) in hamsters fed high‐fat diets.

The potential cardiovascular benefit of virgin olive oil (VOO) is widely recognized. However, the use of VOO at very high cooking temperatures makes these oils poorly suited for many Asian dishes. The use of tea seed oil (TSO) is increasing in Thailand, with TSO having a higher smoke point than VOO. The current study examines the effects of daily TSO intake in healthy adults. In a randomized, single‐blind crossover design, 12 men consumed for 3 weeks 40 g day−1 of food prepared with either TSO or VOO as a cooking oil. Plasma lipids, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and oxidant defense enzyme activities are measured before and after each 3‐week intervention period. Gas chromatography analysis of TSO and VOO demonstrates that both oils are equally high in monounsaturated fatty acid. The dietary incorporation of TSO and VOO for three weeks reduces low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C) concentrations by 15% and 13%, respectively; with total cholesterol (TC) levels lowered by 10% in both groups. No significant changes in TBARS or antioxidant enzyme activity is observed. These results support the concept that Thai TSO can be utilized as a suitable and healthy alternative oil for high‐temperature cooking in many Thai and Asian diets. Practical Applications: Tea seed oil from Camellia oleifera grown in Thailand has been recently reported to favorably lower lipid profiles in hamsters fed a high‐fat diet in a manner similar to feeding refined olive oil or grapeseed oil. A pilot crossover trial is conducted to compare the effects of three weeks of daily intake of either TSO or VOO in healthy human adults. Consumption of both oils produced significant reductions in TC and LDL‐C. Thai TSO leads to favorable lipid profiles and is a reasonable choice for many Thai and Asian food recipes.

Helicobacter pylori infection is the leading cause of chronic gastritis, which can develop into gastric cancer. Eliminating H. pylori infection with antibiotics achieves the prevention of gastric cancer. Currently, the prevalence of H. pylori resistance to clarithromycin and metronidazole, and the dual resistance to metronidazole and clarithromycin (C_R, M_R, and C/M_R, respectively), remains at a high level worldwide. As a means of exploring new candidate proteins for the management of H. pylori infection, secreted proteins from antibiotic-susceptible and antibiotic-resistant H. pylori-associated gastritis strains were obtained by in-solution tryptic digestion coupled with nano-liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (nano-LC-MS/MS). A total of 583, 582, 590, and 578 differential expressed proteins were identified from C_R, M_R, C/M_R, and antibiotic-sensitive strain (S_S) samples, respectively. Of these, 23 overlapping proteins were found by Venn diagram analysis. Based on heat map analyses, the most and least differing protein expressions were observed from C/M_R strains and S_S strains, respectively. Of the proteins secreted by the S_S strain, only nine were found. After predicting the protein interaction with metronidazole and clarithromycin via the STITCH database, the two most interesting proteins were found to be rpoBC and FBPAII. After quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis, a downregulation of rpoB from M_R strains was observed, suggesting a relationship of rpoB to metronidazole sensitivity. Inversely, an upregulation of fba from C_R, M_R, and C/M_R strains was noticed, suggesting the paradoxical expression of FBPAII and the fba gene. This report is the first to demonstrate the association of these two novel secreted proteins, namely, rpoBC and FBPAII, with antibiotic-sensitive H. pylori-associated gastritis strains.

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