Ali, T. — Page 2 | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2020

Knowledge and attitude regarding stem cell research and its application among medical students in Pakistan

BackgroundThe utilization of stem cells (SCs) has led the way into a new era of therapeutics known as regenerative medicine. Their renewal property offers exciting possibilities in reversing tissue damage caused by metabolic and degenerative changes. Research should be conducted increasingly to explore the possibilities of SC utilization in Pakistan. ObjectivesTo assess the level of knowledge, perception, and attitude of medical students regarding stem cell research (SCR) and its application, to obtain a better insight into the future of stem cell therapy in Pakistan as it is a rapidly emerging field in medicine. Materials and MethodsThis cross-sectional study was carried out using a self-administered questionnaire filled by 206 medical students from different medical colleges in Pakistan. A convenience sampling method was used. Knowledge and attitude scores were calculated based on answers to 28 well-structured questions. Data was analyzed using SPSS. ResultsThe mean values of the answers showed that 60.2% (n=124) of the students had a good knowledge and 39.8% (n=82) had poor knowledge of stem cells. Whereas, 56.8% (n=117) expressed a positive attitude and 43.2% (n=89) expressed a negative attitude towards SCR. Independent t-test applied on knowledge score and attitude showed that the mean knowledge score of people with a positive attitude is higher i.e. 21.25 as compared to the mean knowledge score of people with negative attitude i.e. 19.21. And the difference of the means is significant at p=0.007. Thus, the attitude of students was observed to be significantly dependent on their knowledge about SCR. ConclusionThe results show that medical students have baseline knowledge about SC therapy and a positive attitude towards it. Seminars, workshops should be conducted and this topic should be added to their syllabus so that they obtain proper information about SCR and encourage further research.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2017

miCloud: a plug and play, on-premises bioinformatics cloud, providing seamless integration with Illumina genome sequencers

Benchtop genome sequencers such as the Illumina MiSeq or MiniSeq [1], [2] are revolutionizing genomics research for smaller, independent laboratories, by enabling access to low-cost Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology in-house. These benchtop genome sequencing instruments require only standard laboratory equipment, in addition to minimal time for sample preparation. However, post-sequencing bioinformatics data analysis still presents a significant bottleneck, for research laboratories lacking specialized software and technical data analysis skills on their teams. While bioinformatics computes clouds providing solutions following a Software as a Service (SaaS) are available ([3]-[6], review in [7]), currently, there are only a few options which are user-friendly for non-experts while at the same time are also low-cost or free. One primary example is Illumina BaseSpace [8] that is very easy to access by non-experts, and also offers an integrated solution where data are streamed directly from the MiSeq sequencing instrument to the cloud. Once the data is on the BaseSpace cloud, users can access a range of bioinformatics applications with pre-installed algorithms through an intuitive web interface. Nonetheless, BaseSpace can be a costly solution as a yearly subscription depending on whether the user is associated with an academic or private institution, ranges in price from $999 - $4,999. Additional \"iCredits\" [9] might need to be purchased for frequent users that exhaust the base credit allowance as part of the subscription. Considering the reduction of computer hardware cost in recent years, a multi-core Intel Xeon server with 64 GigaByte (GB) of memory and multiple TeraByte (TB) of storage is priced less than the yearly subscription to Basespace [10], and similarly when compared to renting compute cycles from providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) [11]. Furthermore, the current generation of laptops usually come with 6-10 GigaBytes (GB) of memory and 1 TeraByte (TB) of storage, providing enough computational capacity to analyze data from small NGS experiments [12] that include only a few samples.

bioinformatics↗