Domperidone may be a safe and effective therapeutic modality to achieve a lasting remission of symptoms in children with AP-FGIDs.

Anatomic variation and susceptibility for injuries depending on gender were described for the ulnar nerve. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between gender and ulnar never motor conductance and the influence of sidedness for this association. Study was conducted as a retrospective study using nerve conduction study data of ulnar nerve of 2,526 patients. Influences of age, gender, and sidedness on ulnar never motor conduction velocity (UMV) were investigated. Regression analysis was conducted to compare the relationship between UMV and age. Regression was significantly higher in males (-0.253 vs. -0.113), suggesting higher influence of age on UMV in males than in females. When analyzing right and left sides separately, influence of age on UMV is higher in males (-0.286 vs. -0.109) only in right side. Multiple regression analysis was done comparing the influence of age, gender, and sidedness on UMV, and it found that the order of influence is gender, age, and sidedness (Beta values 0.153, -0.140, and 0.029). Ulnar nerve motor conductance depends on gender, age, and sidedness. Males are having lower UMV than females. Age-dependant change of UMV is more prominent in males than in females and is more prominent in right hand than in left hand in males.

Information technology (IT)-based components are included as active learning activities in medical curricula that have been shown to be more effective than most passive learning activities. In developing countries, these activities are not popular compared with developed countries. In this study, an IT-based assignment was carried out in physiology for undergraduates in Sri Lanka. We assessed certain basic IT capabilities before the assignment and found that the capability of using MS Word, e-mail, and the internet was limited to 68.3%, 62.0%, and 49.2% of students, respectively, with 40.8% of students having some other IT capabilities. We found a considerable variation in IT capabilities among the students, which depended on IT learning at schools and the geographical locations where students came from. The main source of IT knowledge for students was an introductory IT course given in the medical school with the second source being private IT learning centers. Response to the IT-based assignment was very poor. The reasons for poor participation included a lack of time due to parallel subjects, poor IT knowledge, and poor IT resource availability. However, students were willing to have optional IT-based components and were aware that IT knowledge is important for medical students as well as doctors. This study shows the importance of improving IT knowledge in students and the need of improving IT resources in medical schools. With these improvements, physiology education can be enriched with more interactive IT-based learning activities, which help students to acquire knowledge more efficiently and effectively in developing countries like Sri Lanka.

Editor -Knowledge of information technology (IT) among medical undergraduates and health care workers is higher in developed countries 1 than in developing countries. 2,3 In developing countries, IT-based activities in medical curricula are not popular, mainly because of limited facilities in terms of the availability of computers and Internet connections. 4,5 In Sri Lanka, like most developing countries, IT-based components are not common in medical curricula and experience in IT-based activities in medical schools is limited. We describe our experience in adding a new IT-based assignment to the curriculum of a Sri Lankan medical school.We assessed certain basic IT capabilities before the assignment and found that the capability of using Microsoft WORD, e-mail and the Internet was limited to 68.3%, 62.0% and 49.2% of students, respectively, with 48.8% of students having some other IT capabilities. Abilities in IT were compared between different groups of students who had entered the medical school from different geographical areas. There were significant differences between students in terms of their ability to use Microsoft WORD, but no significant difference in e-mail use, Internet use and other IT abilities emerged between students from particular geographical areas. Scores in IT skills were calculated according to all the parameters tested. Scores for IT skills did not show any difference in terms of geographical area categories or gender. Scores for IT skills were significantly higher in the group of students who had studied IT in school than among those who had not. The study also showed that only 40.9% of students had studied IT at school. Females had had significantly less exposure to IT at school: only 29.4% of females had studied IT at school, whereas 57.1% of males had. No significant difference between genders emerged for any of the tested IT components or IT scores. The most frequently cited single source of IT knowledge was the introductory IT course at medical school; the least cited source was IT training at school.Response to the IT-based assignment was very poor. The reasons for poor participation include lack of time because of parallel assignments in other subjects, poor IT knowledge and poor IT resource availability. We believe that improved IT knowledge among undergraduates and improved IT facilities in medical schools in developing countries, such as Sri Lanka, will enrich medical curricula with more interactive and active IT-based learning activities which will help students to acquire medical knowledge more efficiently and effectively.

As a peer-assisted learning process, minilectures on physiology were conducted by students. During this process, students lecture to their colleagues in the presence of faculty staff members. These lectures were evaluated by faculty staff and students simultaneously. The aim of this study was to compare feedback from faculty members and students on 66 minilectures conducted by students. Their perception of different qualities of lecture was assessed using a questionnaire. There were significant correlations between students and faculty members for many qualities of the lecture, including the speed of the lecture, retaining attention, clear introduction, and the overall quality of the lecture. However, ratings for gesture, eye contact, language usage, illustration usage, audiovisuals, voice usage, and important points stressed were significantly different between students and faculty members. Multiple regression analysis was performed to assess the degree of effect of different aspects of a lecture on its overall quality. Aspects such as gesture, eye contact, and language usage showed very low β-values, suggesting a poor contribution of these factors to the overall quality of the lecture for both students and faculty members. The speed of the lecture, retaining attention, and clear introduction were qualities that faculty members and students rated equally, and these were the main contributors to the overall quality of the lecture. Awareness about the possible discrepancy between ratings given by faculty members and students may be important when interpreting the evaluation results of formal lectures by these two groups.