An analysis of the continuing professional development needs of radiographers and radiation therapists in Singapore

INTRODUCTION

Continuing Professional development (CPD) is deemed essential for the Radiographers (DR) and Radiation Therapists (RT) after Singapore commenced state registration. Diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy treatment services are constantly revolutionizing and those working in this field requires sufficient knowledge of the uptrends for training and development. The purpose of this survey is to identify the current training needs of the registered DR and RT in Singapore, and to understand their views about CPD activities.

METHODS

An online questionnaire was disseminated by the Singapore Society of Radiographers (SSR) to all registered DR and RT in Singapore, and all practicing in restructured and private hospitals were included. Data collection took place from January 2018 to April 2018.

RESULTS

102 responses were analysed, where 89 were DR and 13 were RT. CPD was provided in 72.5% (n = 74) of the participants' institutions, and 69.6% (n = 71) of participants were aware of CPD. Interestingly, participants were significantly more likely to be unaware of CPD when working in an institution which do not offer CPD. Training programme objective was the most important factor for selecting a programme. 93.1% (n = 95) preferred SSR to support them for CPD. There were a few constraints to CPD engagements identified such as financial factors, lack of time, and institution availability.

CONCLUSION

There was significant intrinsic motivation in a quality CPD activity. CPD activities should be current, accessible and relevant for the healthcare professionals to increase participation, which directly contributes to high standards of clinical care.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Local healthcare institutions should be aware and address needs, gaps and aspirations of the local DR and RT community to ensure adequate preparation has been made upon initiation of mandatory CPD.

Prevalence and genotype of Giardia duodenalis from faecal samples of stray dogs in Hualien city of eastern Taiwan

Giardia duodenalis is a zoonotic protozoan parasite that causes diarrhea through waterborne transmission or fecal-oral infection. The cysts are chlorine-resistant and, therefore, can pollute drinking water and induce a pandemic disease. In this study, we aimed to detect G. duodenalis infection in stray dogs in Hualien, Taiwan. We collected faecal samples from 118 dogs and amplified DNA sequences of the β-giardin gene by nested polymerase chain reactions (nested PCR). Eleven of the 118 faecal samples tested positive for the parasite. The genotype analysis of the 11 samples indicated that 7 samples belonged to assemblage C and four samples belonged to assemblage D. Our study provided a better understanding of the infection rate and genotypes of G. duodenalis in dogs from Hualien City, and human infection could not be induced by this zoonotic infection pathway in Hualien City.

A Single Locus Leads to Resistance of Arabidopsis thaliana to Bacterial Wilt Caused by Ralstonia solanacearum Through a Hypersensitive-like Response

ABSTRACT Strains of Ralstonia solanacearum have been shown to cause bacterial wilt in some, but not all, ecotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana. We demonstrate here that after inoculation of the leaves of resistant ecotype S96 with R. solanacearum strain Ps95 necrosis around the inoculation site rapidly appeared and no further symptoms developed in the plant. Leaves of susceptible ecotype N913 completely wilted 7 days after inoculation with Ps95, and symptoms spread systemically throughout the whole plant within 2 weeks after inoculation. These results suggest that the resistance of Arabidopsis S96 to R. solanacearum is due to a response similar to the hypersensitive response (HR) observed in other plant diseases. Northern blot analysis of the expression of defense-related genes, known to be differentially induced during the HR in Arabidopsis, indicated that pathogenesis-related protein PR-1, glutathione S-transferase (GST1), and Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD) mRNAs increased significantly in S96 leaves between 3 to 12 h after infiltration with Ps95. The induction of these genes in susceptible ecotype N913 by Ps95 was clearly delayed. Genetic analysis of crosses between resistant ecotype S96 and susceptible ecotype N913 indicated that resistance to Ps95 is due to a single dominant locus.

Synthesis and evaluation of potent and selective c-GMP phosphodiesterase inhibitors

Syntheses and structure-activity relationships (SAR) of cGMP selective phosphodiesterase inhibitors are discussed. Potent and selective inhibitors are produced when the C-2 position of tetracyclic guanine 1 is substituted with alkyl chains containing six carbon atoms.

Resistance and Susceptibility of Arabidopsis thaliana to Bacterial Wilt Caused by Ralstonia solanacearum

ABSTRACT Tomato bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum is a model system for studying plant-bacterial interactions, because it is genetically one of the best characterized plant diseases. We demonstrate here that four different strains of R. solanacearum, two from radishes (Rd4 and Rd15) and two from tomato (Ps21 and Ps95), can infect 27 different ecotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana, causing different responses. All ecotypes tested were highly susceptible to strain Rd15, which caused symptoms similar to those observed in tomato plants. For example, leaf drooping and discoloration developed just 3 days after inoculation, and plants completely wilted within 1 week. Strains Rd4 and Ps95 were less infectious than Rd15. With these two strains, a variety of disease responses were observed among different ecotypes at 2 weeks after inoculation; both susceptible and resistant ecotypes of A. thaliana were identified. Ps21 was the least infectious of the four strains and caused almost no symptoms in any of the ecotypes of Arabidopsis tested. Direct bacterial isolation and plant skeleton hybridization analysis from infected plants indicated that bacterial colonization was correlated with the severity of symptoms. Growth of bacteria was limited to the infection site in resistant plants, whereas the bacteria spread throughout susceptible plants by 1 week after inoculation.