Does women's age influence zona pellucida birefringence of metaphase II oocytes in in-vitro maturation program?

In vitro maturation [IVM] is a promising treatment option for certain infertile women. Nowadays, with the aid of PolScope, it has become possible to evaluate zona pellucida [ZP] characteristics as a parameter of oocyte quality. Moreover, quality of oocytes can be influenced by many factors, such as patient's age. The PolScope system is a non-invasive technique to assess birefringent structures such as the meiotic spindle and ZP in living oocytes. The aim was to determine the influence of the woman's age on ZP birefringence, a sign of oocyte quality, and morphology of in-vitro matured human oocytes using non-invasive polarized light [PolScope] microscopy. ZP birefringence and morphology were determined in 105 retrieved oocytes from 58 women undergoing ICSI in two age groups [>/= 30 years and <30 years]. The immature oocytes were selected and after IVM, the quality of metaphase II [MII] oocytes was assessed. The oocytes abnormalities were classified as intracytoplasmic and extracytoplasmic abnormalities. Oocyte maturation rates were significantly reduced in >/= 30 year's women [56%] in comparison with other age group [80.7%]. In addition, the ZP birefringence was significantly higher in MII oocytes in the younger group compared with the older group [76.2% vs.38.1%; p=0.00]. Following morphologic assessment, the rates of oocytes with extracytoplasmic [p=0.02] and both abnormalities [extra- and intracytoplasmic] [p=0.01] were higher in aged versus the younger women. There was a positive relationship between advanced maternal age with decreased ZP birefringence and oocyte morphological quality in in-vitro matured human oocytes

Critical thinking ability and its associated factors among preclinical students in Yazd Shaheed Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences [Iran]

The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of Iranian medical and dental students in thinking critically and to assess their ability in using definite components of critical thinking [CT]. Multistage cluster sampling was utilized to recruit 125 preclinical [1[st], 2[nd] and 3[rd] year of study] students in Yazd Shaheed Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in Yazd, Iran. The Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal [WGCTA] was applied to collect data. The statistical analysis of the data included One-way analysis of variance [ANOVA], t-test and bivariate correlations. The mean total score for this sample was 45.33 +/- 5.4. Significant differences were found in total critical thinking score by gender [p= 0.022], residency [p= 0.026] and the year of education [p= 0.01]. A significant correlation was found between the total CT score and the student's number of passed credits [r= 0.297, p=0.003]. Also, a significant difference was found in the students' scores on the WGCTA evaluation subtest by passing any research method courses [p= 0.04]. The CT ability in medical and dental students in the present study was weak overall. Medical educators and clinical instructors should try to develop the ability of CT by teaching methods and techniques like purposeful planning and problem-based teaching to promote the components of CT in their students. The improving of CT in medical students has implications for medical education and promotion of medical profession

[ view points of medical students in yazd university of medical sciences toward horizontal integration teaching method in anatomical sciences courses]

Background and Objective: At present two teaching methods of traditional and integration are used for the theoretical instruction of anatomical sciences including anatomy, histology and embryology. It is thought that the integration teaching method can help Medical students, especially in their clinical course of study. This study was designed to find the attitudes of Medical students of Yazd University of Medical Sciences toward this method in teaching anatomical sciences courses

Methods: This study was done on Medical students who had been educated by the integration method. Data collection was done by using a self administrated questionnaire in four domains of knowledge about the integration program of anatomical sciences courses, facilities of the integration process, order of course presentation and satisfaction of the integration plan. Data were analyzed through SPSS software package

Results: Most of the respondents had moderate familiarity with the integration method and asserted that this method had moderately facilitated their learning process in anatomical sciences courses. According to most participants, the rate of coordination between the organ system was moderate. Students' satisfaction of integration of embryology, histology and anatomy courses was high. In regard to the order of course presentation, participants preferred histology, embryology, anatomy, and physiology order

Conclusion: Attitudes of Medical students toward horizontal integration method of basic sciences courses was moderate and based on the obtained results, it seems that the best presentation order is respectively histology, embryology, anatomy, and physiology?