Social media as a learning tool in anatomy education from the perspective of medical and dental students.

The traditional approach to anatomy teaching is still the most common. Recently, there has been a demand for methods that make students more active and open to communication and cooperation, and are well integrated with technology. Our aim in this study was to determine the social media usage characteristics and anatomy learning experiences of medical and dentistry students, and their expectations about learning via social media. A questionnaire was prepared and distributed to faculties of Medicine and Dentistry in 10 different universities in Türkiye via Google forms. The questionnaire was voluntarily answered by 762 students. Frequency, exploratory factor and confirmatory factor analyses were applied to the data acquired, and a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was used. The results showed that 54.3% of the students spent more than 90 min/day on social media; 96.5% of the participants preferred to follow anatomical content pages on social media (acpSM) administered by an academic. They stated that the instant responses from acpSM's admin had a positive effect on motivation to learning (4.08 ± 0.89, mean ± SD, on 5-point Likert-type scale). The SEM revealed a statistically significant correlation between the students' learning motivation and the sufficiency and suitability of acpSM content (p < 0.010). Thus, medical and dental students are eager to learn anatomy via social media. However, they found acpSM to be insufficient in quality and quantity and wanted future content to be administered by academics. An acpSM optimized for content sufficiency and suitability increased students' learning motivation.

Vitamin A could be a Therapeutic Agent in Ischemia/Reperfusion Induced Kidney Injury / La vitamina A podría ser un agente terapéutico en la lesión renal inducida por isquemia/reperfusión

ABSTRACT Introduction: Renal ischemia (I) could develop due to decreased or ceased blood flow to the kidney in some clinical conditions such as shock, sepsis, and kidney transplantation. The re-supply of blood to the kidney is called reperfusion (R). Ischemia and reperfusion periods can cause severe kidney damage. Objectives: When we examined the I/R molecular progression, antioxidant molecules such as vitamin A seem promising treatment agents. This study aimed to investigate the effects of vitamin A on renal I/R injury. Material and Methods: In the study, 40 Sprague-Dawley male rats were divided into five groups (n=8): the control group, only I/R, I/R+1000, I/R+3000, and I/R+9000 IU/kg of Vitamin A groups. Vitamin A was administrated to each group for seven days via oral gavage. Blood and kidney tissue samples were collected at the end of the experiment. We took blood samples for Superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and creatinine (Cr) levels, and determined their values. The tissue samples were stained with hematoxylin/eosin to examine the renal changes histopathologically and stereologically under a light microscope. Results: Histopathological changes caused by I/R were decreased with vitamin A administration in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.05). Vitamin A administration decreased MDA levels and increased SOD and CAT activities (p<0.05). The most effective dose among treatment groups was 9000 IU/kg. There was no significant difference between the controls and all other groups regarding BUN and Cr concentrations. Conclusions: Consequently, administration of vitamin A after renal I/R reduced the histological damage and ameliorated the antioxidant state. These results showed that vitamin A could be a promising agent in treating I/R-induced acute kidney injury.

RESUMEN Introducción: La isquemia renal (I) puede desarrollarse debido a la disminución o interrupción del flujo sanguíneo al riñón en algunas condiciones clínicas como shock, sepsis y trasplante renal. El reabastecimiento de sangre al riñón se denomina reperfusión (R). Tanto la isquemia como los períodos de reperfusión pueden causar graves daños renales. Objetivos: Cuando examinamos la progresión molecular I/R, las moléculas antioxidantes como la vitamina A parecen agentes de tratamiento prometedores. El objetivo de este estudio fue investigar los efectos de la vitamina A sobre la lesión renal I/R. Material y Métodos: En el estudio, 40 ratas macho Sprague-Dawley se dividieron en 5 grupos (n=8) como: control, solo I/R, I/R+1000, I/R+3000 e I/R+9000 UI/kg de la Vitamina A. La vitamina A se administró a cada grupo durante 7 días por vía oral forzada. Al final del experimento se recolectaron muestras de sangre y tejido del riñón. A partir de muestras de sangre se determinaron los niveles de superóxido dismutasa (SOD), malondialdehído (MDA), catalasa (CAT), nitrógeno ureico en sangre (BUN) y creatinina (Cr). Las muestras de tejido se tiñeron con hematoxilina/eosina y los cambios en la histología renal se examinaron histopatológicamente y estereológicamente al microscopio de luz. Resultados: Los cambios histopatológicos causados por I/R disminuyeron con la administración de la vitamina A de manera dependiente de la dosis (p<0,05). La administración de la vitamina A disminuyó los niveles de MDA, aumentó las actividades de SOD y CAT (p<0,05). La dosis más eficaz entre los grupos del tratamiento fue de 9000 UI/kg. No hubo una diferencia significativa entre el grupo control y todos los demás grupos con respecto a las concentraciones de BUN y Cr. Conclusiones: Consiguientemente, la administración de la vitamina A, después de I/R renal, redujo el daño histológico y mejoró el estado antioxidante. Estos resultados mostraron que la vitamina A puede ser un agente promisorio en el tratamiento de la lesión renal aguda (LRA) inducida por I/R.

Attainments during the COVID-19: a comparative survey study on ideal anatomy education from the students' perspective.

PURPOSE: Anatomy, one of the cornerstone branches of medical education, is one of the rare areas, where the traditional method remains the most efficient education method despite technological developments. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it impossible for the traditional method to continue and has enabled the integration of different distance learning methods into anatomy education. The aim of our study is to perform comparative evaluation of three education methods (traditional, asynchronous online, synchronous online) from the students' perspective. METHODS: In our study, a questionnaire form was sent to Eskisehir Osmangazi University Faculty of Medicine students (n = 168) via Google forms. The students were asked to rank the anatomy education types from the most appropriate to the least appropriate in the proposals. The questionnaire consisted of multiple choice and open-ended questions in addition to 15 proposals questioning demographic information, student autonomy, efficiency, and preference. RESULTS: According to the results obtained, the students stated that the most efficient method (in terms of both theoretical "50%" and practical "55.4%") is the traditional method. In addition, when it comes to preference, students who preferred one of the distance online education types (asynchronous or synchronous) for theoretical anatomy constituted the majority (59.5%). The traditional method was rated as the least appropriate in terms of accessing course resources (42.3%). CONCLUSIONS: According to our study, while face-to-face education is still indispensable for the practical part of the ideal anatomy education, the theoretical part can be carried out remotely by strengthening it with some activities.

A survey study on distance anatomy education: challenges unique to anatomy.

PURPOSE: Traditional anatomy education (TAE) is based on teaching by seeing and touching cadavers/plastic materials that enable three-dimensional thinking, but there was no opportunity like this in distance anatomy education (DAE). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many trainings planned face-to-face were carried out remotely. In this study, our aim is to evaluate students' views on the efficiency of DAE, and to increase the efficiency of DAE in the future. METHODS: The questionnaire used in the study was applied to the first grade students in the Faculty of Medicine, at the Eskisehir Osmangazi University, in 2019-2020. 239 students completed the survey. The questionnaire consisted of the demographic information, that was obtained with voluntary consent, and sections containing suggestions on DAE, and its comparison with distance education of other basic medical science courses. The survey was prepared as a Likert scale (with 1 = totally disagree to 5 = totally agree), on Google forms and sent to the students online. RESULTS: 82.4% of the students marked "totally disagree" or "disagree" for the statement of "DAE is more efficient than TAE". The total percentage of students who marked "totally disagree" or "disagree" for the statement of "I was satisfied with the theoretical education in DAE" was 58.6%, but when it came to practical education the percentage raised to 79.9%. CONCLUSIONS: According to the results the efficiency of DAE, especially in terms of practice lessons, was found to be lower than TAE. To make DAE a powerful alternative to TAE, future studies should aim to develop a new syllabus for DAE.