Assessing Chinese anatomists' perceptions and attitudes toward blended learning through faculty development training programs.

Background: As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the faculty development program has partially shifted to online formats over the past two years, with a specific focus on professional training related to blended learning. The effectiveness of this training is closely tied to the perceptions and acceptability of blended learning among the trainees. This study aims to evaluate the perspectives of educators on blended learning, thereby assessing the efficacy of faculty training programs. Methods: Anatomical teachers were chosen as a representative sample due to their significant presence among medical science educators. Chinese anatomists were invited to participate in a survey that gauges their attitudes and readiness for blended learning. Results: A total of 297 responses were collected, covering all provinces in mainland China. The findings from the survey demonstrate that Chinese anatomists hold learning flexibility in the highest regard among the various facets of blended learning. Meanwhile, the presence of a connected learning community emerged as a pivotal factor influencing anatomists' perceptions, explaining 14.77% of the total variance. Further analysis showed noteworthy disparities in anatomists' attitudes toward blending learning based on their job titles, mentorship guidance, and support from in-service institutions. Notably, lecturers showed a more pronounced engagement in the connected learning community than teachers with different job titles. Additionally, anatomists who received stronger institutional support showed higher proficiencies in learning management. Conclusion: This survey revealed that Chinese anatomists attribute considerable value to aspects such as learning flexibility, a connected learning community, and effective learning management within the domain of online/blended learning. Positive attitudes toward blended learning are likely to be nurtured by mentorship and institutional support, subsequently correlating with improved training outcomes. The distinctive characteristics observed among Chinese anatomists in the context of blended learning offers insights to enhance the effectiveness of faculty training programs, thereby facilitating the evolution of future teaching strategies.

Gross Anatomy Education in China during the Covid-19 Pandemic: A National Survey.

The Covid-19 pandemic launched the use of online courses in Chinese medical schools during February 2020. To evaluate the state of gross anatomy education in China during the pandemic, a nationwide survey was conducted through convenience sampling by email or respondent invitations on social media. A total of 359 questionnaires were received from the respondents. The first response from a given school was included in the study to represent that school, thus, 77 questionnaires were used for analyses. Schools represented were from all provinces in mainland China as well as Hong Kong and Macao. The survey found that before the pandemic, 74.0% and 33.8% of the 77 schools conducted online theoretical and practical sessions, respectively, on gross anatomy, and 36 (46.8% of 77) had temporarily suspended practical sessions at the time the survey was conducted. Body donation programs were also affected with 26.0% and 27.3% of the 77 schools having suspended donation programs or saw a decreased number of donations. During the pandemic, 40.3% of the 77 schools kept or initiated the implementation of active learning, and online assessment was continued in 49.4% of the 77 medical schools. Another 26 (33.8%) schools initiated online assessment during the pandemic. A total of 359 answers were included for the analysis of the "teachers' perception of the online teaching experience." Over half (51.0%) of the 359 responded teachers were very statisfied or satisfied with the effectiveness of online teaching during the pandemic. A total of 36.2% of these respondents preferred to implement online teaching of theoretical sessions after the pandemic, and 89 (24.8%) teachers were keen to return to traditional face-to-face anatomy education.

Survey of Gross Anatomy Education in China: The Past and the Present.

Medical education in mainland China has undergone massive expansion and reforms in the past decades. A nation-wide survey of the five-year clinical medicine programs aimed to examine the course hours, pedagogies, learning resources and teaching staff of anatomy both at present and over the past three decades (1990-1999, 2000-2009, and 2010-2018). The directors or senior teachers from 90 out of the 130 five-year clinical medicine programs were invited to fill out a factual questionnaire by email. Ultimately, sixty-five completed questionnaires were received from 65 different schools. It was found that the total number of gross anatomy course hours has decreased by 11% in the past 30 years and that systematic and regional anatomy have been increasingly taught separately among the surveyed medical schools. Problem-based learning has been adopted in thirty-five (54%) of the surveyed schools, and team-based learning is used in ten (15%) of the surveyed schools. The surveyed schools reported receiving more donated cadavers in recent years, with the average number increasing from 20.67 ± 20.29 in 2000-2009 to 36.10 ± 47.26 in 2010-2018. However, this has not resulted in a decrease in the number of students who needed to share one cadaver (11.85 ± 5.03 in 1990-1999 to 14.22 ± 5.0 in 2010-2018). A decreasing trend regarding the teacher-student ratio (1:25.5 in 2000-2009 to 1:33.2 in 2010-2018) was also reported. The survey demonstrated the historical changes in gross anatomy education in China over the past thirty years.

Transient limb ischemia alters serum protein expression in healthy volunteers: complement C3 and vitronectin may be involved in organ protection induced by remote ischemic preconditioning.

The protective mechanism underlying remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) is unclear. This study aims to verify whether the protein expression profile in the serum could be altered by RIPC and to detect potential protein mediators. Transient limb ischemia consisting of three cycles of 5-min ischemia followed by 5-min reperfusion was performed on sixty healthy volunteers. Serum samples were collected at 30 min before transient limb ischemia and at 1 hour (h), 3 h, 8 h, 24 h, and 48 h after completion of three cycles. Changes in the serum protein profile were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and proteins were identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry. Fourteen differentially expressed proteins were identified and, respectively, involved in immune system, lipid binding and metabolism, apoptosis, and blood coagulation. Complement C3, vitronectin, and apolipoprotein A-I were further confirmed by western blotting, and the results showed that their contents decreased significantly after transient limb ischemia. It is concluded that transient limb ischemia alters the serum protein expression profile in human being, and that reduction of serum contents of complement C3 and vitronectin may represent an important part of the mechanism whereby RIPC confers its protection.

[Effects of exercise training on synaptic plasticity in rats with focal cerebral infarction].

OBJECTIVE: To examine the roles of exercise training in the improvement of damaged neural function and synaptic plasticity. METHODS: An infarction model was induced by left middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). A total of 70 adult Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: physical exercise group (n = 30) undergoing running wheel exercise daily after MCAO, control group (n = 30) and sham-operated group (n = 10). The latter two groups were fed in standard cages without any special training exercise. The rats were scarified at Days 3, 7, 14, 21 and 35 for the evaluation of neural function by neurological severity scores (NSS). And the synaptic ultrastructures at peri-infarction region were examined by specific marker synaptophysin (SYN). RESULTS: Synaptic ultrastructures at peri-infarction region were observed in both the control and exercise training groups. The presynaptic and postsynaptic membranes were relatively intact. And the presynaptic membranes had more synaptic vesicles from Day 7 post-ischemia. The number of SYN positive cells significantly increased in the exercise training group (21 d: 0.8 ± 0.1; 35 d: 0.7 ± 0.1) versus those in the control group (21 d: 0.4 ± 0.1; 35 d: 0.5 ± 0.1) at Days 21 and 35 post-ischemia (P < 0.05). Moreover, the neurological severity scores in the exercise training group (7 d: 7.8 ± 0.8; 14 d: 5.6 ± 0.8; 21 d: 3.3 ± 0.8; 35 d: 3.0 ± 0.8) showed a quicker declination versus those in the control group (7 d: 8.8 ± 0.7; 14 d: 7.7 ± 0.9; 21 d: 6.9 ± 0.8; 35 d: 4.2 ± 0.8) from Day 7 post-ischemia (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Exercise training plays an important role in the recovery of damaged neural function and synaptic plasticity after cerebral infarction in rats.

Identification of acupuncture-specific proteins in the process of electro-acupuncture after spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a serious condition often affecting young and healthy individuals around the world. Electro-acupuncture (EA) has been proven to contribute towards neurologic and functional recoveries in SCI, but the underlying mechanism remains largely unknown especially regarding neural specific proteins involved in the development of EA. The protein expression profile of spinal cord in both SCI and EA treatment models was analyzed by using two-dimensional electrophoresis-based proteomics. Using a MALDI-TOF/TOF MS and subsequent protein database searching, we identified changes in 15 proteins in the spinal cord following Governor Vessel (GV) EA treatment on SCI. These proteins are involved in inflammation, cell adhesion and migration, signal transduction and apoptosis processes. We selected 2 proteins (ANXA5 and CRMP2) beneficial to neuronal survival and axonal regeneration, and further identified these protein changes using Western blot analysis. Subsequently, Nissl staining and immunofluorescence double labeling approaches were used to explore possible role of the two neural specific proteins in the process of GV-EA treatment on SCI. Our results suggest that ANXA5 and CRMP2 may be neural specific proteins in the process of GV-EA treatment on SCI. This work might contribute to the better understanding of the mechanism involved in EA treatment on SCI at protein levels and provide a new therapeutic strategy for SCI.