Owner-Reported Clinical Signs and Management-Related Factors in Horses Radiographed for Intestinal Sand Accumulation.

Clinical problems related to intestinal sand accumulation in horses are common in certain geographic areas, but the clinical signs appear nonspecific and the course of the accumulation remains somewhat obscure. This study examined the association between the presence and size of intestinal sand accumulations and owner-reported clinical signs, management, and feeding practices, as well as behavioral patterns in horses with radiographic diagnosis of sand accumulation. Owners of the horses filled in an online questionnaire. A total of 447 responses met the inclusion criteria. The size of the sand accumulation detected in the radiographs was not significantly associated with the age, body condition score, sex, or use of the horses. Horses reported to have expressed colic had significantly larger sand accumulations than those without this sign, and a similar association was detected in horses with poor performance. The highest odds ratio for sand accumulation was for the combination of colic and poor performance, followed by colic combined with diarrhea/loose feces or hyperesthesia to touch of the abdominal wall. Larger sand accumulations were detected in greedy horses that eat all their roughage, whereas dominant position in group hierarchy was associated with less sand. The possibility of abdominal sand accumulation should be considered as one of the differentials in horses with multiple owner-reported clinical signs such as colic, poor performance, diarrhea, and hyperesthesia to touch of the abdomen.

Bisphosphonate-associated Osteonecrosis of the Jaws: a Survey of the Level of Knowledge of Dentists about the Risks of Bisphosphonate Therapy.

INTRODUCTION: Bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis of the jaws (BAONJ) is a side effect of treatment with bisphosphonate (BP). Reports of this complication have increased recently. AIM: To evaluate the level of knowledge of dentists from Plovdiv, Bulgaria, about possible complications of bisphosphonate therapy of patients in dental practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three hundred and twenty-three dental practitioners from Plovdiv, Bulgaria, took part in an anonymous survey containing 25 questions, designed to evaluate the knowledge of dentists about the complications of BP therapy. RESULTS: Oral and maxillofacial surgeons have the best knowledge about the indications and side effects of BP therapy, while dentists with a specialty in Pediatric Dentistry and General Dentistry have insufficient knowledge. Of the respondents, 17.03% are absolutely uninformed about BP and their side effects, and 1/2 declare that they have never had a patient with complications from BP therapy in their practice, probably due to a lack of awareness of the problem. Approximately half of the dentists we surveyed agree to carry out prophylactic examinations of patients receiving BP and know what the prophylactic examination includes. Only 15.48% of the respondents have correctly responded that in order to be treated as clinically healthy, patients should have stopped taking BP for more than 10 years. CONCLUSION: With the exception of specialists in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, dental practitioners in Plovdiv and the region are poorly informed about the complications associated with BP therapy. Therefore, efforts must be made to make these dentists better informed about BAONJ, especially about the methods and means of preventing this condition.

Using videoclips to improve theoretical anatomy teaching

The introduction of multimedia technology intoteaching has brought important changes in universityteaching. This study seeks to evaluatewhether the use of videoclips as an aid in theoreticallessons, improves students’ performance.This study compares the results obtained inthe scores of Locomotive System Anatomy fortwo consecutive groups of students that took theFirst Course of Descriptive Anatomy in thedegree in Biology at the Faculty of Health andLife Sciences at the “Universitat Pompeu Fabra”of Barcelona.In the first group (G1 n=72) theoretical teachingwas performed through conventionallectures supported with Power Point slides. Inthe second group (G2 n=70), during the sameperiod of time, teaching was done by a combinationof theoretical explanations, slides andmultimedia anatomy videos, which were usedin order to reinforce the key issues of all lectures.The evaluation of theoretical knowledgewas achieved through a multiple-choice test of30 questions (70% of final mark), completingwith a test of 15 short questions (30% of thefinal mark). Evaluation was performed doneselectively based on the same items in 2 examinationsusing different questions. Comparison of the results revealed that students receiving video input performed significantly better (G1:76 % vs. G2: 93 %). Results ofstudents opinion performed between two groups find out to be similar in each group (G1:5.7 vs. G2: 5.9). The adequacy of the teaching material was (G1: 7.9 vs. G2: 7.5) and general satisfaction with the teaching methods was (G1: 6.8 vs. G2: 6.8). In conclusion, it was found that using videoclips for teaching Human Anatomy significantly improves students’ comprehension of theoretical contents

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Web-based course for teaching Human Anatomy. The UPF experience

The extraordinary development of new technologies has led to enormous changes in Undergraduate Education. These changes concern several aspects in teacher/student relationships, and imply new approaches to the teaching of theoretical and practical classes and to the preparation of additional materials. Human Anatomy is an ideal subject with which to use these new teaching tools. The teaching methods for this subject are easily adapted to new technologies, and with the introduction of new imaging and therapeutic techniques the need for knowledge has also changed significantly in recent years. In the last few years many initiatives that link new needs in anatomic knowledge with the new facilities offered by computer technology have been taken and show promising results. The use of multimedia materials makes the subject much more appealing for new generations of students, who are more familiar with computers than teachers and are accustomed to using research materials and information from non-conventional resources. Here we describe our experience over the last four years of introducing multimedia materials via Internet to teach Human Anatomy in the Biology degree at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona (Spain) (AU)

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