Practical guidelines to build Sense of Community in online medical education.

OBJECTIVES: Sense of Community (SoC) refers to the cognitive or emotional connections established between physically separated learners; it is essential for study success. The recent COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for practical guidelines to facilitate building a SoC in online medical preclerkship education in the Netherlands. Therefore, this qualitative study aims to (a) examine perceptions of SoC from both students' and teachers' perspectives in an online elective course during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to (b) provide a conceptual framework with practical guidelines to medical educators on how to build SoC in online education. METHODS: The study had an exploratory qualitative design. Semi-structured focus groups with student (n = 15) and teacher (n = 5) volunteers were conducted. Participants discussed their experienced SoC using the storyline method. In addition, course developers (n = 2) were interviewed and lecturers (n = 5) wrote an experience story. Audio- and video-recordings were transcribed verbatim and both the ensuing transcripts and experience stories were analysed using an inductive thematic analysis. RESULTS: All students experienced an increase of SoC during the eight-week course. Five themes were identified: 'social contacts made possible by a physical campus', 'group dynamics', 'teacher influence', 'education format' and 'teachers' Sense of Community'. The authors formulated challenges and practical guidelines on how to build SoC based on these themes. CONCLUSIONS: This exploratory qualitative study provides a conceptual framework with practical guidelines for medical educators on how to build SoC in online medical preclerkship education. These guidelines provide a valuable starting point to build SoC in online education for medical educators and students alike.

Expression of complement components in the peripheral nervous system.

We have generated a SAGE (serial analysis of gene expression) library of normal sciatic nerve and found tags encoding for mRNAs of the complement system highly represented. RNA (RT-PCR and northern blot hybridization) and protein (western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry) studies confirmed these findings. High expression of classical pathway components, alternative pathway components and inhibitory components was observed in specific regions of the sciatic nerve. The first components of complement were found in axons, whereas the inhibitory components were detected in the perineurium, thereby protecting the nerve from a complement attack. Immunoreactivity towards activated complement factors was noted in post traumatic neuromas and after acute crush injury, which exemplify nerve regeneration and degeneration. We propose that local production of complement in the peripheral nervous system participates in the protection of healthy nerve and is needed for efficient clearance of myelin after injury: a prerequisite for normal regeneration and remyelination of the peripheral nerve.

Transcriptional profile of the human peripheral nervous system by serial analysis of gene expression.

The peripheral nerve contains both nonmyelinating and myelinating Schwann cells. The interactions between axons, surrounding myelin, and Schwann cells are thought to be important for the correct functioning of the nervous system. To get insight into the genes involved in human myelination and maintenance of the myelin sheath and nerve, we performed a serial analysis of gene expression of human sciatic nerve and cultured Schwann cells. In the sciatic nerve library, we found high expression of genes encoding proteins related to lipid metabolism, the complement system, and the cell cycle, while cultured Schwann cells showed mainly high expression of genes encoding extracellular matrix proteins. The results of our study will assist in the identification of genes involved in maintenance of myelin and peripheral nerve and of genes involved in inherited peripheral neuropathies.

Autoimmunoreactivity to Schwann cells in patients with inflammatory neuropathies.

Inflammatory demyelinating neuropathies are characterized by a loss of peripheral nerve myelin. Myelin breakdown is thought to result from an autoimmune reaction towards nerve components. Schwann cells play a crucial role in the synthesis and maintenance of peripheral nerve myelin. An immune attack targeting Schwann cells could therefore affect myelin integrity, leading to disease. We studied the reactivity of sera from patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) towards Schwann cells using immunofluorescence microscopy. We found 24% of the GBS (56 out of 233) and 26% of the CIDP (12 out of 46) patients to have circulating immunoglobulin G autoantibodies against proliferating, non-myelinating human Schwann cells. In contrast, healthy donors showed positive staining in only two out of 34 sera. No reaction was found with sera from patients with non-inflammatory neurological disorders. Immunofluorescence was localized at the distal tips (leading lamella) of the Schwann cell processes. Distal tips of neurites (nerve-growth-cones) of in vitro differentiated non-myelinated hNT2 neurons also stained strongly. GBS and CIDP serum immunoreactivity was also observed in teased nerve fibre preparations. These data suggest that, at least part of the immunoreactivity is not directed against myelin, but towards non-myelin proteins and epitopes possibly involved in Schwann cell-axon interaction.