Institutional and technological barriers to the use of open educational resources (OERs) in physiology and medical education

Open educational resources (OERs) are becoming increasingly common as a tool in education, particularly in medical and biomedical education. However, three key barriers have been identified to their use: (i) lack of awareness of OERs, (ii) lack of motivation to use OERs, and (iii) lack of training in the use of OERs. Here, we explore these three barriers with teachers of medical and biomedical science to establish how best to enhance the use of OERs to improve pedagogical outcomes. An online survey was completed by 209 educators, many of whom (68.4%) reported using OERs in their teaching, and almost all (99.5%) showing awareness of at least one OER. Results suggest that key problems that prevent educators from adopting OERs in their teaching include suitability for particular classes, time, and copyright. Most (81.8%) educators were somewhat, very, or extremely comfortable with OERs so there is no innate motivational barrier to adoption. A lack of training was reported by 13.9% of respondents, and 40% of respondents stated that there was little or no support from their institutions. OER users were no more comfortable with technology or better supported by departments, but tended to be aware of a greater number of sources of OERs. Our study illustrates key opportunities for the expansion of OER use in physiology and medical teaching: increased breadth of awareness, increased institutional support (including time, training, and copyright support), and greater sharing of diverse OERs to suit the range of teaching challenges faced by staff in different subdisciplines

Editorial of Special Issue of National Identities: Alevism as an ethno-religious identity: Contested boundaries

No abstract for editorial but this is the opening paragraph: This special issue on Alevism and trans/national Alevi identity critically engages with the relationship between religion, ethnicity and national identity. The core issues are as follows: • how ethnicity and religion are conceptualised for a relatively invisible ethnic group in different national contexts; • how religion and ethnicity intersect when Alevism is both a faith and an ethnic identity, especially when conceptions of that identity are contested; • how identity is shaped through state policies within different national policy contexts and how etic definitions of minority communities are constructed by the state or other agencies with the power to impose them on the community in contrast to the emic or self-definitions of Aleviness from within the Alevi community; • how despite the fragmented, heterogeneous nature of Alevi communities, there is also a sense of a single, transnational imaginary community, at least for the purposes of political assimilation/integration and activism; • how education and other arenas of political, religious and cultural engagement at local, national and transnational levels create the possibilities, both positively and negatively, for future action/policy to situate minority ethnic communities

Cone beam computed tomography evaluation of ponticulus posticus in patients with cleft lip and palate: a retrospective radio-anatomic study

Background: Ponticulus posticus (PP) is an abnormal bony bridge on the atlas. It plays a significant role in patients undergoing C1 lateral mass screw procedure. Patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP) have higher risk than patients in general population for the appearance of cervical vertebral anomalies. The purpose of the this study was twofold: to determine the prevalence and characteristics of PP in patients with CLP, and to compare the findings with patients in general population using cone beam computed tomography. Materials and methods: Cone beam computed tomography images from 54 individuals who had undergone surgical repair of cleft lip and/or palate were analysed as the study group. For comparison purposes a control group was randomly selected from 108 patients and matched with the CLP subjects. Results: Although 12 of the 54 (22.3%) patients with surgically repaired cleft lip and/or palate in the study group were identified to have PP, only 10 of the 108 (9.2%) patients in the control group had PP. The distribution of the presence of PP between the groups was statistically significant. Conclusions: Ponticulus posticus is an important anomaly and the presence of PP is important for patients. PP can have clinical significance in cervical spine surgery as this study has indicated that the likelihood of encountering PP is higher in patients with CLP. We suggest that PP should be taken into account prior to cervical vertebral surgery in patients with CLP. (Folia Morphol 2018; 77, 1: 72–78)

The HLA Class II Allele Allele DRB1*15 is over-represented in patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and medically refractory lung disease with a grim prognosis. Although the etiology of IPF remains perplexing, abnormal adaptive immune responses are evident in many afflicted patients. We hypothesized that perturbations of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allele frequencies, which are often seen among patients with immunologic diseases, may also be present in IPF patients. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: HLA alleles were determined in subpopulations of IPF and normal subjects using molecular typing methods. HLA-DRB1*15 was over-represented in a discovery cohort of 79 Caucasian IPF subjects who had lung transplantations at the University of Pittsburgh (36.7%) compared to normal reference populations. These findings were prospectively replicated in a validation cohort of 196 additional IPF subjects from four other U.S. medical centers that included both ambulatory patients and lung transplantation recipients. High-resolution typing was used to further define specific HLA-DRB1*15 alleles. DRB1*1501 prevalence in IPF subjects was similar among the 143 ambulatory patients and 132 transplant recipients (31.5% and 34.8%, respectively, p = 0.55). The aggregate prevalence of DRB1*1501 in IPF patients was significantly greater than among 285 healthy controls (33.1% vs. 20.0%, respectively, OR 2.0; 95%CI 1.3-2.9, p = 0.0004). IPF patients with DRB1*1501 (n = 91) tended to have decreased diffusing capacities for carbon monoxide (DL(CO)) compared to the 184 disease subjects who lacked this allele (37.8±1.7% vs. 42.8±1.4%, p = 0.036). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: DRB1*1501 is more prevalent among IPF patients than normal subjects, and may be associated with greater impairment of gas exchange. These data are novel evidence that immunogenetic processes can play a role in the susceptibility to and/or manifestations of IPF. Findings here of a disease association at the HLA-DR locus have broad pathogenic implications, illustrate a specific chromosomal area for incremental, targeted genomic study, and may identify a distinct clinical phenotype among patients with this enigmatic, morbid lung disease

The HLA class II allele DRB1*1501 is over-represented in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and medically refractory lung disease with a grim prognosis. Although the etiology of IPF remains perplexing, abnormal adaptive immune responses are evident in many afflicted patients. We hypothesized that perturbations of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allele frequencies, which are often seen among patients with immunologic diseases, may also be present in IPF patients. Methods/Principal Findings: HLA alleles were determined in subpopulations of IPF and normal subjects using molecular typing methods. HLA-DRB1*15 was over-represented in a discovery cohort of 79 Caucasian IPF subjects who had lung transplantations at the University of Pittsburgh (36.7%) compared to normal reference populations. These findings were prospectively replicated in a validation cohort of 196 additional IPF subjects from four other U.S. medical centers that included both ambulatory patients and lung transplantation recipients. High-resolution typing was used to further define specific HLA-DRB1*15 alleles. DRB1*1501 prevalence in IPF subjects was similar among the 143 ambulatory patients and 132 transplant recipients (31.5% and 34.8%, respectively, p = 0.55). The aggregate prevalence of DRB1*1501 in IPF patients was significantly greater than among 285 healthy controls (33.1% vs. 20.0%, respectively, OR 2.0; 95%CI 1.3-2.9, p = 0.0004). IPF patients with DRB1*1501 (n = 91) tended to have decreased diffusing capacities for carbon monoxide (DLCO) compared to the 184 disease subjects who lacked this allele (37.8±1.7% vs. 42.8±1.4%, p = 0.036). Conclusions/Significance: DRB1*1501 is more prevalent among IPF patients than normal subjects, and may be associated with greater impairment of gas exchange. These data are novel evidence that immunogenetic processes can play a role in the susceptibility to and/or manifestations of IPF. Findings here of a disease association at the HLA-DR locus have broad pathogenic implications, illustrate a specific chromosomal area for incremental, targeted genomic study, and may identify a distinct clinical phenotype among patients with this enigmatic, morbid lung disease

A novel selection of optimal statistical features in the DWPT domain for discrimination of ictal and seizure-free electroencephalography signals

Properly determining the discriminative features which characterize the inherent behaviors of electroencephalography (EEG) signals remains a great challenge for epileptic seizure detection. In this present study, a novel feature selection scheme based on the discrete wavelet packet decomposition and cuckoo search algorithm (CSA) was proposed. The normal as well as epileptic EEG recordings were frst decomposed into various frequency bands by means of wavelet packet decomposition, and subsequently, statistical features at all developed nodes in the wavelet packet decomposition tree were derived. Instead of using the complete set of the extracted features to construct a wavelet neural networks-based classifer, an optimal feature subset that maximizes the predictive competence of the classifer was selected by using the CSA. Experimental results on the publicly available benchmarks demonstrated that the proposed feature subset selection scheme achieved promising recognition accuracies of 98.43–100%, and the results were statistically signifcant using z-test with p value <0.0001

Synthesis of macrocyclic receptors with intrinsic fluorescence featuring quinizarin moieties

An unprecedented class of macrocycles with intrinsic fluorescence consisting of phenolic trimers and quinizarin is developed. Though they are lacking strong hydrogen bonds as observed in calixarenes, the two examples introduced here each adopt a vase-like conformation with all four aromatic units pointing in one direction (syn orientation). This “cone” conformation has been confirmed by NMR spectroscopy, molecular modeling, and X-ray crystallography. The laminar, electron-rich fluorophore as part of the macrocycle allows additional contacts to enclosed guest molecules

Age- and region-specific hepatitis B prevalence in Turkey estimated using generalized linear mixed models: a systematic review

Toy M, Önder FO, Wörmann T, et al. Age- and region-specific hepatitis B prevalence in Turkey estimated using generalized linear mixed models: a systematic review. BMC infectious diseases. 2011;11(1): 337.BACKGROUND: To provide a clear picture of the current hepatitis B situation, the authors performed a systematic review to estimate the age- and region-specific prevalence of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in Turkey. METHODS: A total of 339 studies with original data on the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in Turkey and published between 1999 and 2009 were identified through a search of electronic databases, by reviewing citations, and by writing to authors. After a critical assessment, the authors included 129 studies, divided into categories: 'age-specific'; 'region-specific'; and 'specific population group'. To account for the differences among the studies, a generalized linear mixed model was used to estimate the overall prevalence across all age groups and regions. For specific population groups, the authors calculated the weighted mean prevalence. RESULTS: The estimated overall population prevalence was 4.57, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.58, 5.76, and the estimated total number of CHB cases was about 3.3 million. The outcomes of the age-specific groups varied from 2.84, (95% CI: 2.60, 3.10) for the 0-14-year olds to 6.36 (95% CI: 5.83, 6.90) in the 25-34-year-old group. CONCLUSION: There are large age-group and regional differences in CHB prevalence in Turkey, where CHB remains a serious health problem