Online Learning Modules in Anatomical Sciences: Effective Sources for Continued Learning for Medical Undergraduates During the Unprecedent COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction. During the COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown, the selection of simple and authentic online material among plethora of web content is difficult for both students and teachers. This forces students and teachers to explore various avenues of learning. The objective of this research was to evaluate free open-access anatomy e-learning resources in accordance with required standard learning outcomes for medical students. Methods. During February 2021, an extensive search for online modules for learning anatomy across six Massive Open Online Courses, including edX, Coursera, Udemy, Khan Academy, Canvas and FutureLearn, along with Google and YouTube was conducted. Courses or modules on e-learning platforms, YouTube channels, standalone videos, anatomy atlases, 3D models were considered as learning resources and evaluated. Online materials were classified as structured learning resources if they had a defined syllabus, time duration and instructional design. Resources lacking these characteristics were considered as unstructured ones. Results. Twenty structured learning courses were identified on the Udemy (6 courses), Coursera (3 courses), edX (2 courses), FutureLearn and Khan academy platforms. Learning resources available through Swayam Prabha were aligned with the defined syllabus and video lectures. The content hosted within Clinical Anatomy, Medvizz and Kenhub was eye-catching. Thirty-two YouTube channels offering standalone learning material were identified. Seven resource materials, other than YouTube channels, offered anatomy learning material in the form of charts and tables. Four websites noted to have 3D interactive learning content regarding gross anatomy. Conclusions. During the pandemic-induced lockdown, the list presented in the study may act as guide in selection of the simplest and best materials for those teaching and learning anatomy in medical undergraduate courses. However, in most cases, there is no alignment with standard learning outcomes as defined by medical education regulatory authorities

Power of Predictive Analytics: Using Emotion Classification of Twitter Data for Predicting 2016 US Presidential Elections

Predictive analytics using the twitter feeds is becoming a popular field for research. A tweet holds a wealth of information on how an individual expresses and communicates their feelings and emotions within their social network. Large-scale collection, cleaning, and mining of tweets will not only help in capturing an individual’s emotion but also the emotions of a larger group. However, capturing a large volume of tweets and identifying the emotions expressed in it is a challenging task. Different classification algorithms employed in the past for classifying emotions have resulted in low-to-moderate accuracies thus making it difficult to precisely predict the outcome of an event. Secondly, the presence of diverse emotion annotated datasets, none of which are specific to a particular domain, has limited the potentiality of supervised algorithms for classification purposes. In this study, we demonstrate the potentiality of a lexicon-based classifier, NRC, which can mine emotions and sentiments in tweets. Using the NRC classifier, we initially determined the emotions and the sentiments within the tweets and used that to predict the swing direction of the 19 US states towards the candidates of the 2016 US presidential election. Comparing the predictions from the NRC against with the actual outcome of the election, we observed a ~90% accuracy, a performance superior to the mainstream pollsters indicating the potential emotion and sentiment-based classification holds in predicting the outcome of significant social and political events

On-line Banking Systems: Are they sustainable?

Although the trend for on-line banking has increased in recent years, the customers have not shown enthusiastic participation in the past and in present. Since the sustainability of a bank supporting on-line-banking service depends on what capacity it can attract new customers, retain already existing customers and how well can it extend its services to the current and future customer base. This investigation is focused on examining if there is any significant difference among the factors namely the transactional security, information design, navigational design, visual design, web site trust, web site satisfaction and e-loyalty over sustainability of on-line banking for different banks in USA and in India. An already available questionnaire with 23 questions classified under seven different factors mentioned above was circulated among 91 and 93 participants from USA and India who had a good experience on on-line banking. The results of the survey were analyzed using MANOVA and ANOVA. Results from the survey indicated that transaction security in on-line banking system was a concern among on-line bankers in India. But none of the factors were significant for on-line bankers in USA

Dysregulation of RyR Calcium Channel Causes the Onset of Mitochondrial Retrograde Signaling

This study shows that multiple modes of mitochondrial stress generated by partial mtDNA depletion or cytochrome c oxidase disruption cause ryanodine receptor channel (RyR) dysregulation, which instigates the release of Ca2+ in the cytoplasm of C2C12 myoblasts and HCT116 carcinoma cells. We also observed a reciprocal downregulation of IP3R channel activity and reduced mitochondrial uptake of Ca2+. Ryanodine, an RyR antagonist, abrogated the mitochondrial stress-mediated increase in [Ca2+]c and the entire downstream signaling cascades of mitochondrial retrograde signaling. Interestingly, ryanodine also inhibited mitochondrial stress-induced invasive behavior in mtDNA-depleted C2C12 cells and HCT116 carcinoma cells. In addition, co-immunoprecipitation shows reduced FKBP12 protein binding to RyR channel proteins, suggesting the altered function of the Ca2+ channel. These results document how the endoplasmic reticulum-associated RyR channels, in combination with inhibition of the mitochondrial uniporter system, modulate cellular Ca2+ homeostasis and signaling under mitochondrial stress conditions

Omicron and vaccine booster dose – an update

Mutations in coronavirus is not unheard off. The variant, Omicron B.1.1.529 has overall 50 mutations and is considered as a variant of concern. Though the new variant has shown changes throughout its genome, S gene changes predominate. Significant changes in the S encoding gene, S gene, influences not only the transmissibility properties of SARS-CoV-2 but also the efficacy of existing vaccines. Increased transmissibility and ability of this variant to evade host immune responses conferred either due to past infections or due to vaccination driving increase in number of infections. However, the severity of the infections is low in comparison to its predecessors. A meta-analysis of ten studies analyzing the effect of COVID-19 vaccine booster dose, it was found studies report 10-to-42-fold increase in omicron neutralization. COVID appropriate behaviors, if followed rigidly can bring a meaningful change in the viral spread and resultant health impacts