Assessing Student Opinion on Autopsy as a Supplement to Medical Education

Purpose: Medical schools in the United States have decreased use of autopsy as a teaching tool in undergraduate medical education (UME). However, there are no recent data to understand how undergraduate medical students (UMS) value autopsies in their education, thus limiting suggestions for improving UME. This study aims to assess UMS opinion regarding autopsies as a supplement to their medical curriculum: is autopsy important and how? Methods: This was a questionnaire study targeted to UMS at Sidney Kimmel Medical College. The questionnaire contained 51 closed- and open-ended questions (e.g. multiple choice, Likert scale, free response), and was distributed electronically. Data were collected and analyzed using RedCap. Results and Conclusions: 103 respondents completed the survey: 84.5% (n=87) were preclinical medical students; 63.1% (n=65) identified as female, 34% (n=35) as male, and 2.9% (n=3) as gender non-conforming or preferred not to answer. 85.4% (n=88) respondents were interested in witnessing an autopsy. On Likert scale (1=Strongly Disagree; 5=Strongly Agree) questions, respondents were neutral in its importance in pathology thread (x̅=3.66) and overall medical (x̅=3.63) education. They agreed that witnessing an autopsy can improve anatomical knowledge (x̅=4.27), observational skills (x̅=4.1), and clinico-pathological correlations (x̅=4.28). Respondents agreed that it can also increase understanding of the role of pathologists (x̅=4.33) and autopsy (x̅=4.25) in patient care. However, 39.8% (n=41) reported “I don’t know” for UMS eligibility and 42.7% (n=44) reported “I don’t know” who to request permission. Overall, the data suggest that UMS are interested in witnessing autopsies, believe it can improve specific knowledge and skill sets, but lack information on access. This implies that UME will benefit from expanding access to the autopsy witness program

Undergraduate Medical Student Perspectives on the Role of Autopsy in Medical Education

Medical autopsy has historically been considered a valued experience in undergraduate medical education; however, student participation has declined in recent years. Medical education literature from the educator point of view supports autopsy as an educational tool, but more data are needed on undergraduate medical students\u27 (UMS) perspectives on autopsy. This study aims to assess UMS opinions on the role of autopsy in undergraduate medical education. A 5-point Likert scale survey concerning autopsy and medical education was offered to all UMS at Sidney Kimmel Medical College. In addition, 28 senior students were assigned a 500 word essay on hospital autopsy and its role in medical education. Senior students were given the opportunity to view an autopsy prior to completing their essays. UMS (n = 87) reported that witnessing an autopsy can improve anatomic knowledge (μ = 4.3), observational skills (μ = 4.1), and clinicopathologic correlation (μ = 4.3) but were neutral in their perceived importance of viewing an autopsy in their pathology education (μ = 3.7). Senior students (n = 27) responding to the essay prompt reported that autopsy is essential in medical education (85.2%) and increases clinical and anatomical understanding (63.0%). This study suggests that many UMS acknowledge the importance and applicability of autopsy in their education. This concurrence of UMS opinion with the medical education literature supports making autopsy participation a widely available component of undergraduate medical education

Ameliorating effect of Erxian decoction combined with Fructus Schisandrae chinensis (Wu Wei Zi) on menopausal sweating and serum hormone profiles in a rat model

Additional file 3. The animal studies were performed following the ARRIVE guideline

Meta-analysis Followed by Replication Identifies Loci in or near CDKN1B, TET3, CD80, DRAM1, and ARID5B as Associated with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in Asians

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototype autoimmune disease with a strong genetic involvement and ethnic differences. Susceptibility genes identified so far only explain a small portion of the genetic heritability of SLE, suggesting that many more loci are yet to be uncovered for this disease. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies on SLE in Chinese Han populations and followed up the findings by replication in four additional Asian cohorts with a total of 5,365 cases and 10,054 corresponding controls. We identified genetic variants in or near CDKN1B, TET3, CD80, DRAM1, and ARID5B as associated with the disease. These findings point to potential roles of cell-cycle regulation, autophagy, and DNA demethylation in SLE pathogenesis. For the region involving TET3 and that involving CDKN1B, multiple independent SNPs were identified, highlighting a phenomenon that might partially explain the missing heritability of complex diseases

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

MiR-30a-5p overexpression may overcome EGFR-inhibitor resistance through regulating PI3K/AKT signalling pathway in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer cell lines

Lung cancer is one of the most common deadly diseases worldwide, most of which is non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutant NSCLCs frequently respond to the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) treatment, such as Gefitinib and Erlotinib, but the development of acquired resistance limits the utility. Multiple resistance mechanisms have been explored, e.g. the activation of alternative tyrosine kinase receptors (TKRs) sharing similar downstream pathways to EGFR. MicroRNAs (MiRNAs) are short, endogenous and non-coding RNA molecules, regulating the target gene expression. In this study, we explored the potential of miR-30a-5p in targeting the EGFR and insulin-like growth factor receptor-1 (IGF-1R) signalling pathways to overcome the drug resistance. IGF-1R is one of the tyrosine kinase receptors that share the same EGFR downstream molecules, including phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K) and protein kinase B (AKT). In this work, an in vitro study was designed using EGFR inhibitor (Gefitinib), IGF-1R inhibitor (NVP-AEW541), and miRNA mimics in two Gefitinib-resistant NSCLC cell lines, H460 and H1975. We found that the combination of EGFR and IGF-1R inhibitors significantly decreased the phosphorylated AKT (p-AKT) expression levels compared to the control group in these two cell lines. Knockdown of phosphoinositide-3-kinase regulatory subunit 2 (PIK3R2) had the same effect with the dual inhibition of EGFR and IGF-1R to reduce the expression of p-AKT in the signalling pathway. Overexpression of miR-30a-5p significantly reduced the expression of the PI3K regulatory subunit (PIK3R2) to further induce cell apoptosis, and inhibit cell invasion and migration properties. Hence, miR-30a-5p may play vital roles in overcoming the acquired resistance to EGFR-TKIs, and provide useful information for establishing novel cancer treatment

New chiral bidentate ligands containing thiazolyl and pyridyl donors for copper-catalyzed asymmetric allylic oxidation of cyclohexene

Chiral bidentate ligands 1-3, which contain a combination of thiazolyl and pyridyl donors units, were prepared. The syntheses are facile and being based on Krohnke condensation of a pinene derivative to form the pyridine ring. Modification at the 8-position of the tetrahydroquinoline ring can be carried out by alkylation reaction with 2a and 3a but not 1a. The structure of a copper(II) perchlorate complex of 1a was characterized with X-ray crystallography, which reveals the binding of the pyridyl-thiazole as a N-N donors at the copper center. The copper(I) thiazolyl-pyridine complexes prepared in situ are active catalysts in the enantioselective allylic oxidation of cyclohexene using tert-butyl perbenzoate as the oxidant. The isolated yields of the allylic benzoate were up to 98\%, and enantioselectivity was up to 62\% e.e. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved