Evaluation of the willingness for cadaveric donation in Greece: A population‐based study

Despite the importance of body donation for medical education and the advancement of medical science, cadaveric donation remains suboptimal worldwide. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the willingness of body donation in Greece and determine the characteristics of donors. This cross‐sectional questionnaire survey was conducted from January to June 2011. A specially designed questionnaire was distributed to 1,700 individuals who were randomly selected from five major Greek cities. It was found that higher educational levels (P = 0.002), annual family income below 30,000 Euros (P = 0.001), guaranteed employment status (P = 0.02), and the presence of comorbid conditions (P = 0.004) seemed to affect potential donors' willingness for cadaveric donation. Those with strong religious beliefs were found to be unwilling to donate their bodies to medical science. Interestingly, the majority of participants who believed that hospitalized patients are deceived or are used for harmful experiments were willing to become whole body donors (P = 0.043). In Greece, the rate of body donation to medical science remains low, and most Greek citizens are not willing to become body donors. Efforts to encourage discussions about whole body donation should be implemented in order to improve current low levels of donation. Anat Sci Educ. © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.     

The body donation program at the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre: A successful experience in Brazil

The use of dissection to study human anatomy is the foundation for educational excellence among future health professionals, as it offers an ideal opportunity to learn the body's morphology in three dimensions while also providing students with a more humanistic education. The shortage of bodies for dissection, combined with the Brazilian population's lack of knowledge concerning the possibility of voluntarily donating their own bodies, led to the creation of the Body Donation Programs for Education and Research in Anatomy at the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre (UFCSPA). The program is based on three pillars: Informing the general public about the program, donor registration, and donation itself. Since the creation of the donor program in 2008, there has been an increase in both the number of donations made during donor's lifetime and the number of bodies received by the university. There has also been a shift in relation to the origin of these bodies, as before the creation of the program most bodies were unclaimed cadavers, while today most of the bodies are sourced from voluntary donations. The initial results regarding the public's acceptance of the possibility of making body donations have been encouraging, as shown by the annual growth in donor registrations. Consequently, the quality and quantity of the material available for educational purposes have greatly improved. Anat Sci Educ. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Transforming clinical imaging and 3D data for virtual reality learning objects: HTML5 and mobile devices implementation

Web deployable anatomical simulations or “virtual reality learning objects” can easily be produced with QuickTime VR software, but their use for online and mobile learning is being limited by the declining support for web browser plug‐ins for personal computers and unavailability on popular mobile devices like Apple iPad and Android tablets. This article describes complementary methods for creating comparable, multiplatform VR learning objects in the new HTML5 standard format, circumventing platform‐specific limitations imposed by the QuickTime VR multimedia file format. Multiple types or “dimensions” of anatomical information can be embedded in such learning objects, supporting different kinds of online learning applications, including interactive atlases, examination questions, and complex, multi‐structure presentations. Such HTML5 VR learning objects are usable on new mobile devices that do not support QuickTime VR, as well as on personal computers. Furthermore, HTML5 VR learning objects can be embedded in “ebook” document files, supporting the development of new types of electronic textbooks on mobile devices that are increasingly popular and self‐adopted for mobile learning. Anat Sci Educ 6: 263–270. © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.     

Towards new understandings of learning disability

Abstract

This article highlights inherent difficulties in defining learning disability, particularly in South Africa. It traces the evolution of the category from ‘minimal brain damage’ through to the more current ‘learners with special educational needs’ and ‘learners with barriers to learning.’ Different definitions or attempts to describe the phenomenon ‘learning disability’ are reviewed. An overview of the current international research in the field is provided with particular reference to research that attempts to define learning disability. Much of this research is framed within the medical model, which has as its foundation positivism and empiricism. This results in research which is deficit-focused; in other words the focus is on pathology. A second reductionist model fragments the phenomenon of learning disability into discrete units, each of which is researched. It is suggested that, in re-thinking learning disability, the focus shifts away from the deficit, pathology based, reductionist focus currently held across disciplines.

The problem inherent in including the notion of ‘discrepancy between potential and performance’ in any definition is discussed, with particular reference to the measurement of ‘potential in South Africa's multicultural and multilingual learner population. The article ends with a proposal that there be a shift in focus to a panoptic view of the child: a view that takes in his strengths and talents. In so doing, the country may be better able to serve this growing population.

With the national shift towards inclusive education, there is a renewed focus on learners euphemistically called learners with special educational needs or the more ‘in vogue’ learners with barriers to learning. Yet what we mean when we bandy these terms about, how well we understand these learners, is questionable. The focus of this article is that sub-group of learners that educators and parents think are just not achieving as they should be achieving, despite themselves, that sub-group we identify as having ‘potential’ but not ‘performance’; that sub-group that we just cannot quite explain, we just cannot quite understand; that sub-group for whom support ranges from placement to pills to punishment!

This article critically evaluates the current understanding of the phenomenon of learning disability as it is understood in the South African context. It begins with an overview of the international research, with particular reference to the notion of definition. Thereafter, it makes comments on the term as it is used in South Africa. In conclusion, the article proposes the need for an alternative understanding of this group of learners.     

Vendor Training

The article explores the role of vendor training in the long-term relationshio that exists between libraries that ~urchase an integrated online library system and vendors that market ind support such svsterns. Ernohasis is eiven to the res~onsibilitv vendors have to proierly train library so as to'insure successful imple- mentation and use of their online system. Analysis and evaluation of vendor training programs is stressed and suggestions are given for how vendors can possibly improve the training provided to their users.     

中职校音乐教学中非术语化声乐教学用语的运用分析

在中职声乐教学中,经常会使用到一些声乐用语,这些声乐用语的运用,为学生的发声练习给予一定的指导,但在实际教学中,由于声乐教学的抽象性,只依靠专门教学术语是不能完全准确转化为歌唱运动的,非术语化的声乐用语更容易让学生理解教学用语,产生较好的教学效果。本文就中职音乐教学中,非术语化的声乐教学用语运用提出两点粗浅看法。     

Developing Teachers’ Knowledge,Beliefs, and Expertise: Findings From the Alberta Student Assessment Study

This article reports on a subset of findings that emerged from the Alberta Student Assessment Study in relation to the preservice and in-service development of teacher knowledge of, expertise in, and beliefs underpinning their assessment practices. Findings indicate that, although there has been a lot of attention given to improving assessment, confusion remains for teachers about terminology, principles, and pragmatics that undermine teacher confidence about assessment and making sound judgments about students’ work.     

基于闭频繁项集挖掘的技术演化研究方法

本文以专利中的技术术语作为事务、以术语中的词汇作为项,通过闭频繁项集挖掘方法,对专利文献中的技术术语的结构变化情况进行时序分析,以从新的角度来研究技术演化趋势,之后以硬盘驱动器磁头技术为例进行实证分析,实证结果表明,该方法能够对技术演化过程中所产生的技术变化进行有效识别。     

食管颈段动脉供血体系的解剖学观察

为探讨食管颈段动脉供血体系构筑状况,以期为临床应用补充解剖学资料,利用成、幼尸体25具,红色乳胶灌注后剥离,对其分支吻合进行解剖学观察与系统分析;另取新鲜胎尸25具,其中墨汁灌注20具,钙钴法碱性磷酸酶染色5具后,组织切片,光学显微镜下观测。得出该段食管分支复杂、吻合丰富,各层均存在动脉网,粘膜下层动脉网最为丰富。     

古诗阐释的多元解读

古诗篇幅短小,具有较高的文学性和审美价值。在阐释古诗时,我们应当采取开放的、多元思考的方式,以诸种视角融入对古诗的理解,从而激活对古诗的深层次探究。