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Abdelazim AM, Gaber DA, Adam KM, El-Ashkar AM, Abdelmalak HW. Use of mobile learning applications as an innovative method for the teaching of biochemistry. BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION : A BIMONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2023; 51:627-634. [PMID: 37578168 DOI: 10.1002/bmb.21774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2022] [Revised: 06/15/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Traditional teaching methods of biochemistry provide effective tools for knowledge transmission, but are considered less engaging with students. Smartphone applications may provide suitable alternatives to compensate for the shortcomings of traditional teaching methods. PURPOSE This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of smartphone applications as a complementary method for learning biochemistry. METHODOLOGY A total of 32 students, from the College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Bisha, Saudi Arabia, were recruited. Students used available mobile applications, and their performance was monitored through assignments, presentations, practical evaluations, and pre- and post-tests. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to survey the students' perceptions. It was validated by students enrolled at the College of Applied Medical Science, interns, and medical educators. It was checked for item appropriateness and comprehensiveness using face and content validity. RESULTS Around 75% of the students found the mobile applications useful in learning biochemistry, 50% believed that they were easy to use and 100% believed that the breadth of the knowledge presented by these applications was comprehensive. The pedagogical effect of the use of mobile applications in learning biochemistry showed statistically significant differences in student performances post-use and pre-use of mobile applications with P values of 0.000, 0.028, 0.023, and 0.000 for tests, assignments, practical evaluation, and presentations, respectively. CONCLUSION Students have a positive perception of the use of mobile applications, as it has significantly improved their academic performance in biochemistry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaser M Abdelazim
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Bisha, Bisha, Saudi Arabia
| | - Dalia A Gaber
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Gulf Medical University, Ajman, UAE
| | - Khalid M Adam
- Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Bisha, Bisha, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ayman M El-Ashkar
- Department of Medical Education, College of Medicine, University of Bisha, Bisha, Saudi Arabia
- Department of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Hany W Abdelmalak
- Department of Human Anatomy and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
- Department of Human Anatomy and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, Delta University for Sciences and Technology, Gamasa, Egypt
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Smith P, King ONF, Pennington A, Tun W, Basham M, Jones ML, Collinson LM, Darrow MC, Spiers H. Online citizen science with the Zooniverse for analysis of biological volumetric data. Histochem Cell Biol 2023; 160:253-276. [PMID: 37284846 PMCID: PMC10245346 DOI: 10.1007/s00418-023-02204-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/28/2023] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Public participation in research, also known as citizen science, is being increasingly adopted for the analysis of biological volumetric data. Researchers working in this domain are applying online citizen science as a scalable distributed data analysis approach, with recent research demonstrating that non-experts can productively contribute to tasks such as the segmentation of organelles in volume electron microscopy data. This, alongside the growing challenge to rapidly process the large amounts of biological volumetric data now routinely produced, means there is increasing interest within the research community to apply online citizen science for the analysis of data in this context. Here, we synthesise core methodological principles and practices for applying citizen science for analysis of biological volumetric data. We collate and share the knowledge and experience of multiple research teams who have applied online citizen science for the analysis of volumetric biological data using the Zooniverse platform ( www.zooniverse.org ). We hope this provides inspiration and practical guidance regarding how contributor effort via online citizen science may be usefully applied in this domain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia Smith
- The Rosalind Franklin Institute, Harwell Campus, Fermi Avenue, Didcot, OX11 0FA, UK
| | - Oliver N F King
- Diamond Light Source, Harwell Campus, Fermi Avenue, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
| | - Avery Pennington
- The Rosalind Franklin Institute, Harwell Campus, Fermi Avenue, Didcot, OX11 0FA, UK
- Diamond Light Source, Harwell Campus, Fermi Avenue, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
| | - Win Tun
- Diamond Light Source, Harwell Campus, Fermi Avenue, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
| | - Mark Basham
- The Rosalind Franklin Institute, Harwell Campus, Fermi Avenue, Didcot, OX11 0FA, UK
- Diamond Light Source, Harwell Campus, Fermi Avenue, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
| | | | | | - Michele C Darrow
- The Rosalind Franklin Institute, Harwell Campus, Fermi Avenue, Didcot, OX11 0FA, UK.
| | - Helen Spiers
- The Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT, UK.
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Miller JA, Vepřek LH, Deterding S, Cooper S. Practical recommendations from a multi-perspective needs and challenges assessment of citizen science games. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0285367. [PMID: 37146022 PMCID: PMC10162532 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Citizen science games are an increasingly popular form of citizen science, in which volunteer participants engage in scientific research while playing a game. Their success depends on a diverse set of stakeholders working together-scientists, volunteers, and game developers. Yet the potential needs of these stakeholder groups and their possible tensions are poorly understood. To identify these needs and possible tensions, we conducted a qualitative data analysis of two years of ethnographic research and 57 interviews with stakeholders from 10 citizen science games, following a combination of grounded theory and reflexive thematic analysis. We identify individual stakeholder needs as well as important barriers to citizen science game success. These include the ambiguous allocation of developer roles, limited resources and funding dependencies, the need for a citizen science game community, and science-game tensions. We derive recommendations for addressing these barriers.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Seth Cooper
- Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
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Jung S, Kim J. Biomarker discovery and beyond for diagnosis of bladder diseases. Bladder (San Franc) 2020; 7:e40. [PMID: 32775482 PMCID: PMC7401981 DOI: 10.14440/bladder.2020.813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2020] [Revised: 03/09/2020] [Accepted: 03/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Molecular biosignatures of altered cellular landscapes and functions have been casually linked with pathological conditions, which imply the promise of biomarkers specific to bladder diseases, such as bladder cancer and other dysfunctions. Urinary biomarkers are particularly attractive due to costs, time, and the minimal and noninvasive efforts acquiring urine. The evolution of omics platforms and bioinformatics for analyzing the genome, epigenome, transcriptome, proteome, lipidome, metabolome, etc., have enabled us to develop more sensitive and disease-specific biomarkers. These discoveries broaden our understanding of the complex biology and pathophysiology of bladder diseases, which can ultimately be translated into the clinical setting. In this short review, we will discuss current efforts on identification of promising urinary biomarkers of bladder diseases and their roles in diagnosis and monitoring. With these considerations, we also aim to provide a prospective view of how we can further utilize these bladder biomarkers in developing ideal and smart medical devices that would be applied in the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sungyong Jung
- Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA
| | - Jayoung Kim
- Departments of Surgery and Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA.,Department of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
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Borda A, Gray K, Fu Y. Research data management in health and biomedical citizen science: practices and prospects. JAMIA Open 2020; 3:113-125. [PMID: 32607493 PMCID: PMC7309241 DOI: 10.1093/jamiaopen/ooz052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2019] [Revised: 07/09/2019] [Accepted: 09/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Public engagement in health and biomedical research is being influenced by the paradigm of citizen science. However, conventional health and biomedical research relies on sophisticated research data management tools and methods. Considering these, what contribution can citizen science make in this field of research? How can it follow research protocols and produce reliable results? Objective The aim of this article is to analyze research data management practices in existing biomedical citizen science studies, so as to provide insights for members of the public and of the research community considering this approach to research. Methods A scoping review was conducted on this topic to determine data management characteristics of health and bio medical citizen science research. From this review and related web searching, we chose five online platforms and a specific research project associated with each, to understand their research data management approaches and enablers. Results Health and biomedical citizen science platforms and projects are diverse in terms of types of work with data and data management activities that in themselves may have scientific merit. However, consistent approaches in the use of research data management models or practices seem lacking, or at least are not prevalent in the review. Conclusions There is potential for important data collection and analysis activities to be opaque or irreproducible in health and biomedical citizen science initiatives without the implementation of a research data management model that is transparent and accessible to team members and to external audiences. This situation might be improved with participatory development of standards that can be applied to diverse projects and platforms, across the research data life cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann Borda
- Health and Biomedical Informatics Centre, Melbourne Medical School, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Kathleen Gray
- Health and Biomedical Informatics Centre, Melbourne Medical School, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Yuqing Fu
- Health and Biomedical Informatics Centre, Melbourne Medical School, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
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Walker AK, Karaszi K, Valentine H, Strauss VY, Choudhury A, McGill S, Wen K, Brown MD, Ramani V, Bhattarai S, Teo MTW, Yang L, Myers KA, Deshmukh N, Denley H, Browning L, Love SB, Iyer G, Clarke NW, Hall E, Huddart R, James ND, Hoskin PJ, West CML, Kiltie AE. MRE11 as a Predictive Biomarker of Outcome After Radiation Therapy in Bladder Cancer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2019; 104:809-818. [PMID: 30885775 PMCID: PMC6588678 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2019.03.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2018] [Revised: 03/06/2019] [Accepted: 03/09/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Organ-confined muscle-invasive bladder cancer is treated with cystectomy or bladder preservation techniques, including radiation therapy. There are currently no biomarkers to inform management decisions and aid patient choice. Previously we showed high levels of MRE11 protein, assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC), predicted outcome after radiation therapy, but not cystectomy. Therefore, we sought to develop the MRE11 IHC assay for clinical use and define its relationship to clinical outcome in samples from 2 major clinical trials. METHODS AND MATERIALS Samples from the BCON and BC2001 randomized controlled trials and a cystectomy cohort were stained using automated IHC methods and scored for MRE11 in 3 centers in the United Kingdom. RESULTS Despite step-wise creation of scoring cards and standard operating procedures for staining and interpretation, there was poor intercenter scoring agreement (kappa, 0.32; 95% confidence interval, 0.17-0.47). No significant associations between MRE11 scores and cause-specific survival were identified in BCON (n = 132) and BC2001 (n = 221) samples. Reoptimized staining improved agreement between scores from BCON tissue microarrays (n = 116), but MRE11 expression was not prognostic for cause-specific survival. CONCLUSIONS Manual IHC scoring of MRE11 was not validated as a reproducible biomarker of radiation-based bladder preservation success. There is a need for automated quantitative methods or a reassessment of how DNA-damage response relates to clinical outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra K Walker
- CRUK/MRC Oxford Institute for Radiation Oncology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Katalin Karaszi
- CRUK/MRC Oxford Institute for Radiation Oncology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Helen Valentine
- Translational Radiobiology Group, Division of Cancer Sciences, Christie Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Victoria Y Strauss
- Centre for Statistics in Medicine, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Diseases, Botnar Research Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Ananya Choudhury
- Translational Radiobiology Group, Division of Cancer Sciences, Christie Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Shaun McGill
- CRUK/MRC Oxford Institute for Radiation Oncology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Kaisheng Wen
- School of Cancer Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Michael D Brown
- Genito Urinary Cancer Research Group, Division of Cancer Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Vijay Ramani
- Department of Urology, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Selina Bhattarai
- Department of Histopathology, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Mark T W Teo
- Leeds Cancer Centre, St James's University Hospital, Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Lingjian Yang
- Translational Radiobiology Group, Division of Cancer Sciences, Christie Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Kevin A Myers
- Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre, Department of Oncology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Nayneeta Deshmukh
- School of Cancer Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Helen Denley
- Department of Cellular Pathology, Manchester University Foundation Trust, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Lisa Browning
- Department of Cellular Pathology, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom; NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Sharon B Love
- Centre for Statistics in Medicine, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Diseases, Botnar Research Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Gopa Iyer
- Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University, New York, New York
| | - Noel W Clarke
- Genito Urinary Cancer Research Group, Division of Cancer Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom; Department of Urology, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Emma Hall
- Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit, Institute of Cancer Research, London, United Kingdom
| | - Robert Huddart
- Academic Uro-Oncology Unit, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Sutton, London, United Kingdom; The Institute of Cancer Research, London, United Kingdom
| | - Nicholas D James
- School of Cancer Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Peter J Hoskin
- Cancer Centre, Mount Vernon Hospital, Northwood, Middlesex, United Kingdom; Manchester Cancer Research Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Catharine M L West
- Translational Radiobiology Group, Division of Cancer Sciences, Christie Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Anne E Kiltie
- CRUK/MRC Oxford Institute for Radiation Oncology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
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