Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of E-Learning in Healthcare: A Fuzzy ANP Study

E-learning has transformed the healthcare education system by providing healthcare professionals with training and development opportunities, regardless of their location. However, healthcare professionals in remote or rural areas face challenges such as limited access to educational resources, lack of reliable internet connectivity, geographical isolation, and limited availability of specialized training programs and instructors. These challenges hinder their access to e-learning opportunities and impede their professional development. To address this issue, a study was conducted to identify the factors that influence the effectiveness of e-learning in healthcare. A literature review was conducted, and two questionnaires were distributed to e-learning experts to assess primary variables and identify the most significant factor. The Fuzzy Analytic Network Process (Fuzzy ANP) was used to identify the importance of selected factors. The study found that success, satisfaction, availability, effectiveness, readability, and engagement are the main components ranked in order of importance. Success was identified as the most significant factor. The study results highlight the benefits of e-learning in healthcare, including increased accessibility, interactivity, flexibility, knowledge management, and cost efficiency. E-learning offers a solution to the challenges of professional development faced by healthcare professionals in remote or rural areas. The study provides insights into the factors that influence the effectiveness of e-learning in healthcare and can guide the development of future e-learning programs.

Frequency of iron deficiency anemia in girls studying in mashhad high schools

BACKGROUND

Iron deficiency is one of the most prevalent anemia. 2 million people in the world suffer from it. All young girls are at higher risk for iron defiency anemia, therefore,diagnosis and prevention of this anemia in the young age is very important.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 1500 high school girls educated in five regions of education of Mashhad (ages 14-18 years) were studied. Cell blood count (CBC), serum iron, total iron binding capacity(TIBC),ferritin and peripheral blood smear were performed . If mean corpuscular volume (MCV) was less than normal(<76fl) and Red blood cell (RBC) was more than normal(>5×106/mm3 ), hemoglobin electrophoresis was subjected to test by methods of cellulose acetate to check the possibility of thalassemia minor.The data was analyzed by SPSS(version19) and Minitab software.

RESULT

This is a descriptive cross sectional research. From 1500 under-experiment people,1094 cases (72.9%) were non-infected, 310 cases(20.7%) had iron deficiency anemia, and 96 cases(6.4%) had other disorders such as thalassemia. In girls with anemia, 272 cases (87.7%) were in stage I, 17 cases (5.5%) in stage II and 21 cases (6.8%) in stage III. The average age in stage I was higher than stage II and III. . Mean and standard deviation for Hb, Hct, MCV, MCH, MCHC, Fe, TIBC and Ferritin had significant difference in infected and non-infected group.

CONCLUSION

This study revealed that the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in young girls are moderate, so that it is important to reduce the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in young girls.

A swine model to analyze arterial structural changes induced by mechanical thrombectomy

We report a novel swine model that allows direct visualization of cervical arteries undergoing mechanical thrombectomy. The model also facilitates evaluation of histologic changes observed in the arteries after treatment. Swine superficial cervical arteries, which are similar in size and branching pattern to the human middle cerebral artery, were surgically exposed, occluded with experimental thrombus, and subsequently treated with the Merci clot retriever device. Angiographic and histologic assessment were performed.

The impact of thromboemboli histology on the performance of a mechanical thrombectomy device

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Recently we published a novel method of thrombus preparation for use in a swine model for evaluation of thrombectomy designs. The clot (fibrin rich clot) is characterized by its similarity in histologic characteristics to the thromboemboli recovered from stroke patients. The purpose of this latest study was to evaluate if the performance of a mechanical thrombectomy device was affected by the histologic characteristics of thromboembolus. Erythrocyte rich clot, which was created using exogenous thrombin, and the novel experimental clot with abundance of fibrin/cellular component were used for comparison. The Merci clot retriever was used for the evaluation and the angiographic outcomes were analyzed.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Two histologically different types of experimental clot, a conventionally used thrombin-induced clot (erythrocyte-rich clot) and a novel experimental clot that is similar in histologic characteristics to the thromboemboli recovered from patients with stroke (fibrin-rich clot), were prepared. Eight extracranial arteries in swine were occluded with erythrocyte-rich clot (group A), and 8 were occluded with fibrin-rich clot (group B), and MT by using the Merci clot retriever device was performed. Angiographic results in each group were evaluated.

RESULTS

A total of 48 attempts at MT were made. The average number of attempts to achieve TIMI grade II or III recanalization was 2.75 times in group A and 4.5 times in group B (P < .001), respectively. The mean time to achieve recanalization was 15.5 minutes in group A and 81.5 minutes in group B (P < .01). Every vessel in group A showed recanalization (100%), whereas only 3 of 8 samples (37.5%) achieved recanalization in group B.

CONCLUSIONS

In this model, arteries occluded by fibrin-rich clot demonstrated a significantly lower recanalization rate, lower final TIMI score, and a longer mean recanalization time than did arteries occluded by erythrocyte-rich clot. The angiographic outcome of MT by using the Merci clot retriever system was influenced by the histologic characteristics of the occluding thromboembolus.