The use of a technology-assisted and teacher-supervised online discussion platform to promote academic progress in blended embryology courses.

BACKGROUND: Students' engagement with learning materials and discussions with teachers and peers before and after lectures are among the keys to the successful implementation of blended programs. Mixed results have been reported by previous studies on blended learning. This study evaluated the effectiveness of embedding a teacher-supervised online discussion platform in a blended embryology course in terms of its impact on students' capabilities to handle difficult and cognitively challenging tasks. METHODS: Two forms of blended learning were investigated and compared in this study. Students in the control group (n = 85) learned online materials before each class, followed by classroom instruction and activities in which face-to-face discussion and communication between students were encouraged. Students in the experimental group (n = 83) followed a similar procedure with an additional teacher-supervised online discussion platform to guide, supervise and evaluate their learning progress. All participants were first-year medical students in clinical medicine at Dalian Medical University who had enrolled in 2017. All participants took the final exam to test their learning outcomes. RESULTS: The embryology grades of students in the experimental group were significantly higher than those of students in the control group (p = 0.001). Additionally, the scores of students in the experimental group on questions with a high difficulty level (p = 0.003) and questions assessing high-order cognitive skills (p = 0.003) were higher than those of students in the control group; the effect size was moderate (η2 > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In blended embryology courses, compared with learner-led and face-to-face discussion, the teacher-supervised online discussion platform has great potential to enable students to achieve higher grades and solve difficult and cognitively challenging tasks.

Effect of fucoxanthin alone and in combination with D-glucosamine hydrochloride on carrageenan/kaolin-induced experimental arthritis in rats.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of the fucoxanthin (FUCO) alone and in combination with glucosamine hydrochloride (GAH) on carrageenan/kaolin-induced inflammatory arthritis model in rats and to explore its underlying mechanisms. Joint swelling, muscle weight ratio (%), histopathological examination and scoring, and proteoglycan degradation were examined. Pro-inflammatory interleukin (IL-1ß) and tumor necrosis (TNF-α) levels, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS) protein expression and nitric oxide (NO) level in knee synovial tissue extract were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, western blotting analysis, and Griess reagent assay, respectively. FUCO and FUCO + GAH not only may significantly reduce degrees of knee joint swelling and prevent against muscle atrophy, but also may significantly attenuate inflammation in synovial tissue, cartilage erosion, and proteoglycan loss. The efficacies of FUCO + GAH were stronger than that of GAH or FUCO. FUCO alone and FUCO + GAH can significantly inhibit upregulation of COX-2 and iNOS protein expressions, decrease of IL-1ß and TNF-α levels, and reduce NO production in knee synovial tissue extract. These results indicated that FUCO is an effective anti-arthritis agent through an antiinflammation mechanism. FUCO may enhance therapeutic effect of GAH on rat arthritis through mechanism of antiinflammation.