The presidential election of the human body: applying contextual learning to promote connections between the student and the curricular content

Using real-world situations to engage students in learning specific content is preconized by educational research as an effective strategy. However, motivating students to establish personal and emotional connections with the curricular content is challenging. We presented a didactic strategy named The presidential election of the human body, created to use the presidential election context to engage students in studying cell function and structure using role-playing and appropriation of scientific concepts. Four groups of students (N=124) of the science and mathematics teacher training program chose a cell of the human body to impersonate, they studied the biology of their cell, and they ran in a presidential election campaign. They created slogans, videos, and materials for their campaign, and on the day of the election, the group of the students voted for the best slogan. The didactic strategy was capable of stimulating the appropriation of the characteristics of the cells they represented. The majority (75%) of the elected candidates represented cells that are linked to the nervous system. Musicality and humor were the most frequent styles that appeared in the slogans. Students strongly agreed that they enjoyed the activity and considered it valuable for contextualizing the learning of anatomy and physiology. Thus, the activity is a didactic resource to stimulate the students to embrace the content they are learning in a contextualized momentum of a presidential election.

Endometriosis in the Mouse: Challenges and Progress Toward a ‘Best Fit’ Murine Model

Endometriosis is a prevalent gynecologic condition associated with pelvic pain and infertility characterized by the implantation and growth of endometrial tissue displaced into the pelvis via retrograde menstruation. The mouse is a molecularly well-annotated and cost-efficient species for modeling human disease in the therapeutic discovery pipeline. However, as a non-menstrual species with a closed tubo-ovarian junction, the mouse poses inherent challenges as a preclinical model for endometriosis research. Over the past three decades, numerous murine models of endometriosis have been described with varying degrees of fidelity in recapitulating the essential pathophysiologic features of the human disease. We conducted a search of the peer-reviewed literature to identify publications describing preclinical research using a murine model of endometriosis. Each model was reviewed according to a panel of ideal model parameters founded on the current understanding of endometriosis pathophysiology. Evaluated parameters included method of transplantation, cycle phase and type of tissue transplanted, recipient immune/ovarian status, iterative schedule of transplantation, and option for longitudinal lesion assessment. Though challenges remain, more recent models have incorporated innovative technical approaches such as in vivo fluorescence imaging and novel hormonal preparations to overcome the unique challenges posed by murine anatomy and physiology. These models offer significant advantages in lesion development and readout toward a high-fidelity mouse model for translational research in endometriosis.

Climate variability supersedes grazing to determine the anatomy and physiology of a dominant grassland species

Grassland ecosystems are historically shaped by climate, fire, and grazing which are essential ecological drivers. These grassland drivers influence morphology and productivity of grasses via physiological processes, resulting in unique water and carbon-use strategies among species and populations. Leaf-level physiological responses in plants are constrained by the underlying anatomy, previously shown to reflect patterns of carbon assimilation and water-use in leaf tissues. However, the magnitude to which anatomy and physiology are impacted by grassland drivers remains unstudied. To address this knowledge gap, we sampled from three locations along a latitudinal gradient in the mesic grassland region of the central Great Plains, USA during the 2018 (drier) and 2019 (wetter) growing seasons. We measured annual biomass and forage quality at the plot level, while collecting physiological and anatomical traits at the leaf-level in cattle grazed and ungrazed locations at each site. Effects of ambient drought conditions superseded local grazing treatments and reduced carbon assimilation and total productivity in A. gerardii. Leaf-level anatomical traits, particularly those associated with water-use, varied within and across locations and between years. Specifically, xylem area increased when water was more available (2019), while xylem resistance to cavitation was observed to increase in the drier growing season (2018). Our results highlight the importance of multi-year studies in natural systems and how trait plasticity can serve as vital tool and offer insight to understanding future grassland responses from climate change as climate played a stronger role than grazing in shaping leaf physiology and anatomy.

Human Olfaction

Olfaction, or sense of smell, is one of the many sensory/perceptual systems that humans use to process external stimuli. Human olfaction is relatively understudied. More literature has focused on olfaction in animals for which olfaction plays a larger role in critical functioning and survival. This bibliography provides key resources for information about human olfaction and then outlines twelve general topics that are of considerable value to understanding this primary sensory system. It begins by providing some general resources that outline the functions of olfaction in humans. Next, it explores the anatomy and physiology of the human olfactory system, recognizing that our understanding has been largely guided by studying animals. It addresses several important theories of human olfaction, including ones that have attempted to understand the initial receptor-level processing of stimuli and ones that have been developed to explain the whole system. After considering some historical issues in studying olfaction, it outlines the various ways that human olfaction is studied. It considers some issues in olfaction that are related to cognitive processes, such as language and memory. A critical topic in the chemical senses of smell and taste that is somewhat less relevant in other sensory systems is that of hedonics (pleasure or liking). This bibliography explores sex differences, which, though small, seem to be more prevalent than in other sensory systems. In addition, this bibliography explores the effect of age on olfaction, both in terms of the development of olfaction in children and the decline of olfaction in aging. The entry ends with clinical implications, primarily of smell loss. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought newfound appreciation for the importance of sense of smell in human experience, a summary of the effect of Covid-19 on human sense of smell is included. In this bibliography pioneering studies are emphasized, although reviews are included in cases where the literature is too extensive to be summed up by single studies.

Nasosinusal Endoscopic Anatomy and Physiology

The present article focuses on the analysis of the nasal cavity's anatomy succinctly and descriptively. This essay was carried out through a bibliographic review, directed to the detailed anatomy of the nasal cavity, and the structures that form its sinuses. We have identified the need for more studies directed to the related anatomical area so that the improved knowledge of this region ensures a nasoendoscopic treatment with better effectiveness and no complications.

Assessing the Impacts of HIV/AIDS Programmes on Sexual Health among the Youths of Obiyebe Community in Ogba/Ebgema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State

This study assessed the impacts of HIV/AIDS programmes on sexual health among youths of Obiyebe community in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA of Rivers State. The purpose of the study was to identify HIV/AIDS programmes on sexual health, to assess the knowledge of HIV/AIDS programmes on sexual health among the youths and to examine the impacts of HIV/AIDS programmes on sexual health among youths. The study adopted a descriptive survey study design with a sample size of 83 participants which are selected through a simple random sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection, while a frequency table and simple percentage were used as the instrument for data analysis. The findings of the study revealed that HIV/AIDS programmes on sexual health are; HIV/AIDS testing programmes, HIV/AIDS treatment programmes, HIV/AIDS prevention programmes, and United Nations Programmes on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Another finding of the study showed that sexuality, condoms, sexual anatomy and sex, and adolescence sexual features and puberty are the knowledge of sexual health among the youths that enhance their good sexual health and prevention of HIV/AIDS. Again the study revealed that the impacts of HIV/AIDS programmes on the sexual health of the youths were that their understanding of sexuality is increased, they understand the importance of using condoms if sexually active, there is a reduction in unwanted teenage pregnancies, they are informed of their normal sexual features development, puberty, reproductive anatomy and physiology, they are informed of the option to delay sexual activity until they are ready (matured), and there is a reduction of new HIV/AIDS/ other STI infections. The study made some recommendations and suggestions.

Improved Oral Delivery of Drugs Using Nanoemulsion

Administration of drugs through the oral route is considered the simplest and most convenient way to offer greater patient compliance than other routes. Most active drugs discovered in the past and those being discovered in recent times are inadequate because of their inherent limitations in physicochemical properties such as low solubility and permeability, resulting in poor bioavailability, especially after oral administration in the form of tablet or capsule. Pharmaceutical nanoemulsion is the most promising, safer, and multimodal technique for delivering poorly soluble drugs and gaining more attention due to its characteristics such as higher solubilisation capacity, smaller size, surface charge, and site-specific drug targeting. This chapter focuses on the biological fate of nanoemulsion after oral administration and a few case studies related to the oral application of nanoemulsion in delivering poorly soluble drugs. In addition, the anatomy and physiology of the GI tract, components of nanoemulsion, and methods of preparation are addressed.