Publications by authors named "Sarah Koenig"
Article Synopsis
- Current training methods for head and neck surgery lack realistic anatomical models, making it difficult to replicate complex surgical conditions.
- The Realistic Anatomical Condition Experience (RACE) model offers a solution by using a 3D-printed design based on real surgical data, allowing for more effective training.
- By making the STL file available as open source, RACE models could transform surgical education by promoting the use of realistic simulations over traditional methods.
The adverse impact of common diseases like diabetes mellitus and acute hyperglycemia on morbidity and mortality from myocardial infarction (MI) has been well documented over the past years of research. In the clinical setting, the relationship between blood glucose and mortality appears linear, with amplifying risk associated with increasing blood glucose levels. Further, this seems to be independent of a diagnosis of diabetes.
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- - The study discusses a new metric for evaluating student performance by addressing issues with current knowledge gain scores that can distort results due to their reliance on pre-test scores.
- - By comparing traditional scoring methods with the new linear weighting method on both simulated and real datasets, the research demonstrates that the new metric provides a more accurate understanding of learning gains, including the ability to identify negative learning.
- - The introduction of this metric aims to improve the evaluation of teaching effectiveness, enhance the understanding of student progress, and contribute to better curriculum planning and delivery.
Article Synopsis
- The study focuses on how the operating room experience influences medical students' satisfaction with surgical training, leading to the creation of a measurement tool called SPOREEM.
- Psychometric analysis identified three main factors affecting student perceptions: learning support and inclusion, workplace atmosphere, and emotional stress, with varying ratings based on student gender and specialty choice.
- The research successfully developed a reliable tool to evaluate the educational environment in the operating room, improving the accuracy of the measurement through item calibration.
Introduction: Infection prevention and speaking up on errors are core qualities of health care providers. Heuristic effects (e.g.
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- The study examines how well surgical education incorporates essential competencies related to professional roles, such as communication, leadership, and patient safety, as outlined in the German National Competency-based Learning Objectives for Medical Education.
- Data from eight German medical faculties were analyzed using the MERlin mapping platform to evaluate the extent to which these competencies are taught in surgical curricula.
- Findings show a strong emphasis on collaboration within medical teams, but less focus on interprofessional cooperation; while patient safety is prioritized, areas like leadership and career planning are not well addressed, indicating a need for curricular improvement in teaching essential surgical competencies.
Background/objective: Undergraduate medical education still relies on lectures as the core teaching activity. However, e-learning and new media have begun to augment learning and information gathering over the last few years. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 2 teaching formats in surgical education, a classic lecture and a video podcast (vodcast), on knowledge gain, in particular with respect to the participants' characteristics and preferences.
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- - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major cause of cancer deaths, especially when it spreads to the liver, so this study focuses on how gene expression changes in CRC cells during liver metastasis.
- - Researchers injected CRC cells into mice to observe the formation of liver metastases and used RNA sequencing to analyze over 14,000 genes, finding 3,329 that were significantly different in expression.
- - Key processes linked to metastasis included inflammation and angiogenesis, with specific genes identified that could serve as potential targets for new CRC treatments in the future.
Background: The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is increasingly used at medical schools to assess practical competencies. To compare the outcomes of students at different medical schools, we introduced standardized OSCE stations with identical checklists.
Methods: We investigated examiner bias at standardized OSCE stations for knee- and shoulder-joint examinations, which were implemented into the surgical OSCE at five different medical schools.
Article Synopsis
- Practical skills in medicine are usually assessed through Objective Structured Clinical Skill Exams (OSCE), but there is no uniform standard for passing among different medical faculties in Germany.
- Standardized OSCE stations for knee and shoulder examinations were created, with agreed learning objectives and independent scoring by reference examiners across five medical faculties.
- Results showed significant performance differences between faculties, with varying average scores and weak correlations to licensing exam results and prior joint examination lessons, indicating inconsistency in clinical skill assessment.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to understand the professional and personal experiences of female and male academic surgeons, particularly regarding their perceptions of career advancement and job satisfaction.
- A survey was conducted in Germany, gathering responses from 63 women and 70 men, revealing that while both genders value expertise and ambition, female surgeons face greater challenges related to gender and childcare.
- The findings suggest that female surgeons have unique barriers affecting their career progression, emphasizing the need for tailored faculty development programs to foster equality in opportunities and address individual needs.
Article Synopsis
- - The study explores the potential of niclosamide, a drug typically used for treating tapeworm infections, as a therapy for colorectal cancer (CRC) by targeting the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.
- - Experiments showed that niclosamide effectively inhibited cell proliferation in various CRC cell lines and significantly decreased Wnt signaling activity at higher concentrations, while also downregulating certain target genes.
- - The results suggest that niclosamide disrupts the nuclear β-catenin-Bcl9-LEF/TCF complex and activates alternative signaling pathways, indicating its promise as a treatment for advanced CRC and highlighting the need for further research.
Article Synopsis
- * A specific protocol using irradiation and portal ischemia has been developed in a rat model to enhance the effectiveness of liver repopulation by creating conditions that favor transplanted cells over the host's own cells.
- * The proposed preparative method involves irradiating the liver with a single dose, followed by ischemia, before transplanting donor cells into the spleen, making it a promising clinical approach without the use of harmful chemicals.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how radiation exposure prepares the liver for the replacement of its cells with transplanted hepatocytes and looks into the role of cell senescence in this process.
- Fischer 344 rats were subjected to liver irradiation and partial hepatectomy, revealing signs of cell senescence and changes in liver cell markers.
- The findings suggest that radiation-induced cell senescence enhances the growth of transplanted cells, making it crucial for future liver repopulation strategies.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to evaluate students' communication skills and clinical knowledge regarding informed consent in surgical procedures through a video-recorded examination called VOSCE, involving simulated patients and various surgical scenarios.
- A total of 155 fifth-year medical students participated, with their performances being independently rated; results showed high average scores exceeding the passing mark and demonstrated strong interrater reliability.
- The findings indicate that the VOSCE is an effective and reliable assessment tool for evaluating medical students, suggesting it can be used for important evaluations in their education while also streamlining administrative processes.
Article Synopsis
- Clinical studies indicate that hepatocyte transplantation could be a viable alternative to whole organ liver transplants for treating severe liver diseases, but challenges like donor cell shortages exist.
- This study focused on enhancing the proliferation of mature rat hepatocytes in culture using growth factors and lithium chloride, resulting in cells that expressed both progenitor and hepatic characteristics.
- After transplantation into specially treated rats, the proliferating hepatocytes formed large clusters and developed bile duct-like structures, demonstrating their ability to switch phenotypes and expand effectively in a living organism.
Article Synopsis
- TRPC-mediated Ca(2+) entry is linked to smooth muscle growth, which may drive in-stent restenosis; TRPC3 is notably expressed in human coronary and aortic smooth muscle.
- The study tested Pyr3, a TRPC3-specific blocker, finding it effectively inhibits smooth muscle proliferation without affecting endothelial cells.
- Pyr3 showed promise in preventing complications after stent implantation in human arteries, suggesting that targeting TRPC3 could be an effective strategy to reduce restenosis.
Article Synopsis
- Overt neoplasia develops through a lengthy biological process that starts with changes in tissue structure, leading to the emergence of focal lesions.
- In an experiment with rats, researchers examined how normal and nodular hepatocytes grow after being transplanted into a liver environment where resident hepatocytes couldn't grow.
- The study found that normal hepatocytes integrated well into the host liver while nodular hepatocytes formed distinct, abnormal structures, indicating that changes in tissue organization play a crucial role in the development of neoplastic diseases.
Article Synopsis
- Hepatocyte transplantation shows promise for treating chronic liver failure by repopulating diseased livers, with previous research indicating success using a high radiation dose (25 Gy) in rats.
- The study explored the effects of lower radiation doses and fractionated irradiation protocols (e.g., 5 × 5 Gy) on liver repopulation, comparing them to standard treatments in DPPIV-deficient rats.
- Results indicated that higher radiation doses and the fractionated approach led to better integration of donor liver cells and larger cell clusters, while lower doses were significantly less effective, suggesting potential clinical application for fractionated radiotherapy before transplantation.
Purpose: Laparoscopic surgery in the treatment of colon carcinoma causes pH value alterations as well as changes in fibrinolytic activity. This results in enhanced proliferation of colon carcinoma cells in vitro and also in enhanced growth of liver metastasis when compared to isobaric (gasless) laparoscopy in vivo. So far, the direct influence of CO(2) pneumoperitoneum on the invasiveness and metastatic capabilities of colon cancer cells remains unclear.
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- The study aimed to explore if irradiation (IR) and partial hepatectomy (PH) could make the liver more receptive to transplanting non-parenchymal cells (NPCs).
- Researchers used DPPIV-deficient rats, first applying external beam IR to part of the liver, then performing PH, and finally transplanting DPPIV-positive liver cells to observe how well they integrated over 16 weeks.
- Results showed various patterns of donor cell growth, including clusters of donor hepatocytes, along with formations that indicated successful engraftment of both endothelial and bile duct cells, suggesting that IR and PH can enhance liver regeneration and cell repopulation.
Near infrared fluorescence (NIRF) optical imaging is a technique particularly powerful when studying in vivo processes at the molecular level in preclinical animal models. We recently demonstrated liver irradiation under the additional stimulus of partial hepatectomy as being an effective primer in the rat liver repopulation model based on hepatocyte transplantation. The purpose of this study was to assess optical imaging and the feasibility of donor cell expansion tracking in vivo using a fluorescent probe.
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- Primary hepatocytes quickly lose their specialized functions in culture, prompting research into how to sustain their differentiated status using hepatic stellate cells (HSCs).
- Co-culturing hepatocytes with HSCs—either through direct contact or HSC-derived factors—was shown to maintain hepatocyte function, with varying effectiveness depending on the method and age of the HSCs.
- Lipid extracts and particulate fractions from HSCs significantly improved hepatocyte morphology and enzyme activity, indicating that HSCs play a crucial role in supporting hepatocyte health through both direct and indirect interactions.
Article Synopsis
- Near infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging is effective for studying molecular processes in living animal models, specifically targeting liver repopulation after transplantation in a rat model.* -
- In the study, DPPIV-deficient rats had their livers preconditioned with irradiation, followed by partial hepatectomy and transplantation of wild-type hepatocytes, enabling tracking of donor cell repopulation using a specialized fluorescent probe.* -
- Results showed significant donor cell growth and repopulation, detected through optical imaging, which suggests optical imaging could play a vital role in future liver transplantation protocols using fluorescent dyes and technologies.*
Article Synopsis
- Hepatocyte transplantation after liver irradiation and partial hepatectomy shows significant liver repopulation, but the study uncovers how irradiation affects the regenerative capacity of native liver cells.
- Rat livers underwent irradiation and partial hepatectomy, with analysis over time revealing changes in DNA damage, apoptosis, and gene expression.
- The research found that while DNA damage from irradiation was temporary and apoptosis was minimal, the resulting increase in certain protein levels led to a prolonged halt in the cell cycle, which may favor the growth of transplanted liver cells.