Medical students' motivation and study strategies are crucial in determining academic performance. This study aimed to assess the motivation and learning strategies of medical students as well as their association with performance in anatomy examinations. The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, two focus group discussions, and students' current anatomy cumulative grade point average (cGPA) were used. Generally, the medical students strongly felt that anatomy is fundamental to the practice of medicine and surgery. This result was consistent with high task value scores of 5.99 ± 1.25. They were also driven by extrinsic goal orientation (5.59 ± 1.42) and intrinsic goal orientation (5.08 ± 1.26). Most medical students typically relied on elaboration (5.35 ± 1.25) ahead of other cognitive strategies namely rehearsal (5.30 ± 1.11), organization (5.15 ± 1.34), and lowest‐rated critical thinking (4.77 ± 1.19). The students also relied on resource management strategies, effort regulation (5.15 ± 1.20) and time and study environment regulation (5.03 ± 1.03) more than the moderately scored peer learning (4.95 ± 1.50) and help‐seeking (4.95 ± 1.09). In the focus group discussions, students reported that they often narrate or explain to each other what they would have read and understood from anatomy lectures, tutorials, and textbooks. They also bemoaned the lack of institutional support for stress burdens. The motivation and learning strategies subscales were not correlated with anatomy cGPA. Males were driven by extrinsic goals and experienced significantly higher levels of test anxiety than females (P < 0.05). Knowing the motivation and learning strategies students employ early in the medical curriculum can be leveraged to promote self‐directed learning and academic achievement.

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Background: Decision-making in health care delivery should be based on the best available current, valid and relevant evidence. Healthcare professionals should therefore be well versed with the skills required to make evidence based clinical decisions in patient care. The aims of this study were to investigate the attitudes of physiotherapists towards utilisation of evidence-based practice (EBP) during patient care, identify barriers to the use of EBP and strategies to improve utilisation of EBP. Method: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted using a survey questionnaire. Fifty five questionnaires were administered to randomly selected physiotherapists, working in either private or public hospitals in Zimbabwe. The questionnaire collected information on demographics, utilisation of EBP, factors affecting use of EBP and recommendations. Results: The response rate was 91 % (n = 50). Majority of respondents (n = 30; 60.0 %) were female, mean age of respondents was 36.4 years (SD = 9.8) and median years of experience was 8.5 (IQR = 5-15). A positive attitude towards EBP was displayed by 18 of 31 respondents (58.1 %) from private hospitals and 14 of 19 respondents (73.4 %) from public hospitals. All participants indicated that the knowledge obtained through undergraduate training was their major source of evidence-based information whilst a combined 19 respondents (38.0 %) indicated reading of journals and carrying out research as their main source of evidence. Lack of time was indicated as the major factor influencing utilisation of EBP by respondents. Limited access to online information was reported by 15 of 19 respondents from public hospitals (78.9 %) to be a major factor affecting their EBP. Respondents recommended training for physiotherapists to improve their skills in critical evaluation of research as a way to promote EBP and highlighted the need for organisational support to facilitate access to online sources of EBP in the clinical environment. Conclusion: Physiotherapists in Zimbabwe seem to rely on knowledge obtained from undergraduate training to guide them in patient care with a few highlighting the importance of research activities to guide clinical practice and their involvement in them. There is need to for physiotherapists to make time to acquire information on evidence based treatment methods in order to improve the quality of clinical practice and ultimately the standard of health care delivery.

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Anatomy is a challenging preclinical subject owing to the vast amount of information that students need to master. The adoption of relevant study approaches is key to the development of a long-lasting understanding of anatomical subject matter. Phenomenographic educational research describes the medical students as using a variable mix of deep, strategic, and surface approaches to study. Continually assessing students' learning preferences and approaches is crucial for achieving the desired learning outcomes. The approaches to studying anatomy in two groups of first-year Zimbabwean medical students from two newly established medical schools were collected using the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) instrument and than analyzed. At least 90% of the students believed that anatomy involved reproducing knowledge or personal understanding and development. Overall, the majority of the students adopted deep and strategic approaches, while a distant minority used the surface approach. There was no significant correlation between either the students' sex or age and their preference for a specific approach to studying. The mean anatomy grades for students using a strategic approach were significantly higher than those using deep or surface approaches. The number of strategic learners was double that of deep learners among the high achievers subgroup. The strategic approach positively correlated with performance in examinations. Generally, the students shared a common understanding of the concept of anatomy learning. Studies such as this can assist with the identification of students at risk of failure and empower lecturers to recommend the adoption of more beneficial strategic and deep learner traits. Anat

Aquaporin 5 has been recently found as an important oncogenic marker whose expression levels seem to be determined by the level of cellular differentiation. Despite aquaporin volume decrease (AVD) being the most conserved earliest event in apoptosis, there is still a paucity of studies exploring on aquaporin expression and its relationship with apoptosis in cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of aquaporin 5 channel protein and to explore on its relationship with apoptosis in well and poorly differentiated non-small cell lung carcinoma both in-vivo and in-vitro. Findings from the study showed that the expression of AQP5 both in-vivo and in-vitro was dependent on the type and degree of tumour differentiation. In-vivo, an increase in aquaporin 5 expression was associated with an increased apoptosis in both poorly and highly differentiated adenocarcinoma (AC) while there was no association between aquaporin 5 expression and apoptosis in both poorly and highly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). In vitro, differentiation therapy in the form of ATRA decreased both cell proliferation and increased the expression of AQP5 in A549 cells. The cytomorphological changes, expression of differentiation markers and flow cytometry apoptotic results were dependent on the dose of ATRA treatment. In conclusion, a higher expression of aquaporin 5 was found to promote the rate of the apoptotic process in lung adenocarcinoma (AC).

Being injured is inherent to participating in football activities; therefore, prevention of injuries is crucial. this requires that the risk factors for injury be established. However, such studies are rarely conducted in women athletes in Africa. the study's aim was to explore intrinsic risk factors for injury among African women football players using functional and musculoskeletal assessments. Participants (n = 40) completed demographic questionnaires; upper and lower limb active range of motion (AroM); muscle endurance and functional movement screening (fMS™) assessed. Median age [Q1; Q3] was 24 [20; 27] years. Participants performed 20.5 [0; 30.5] push-ups and 28 squats [30; 38] in 60s; and held the prone elbow plank for 46.2s [30.6; 64.5]. Median fMS™ score was 12 [10; 13]; most players (n = 27, 68%) could not execute a proper deep squat. Most players (70%; n = 28), were able to properly perform the in line lunge but scored poorly in the shoulder mobility domain of the FMS™, with 73% (n = 29) scoring ≤1. Players with a history of injury had lower FMS™ total (p = 0.02). Overall, participants presented with low muscle endurance and movement imbalances, which might predispose them to injury. Hence, strength and conditioning measures should be instituted in this population to prevent injuries.