Feedback regarding the lectures of "Biostatistics" (provided by NWSMU) Feb 14-22, 2022
For Master Course students on Disaster and Radiation Medicine Sciences lectures of “Biostatistics”
provided by NWSMU were performed via Zoom online conference format. Course included 7 lectures thatwere scheduled on February 14-22, at 18:00-21:10 (JST).
Notwithstanding the fact that lectures were organized via Zoom conference meeting, Prof.
Sviatoslav Plavinskij did a great job presenting all course materials in a structured and easy to understandmanner gradually including more complex concepts of biostatistical science during all course lectures.
Course included such topics as history of development of biostatistical science, introduction to probability
and statistics, observational and experimental studies, statistical software (SAS and R), descriptive statistics,
inferential statistics, quantitative variables and their analysis.
Professor used advanced English language vocabulary discussing different aspects of biostatisticalresearch and further data analysis, thus everything was clearly understandable and digestible in terms ofacquiring knowledge and getting insights about how to use biostatistics for possible future researchexperiments. As well, Prof. Plavinskij shared his Power Point presentations with students that gave us theability to revise and try out different concepts from the Professor's examples and explanations.
Besides, during the course we got the opportunity to work and practice some important skills in
operating software for statistical data analysis (SAS on Demand for Academics). The Professor presented
all problem sets during his lectures, so even for newbie with zero experience in the use of statistical software
there was no problem in understanding how software works. Within full duration of course students had apossibility to ask questions and discuss topics that they are interested in with Prof. Plavinskij, additionallyProfessor encourage students to try different examples from his lectures in SAS and give our feedback tohim. Moreover, Prof. Prof. Sviatoslav Plavinskij convinced students that even after ending of the course,
we are able to directly email him and discuss different aspects of biostatistical techniques in our future
research activity.
To summarize, all lectures of Biostatistics were performed in good manner with up to date
information and useful educational tools, which without doubt will be useful in future research work anddata analysis for each student.
ASHURKEVICH ALIAKSEI,MASTER COURSE OF DISASTER
AND RADIATION MEDICINE SICENCESATOMIC BOMB DISEASE INSTITUTE
NAGASAKI UNIVERSITY

Feedback Biostatistics
I am a first-year student of graduate school of biomedical sciences, Department ofDisaster and Radiation Medical Sciences master course. During our studies we had abiostatistics course, which was organized in collaboration with the "National North-West
Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov", and the course was prepared by aProfessor Sviatoslav Plavinskij.
There was a lot of useful information throughout the course, all lectures were clear,well formulated and structured. Also during the course we were shown how to work withvarious statistical programs, which we will need in further scientific research. One of these
programs was SAS OnDemand for Academics, professor presented excellent lectures, andkindly answered any questions that came up.

Unfortunately, we were unable to visit the university in person due to Covid-19, buteven online we have gained invaluable knowledge.
All in all, I learned a lot during the course and I am very grateful for it.

Sincerely,Adiya Kerimbayeva
First-year student of Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Master Course
Department of Disaster and Radiation Medical Sciences
Nagasaki UniversityFeedback on the “Biostatistics” course
In 2022 the lectures on Biostatistics were provided by North-Western State
Medical University were provided via “Zoom” due to the coronavirus pandemic. Despite
that, professor Sviatoslav Plavinskij was able to explain such complicated topic as
Biostatistics and answer all our questions. The professor not only explained howdifferent statistical tests work, but he also told a story of how it was created. Professor
Pavlinskij taught us how to use SAS® OnDemand for Academics software product for
statistical analysis and calculations.
The course can be further improved by increasing the clarity of its content.
Sophisticated statistical concepts can be explained using simple and understandable
examples from everyday life. However, oversimplification of the course material shouldbe avoided. Furthermore, to improve students' engagement in lectures some additional
interactivities can be included in presentations.

Disaster and Radiation Medical Sciences Course student Korzun Uladzislau.

Feedback on the “Biostatistics” course (February 2022) at Nagasaki University.

Provided by Zmushka Valeryia, first-year student at the master course “Division of Disasterand Radiation Medical Sciences”.
I want to express my gratitude to Professor Plavinsky S.L. for the course. Unfortunately,
due to the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, students who now stay in Japan did nothave the opportunity to come to St. Petersburg to attend the lectures in person, as it was inprevious years. However, video communication via ZOOM was established well, and we had
no problems accessing the lectures.
Professor sent all lecture materials to us personally by email so that we could prepare
for the exam. Professor Plavinsky was always open to answer any of our questions that could
appear during the preparation for the classes. To successfully complete the course and pass theexam, we needed to install the SAS program. Due to the differences in regions, somedifficulties appeared, but professor gave advice on how to eliminate them for further correct
work.
The lecture material gave step-by-step instructions for working with SAS, because forall of us it was the first experience of interacting with this program. However, by the end of thecourse, we had mastered data processing with its help quite well, and I can say that I am
considering this program for data analysis in further scientific research.
I have got my bachelor’s degree at a medical university in Belarus, that is why thebasics of statistics from the first lectures were familiar to me. However, it was necessary tobrush up on them. Professor spoke very interestingly about the history and the theory ofprobability using examples.
Big gratitude one more time to Professor Plavinsky for such an interesting course, aswell as gratitude to NWSMU for organizing inter-university cooperation, which allows us tostudy things that are so necessary for any person of science!

Feedback“Biostatistics” provided by NWSMU
From February 14 to 22 in 2022 classes on “Biostatistics” were provided for Nagasaki Universitystudents. During this time, Professor Sviatoslav Plavinskij held 7 lectures including the basics ofPublic Health statistics and practical exercises. The provided presentations were filled with history,
definitions, and meaningful illustrations. The professor explained all the practical work withexamples and full step-by-step guidance. Furthermore, various statistical methods and software
were deeply provided for students, which will help for the correct processing of statistical data inresearch. All difficult points were explained in accessible language.
Unfortunately, classes were organized online by ZOOM-program. However, this fact did notprevent the professor from arranging lectures informative and interesting. This professor has aunique approach to students, which helped in understanding the foundation of Biostatistics.
I would like to thank the North-West State Medical University, in particular Professor Sviatoslav
Plavinskij, for the great opportunity. I look forward for the further cooperation.
Respectfully,Shara Bakytbek
First-year student at Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Master Course
Department of Disaster and Radiation Medical Sciences
Nagasaki University

Dear Mr. Plavinskij S.
Thank you very much for the work done on the subject of biostatistics. You have
explained well how to work with data collection and analysis of experimental results.
Moreover, biostatistics is a discipline that deals with the design and analysis ofbiomedical research data. It includes a set of principles and methods for obtaining andusing quantitative data to solve scientific questions, estimate unknown quantities, andquantify the uncertainty of our estimates. Statistical analysis of research results allows
you to solve several types of problems:
1. Visually present the results of describing the diversity of the studied objects;
2. It is reasonable (with a certain probability of error) to accept or not to accept
assumptions about the presence of patterns reflected in the variation of the studiedvalue;
3. To detect implicit patterns hidden in the variation of the studied data.
In addition, I would like to highlight detailed instructions on how to work with astatistical software package called SAP on demand. Detailed instructions wereprovided that explain step by step how to solve problems using certain methods. The
screen shots that were attached to each slide of the presentation especially helped. In
my opinion, it helped to better assimilate and remember the material.
With the help of this software, I learned how to extract, modify, manage and extract
data from sources and perform statistical analysis on them. I learned that SAS
programs have DATA steps that extract and manipulate data, and PROC steps thatanalyze data.
Each step consists of a series of statements.
The DATA step contains executable instructions that cause the software to perform anaction, and declarative instructions that provide instructions for reading a dataset orchanging the appearance of the data. The DATA step consists of two stages:
compilation and execution. At the compilation stage, declarative statements areprocessed and syntax errors are detected. After that, at the execution stage, eachexecutable statement is processed sequentially. The datasets are organized into tables
with rows called "observations" and columns called "variables". In addition, eachpiece of data has a descriptor and a value.
The PROC step consists of PROC statements that call named procedures. These
procedures perform analysis and reporting on datasets to produce statistics, analyses,and graphs.
SAS macros are code snippets or variables that are encoded once and referenced toperform repetitive tasks.
In the end, I would like to add biostatistics is a science that uses statistical methods tosolve set and emerging biological problems. It is not necessary to assume that
biological statistics are fundamentally different and do not come into contact withmathematical statistics at all. However, it should be known that biostatistics is only atool for solving biological problems, interpreting results and substantiating hypotheses.
Sincerely,
Ardak Ramazan.

feedback on “Biostatistics”
It was a very enjoyable seven days of study.
I was able to refresh my knowledge about biostatistics through the course and learned alot of interesting cases and backgrounds. I have gained new insights.
This is also my first time with SAS software, I have been using spss before and I think
SAS is very convenient and efficient.
Xu Xiao55b18004

Feedback on the Biostatistics course(NGUYEN Van Phu Thang, Department of Pathology, Nagasaki University Graduate Schoolof Biomedical Sciences)

I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to attend the SAS On Demand for Academics
course: Biostatistics.
I would like to thank you and Professor Plavinsky.
I would like to express some feelings about this course.
First of all, I am very grateful for the enthusiasm of the organizers in announcing theinformation about the course as well as how to register to install SAS software, and how tocontact Professor Plavinsky…
I am also grateful to Professor Plavinsky. His lectures are very helpful and well prepared.
Professor Plavinsky was very enthusiastic in teaching and answering our questions. The
duration of each study session is well guaranteed.
After completing the course, I understood more about Biostatistics. I think this course will
help me a lot in the future.
Thank you very much.
With best regards,Nguyen Van Phu Thang

Feedback on the “Biostatistics”

I have finished the course of “Biostatistics” which was taught by Professor Sviatoslav
Plavinskij. Professor ‘s explanation was clear and intelligible during the course even though
Biostatistics was a difficult course, and the courses were conducted online due to epidemic of
COVID-19. I learned many new methods about collection, analysis, presentation et al. of data
during this course. In addition, I learned knowledge on how to use statistical software, “SASon Demand for Academics,” and applied to practice using some examples.
In conclusion, after listening to this course, I developed an understanding of biostatistics. I
think that the biostatistics course was very useful and important for me. I would like to express
my gratitude to Professor Sviatoslav Plavinskij, North-Western State Medical University forthe given opportunity to study Biostatics.

Koichiro Hamada
Nagasaki University
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences