Inter-annual variability influences the eco-evolutionary dynamics of range-shifting

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Improving clerkship preparedness: a hospital medicine elective for pre-clerkship students.

BackgroundMedical students often struggle to apply their nascent clinical skills in clerkships. While transitional clerkships can orient students to new roles and logistics, students may benefit from developing clinical skills in inpatient environments earlier in their curriculum to improve readiness for clerkships.InterventionOur four- to six-session elective provides pre-clerkship students with individualized learning in the inpatient setting with the aim of improving clerkship preparedness. Students work one-on-one with faculty who facilitate individualized learning through mentoring, deliberate practice, and directed feedback. Second-year medical students are placed on an attending-only, traditionally 'non-teaching' service in the hospital medicine division of a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital for half-day sessions. Most students self-select into the elective following a class-wide advertisement. The elective also accepts students who are referred for remediation of their clinical skills.OutcomeIn the elective's first two years, 25 students participated and 47 students were waitlisted. We compared participant and waitlisted (non-participant) students' self-efficacy in several clinical and professional domains during their first clerkship. Elective participants reported significantly higher clerkship preparedness compared to non-participants in the areas of physical exam, oral presentation, and formulation of assessments and plans.ConclusionsStudents found the one-on-one feedback and personalized attention from attending physicians to be a particularly useful aspect of the course. This frequently cited benefit points to students' perceived needs and the value they place on individualized feedback. Our innovation harnesses an untapped resource - the hospital medicine 'non-teaching' service - and serves as an attainable option for schools interested in enhancing early clinical skill-building for all students, including those recommended for remediation.AbbreviationsA&P: Assessment and plan; H&P: History and physical; ILP: Individual learning plan

Mechanistic investigations of nanometer-scale lithography at liquid-covered graphite surfaces

Pulse-induced nanometer-scale lithography has been performed on graphite surfaces that were in contact with pure water or other organic liquids. Very reproducible control over the pit diameter was observed in aqueous solutions, and a well-defined voltage threshold (4.0±0.2 V) was also apparent. Near the threshold voltage, 7 Å diameter×2 Å high protrusions were formed, while larger initial pulse voltages resulted in pits of diameter>~20 Å

Atomic resolution imaging of electrode surfaces in solutions containing reversible redox species

Procedures are described for insulating metal scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tips with either glass or polymer coatings. In solutions containing 0.10 M of a reversible redox couple, Fe(CN) - 3/-46 , the faradaic limiting current to polymer coated tips was 200–500 pA and that for glass coated tips was <10 pA. For polymer insulated tips, steady-state currents of 10–100 pA were observed at tip-sample displacements less than 0.3 µm. The suppression of faradaic current achieved by these coating procedures enabled the collection of the first atomic resolution STM images of highly ordered pyrolytic graphite electrodes in contact with redox-active electrolytes. Preliminary data for the in situ electrochemical characterization of these tips are also discussed

The speed of range shifts in fragmented landscapes

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

UPPER BODY MOVEMENTS IN ELITE JAVELIN THROWS

INTRODUCTION - For an athlete to compete at an international level he will not only need the raw materials necessary for the event, but an effective training programme. That will enable him to utilise these resources to the full. It is well accepted that exercise prescription must match the mode of training to the desired effect. This is embodied in the specificity principle which states that training adaptations are specific to the cells and their structural and functional elements that are overloaded (McCafferty & Horvath, 1977).Hence, to provide training advice to the elite javelin thrower exact details of the thrower's movements during the event must be known. Otherwise, developing a training programme to fit the thrower's requirements will be impossible. It was the aim of this study to quantify the upper body movements of a group of elite javelin throwers when performing at the highest level of competition. Every throw of12 athletes competing in the men's javelin final of the 1995 World Championships were filmed and, subsequently analysed. Filming was conducted using 2 phase-locked High speed Photosonics 1PL cine cameras which were zoomed on the javelin runway such that all of the thrower's movements incorporating the last few cross-over strides, the delivery and the first few meters of the javelin6gM after release, were in full view. Calibration of this area was achieved by mounting Rflective spherical markers on a system of vertical poles that were arranged to surround a 7 m x 4 m x 3.2 m volume. Three dimensional coordinates of the markers were generated using an Elta Ill tachymeter. The films developed and the best performances of the competitors were digitised using a sys-tem developed by Bartlett (1 990) compatible with Acorn Archimedes computers. RESULTS -Analysis of the best throws by the three medallists (all over 86 m) showed that all three athletes achieved release speeds in excess of 30 m.s-I. However, the way in which each athlete achieved such a high speed was very different indeed. For example, the gold and silver medallists were found to laterally align the trunk during the delivery in a similar manner. Nevertheless, the path of the javelin grip in a lateral direction differed by 54 cm between the two athletes. Furthermore, angular velocities of the elbow joints in extension were found to range between 45.0 rad.s-I and 26.5 rad.s! Similarly the movement of the upper arm during the delivery was a combination of extension, horizontal flexion and abduction, the angular velocities of which ranged from 21.8rad.s-I to 15.6 rad.s-I. Medial rotation angular velocities were as high as 45.0 rad.s-I indicating that this also is a important contributor to the release speed of the javelin. CONCLUSIONS - These results suggest that the patterns of muscular activation or the muscles used to accelerate the javelin were very different for the three medal lists. It would therefore seem appropriate that the training programmes of each athlete should be different and designed very specifically to meet their unique movement pattern. Examining the contribution of the upper body musculature to the release speed of the javelin is an aim of future research. REFERENCES Bartlett, R.M. (1 990). A biomechanical analysisprogramme package. Unpub. Mas. Thes.McCafferty, W.B. & Horvath, S.M. (1977).Research Quarterly, 48, 358-37 1