Comparative Effects of Advanced Footwear Technology on Running Economy in Track Spikes and Racing Shoes

Advanced footwear technology, such as highly-cushioned midsoles with carbon-fiber plates, has been shown to improve running economy (RE) in road racing shoes. More recently, similar features have been incorporated into track spikes; however, the impact of advanced spikes on RE has yet to be quantified. Furthermore, there has been no comparison of advanced spikes to advanced shoes. PURPOSE: Quantify the RE benefit of advanced track spikes compared to a control spike and determine whether RE is optimized more in an advanced racing shoe or an advanced track spike. METHODS: Four racing shoes (3 advanced, 1 control) and 3 track spikes (2 advanced, 1 control) were tested in 9 male and 2 female distance runners on 2 separate visits. Shoes were tested in a random sequence over 5-minute trials (Males: 7 trials at 16 km·hr-1; Females: 5 trials at 14 km·hr-1; 5-minute rest between trials) on Visit 1, and in the reverse/mirrored order on Visit 2. Male subjects tested all 7 footwear conditions, whereas female subjects only tested the 4 racing shoes and 1 advanced track spike due to some spike models being out of stock. Metabolic and running mechanics data were collected and averaged across visits. RESULTS: VO2 (mL·kg-1·min-1) was 2.1 ± 1.0% lower in the first advanced spike (49.1 ± 1.7) and 1.8 ± 1.0% lower in the other advanced spike (49.3 ± 1.7) relative to the control spike (50.2 ± 1.6). These differences were statistically significant (p \u3c 0.001, n = 9). When comparing the subjects’ most economic shoe (47.5 ± 3.7) against their most economic spike (47.5 ± 3.7), there were no statistical differences (p \u3e 0.99, n = 11). However, on an individual level, we identified 7 of 11 subjects who showed a greater than 0.5% RE difference between their best shoe and spike, 4 of which favored a shoe and 3 a spike. CONCLUSIONS: Advanced footwear technology in track spikes improved RE ~2% relative to a traditional spike. Despite their heavier mass, advanced shoes resulted in similar RE as advanced spikes. This could make the advanced shoe an attractive option for longer duration track races, particularly in NCAA and high school athletics where there are no stack height rules. Finally, despite these group averaged similarities between advanced shoes and spikes, some individuals might benefit from individual RE testing to determine optimal footwear selection to enhance RE

Themes in Health Care Culture: Application of Cultural Transformation Theory

Key aspects of culture change include familiarizing oneself with how relationships are structured and encouraging an awareness of how people relate to one another on a domination/partnership continuum (Eisler & Potter, 2014). In 2013, 200 nurse leaders were asked to rate their own cultures on a continuum of domination to partnership based on Eisler’s Cultural Transformation Theory (1987). Of those nurse leaders, 37.5% rated their organizations as being closer to a domination culture than a partnership culture. These findings prompted the development and delivery of a webinar series that applied Cultural Transformation Theory to healthcare culture. The attendees noted an overall change in self-rating of their healthcare culture as they learned about domination and partnership culture. This shift in rating could indicate Cultural Transformation Theory’s usefulness in understanding healthcare culture, and in identifying domination and partnership relationships. In discussions during the webinar three themes emerged: 1) Healthcare culture inclines toward domination and this has an impact on patients, 2) Leadership impacts organizational culture, and 3) Leaders are unaware of domination tendencies within their own cultures. Further discussion is needed to identify strategies that support cultural changes, ultimately leading to improvements in safety, quality, and patient experience within healthcare

Dyad rounding on inpatients admitted from Emergency Department: Rehumanizing the patient & clinician experience in a post pandemic world

Emergency departments (ED) across the country were stretched to the breaking point as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The chaos, fear, and uncertainty impacted the emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being of not only the patients and families but also nurses, providers, and the myriad of other clinical and non-clinical staff providing care in the ED. Compounding these challenges was the dehumanizing effects of providing care in personal protective equipment (PPE). The burnout ED teams experienced left them feeling defeated and unsure of how to reconnect with patients and families. The purpose of this narrative is to share the story of two clinical leaders, Christine M. Walden, Ph.D., R.N., NE-BC and Leigh A. Patterson, M.D., MAEd., who partnered to rehumanize the patient experience in the ED after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and to share their learning and ultimate success in improving the patient experience. Equally as important was how feedback gathered through their conversations with patients personally reconnected them back to their passion and their practice, reassuring them that they could lead the way forward by listening to the voices of their patients. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Staff & Provider Engagement lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework (https://www.theberylinstitute.org/ExperienceFramework). Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this lens

Running Economy Benefits of Advanced Footwear Technology are Similar for Treadmill and Overground Running

Running economy (RE) is a key marker of distance running performance, as it indicates the oxygen cost required to run at a given speed. Multiple laboratory studies on treadmills have shown that new advanced footwear technology (AFT) improves RE. However, no studies have quantified the benefit of AFT in overground running. PURPOSE: Determine the impact of running surface (treadmill vs. overground) on the RE benefits of AFT. METHODS: Seventeen trained runners (9 male, \u3c 17:30 5k; 8 female, \u3c 20:20 5k) reported for two separate visits, which included one session on a stiff treadmill indoors and one session overground on a concrete path outdoors. Each visit, subjects completed 4 × 5-minute trials at 16 km·hr-1 (male) and 14 km·hr-1 (female) wearing both an advanced shoe (AFT) and a control shoe (CTRL). Test speeds were below the runners’ estimated lactate threshold and confirmed by blood lactate samples \u3c 4 mmol·L-1. Shoes were tested in duplicate on each visit in either an ABBA or BAAB sequence, counterbalanced across subjects. Surface test sequence (treadmill vs. overground) was also counterbalanced. RE (ml·kg-1·km-1) was calculated as oxygen consumption (VO2) normalized to running speed. VO2 was measured with a calibrated portable metabolic cart, and the average values of the final 2 minutes of each 5-minute trial were calculated. Treadmill running speed was fixed, and overground running speed was paced by an electronic scooter with cruise control. RE was analyzed by a 2-way (shoe × running surface) repeated measures ANOVA. RESULTS: There was a significant main effect for shoe (p \u3c .001) with AFT (174.2 ± 14.2 ml·kg-1·km-1) offering a 3.6 ± 1.6% RE benefit relative to CTRL (180.8 ± 14.8 ml·kg-1·km-1) independent of surface. There was also a significant main effect (p = 0.001) for surface, as RE was 6.8 ± 7.0% better during the overground (171.2 ± 16.8 ml·kg-1·km-1) condition compared to treadmill (183.9 ± 15.0 ml·kg-1·km-1), independent of shoe. However, there was no shoe × surface interaction (p = 0.289), as the RE benefit of AFT was 3.1 ± 2.7% overground and 4.1 ± 2.9% on the treadmill. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the RE benefits of AFT shown previously in a laboratory setting may be consistent across overground road conditions outdoors. As such, footwear researchers and manufacturers can more confidently translate laboratory findings to real world settings. It appears the portable metabolic cart used in this study may read lower RE values outdoors than in a laboratory setting, but this did not appear to impact the ability of the device to discern economy difference between footwear conditions

A Spark in the Dark: Uncovering Natural Activity Patterns of Mormyrid Weakly Electric Fish

To understand animal ecology, observation of wildlife in the natural habitat is essential, but particularly challenging in the underwater realm. Weakly electric fishes provide an excellent opportunity to overcome some of these challenges because they generate electric organ discharges (EODs) to sense their environment and to communicate, which can be detected non-invasively. We tracked the EOD and swimming activity of two species of mormyrid weakly electric fishes (Marcusenius victoriae and Petrocephalus degeni) over diel cycles in the laboratory, and we recorded EODs and environmental dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration and temperature over several months in a naturally hypoxic habitat in Uganda. Under laboratory conditions, both species showed increases of activity and exploration behavior that were closely synchronized to the onset of the dark phase. In the wild, fish preferred structurally complex habitats during the day, but dispersed toward open areas at night, presumably to forage and interact. Nocturnal increase of movement range coincided with diel declines in DO concentration to extremely low levels. The fact that fish showed pronounced nocturnal activity patterns in the laboratory and in the open areas of their habitat, but not under floating vegetation, indicates that light intensity exerts a direct effect on their activity. We hypothesize that being dark-active and tolerant to hypoxia increases the resistance of these fish against predators. This study establishes a new technology to record EODs in the field and provides a window into the largely unknown behavior of mormyrids in their natural habitat.Peer Reviewe

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Themes in Health Care Culture: Application of Cultural Transformation Theory

Key aspects of culture change include familiarizing oneself with how relationships are structured and encouraging an awareness of how people relate to one another on a domination/partnership continuum (Eisler & Potter, 2014). In 2013, 200 nurse leaders were asked to rate their own cultures on a continuum of domination to partnership based on Eisler’s Cultural Transformation Theory (1987). Of those nurse leaders, 37.5% rated their organizations as being closer to a domination culture than a partnership culture. These findings prompted the development and delivery of a webinar series that applied Cultural Transformation Theory to healthcare culture. The attendees noted an overall change in self-rating of their healthcare culture as they learned about domination and partnership culture. This shift in rating could indicate Cultural Transformation Theory’s usefulness in understanding healthcare culture, and in identifying domination and partnership relationships. In discussions during the webinar three themes emerged: 1) Healthcare culture inclines toward domination and this has an impact on patients, 2) Leadership impacts organizational culture, and 3) Leaders are unaware of domination tendencies within their own cultures. Further discussion is needed to identify strategies that support cultural changes, ultimately leading to improvements in safety, quality, and patient experience within healthcare