Creating a level playing field can be an uphill task
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: White C
PROVIDER: S-EPMC1440608 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Haunted attractions are illustrative examples of recreational fear in which people voluntarily seek out frightening experiences in pursuit of enjoyment. We present findings from a field study at a haunted-house attraction where visitors between the ages of 12 and 57 years (N = 110) were equipped with heart rate monitors, video-recorded at peak scare points during the attraction, and asked to report on their experience. Our results show that enjoyment has an inverted-U-shaped relationship with fear across repeated self-reported measures. Moreover, results from physiological data demonstrate that the experience of being frightened is a linear function of large-scale heart rate fluctuations, whereas there is an inverted-U-shaped relationship between participant enjoyment and small-scale heart rate fluctuations. These results suggest that enjoyment is related to forms of arousal dynamics that are "just right." These findings shed light on how fear and enjoyment can coexist in recreational horror.
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| S-EPMC3478237 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveThe Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) has been used for clinical assessment of a broad range of medical student competencies in Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. However, there has been little research into online assessments. We investigated the virtual OSCE (v-OSCE) from the user perspective to better understand its acceptability, usefulness, benefits, challenges and potential improvements.MethodsAt the conclusion of the v-OSCE, all participants (medical students, examiners and simulated patients) were invited to participate in a brief online survey, based on the Technology and Acceptance Model. Freeform qualitative feedback was also obtained to explore participants' experiences and attitudes.ResultsParticipants reported the v-OSCE was acceptable, efficient, convenient and easy to use. It was perceived as useful for demonstrating students' interviewing skills and interacting with the simulated patient. Benefits included greater convenience, reduced stress and travel time. Challenges were similar to those experienced in 'real world' telepsychiatry, primarily related to assessment of non-verbal cues and emotional prosody.ConclusionsOur findings inform recommendations for improving online examinations. These include increased preparation, practice and professionalism, to better simulate the in-person experience. Study credibility was strengthened by the triangulation of qualitative, quantitative and psychometric data.
| S-EPMC11318207 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The aim of this study was first to determine if level, uphill, and downhill energy cost of running (ECR) values were correlated at different slopes and for different running speeds, and second, to determine the influence of lower limb strength on ECR. Twenty-nine healthy subjects completed a randomized series of 4-min running bouts on an instrumented treadmill to determine their cardiorespiratory and mechanical (i.e., ground reaction forces) responses at different constant speeds (8, 10, 12, and 14 km·h-1) and different slopes (-20, -10, -5, 0, +5, +10, +15, and +20%). The subjects also performed a knee extensor (KE) strength assessment. Oxygen and energy costs of running values were correlated between all slopes by pooling all running speeds (all r 2 ≥ 0.27; p ≤ 0.021), except between the steepest uphill vs. level and the steepest downhill slope (i.e., +20% vs. 0% and -20% slopes; both p ≥ 0.214). When pooled across all running speeds, the ECR was inversely correlated with KE isometric maximal torque for the level and downhill running conditions (all r 2 ≥ 0.24; p ≤ 0.049) except for the steepest downhill slope (-20%), but not for any uphill slopes. The optimal downhill grade (i.e., lowest oxygen cost) varied between running speeds and ranged from -14% and -20% (all p < 0.001). The present results suggest that compared to level and shallow slopes, on steep slopes ~±20%, running energetics are determined by different factors (i.e., reduced bouncing mechanism, greater muscle strength for negative slopes, and cardiopulmonary fitness for positive slopes). On shallow negative slopes and during level running, ECR is related to KE strength.
| S-EPMC8281813 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Although desktop simulations can be useful in representing scientific phenomena during inquiry activities, they do not allow students to embody or contextualize the spatial aspects of those phenomena. One learning technology that does attempt to combine embodiment and grounded experience to support learning in science is Embedded Phenomena. The objective of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of a classroom-based Embedded Phenomena activity for learning in geoscience, and to investigate whether individual differences in spatial skills had an impact on the effectiveness. The simulated scientific phenomenon was earthquakes, and 44 fifth grade (10-year old) students learned from a unit containing both content instruction and simulations. In the embedded condition, 15 earthquake events were simulated within the classroom space and students enacted the computation of epicenters with strings and their bodies. Students in the non-embedded condition received the same content instruction and did the same activities, but the epicenter computations were done with maps instead of with students' bodies. Students in the embedded condition showed greater learning gains overall. Further, the Embedded Phenomena activity attenuated the effect of individual differences in spatial skills on learning in science such that low spatial individuals performed as well as high spatial individuals in the embedded condition.
| S-EPMC5256455 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Among the many race-based health disparities that have persistently plagued the US population,1 the disproportionate burden of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes to Black children affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is particularly devastating given its major lifelong consequences. Recently, in 3 successive reports from the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) program of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (birth cohort years 2014, 2016, and 2018), we and our collaborators reported that although the prevalence of community-diagnosed ASD had equalized for Black and non-Hispanic White (NHW) children in the United States, there has persisted a pronounced racial disparity in the proportion of ASD-affected children with comorbid intellectual disability (ID), on the order of 50% for Black children with ASD vs 20% for White children with ASD.2 Here, we provide data to support the following: much earlier diagnosis is possible; early diagnosis alone is not likely to close the ID comorbidity disparity; and judicious efforts over care as usual are necessary to ensure that Black children have access to timely implementation of developmental therapy, for which we observed promising associations with improved cognitive and adaptive outcomes in our sample.
| S-EPMC10948275 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Load carriage and uphill walking are conditions that either individually or in combination can compromise postural control and gait eliciting several musculoskeletal low back and lower limb injuries. The objectives of this study were to investigate postural control responses and spatiotemporal parameters of gait during level and uphill unloaded (UL), back-loaded (BL), and front-loaded (FL) walking. Postural control was assessed in 30 asymptomatic individuals by simultaneously recording (i) EMG activity of neck, thoracic and lumbar erector spinae, and rectus abdominis, (ii) projected 95% ellipse area as well as the anteroposterior and mediolateral trunk displacement, and (iii) spatiotemporal gait parameters (stride/step length and cadence). Measurements were performed during level (0%) and uphill (5, 10, and 15%) walking at a speed of 5 km h-1 without and with a suspended front pack or a backpack weighing 15% of each participant's body weight. The results of our study showed that postural control, as indicated by increased erector spinae EMG activity and changes in spatiotemporal parameters of gait that manifested with decreased stride/step length and increased cadence, is compromised particularly during level and uphill FL walking as opposed to BL or UL walking, potentially increasing the risk of musculoskeletal and fall-related injuries.
| S-EPMC9863443 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundCompared to conventional racing shoes, Nike Vaporfly 4% running shoes reduce the metabolic cost of level treadmill running by 4%. The reduction is attributed to their lightweight, highly compliant, and resilient midsole foam and a midsole-embedded curved carbon-fiber plate. We investigated whether these shoes also could reduce the metabolic cost of moderate uphill (+3°) and downhill (-3°) grades. We tested the null hypothesis that, compared to conventional racing shoes, highly cushioned shoes with carbon-fiber plates would impart the same ∼4% metabolic power (W/kg) savings during uphill and downhill running as they do during level running.MethodsAfter familiarization, 16 competitive male runners performed six 5-min trials (2 shoes × 3 grades) in 2 Nike marathon racing-shoe models (Streak 6 and Vaporfly 4%) on a level, uphill (+3°), and downhill (-3°) treadmill at 13 km/h (3.61 m/s). We measured submaximal oxygen uptake and carbon dioxide production during Minutes 4-5 and calculated metabolic power (W/kg) for each shoe model and grade combination.ResultsCompared to the conventional shoes (Streak 6), the metabolic power in the Vaporfly 4% shoes was 3.83% (level), 2.82% (uphill), and 2.70% (downhill) less (all p < 0.001). The percent of change in metabolic power for uphill running was less compared to level running (p = 0.04; effect size (ES) = 0.561) but was not statistically different between downhill and level running (p = 0.17; ES = 0.356).ConclusionOn a running course with uphill and downhill sections, the metabolic savings and hence performance enhancement provided by Vaporfly 4% shoes would likely be slightly less overall, compared to the savings on a perfectly level race course.
| S-EPMC9189710 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A previously developed joint-space metabolic energy expenditure (MEE) model includes subject-specific parameters and was validated using level walking gait data. In this work, we determine how well this joint-space model performs during various walking grades (-8%, 0%, and 8%) at 0.8 m·s ⁻1 and 1.3 m·s ⁻1 using published gait data in the literature. In response to those results, we formulate an optimization problem and solve it through the particle swam method plus fmincon function in MATLAB to identify a new optimal weighting parameter set for each grade that produces more accurate predicted MEE and we compare our new findings with seven other MEE models in the literature. The current study matched the measured MEE the best with the lowest RMSE values for level (0.45 J·kg ⁻1·m ⁻1) and downhill (0.82 J·kg ⁻1·m ⁻1) walking and the third lowest RMSE value for uphill (1.56 J·kg ⁻1·m ⁻1) walking, where another MEE model, Looney et al., had the lowest RMSE for uphill (1.27 J·kg ⁻1·m ⁻1) walking. Bland-Altman plots and three independent-samples t-tests show that there was no statistical significant difference between experimentally measured MEE and estimated MEE during the three walking conditions, meaning that the three new optimal weighting parameter sets can be used with 6 degree of freedom (DOF) lower extremity motion data to better estimate whole body MEE in those scenarios. We believe that this work is a step towards identifying a single robust parameter set that allows for accurate estimation of MEE during any task, with the potential to mitigate a limitation of indirect calorimetry requiring lengthy steady state motion.
| S-EPMC9009715 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background and objectivesEvolutionary research on the sex ratio at birth (SRB) has focused on explaining variability within and between populations, and whether parental fitness is maximized by producing daughters or sons. We tested predictors of SRB in a low-income setting, to understand whether girls differ from boys in their likelihood of being born into families with the capacity to invest in them, which has implications for their future health and fitness.MethodologyWe used data from a cluster randomized control trial from lowland rural Nepal (16 115 mother-child dyads). We applied principal component analysis to extract two composite indices reflecting maternal socio-economic and reproductive (parity, age) capital. We fitted mixed-effects logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios of having a girl in association with these individual factors and indices.ResultsThe SRB was 112. Compared to the global reference SRB (105), there were seven missing girls per 100 boys. Uneducated, early-marrying, poorer and shorter mothers were more likely to give birth to girls. Analysing composite maternal indices, lower socio-economic and reproductive capital were independently associated with a greater likelihood of having a girl.Conclusions and implicationsIn this population, girls start life facing composite disadvantages, being more likely than boys to be born to mothers with lower socio-economic status and reproductive capital. Both physiological and behavioural mechanisms may contribute to these epidemiological associations. Differential early exposure by sex to maternal factors may underpin intergenerational cycles of gender inequality, mediated by developmental trajectory, education and socio-economic status.
| S-EPMC9384836 | biostudies-literature