Body composition and bone mineral density changes during a premier league season as measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry

Wallace, Joanne, et al., 'Body composition and bone mineral density changes during a premier league season as measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry', International Journal of Body Composition Research (2006) 4(2) pp.61-66 RAE2008

Population-Dynamics And Production Of Euphausiids .2. Thysanoessa-Inermis And Thysanoessa-Raschi In The North-Sea And American Coastal Waters

Results from the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey for 1966 and 1967 are used to describe seasonal changes in abundance, size and aspects of the population structure of Thysanoessa inermis (Krøyer) and T. raschi (M. Sars) at a depth of 10 m in the North Sea and in American coastal waters from the Grand Banks to the Gulf of Maine. Production and dry weight were estimated from these data. Two year-groups were usually present in the breeding population, the proportion surviving into a second year being higher in American waters than in the North Sea. Annual production for each species was within the range 0.69 to 4.66 mg m-3 and the ratio between production and biomass (P:B) was between 1.3 and 4.2; values outside these ranges were obtained only for American coastal waters in 1967, when the frequency of sampling was low.

Co-evaluation as a strategy to improve working group dynamics: an experience in Sport Sciences

The aim of this study was to analyze if the perceptions of students before and after carrying out the work, that is, their perception of different aspects of the functioning of the group, the working skills acquired as well as those they think that need to be improved, varied depending on whether the contribution of the different members of the group was being co-evaluated or not. 144 students of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences participated in this study. In order to analyze the students' perception of group work the adapted questionnaire by Bourne et al. (2001) was used. Results showed that groups which implemented co-evaluation assessed more negatively the experience in general than those which did not. However, co-evaluation groups perceived their competence to work as a team had improved to a greater extent than the groups without co-evaluation, evaluating more positively both the performance and the result of work and increasing their knowledge of the other team members. Using a co-evaluation system seems to generate both a better assessment of the running of the team and the result of its work.

Early birds are sexy: male age, dawn song and extrapair paternity in blue tits, Cyanistes (formerly Parus) caeruleus

Sexual selection theory predicts that signals reflecting the relative quality of individuals should be used in mate choice. Females could base their choice of copulation partners on male secondary sexual traits that honestly signal male age, as predicted by the age-based indicator mechanism. Studies have shown that female blue tits prefer older males and that aspects of dawn song reflect male quality, but it remains unknown whether dawn song characteristics correlate with male age. We compared dawn song characteristics of second-year (SY) and older (ASY) male blue tits (cross-sectional analysis), and tested for age-related changes within individuals (longitudinal analysis) and differential overwinter survival of SY males. We further investigated the relation between dawn song and paternity gain and loss. We found that ASY male blue tits began to sing earlier relative to sunrise than did SY males. This difference in the onset of dawn singing was due to age-related changes in individual performance rather than differential survival of individuals with varying expression of the trait. Males that began to sing earlier at dawn had more mating partners, and were more likely to gain extrapair paternity. Our findings suggest that the onset of dawn song can provide a simple mechanism for females to assess the relative quality of their mate and of neighbouring males. We propose that females use the onset of singing as a cue for their choice of extrapair partners. (c) 2006 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Right-left discrimination among medical students: Getting it right all of the time?

Objective To determine medical students’ self awareness and ability to discriminate right from left; to identify characteristics associated with this ability; and to identify any techniques used to aid discrimination. Design Questionnaire and psychometric study. Setting Undergraduate medical school, Northern Ireland. Participants 290 first year undergraduate students. Main outcome measure Medical students’ ability to discriminate right from left using the Bergen right-left discrimination test. Results Test scores ranged from 31 to 143 on a scale of 0- 144 (mean 112 (standard deviation 22.2)). Male students significantly outperformed female students (117.18 (26.96) v 110.80 (28.94)). Students who wanted to be surgeons performed significantly better than those who wanted to be general practitioners or medical doctors (119.87 (25.15) v 110.55 (27.36) v 112.50 (26.88)). The interaction effect for sex and career wishes was not significant (P=0.370). Students who used learnt techniques to help them discriminate scored significantly less than those who did not (P

Creating Safety for Trauma Survivors: What can Therapists do?

This paper serves as a reminder to those working clinically in the field of trauma of the necessity for therapists to adequately include issues of safety within the therapeutic process. Addressing these issues is an integral part of the therapy and not simply a practical prerequisite or a parallel process. Validation of this thesis is drawn from trauma literature and an account of safety issues relating to the therapeutic setting and processes is given. Case examples illustrate the type of issues that might usefully be addressed within the therapeutic context to increase individual and family safety for clients as they continue to live within their local communities. This paper draws on recent work undertaken at the Family Trauma Centre. This Centre, based in South Belfast, is in its second year of operation. The Family Trauma Centre has a primary remit to provide clinical treatment for children and their families suffering from the traumatic effects of the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland. The community context for this work has been one of continuous low-grade conflict in the midst of a ‘Peace’ process.

The effect of statistics anxiety on students’ predicted and actual test scores

This study investigated the effect of statistics anxiety and attitudes on first year psychology students’ predicted and actual statistics class test scores. A total of 52 students completed the Statistics Anxiety Rating Scale and estimated their class test scores one week before their test at the end of first year. Regression models were conducted with the six attitude and anxiety subscales as predictors and the predicted and actual test scores as criterion variables. The results showed that computation self concept and fear of asking for help accounted for 37% of the variance in predicted test scores. However, when actual test scores were analysed the significant predictors were worth of statistics and interpretation anxiety, which accounted for 20% of the variance. These results suggested that while statistics anxiety does influence students’ perceptions of their competence it appears to have less effect on their actual performance. Results also suggested that students were unaware of their own statistical competence. Remedial action is required to address the level of statistics anxiety experienced by first year undergraduate psychology students, as it appears to result in unrealistic assessments of their ability and has detrimental effects on their statistics self-efficacy.

A Review of an Initiative to Introduce a Short Ethics Component into a Non-Ethics Course at a U.K. University

This paper discusses the introduction of a short ethics component into a first-year undergraduate accounting information systems course at a UK university. The influence of this ethics component on students’ ethical perceptions – where ethical perceptions are represented by the extent to which students’ conclusions regarding unethical actions coincide with those of experts in the field – is then assessed using computer-based scenarios to represent seven categories of ethical norms. The ethical perceptions in each of the scenarios are then statistically compared between two groups of students, namely those who have studied the ethics component and those who have not. Results indicate no significant difference in ethical perceptions between the two groups across all of the ethical norms. Possible explanations for this result are discussed and implications for future ethics teaching are considered.

Sensing Spaces:A Body-oriented Architectural Design Education

The contemporary dominance of visuality has turned our understanding of space into a mode of unidirectional experience that externalizes other sensual capacities of the body while perceiving the built environment. This affects not only architectural practice but also architectural education when an introduction to the concept of space is often challenging, especially for the students who have limited spatial and sensual training. Considering that an architectural work is not perceived as a series of retinal pictures but as a repeated multi-sensory experience, the problem definitions in the design studio need to be disengaged from the dominance of a ‘focused vision’ and be re-constructed in a holistic manner. A method to address this approach is to enable the students to refer to their own sensual experiences of the built environment as a part of their design processes. This paper focuses on a particular approach to the second year architectural design teaching which has been followed in the Department of Architecture at Izmir University of Economics for the last three years. The very first architectural project of the studio and the program, entitled ‘Sensing Spaces’, is conducted as a multi-staged design process including ‘sense games, analyses of organs and their interpretations into space’. The objectives of this four-week project are to explore the sense of space through the design of a three-dimensional assembly, to create an awareness of the significance of the senses in the design process and to experiment with re-interpreted forms of bodily parts. Hence, the students are encouraged to explore architectural space through their ‘tactile, olfactory, auditory, gustative and visual stimuli’. In this paper, based on a series of examples, architectural space is examined beyond its boundaries of structure, form and function, and spatial design is considered as an activity of re-constructing the built environment through the awareness of bodily senses.

Does first aid have a place in the medical curriculum? A survey of medical students

Introduction: When a medical emergency occurs in the prehospital environment, there is an expectation from the general public for medical students to offer assistance with a similar level of competence as qualified doctors. However, the question is raised; do medical students have sufficient training in first aid skills to fulfil the role expected of them?

Prior to the publication of the latest version of Tomorrow’s Doctors by the UK General Medical Council, a student selected component (SSC) in first aid was delivered at the medical school in Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), Northern Ireland. The overwhelming popularity of this SSC prompted a desire to investigate and understand students’ experiences of first aid.

Aim: To identify first and second year medical students’ knowledge of, and attitudes towards, first aid and their expectations of the medical curriculum.

Methods: A questionnaire was delivered using TurningPoint Audience Response System® during the second semester of the 2008 - 2009 academic year to all first and second year medical students at QUB.

Results: Less than half of the students felt that they had a good level of first aid knowledge, a third would feel confident helping in an emergency and only 10% would be confident leading an emergency situation. The vast majority of students believed first aid is beneficial, that the general public expect medical students to have the knowledge to handle an emergency situation, and that a full first aid course should be included in the core medical curriculum at an early stage. They did not believe it should be a pre-requisite for medical school.

Conclusion: Only a small proportion believed their first aid knowledge adequate. An overwhelming proportion believed that first aid training is beneficial and that the public expect competency in managing emergencies. This study clearly demonstrates students’ need and desire for first aid training in the core medical curriculum at an early stage and to the highest training level possible.

The student experience in Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs): phenomenological analysis

Background and purpose
The dominant psychometric discourse of OSCEs may lead to unexpected problems, such as a checklist-based student performance1 which under emphasises the clinical relationship with student and standardised patient (SP). Such encounters can be dehumanising for SPs2 and have implications for what students learn about relational skills through the assessment process. In this study we explore medical students’ experiences of undertaking OSCEs using a phenomenological frame.
Methodology
Interpretative phenomenological analysis is a form of qualitative methodology which has strong resonance with existentialism and focuses on the lived experience without significant reference to external political or discursive
forces.
Six 4th year undergraduate medical students from Queen’s University Belfast were recruited in December 2013. Maximum variation sampling was used. Students were interviewed by a researcher in the week prior to the
OSCE and then again in the week following the OSCE in Jan 2014. Interviews were minimally structured in order to be open to respondents, rather than adhering to a fixed topic guide, but focussed on participants’ experiences, thoughts and feelings about taking part in OSCEs. Interviews were audio-recorded and
transcribed. Students were also asked to complete a short diary entry in the days prior to the OSCEs and another immediately following. Diary entries were written, emailed or audio-recorded at student’s preference.
Results
Transcripts are currently being analysed by interpretative phenomenological analysis. Preliminary analysis has demonstrated the significance of students’ relationships within the OSCE triad (student, SP and examiner); the effect of the immediate examination environment; realism versus roleplay; students’ perceptions of the purpose of assessment; and coping mechanisms.
Full results will be available by the time of the conference.
Conclusion and Discussion
Understanding the student experience in OSCEs is a crucial step in understanding the complex construction of relationships within the OSCE triad. The focus in OSCEs is typically on standardisation and reliability, but in exploring social interactions we may refocus attention on their inherent potential for learning and effects on both students and patients.
References
1. Hodges B. Medical education and the maintenance of incompetence. Med Teach 2006;28(8):690-6
2. Johnston JL, Lundy G, McCullough M, Gormley GJ. The view from over there: reframing the OSCE through the experience of standardised patient
raters. Med Educ 2013;47(9):899-909

Introducing Students to Pre-Nineteenth-Century Poetry in the Language Classroom

We as language instructors are tasked with preparing students to transition from language to literature courses. The shorter length of many poems makes them ideal for presentation in the language classroom, where the acquisition of communicative competence is the priority. Introductory and intermediate textbooks’ poetry offerings, however, are frequently drawn from a canon of poems by only a few nineteenth- and twentieth-century authors (Verlaine, Apollinaire, Prévert) and fail to expose students to broader aspects of French literature. This article offers strategies for presenting pre-nineteenth-century poetry to first- and second-year students of French using dizains from Scève’s Délie as examples.

Can Safe Clinical Thinking be Taught?

OBJECTIVES: To determine if: (a) safe clinical decision making can be taught to undergraduate final year medical students and (b) if such students can be taught to specifically recognise illness severity from nominal clinical data. 
METHODS: 115 final year undergraduate medical students completed a 3 hour interactive Safe Thinking Workshop which focussed entirely on nontechnical skills such as potential perceptive pitfalls, attention to detail, teamwork and safe clinical decision making. The study involved students inspecting and interpreting a set of arterial blood gas results relating to a patient with acute respiratory distress, then answering a short questionnaire addressing biochemical diagnosis, clinical diagnosis and effective management. A separate question was embedded in the questionnaire to determine if astute students could determine the severity of the illness from the CO2 value provided. The study group (n = 58) completed the questionnaire immediately after the Safe Thinking Workshop, whilst the control group (n = 57) completed the questionnaire prior to the Workshop.
RESULTS: The mean total score for study students was 80.51%, with a mean total score of 63.86% for the control group (Student’s t-test; p<0.05). Correct classification of illness severity was observed in 10.35% of study students, compared with 3.51% of control students (p<0.05). 
CONCLUSION: These results suggest that safe clinical decision making and recognition of illness severity can be fostered by specific teaching in the nontechnical skill areas described above.

Precision Teaching in IV Fluid Prescribing and Patient Safety

OBJECTIVES: Precision Teaching (PT) has been shown to be an effective intervention to assess teaching method effectiveness and evaluate learning outcomes. SAFMEDS (Say All Fast Minute Every Day Shuffled) are a practice/assessment procedure within the PT framework to assist learning and fluency. We explored the effects of a brief intervention with PT, to impart high frequency performance in safe intravenous fluid prescription in a group of final year undergraduate medical students.
METHODS: 133 final year undergraduate medical students completed a multiple choice question (MCQ) test on safe IV fluid prescription at the beginning and end of the study. The control group (n= 76) of students were taught using a current standardized teaching method. Students allocated to the intervention arm of the study were additionally instructed on PT and the use of SAFMEDS. The study group (n = 57) received 50 SAFMEDS cards containing information on the principles of IV fluid prescription scenarios. These students were trained/tested twice per day for 1 minute.
RESULTS: Interim analysis showed that the study group displayed an improvement in fluency and accuracy as the study progressed. There was a statistically significant improvement in MCQ performance for the PT group compared with the control group between the beginning and end of the study (35% vs 15%).
CONCLUSION: These results suggest PT employing SAFMEDS is an effective method for improving fluency, accuracy and patient safety in intravenous fluid prescribing amongst undergraduate medical students.

Metacognition in Patient Safety

OBJECTIVES: To determine if cognitive reflection has a positive influence on clinical decision making in undergraduate medical students. METHODS: 153 final year undergraduate medical students completed a 3 hour interactive Safe Thinking Workshop on nontechnical skills and patient safety, incorporating an introduction to metacognitive concepts. All students underwent augmented Cognitive Reflective Testing during the workshop. Students then inspected and interpreted a set of arterial blood gas results relating to a patient with acute respiratory distress, then answered a short questionnaire addressing biochemical diagnosis, clinical diagnosis and effective management. A separate question was embedded in the questionnaire to determine if astute students could determine the severity of the illness. The study group (n = 78) completed the questionnaire immediately after the Safe Thinking Workshop, whilst the control group (n = 75) completed the questionnaire prior to the Workshop.RESULTS: The mean total score for study students was 80.51%, with a mean total score of 57.9% for the control group (t-test; p<0.05). Correct classification of illness severity was observed in 13.2% of study students, compared with 4.1% of control students (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that clinical decision making and recognition of illness severity can be enhanced by specific teaching in nontechnical skills, metacognitiion and cognitive reflection.