Effects of a minimalist shoe on running economy and 5-km running performance

The purpose of this study was to determine if minimalist shoes improve time trial performance of trained distance runners and if changes in running economy, shoe mass, stride length, stride rate and footfall pattern were related to any difference in performance. Twenty-six trained runners performed three 6-min sub-maximal treadmill runs at 11, 13 and 15 km·h^?1 in minimalist and conventional shoes while running economy, stride length, stride rate and footfall pattern were assessed. They then performed a 5-km time trial. In the minimalist shoe, runners completed the trial in less time (effect size 0.20 ± 0.12), were more economical during sub-maximal running (effect size 0.33 ± 0.14) and decreased stride length (effect size 0.22 ± 0.10) and increased stride rate (effect size 0.22 ± 0.11). All but one runner ran with a rearfoot footfall in the minimalist shoe. Improvements in time trial performance were associated with improvements in running economy at 15 km·h^?1 (r = 0.58), with 79% of the improved economy accounted for by reduced shoe mass (P < 0.05). The results suggest that running in minimalist shoes improves running economy and 5-km running performance.     

Characterising and evaluating information seeking behaviour in a digital environment: Spotlight on the ‘bouncer’

The paper delineates and explains an emerging, but significant, form of digital information seeking behaviour among information consumers, which the authors have called ‘bouncing’. The evidence for this behaviour has emerged from five years of deep log analysis studies – an advanced form of transaction log analysis – of a wide range of users of digital information resources. Much of the evidence and discussion provided comes from the scholarly communication field. Two main bouncing metrics were applied in the log studies: site penetration, which is the number of items or pages viewed in a session, and return visits. The evidence shows that (1) a high proportion of people view just a few items or pages during a visit to a site and, (2) a high proportion of visitors either do not come back to the site or they did so infrequently. Typically those who penetrated a site least tended to return the least frequently. These people are termed ‘bouncers’. They bounce into the site and then bounce out again, presumably, to another site, as a high proportion of them do not appear to come back again. Possible explanations – negative and positive, for the form of behaviour are discussed.