Kinematics and kinetics of handcycling propulsion at increasing workloads in able-bodied subjects

In Paralympic sports, biomechanical optimisation of movements and equipment seems to be promising for improving performance. In handcycling, information about the biomechanics of this sport is mainly provided by case studies. The aim of the current study was (1) to examine changes in handcycling propulsion kinematics and kinetics due to increasing workloads and (2) identify parameters that are associated with peak aerobic performance. Twelve non-disabled male competitive triathletes without handcycling experience voluntarily participated in the study. They performed an initial familiarisation protocol and incremental step test until exhaustion in a recumbent racing handcycle that was attached to an ergometer. During the incremental test, tangential crank kinetics, 3D joint kinematics, blood lactate and ratings of perceived exertion (local and global) were identified. As a performance criterion, the maximal power output during the step test (P_max) was calculated and correlated with biomechanical parameters. For higher workloads, an increase in crank torque was observed that was even more pronounced in the pull phase than in the push phase. Furthermore, participants showed an increase in shoulder internal rotation and abduction and a decrease in elbow flexion and retroversion. These changes were negatively correlated with performance. At high workloads, it seems that power output is more limited by the transition from pull to push phase than at low workloads. It is suggested that successful athletes demonstrate small alterations of their kinematic profile due to increasing workloads. Future studies should replicate and expand the test spectrum (sprint and continuous loads) as well as use methods like surface electromyography (sEMG) with elite handcyclists.     

Questions asked at the virtual and physical health sciences reference desk: how do they compare and what do they tell us?

The questions asked at the traditional reference desk are decreasing while questions asked at the virtual reference desk are on the rise. Over a one-month period, the types of reference questions asked at an academic health sciences library were coded. This paper examines and compares the types of questions asked at the current day reference desk versus the virtual reference desk. This paper also reviews past literature examining the types of questions asked via virtual reference and the traditional reference.     

Producing professional interactive multimedia: project management issues

This paper presents a case study of the development of a multimedia training product for broad distribution to middle and senior management as well as university students. It compares anticipated and actual costs of project management and where possible makes comparisons with data from similar projects. An unexpected finding was a greater than twofold overrun on the anticipated costs of project management. The greater part of this overrun was an increased administrative effort required to comply with reporting requirements of the funding body and the joint Venture partnership. The results of this study have implications for producers of interactive multimedia in higher education with regard to realistic costing of project management, which is often an unfunded contribution.     

Creative Data in Business Statistics Courses

This paper discusses an innovative approach for using live data generated through student projects or through experiments using student subjects. This live data set, in which the students have a vested interest, becomes the foundation upon which the learning of the statistical concepts is built.     

Human information seeking: Online searching of bibliographic citation networks

The strategies, heuristics, and tradeoff?s involved in online searching of bibliographic citation networks are discussed. Results from the field of citation analysis are used to describe the mathematical structure of citation networks. An experimental environment called DBASE (Data Base Access and Search Environment) is discussed and its use in two studies of human information seeking behavior considered. Variables examined in these studies included the nature of the search question and the interconnectivity of the data base.