Golf is an increasingly popular sport and presents fierce competition at the professional level. The Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) Tour is the most prestigious professional men's tour in golf, whereas the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour is the equivalent for women. Among professionals, although women golfers play shorter courses than men, the rules and regulations for men and women are similar. In turn, differing requirements due to anthropometric and physiological sex-based differences may affect variables such as choice of club and playing strategy. Therefore, in our study, we aimed to identify differences in golf performance between men and women and to discuss whether the differences correspond with known physiological and anthropometric sex-based differences. We conducted a natural experiment, using publicly available data, comparing world class men and women golfers' performances on their respective tours. Performance and course data were collected on all 50 PGA and 32 LPGA Tournaments in the 2021-2022 season and differences between the tours were identified. The lengths of the courses and holes on the LPGA Tour were approximately 90% of those on the PGA Tour. Overall, women had better driving accuracy than men but scored fewer eagles and rounds in the 60s. Anthropometric and physiological differences likely contribute to women's adapted movement strategies during the swing and cause them to choose playing strategies that men do not, primarily in driving and approach shots. Altogether, our results suggest that women's golf courses are likely not sufficiently scaled according to anthropometry or physiology. Thus, golf remains more demanding for women, which may, at least partly, explain their differences in performance compared with men.
This study explores faculty members' perceptions in tourism education programs regarding the use of digital technologies to enhance English language proficiency among learners preparing for careers as tourist guides. The study sample consisted of sixty-five instructors from tourist guide training institutions. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The research instrument was developed with reference to English for Specific Purposes (ESP) frameworks to ensure alignment with the linguistic and professional demands of the tourism sector. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify prevailing pedagogical approaches and patterns of technological integration. The findings reveal that faculty members recognized the value of incorporating advanced digital tools, such as simulations, virtual tours, digital assessments, and interactive platforms, into language instruction. These tools were perceived by participants to support learners' fluency, context-specific vocabulary, self-confidence, and motivation. Moreover, participants perceived the shift to digital methodologies as improving instructional relevance and better aligning educational experiences with industry expectations, potentially increasing students' preparedness for real-world interactions. The study concludes by emphasizing the need for targeted professional development to equip instructors with the digital competencies required for effective English instruction in tourism contexts.
Educational tours in radiopharmaceutical production facilities are often considered difficult to implement because of strict safety regulations, confidentiality requirements, and operational constraints. However, when appropriately designed, such tours can function as structured educational activities rather than simple facility visits. Here, we describe the design and implementation of educational tours conducted in a hospital-based radiopharmaceutical production facility, with particular emphasis on training radiologic technology students and early-career technologists. A notable feature of these tours was that explanations and guidance were provided primarily by radiologic technologists who had been trained through routine 18F-FDG production activities, allowing participants to observe professional role development in a clinical setting. Rather than providing unrestricted access, the tours were intentionally structured to highlight decision-making processes, safety management, and interprofessional collaboration. Qualitative observations indicated that participants' questions shifted from generalized concerns about radiation risk toward a more operational understanding of radiopharmaceutical production and professional responsibility. These findings suggest that well-designed facility tours can serve as an effective educational framework for nuclear medicine technology training while maintaining safety and confidentiality.
This study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of voice disorders among professional tour guides working in the Cappadocia region of Türkiye, a globally renowned tourism destination with high tourist density. A cross-sectional quantitative design was employed. Eighty-five licensed tour guides (41 females, 44 males; mean age = 42.9 ± 12.2 years) participated by completing an online self-report questionnaire developed for the Cappadocia context. The 61-item survey assessed demographics, vocal symptoms, phonotraumatic behaviors, occupational, lifestyle, and health-related risk factors. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and logistic regression analyses were conducted using SPSS 27. Voice problems were reported by 42.4% of guides during their careers (95% CI: 32.4-53.0) and 16.5% currently (95% CI: 10.1-25.8), while 23.5% experienced aphonia at least once annually (95% CI: 15.8-33.6). The most prevalent symptoms were throat dryness (77.6%), vocal fatigue (65.9%), and hoarseness (56.5%). Speaking loudly and continuing to talk despite voice problems were significantly associated with vocal complaints (p = .039 and p < .001, respectively). Environmental and health factors, including guiding noisy groups, long tour durations, and ear-nose-throat (ENT)-related conditions (sinus and other ENT disorders), increased the likelihood of voice problems. Logistic regression identified ENT disorders as an independent predictor (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 6.12, 95% CI: 1.33-28.17, p = .020). Voice disorders are common among Cappadocia tour guides and are associated with both occupational and health-related factors. These findings suggest that implementing voice hygiene education, ergonomic adaptations, and occupational health monitoring may help reduce risk and support vocal sustainability in this professional group.
Six active packaging films were prepared by melt-compounding Ti/boehmite, Zn/zeolite, and tourmaline into low-density polyethylene via masterbatch (15 wt% loading). Postharvest quality of Ecuador-, Jeju-, and Mexico-origin bananas was evaluated under sealed and perforated conditions using browning index, pulp-to-peel (P/P) ratio, and Δ°Brix. Despite high filler content, films retained adequate mechanical integrity (tensile strength 27.7 MPa; elongation 244%). Under sealed storage, zeolite-blended formulations consistently showed the lowest browning: Tour+ZL recorded 3.48% (Ecuador, day 13) and 2.99% (Jeju, day 15); T/BM+ZL recorded 5.12% and 5.22%, respectively. The single-component T/BM film showed browning comparable to or exceeding the control. Tour+ZL also maintained the lowest terminal P/P ratio for Jeju bananas (28.99%) with no decrease throughout storage, indicating superior peel moisture retention. For Mexico-origin bananas, all films failed to retard browning after day 8 regardless of composition, demonstrating that packaging efficacy is strongly origin-dependent and must be matched to commodity postharvest history rather than applied universally. Perforated packaging extended the monitorable shelf life by 6-8 days but diminished inter-film differences. Tour+ZL was identified as the lead candidate for controlled validation trials, and a cross-validated framework combining browning index with P/P ratio is proposed to detect overripening.
This study investigated how guided tours to historical and religious environments, specifically the archaeological site of Aquileia and the Benedictine Abbey of Praglia, both located in north-eastern Italy can influence perceived restorativeness and emotional responses (valence and arousal). A total of 149 participants completed questionnaires before and after a 45-min guided tour, assessing demographic variables, religiosity, connectedness to nature, emotional responses, perceived stress over the last month, and restorativeness. Results revealed that emotional valence increased from pre- to post-visit at both sites, while arousal remained stable at Praglia, but increased at Aquileia. Restorativeness was positively predicted by the significance attributed to the visit, particularly regarding artistic, cultural, and historical values (Praglia and Aquileia), along with individual differences such as connectedness to nature (Aquileia) and perceived stress (Praglia). Overall, visits to religious and historical sites in natural settings enhanced positive emotions, with site-specific differences in arousal. Perceived restorativeness was associated not only with the cultural and historical significance attributed to the visit but also with individual factors such as connectedness to nature and stress levels. These results highlight the role of both contextual meaning and personal characteristics in shaping restorative experiences, offering practical implications for designing guided tours that maximize psychological benefits.
Professional cycling in Grand Tours involves varied stage types and rider roles, but intra-stage workload dynamics remain underexplored. Observational study of 36 male professional cyclists in the 2020 Vuelta a España, categorized as climbers (n = 13), all-rounders (n = 13), and flat specialists (n = 10). Power meter data from 17 stages (3 flat, 9 semi-mountainous, 5 mountain) were analyzed using principal component analysis and mixed models to assess changes across stage progression (0%-100%). Climbers showed high initial high-intensity power in mountain stages, decreasing by 40.70 W per 10%, with average power increasing by 8.45 W per 10%. All-rounders' average power increased by 0.25 W per 10% in mountain, 0.03 W in semi-mountainous, and 10.40 W in flat stages. Flat specialists' average power increased by 0.26 W in mountain, decreased by 0.04 W in semi-mountainous, and increased by 9.29 W in flat stages. Mountain stages had high initial intensity with efficiency rising by 0.02 per 10%; semi-mountainous stages showed mixed patterns; flat stages had power increases of 9.29-10.40 W per 10%. Workload varies by role and stage, offering insights for targeted training and tactics in Grand Tours.
Secure dissemination of high-resolution satellite imagery remains challenging because many image-tailored ciphers either (i) emphasize permutation-heavy designs without sufficiently strong, plaintext-adaptive nonlinearity, or (ii) provide strong security metrics but fall short on scalable, near-real-time performance and robustness assessment under realistic channel impairments. To address these gaps, this work proposes a three-stage chaos-chess hybrid encryption pipeline for color satellite images that couples fractional-order hyperchaotic key generation with lightweight algebraic mixing, dynamic substitution, and structured bit-level diffusion. First, multiple images are optionally augmented and each RGB channel is partitioned into [Formula: see text] pixel matrices that are mixed via invertible matrices derived from a 6D fractional-order hyperchaotic Vaidyanathan system, providing efficient confusion suitable for parallelization. Second, plaintext-sensitive S-boxes are constructed online from a 4D fractional-order hyperchaotic system and applied per channel to enhance nonlinearity and satisfy stringent criteria (NL [Formula: see text], SAC [Formula: see text], low LAP and DAP). Third, the resulting bit-streams are diffused by traversing [Formula: see text] blocks using Knight's Tour paths and XORing with 4D hyperchaotic key-streams to amplify avalanche propagation. Experiments on satellite and natural images demonstrate high ciphertext randomness (entropy [Formula: see text]), strong differential resistance (NPCR [Formula: see text], UACI [Formula: see text]), near-zero adjacent-pixel correlation (PCC [Formula: see text]), and a large key space ([Formula: see text]), while measured runtimes indicate suitability for real-time or near-real-time operation. Noise-like ciphertexts and lossless recovery are verified via visual, histogram, and DFT analyses, and robustness under occlusion and noise attacks (salt-and-pepper, Gaussian) is evidenced. The resulting modular design provides a scalable pathway for protecting remote sensing data and supports future integration with ROI-aware processing and hardware acceleration.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, type and level of spin in studies comparing open and arthroscopic Latarjet procedures for anterior shoulder instability. A systematic review was conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. PubMed was searched for comparative studies published in the last 20 years addressing open and arthroscopic Latarjet procedures. Eligible articles were screened and assessed independently by two reviewers. Spin was classified into three categories-misleading reporting, misleading interpretation and inadequate extrapolation-and graded as low, moderate or high. Of the 25 included studies, 80% exhibited at least one type of spin. The most common types were selective reporting (48%), lack of discussion of limitations (20%) and claims of significant differences without statistical testing (20%). Studies with high levels of spin had a spin ratio of 1.64, while those with moderate levels had a ratio of 2.00-both higher than the 1.00 ratio observed in studies with low-level spin. Studies with level of evidence IV showed a higher spin ratio per study. Additionally, spin was present regardless of conflict-of-interest declarations or funding disclosure. Spin is prevalent in the literature comparing open and arthroscopic Latarjet procedures, with moderate to high levels of spin more common than low. These findings highlight the importance of transparent reporting and careful interpretation of comparative surgical literature. Level IV, systematic review of Levels II-IV studies.
Amid declining manta ray populations globally, the well-established and growing manta ray tourism industries generate substantial economic benefits and aid protective legislation for these threatened elasmobranchs. As flagship species, manta rays are a drawcard for marine wildlife tourism and a gateway for engaging the public and communities in conservation. Healthy marine ecosystems are the key drivers of employment and economic sustainability for island nations such as the Maldives. However, there are many stakeholders competing for these shared resources, which can result in environmental degradation. Economic valuations are a powerful tool for justifying the conservation efforts of threatened species and natural areas, especially in light of competing stakeholders. Using tour operator surveys (n = 106) and data mining, this study provides an updated assessment of manta ray watching tourism in the Maldives and represents the first national valuation of its direct economic and socio-economic benefits. In 2021, manta ray tourism in the Maldives generated an estimated US$227.3 million, including US$39 million on manta ray focused diving and snorkelling excursions, and US$188.3 million in related tourist expenditure, representing 2.6% of the national Gross Domestic Product. This industry appears to have grown around 380% since 2008 (US$8.1 million) and manta ray watching is now offered by 80% of tourism operators nation-wide. Our findings revealed that manta rays hold intrinsic value and cultural significance within local communities. Acknowledging this, the flow-on benefits to the community extend beyond this industry, reaching local businesses, employed staff, and the government with the direct economic benefits of the manta ray tourism industry are estimated at over US$311 million per year. Such value highlights the significance of manta rays for the Maldives and the need for effective management centred on manta ray conservation to safeguard future prosperity and mitigate the potential impact of tourism on manta ray populations.
Supraclavicular fossa (SCF) irradiation is integral to adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) for node-positive breast cancer. Due to anatomical proximity, the thyroid gland is frequently exposed, leading to hypothyroidism in approximately 20-40% of long-term survivors. Despite robust dose-response evidence, thyroid management remains inconsistent and breast cancer-specific dose guidance is lacking. This nationwide survey evaluated current practice patterns regarding thyroid delineation, SCF contouring, and thyroid dose guidance during elective SCF irradiation in Switzerland. A structured electronic questionnaire was distributed between May and November 2025 to all 30 Swiss radiation oncology centers treating breast cancer. Institutional characteristics, thyroid contouring practices, SCF target delineation, and applied thyroid dose guidance were assessed. Analyses were descriptive only. Thirty-three responses from 25 of 30 centers (83%), including all university hospitals, were analyzed. Modern RT techniques were widely implemented (VMAT 79%, IMRT 15%). Routine thyroid contouring was reported by 91% of respondents, of which 94% used AI-assisted tools. However, only 55% applied explicit thyroid dose guidance. Reported mean thyroid dose (Dmean) thresholds ranged from 12 to 35 Gy and clustered at 13.5-15 Gy, 20-21 Gy, and 30-32 Gy. Excluding ALARA ("as low as reasonably achievable") responses, the median Dmean guidance was 21 Gy (IQR 16-30 Gy). SCF delineation varied substantially, particularly regarding superior and medial margins, and 64% reported CTV/PTV cropping to reduce thyroid dose. Despite strong dose-response evidence and widespread availability of advanced RT techniques, thyroid protection during elective SCF irradiation remains inconsistently implemented. These findings reveal a gap between evidence and practice and support the development of harmonized, breast cancer-specific recommendations, including routine thyroid delineation, anatomy-based SCF contouring, and explicit, oncologically safe dose guidance-particularly Dmean targets of ≤ 13.5 Gy, with ≤20-21 Gy as a pragmatic upper limit-to reduce radiation-induced hypothyroidism without compromising cancer control.
Use of virtual reality (VR) is increasing in education. A VR and simulation field trip was developed, allowing students to experience a walkthrough of a sterile pharmaceutical manufacture site using three modalities: a VR headset with 3D static tour, 2D static desktop tour and a 360° dynamic video tour. This study aims to understand student opinions, assess usability of the modalities used and investigate potential for a simulation to replace physical site visits. Data from undergraduate pharmacy and postgraduate pharmaceutical science students was gathered through an online survey. A system usability scale (SUS) score was calculated for each modality. Responses were coded and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and open-text responses were analysed using conventional content analysis. Data was collected from 82.3% (n = 79) of students who participated in the virtual field trip. Most students (97.4%, n = 76) across both courses were either extremely satisfied or satisfied with the session. Almost two thirds of students (64.9%, n = 50) ranked VR walkthrough highest, followed by 360° video walkthrough (19.5%, n = 15) and desktop walkthrough (15.6%, n = 12). Two out of three students (66.7%, n = 12) with previous on-site experience agreed the virtual field trip could replace a physical site visit. Open-text responses revealed advantages and drawbacks versus physical visits. All modalities displayed acceptable usability. Most students (91.0%, n = 71) would welcome wider use of VR and simulation in their course. Positive results obtained highlight potential for greater implementation of VR and simulation to support teaching of sterile manufacturing and increase student accessibility to manufacturing sites.
A healthy clinical environment enhances nursing students' learning, safety, recruitment, and caring skills. To reduce first-day stress and promote students' sense of belonging, an intentional orientation program was developed and piloted in eight inpatient units with several schools of nursing. The 3T approach - tour, talk, touch - involved a comprehensive unit tour, patient communication, and hands-on care. Feedback from 25 students showed increased confidence and sense of belonging after the intervention, highlighting informative tours, supportive preceptors, and practical communication as main benefits. The initiative provides an example of a successful orientation that builds student belonging, self-efficacy, and collaboration.
Background Radiation oncology (RO) plays a critical role in the multidisciplinary care of cancer patients. As an integral component of comprehensive oncologic care, medical students should have meaningful exposure to the field to develop a foundational understanding of radiation medicine concepts. Because physicians across nearly all specialties encounter patients with cancer, a basic understanding of radiation therapy is essential for delivering high-quality, patient-centered care. Methods A single-institution open house was conducted for local medical students with the goal of increasing awareness and knowledge of RO. The event included lectures describing an overview of RO and residency training, as well as technical considerations such as common RO indications and radiation treatment planning and delivery modalities. This was followed by a department tour to see and learn about RO treatment machines, including linear accelerators, proton therapy gantries, a CT simulator, and a brachytherapy afterloader device, as well as an interactive question-and-answer session. Participants were invited to complete an anonymous post-event survey consisting of six pre-/post-comparison questions (Likert scale: 1 = Not at all familiar to 5 = Very familiar), five questions regarding the impact of the open house, and general feedback. Survey items evaluated baseline exposure to RO, familiarity with the role of the radiation oncologist and aspects of the field, comfort asking questions, and interest in further exposure. Results Fifteen students attended the open house, and 12 completed the survey: nine (75%) MS1, one (8.3%) MS2, and two (16.7%) MS3. Baseline familiarity with RO was low (mean 2.5), with seven (58.3%) reporting no or minimal familiarity and six (50%) indicating no prior exposure. Following the open house, understanding of the role of a radiation oncologist improved (mean 2.3-4.1), as did knowledge of clinical indications (2.1-3.5), treatment planning (2.0-3.9), the multidisciplinary nature of care (2.8-3.8), and radiation therapy delivery modalities (1.8-3.8). Participants reported increased understanding of the specialty (mean 4.7), awareness of technology (4.6), comfort asking questions (4.6), and interest in RO (4.3). All respondents expressed motivation to pursue additional exposure, with the highest interest in clinical shadowing (100%), research opportunities (91.6%), and mentorship or career advising (91.6%). Favorable highlights of the event were the departmental tour and question-and-answer session. Conclusions A structured open house notably improved medical students' understanding, awareness, and interest in RO. This event represents a feasible, scalable approach to early medical student engagement. This approach can be reproduced in other RO departments to enhance medical student engagement, knowledge, and continued engagement with the specialty.
Body donor dissection is fundamental to medical education but often induces anxiety and emotional distress in students, potentially impacting learning outcomes and well-being. Traditional preparation methods emphasize technical and procedural elements while inadequately addressing students' emotional challenges. Recent advances in educational technology, particularly 360° video-based virtual reality (VR), may enhance students' emotional readiness by providing immersive previews of dissection environments. However, the application of this technology specifically for emotional preparation for body donor dissection remains largely unexplored. This study aimed to develop and evaluate a 360° video-based VR application designed to enhance medical students' emotional preparedness for their first body donor dissection experience. A randomized controlled longitudinal study was conducted with 43 first-year medical students (26/43, 60.5% female, mean age 20.9, SD 0.57 years) at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar in Fall 2025. Participants completed a baseline survey including the 40-item State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and were randomly assigned to intervention (n=22) or control (n=21) groups using computer-generated permuted block randomization. Before their first dissection session, the intervention group viewed a custom-designed 360° video-based VR experience that featured a virtual tour of the anatomy laboratory and a simulated first encounter with a body donor. The control group received no intervention. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory surveys were administered at baseline (survey 1, all participants), post-VR intervention (survey 2, intervention group only), and postfirst dissection (survey 3, all participants). A follow-up perception survey (survey 4) was administered to the intervention group 1 week into the dissection course. Data were analyzed using 2-tailed paired-samples and independent-samples t tests, with qualitative responses analyzed using artificial intelligence-assisted thematic analysis. The intervention group demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in trait anxiety (TA) immediately following the VR experience (mean difference 2.32, SD 4.95; t21=2.20; P=.04), while the reduction in state anxiety (SA) was not significant (mean difference 2.41, SD 8.55; t21=1.32; P=.20). No significant differences in SA or TA were found between intervention and control groups immediately before the first dissection session (SA: t41=0.03; P=.98 and TA: t41=0.70; P=.49) or in anxiety trajectories from baseline to postdissection (SA: t32=0.85; P=.41 and TA: t32=0.46; P=.65). Female students reported higher baseline TA compared to normative college populations (45.42 vs 40.40; mean difference 5.02, SD 7.72; t25=3.32; P=.003). Qualitative analysis revealed positive perceptions, with 91% (10/11) reporting clear content and 82% (9/11) recommending it to future cohorts. Key perceived benefits included environmental familiarization, procedural understanding, and psychological preparation. The 360° video-based VR intervention significantly reduced TA and was perceived as valuable for emotional and procedural preparation. The intervention shows promise as a preparatory tool for enhancing emotional and procedural readiness; however, its impact on objective educational outcomes was not assessed and warrants further investigation.
The rapid and sensitive detection of cancer biomarkers is paramount for early oncological diagnostics and therapeutic monitoring. However, traditional graphene functionalization methods often involve a hazardous, multistep process that compromises material integrity. Addressing this critical bottleneck, we present an efficient, one-pot Leuckart reaction strategy to synthesize amine-functionalized reduced graphene oxide as a transformative electrochemical immunosensing screen-printed electrode (SPEs) platform. By availing highly functionalized graphene oxide (GO) from expanded graphite via the modified Tour's method, we achieved an exceptional nitrogen content of 7.6%, enabling a densely populated reactive amine interface for bioconjugation. This nanomaterial exhibits superior electrochemical properties, dramatically reducing the charge-transfer resistance (Rct) to 3.58 ± 0.55 kΩ, validated through rigorous electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) testing modeled with a modified Randles circuit. To translate this material into a practical diagnostic tool, we employed a scalable airbrush-spray deposition technique onto a commercial gold screen-printed electrodes. This approach circumvents the inconsistencies of traditional drop-casting, laying the ground for robust covalent immobilization of anti-CEA antibodies via EDC-NHS chemistry. Thus, the resulting label-free immunosensor was meticulously evaluated using electrochemical techniques for detecting carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), a vital biomarker for colorectal and lung carcinomas. Analytical performance revealed an outstanding sensitivity of 108.42 μA · decade-1 · cm-2 with an LOD of 0.00375 ng mL-1 and an LOQ of 0.00598 ng mL-1 operating within the broad linear dynamic range from 0.051 to 51.2 ng mL-1, covering both healthy and pathophysiological states. Moreover, its storage stability demonstrates the statistically significant current response for the period of ~20 days and retains 62.5% of its activity after 50 days. Additionally, the platform demonstrates a scalable and clinically translatable paradigm for next-generation point-of-care (POC) oncological diagnostics and paves the way for varied antigen-based assay upgrades by improving healthcare outcomes globally.
Resident doctors frequently report feeling underprepared when commencing general medical on-call duties. This is important as poor preparedness contributes to anxiety, inefficiency, and potential risks to patient safety. It has been found that preparedness is strongly influenced by the quality of local induction. This quality improvement project aimed to improve resident doctors' self-reported preparedness for their first general medical on-call shift at Salford Royal Hospital through the introduction of structured induction resources. Two Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles were undertaken between October 2024 and March 2025. Preparedness was assessed using questionnaires distributed to FY1 to ST7 grades before and after interventions. The first comprised an optional in-person hospital tour, and the second involved the development and dissemination of a structured induction booklet addressing on-call roles, escalation pathways, handover arrangements, and hospital logistics. At baseline, four of 31 doctors (12.9%) reported feeling prepared for their first on‑call shift. PDSA cycle 1 had minimal impact due to low uptake and was not felt relevant to the group of doctors rotating. However, following the introduction of the induction booklet in PDSA cycle 2, 18 of 30 doctors (60%) reported feeling prepared (p<0.001). Improvements were also seen in the understanding of on‑call roles, the acute medical take, and escalation processes. However, hospital orientation remained suboptimal. Structured induction resources improve resident doctors' perceived preparedness for general medical on-call duties. While written induction materials are low-cost and scalable, our findings suggest that a variety of structured induction materials are required to ensure adequate preparation. Furthermore, ensuring induction materials within a timely manner is crucial and an area for further improvement. This project did not assess clinical outcomes, but it is of interest whether improving preparedness improves clinical performance.
Despite golf's Olympic reinstatement, quantitative research on elite female Olympic golfers remains scarce, with most studies focusing on tour or amateur players. This study aimed to quantify relationships between single-round strokes and 13 performance indicators among top 10 2024 Paris Olympic female golfers (including ties), identify key predictors, and build a predictive model using correlation analysis, principal component analysis (PCA) and LASSO regression with leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) and bootstrap validation to address overfitting concerns inherent to small-sample analyses. Results showed single-round strokes correlated negatively with GIR (r = -0.484), SG: Putting (r = -0.567) (both p < 0.01) and positively with Putt-Total (r = 0.582, p < 0.01). PCA extracted five principal components explaining 77.94% of total variance, representing distinct performance constructs. LASSO regression identified seven stable predictors (bootstrap selection frequency ≥ 90%): Greens in Regulation (100%), Putt-Total (99%), SG: Approach the Green (98%), SG: Around the Green (97%), SG: Putting (94%), SG: Off the Tee (92%), and Scrambling (88%). Model performance yielded an adjusted R² of 0.928 with cross-validated MSE of 0.528 based on 48 rounds from 12 golfers, though external validation is warranted. This study fills Olympic golf research gaps, providing evidence for targeted training and tournament strategy optimization.
We present a tour de force of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations involving the coordinated effort of 14 research groups of the Ascona B-DNA Consortium (ABC). This initiative provides a complete characterization of the 2080 DNA hexamers embedded in 190 carefully selected 20-mer duplexes, each simulated in replicate for at least 10 microseconds in explicit solvent. The consortium generates 0.25 petabytes of data, capturing millisecond-scale ensembles at the oligomer level and dynamics up to 10-1 seconds at the base-pair level. Analysis yields a comprehensive description of sequence-dependent DNA properties, including rare events such as backbone transitions, reversible base-pair changes, and partial unfolding. Processing these atomistic ensembles reveals a hidden physical code of DNA, helping explain rules of genome composition and evolution beyond coding regions. This community effort delivers unprecedented, validated FAIR data to support coarse-grained and AI models of DNA at cellular scale.
Introduction: Many undergraduate women (UW) engaged in less exercise during the pandemic due to low support and confidence. This 6-week peer-mentorship program (PMP), based on Self-Determination Theory, tested whether mentor pairing improved motivation, well-being, and exercise engagement. Method: Canadian UW were randomized to intervention or control groups. All received a campus tour, exercise guide, and encouragement to exercise triweekly; trained student mentors provided intervention participant support. Validated surveys measured psychological outcomes and involvement experiences were assessed qualitatively. Results: Data for 26 UW were analyzed. Interaction effects were observed for the PMP autonomy and competence, while relatedness, external, identified, and integrated regulation, depression, anxiety, and stress improved across time. Qualitatively, between-group differences were observed as participants with mentors valued their support, while those without expressed a desire for more peer mentorship. Conclusion: The PMP enhanced comfort and skills, key drivers of motivation, underscoring the importance of empowering participants to sustain engagement.