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Reforming the products and processes of the IPCC to enhance its relevance
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assesses the scientific knowledge on climate change at five to seven year intervals. Exponential growth of the scientific literature has increased the workload for participants and the length of assessment reports. This paper proposes changes to the IPCC’s products and processes to enable it to better meet the needs of its audiences while reducing the growing burden imposed on authors and other participants.
Open dataset of kinetics, kinematics, and electromyography of above-knee amputees during stand-up and sit-down
After above-knee amputation, the biological knee and ankle are replaced with prostheses. The mobility level of individuals with amputation is related, in part, to the functionality of their prostheses. To understand healthcare needs of amputees, as well as design new, more helpful prostheses, we need to understand the biomechanical effects of using current prosthetic devices. Here we present a dataset of kinetic, kinematic, electromyographic, and video recordings of nine above-knee amputees during the stand-up and sit-down movements. This dataset represents the first repository of amputee biomechanics during stand-up and sit-down with their passive, microprocessor-controlled prostheses, which are still the standard of care after above-knee amputation. The biomechanics were captured using a 12-camera motion capture system with two force plates and four EMG sensors on the intact lower limb. The dataset can serve as a reference when designing next-generation powered prostheses and controllers, to inform prosthetic prescription, and to improve amputee rehabilitation.
Sustaining the planet by sustaining ourselves
The author transitions his career in oncology to one in planetary health. The career pivot begins after he recognizes similarities between the pandemic and the climate crisis. The author determines that stepping away from his role as chair of radiology for a one-year sabbatical is the most efficient way to learn about sustainability. The author explains the process of his sabbatical and offers guidance for those in oncology who are also considering sabbaticals. He concludes by listing five lessons about sustainability and describing his future plans.
Faster implicit motor sequence learning of new sequences compatible in terms of movement transitions
New information that is compatible with pre-existing knowledge can be learned faster. Such schema memory effect has been reported in declarative memory and in explicit motor sequence learning (MSL). Here, we investigated if sequences of key presses that were compatible to previously trained ones, could be learned faster in an implicit MSL task. Participants trained a motor sequence before switching to a completely new sequence, to a compatible sequence with high overlap in ordinal positions, or to an incompatible sequence with low overlap, while the compatible and incompatible sequences had the same overlap in movement transitions. We observed accelerated learning in the Compatible and Incompatible groups compared to the New group, if participants trained for 3 sessions before switching to the altered sequence. Overall, our study suggests facilitative learning of implicit motor sequences that are compatible in movement transitions, if the previous sequence has been trained extensively.
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