Undergraduate students are required to critically review a journal article or articles related to a topic covered in lecture. The instructor will assign the articles. Students will make an oral presentation to the class on the indicated date (15 minutes or less), and provide a written review of the article on the same day for grading (2 pages). Grade will be based on a combination of the oral presentation (50%) and the written review (50%). The combined grades will dictate 10% of the overall grade for the course.

The oral presentation should be 15 minutes long. Please be ready at the start of the class period. Students may use any combination of blackboard, overhead projector, 35 mm slides, and/or a personal computer to make your presentation. If a 35 mm slide projector is required, students should make arrangements for the equipment through the department. Because the presentation will constitute 50% of the grade, students are expected to give a rehearsed, polished presentation with appropriate visual aides.

The written review should be 2 pages long (single spaced, 3/4" margins). The first paragraph should provide a concise summary of the work performed by the study (please do not plagiarize the abstract from the journal article). The rest of the review should provide a critical analysis of the work. Identify all assumptions made in the article and whether or not you believe they are justified. Identify the good and bad within the experimental and analytical methods used in the study. Identify flaws in technique or reasoning in the Methods, Results and Conclusions, if any. Provide a final paragraph giving your conlusions on the importance of the research topic, the appropriateness of the methods used, and the significance of the results obtained in the study.

Please consult the instructor with any specific questions regarding the article, oral presentation or written review.

Gagliardo - Simon SI, Schmid-Schoenbein GW: Cytoplasmic strains and strain rates in motile polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Biophysics Journal 58:319-332, 1990.

Gentry - Hashima AR, Young AA, McCulloch AD, Waldman LK: Nonhomogeneous analysis of epicardial strain distributions during acute myocardial ischemia in the dog. Journal of Biomechanics, 26:19-25, 1993.

Golper - Kopperdahl DL and Keaveny TM: Yield strain behavior of trabecular bone. J Biomechanics 31:601-608, 1998.

Gradillas - Rubin CT and Lanyon LE: Osteoregulatory nature of mechanical stimuli: Function as a determinant for adaptive remodeling in bone. J Orthop Res 5:300-310, 1987.

Lembo - Keijer K, Grootenboer HJ, Koopman HFJM, van der Linden BJJJ, Huijing PA: A Hill type model of rat medial gastrocnemius muscle that accounts for shortening history effects. J Biomechanics 31:555-563, 1998.

Nakajima - McVeigh E: MRI of myocardial function: Motion tracking techniques. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (review article), In Press, Sept 1995.

Rogers - Sung H-W, Hsu T-L, Hsu T-L, Hsu J-C: Pulmonary artery hemodynamics with varying degrees of valvular stenosis: An in vitro study. J Biomechanics 31:1153-1161, 1998.

Vega - Semmerour SR, Emery JL, Fazeli B, Omens JH, McCulloch AD: Residual strain in ischemic ventricular myocardium. J Biomech Engng 120:710-714, 1998.

AME 466/566 | Classes | Jeff Weiss