Professional skills for physiology majors: defining and refining.

Changing labor markets require a workforce that is broadly trained for a variety of possible careers. Recognizing this, government and industry representatives, along with students and their families, are encouraging universities and colleges to focus more on developing transferable skills to maximize employability of their graduates. In response, academic institutions and professional organizations have begun to develop lists of transferable professional skills that they expect students to have acquired on graduation. At the 2018 Physiology Majors Interest Group (P-MIG) meeting, participants stated that there was a need to define a list of professional skills for undergraduates completing a physiology major. To this end, a professional skills committee was established. Initially members of the committee worked together to develop a draft list of skills. An iterative process of refining the list was then undertaken through presentations/small-group discussions at appropriate international meetings and via an online survey. Over 60 physiology educators, the majority of whom teach in undergraduate programs, provided input. The final list (presented here) consists of 13 skills grouped in four broad categories: think critically, communicate effectively, behave in a socially and scientifically responsible manner, and demonstrate laboratory proficiency. It is anticipated that the list will be used for curriculum mapping and to guide the development of new physiology courses and major programs. The professional skills committee now plans to develop rubrics and tools that will allow for the assessment of these skills.

A virtual experiment improved students' understanding of physiological experimental processes ahead of a live inquiry-based practical class.

Physiology is commonly taught through direct experience and observation of scientific phenomena in "hands-on" practical laboratory classes. The value of such classes is limited by students' lack of understanding of the underlying theoretical concepts and their lack of confidence with the experimental techniques. In our experience, students follow experimental steps as if following a recipe, without giving thought to the underlying theory and the relationship between the experimental procedure and the research hypotheses. To address this issue, and to enhance student learning, we developed an online virtual experiment for students to complete before an inquiry-based practical. The virtual experiment and "live" practical laboratory were an investigation of how autonomic nerves control contractions in the isolated rabbit ileum. We hypothesized that the virtual experiment would support students' understanding of the physiological concepts, as well as the experimental design associated with the practical. Anonymous survey data and usage analytics showed that most students engaged with the virtual experiment. Students thought that it helped them to understand the practical physiological concepts and experimental design, with self-reported time spent on the virtual experiment (and not on lectures or practical class notes) a significant predictor of their understanding. This novel finding provides evidence that virtual experiments can contribute to students' research skills development. Our results indicate that self-paced online virtual experiments are an effective way to enhance student understanding of physiological concepts and experimental processes, allowing for a more realistic experience of the scientific method and a more effective use of time in practical classes.

Using stimulation of the diving reflex in humans to teach integrative physiology.

During underwater submersion, the body responds by conserving O2 and prioritizing blood flow to the brain and heart. These physiological adjustments, which involve the nervous, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems, are known as the diving response and provide an ideal example of integrative physiology. The diving reflex can be stimulated in the practical laboratory setting using breath holding and facial immersion in water. Our undergraduate physiology students complete a laboratory class in which they investigate the effects of stimulating the diving reflex on cardiovascular variables, which are recorded and calculated with a Finapres finger cuff. These variables include heart rate, cardiac output, stroke volume, total peripheral resistance, and arterial pressures (mean, diastolic, and systolic). Components of the diving reflex are stimulated by 1) facial immersion in cold water (15°C), 2) breathing with a snorkel in cold water (15°C), 3) facial immersion in warm water (30°C), and 4) breath holding in air. Statistical analysis of the data generated for each of these four maneuvers allows the students to consider the factors that contribute to the diving response, such as the temperature of the water and the location of the sensory receptors that initiate the response. In addition to providing specific details about the equipment, protocols, and learning outcomes, this report describes how we assess this practical exercise and summarizes some common student misunderstandings of the essential physiological concepts underlying the diving response.

Cardiac nitric oxide: emerging role for nNOS in regulating physiological function.

Emerging evidence shows that neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) plays several diverging roles in modulating cardiac function. This review examines the nitric oxide (NO) pathway and the regulatory mechanisms to which nNOS signalling is sensitive. These mechanisms are diverse and include regulation of gene expression, posttranscriptional regulation, protein trafficking, allosteric modulation of nNOS and redox modification to alter NO bioavailability once synthesised. Functionally, alteration in nNOS-NO signalling in the heart may correlate with different cardiac regulatory states. The idea of this being associated with exercise-trained states and myocardial disease is discussed.

Preserved left ventricular structure and function in mice with cardiac sympathetic hyperinnervation.

Cardiac-specific overexpression of nerve growth factor (NGF), a neurotrophin, leads to sympathetic hyperinnervation of heart. As a consequence, adverse functional changes that occur after chronically enhanced sympathoadrenergic stimulation of heart might develop in this model. However, NGF also facilitates synaptic transmission and norepinephrine uptake, effects that would be expected to restrain such deleterious outcomes. To test this, we examined 5- to 6-mo-old transgenic (TG) mice that overexpress NGF in heart and their wild-type (WT) littermates using echocardiography, invasive catheterization, histology, and catecholamine assays. In TG mice, hypertrophy of the right ventricle was evident (+67%), but the left ventricle was only mildly affected (+17%). Left ventricular (LV) fractional shortening and fractional area change values as indicated by echocardiography were similar between the two groups. Catheterization experiments revealed that LV +/-dP/dt values were comparable between TG and WT mice and responded similarly upon isoproterenol stimulation, which indicates lack of beta-adrenergic receptor dysfunction. Although norepinephrine levels in TG LV tissue were approximately twofold those of WT tissue, TG plasma levels of the neuronal norepinephrine metabolite dihydroxyphenylglycol were fivefold those of WT plasma. A greater neuronal uptake activity was also observed in TG LV tissue. In conclusion, overexpression of NGF in heart leads to sympathetic hyperinnervation that is not associated with detrimental effects on LV performance and is likely due to concomitantly enhanced norepinephrine neuronal uptake.