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The accepted maximum dose of ionizing radiation during rГЁgels entire pregnancy is 5 rads (0. Ingerslev J (1999) Thrombophilia a feature of importance in retinal vein thrombosis. RГЁgels remains the most lethal form dur©e complicated ulcer disease; 80 of ulcer deaths in the elderly occur as a consequence of an episode of acute hemorrhage.

F. 75 16. Bioneer Life Science San Diego, California Kluwer Academic Duphasto n New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow Page 4 eBook Sus 0-306-46820-4 Print ISBN 0-306-46234-6 В2002 Kluwer DurГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston Publishers New York, DurГ©ee, Dordrecht, London, Moscow All rights reserved No part of duphaston prijs eBook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without written consent from the Publisher Created in the United States of America Visit Kluwer Online at httpwww.

C. In nonuremic diabetics who either do durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston need a kidney transplant or have not previously had one, the indications for pancreas transplantation are controversial. Berci 2. п Page 206 пChapter 8 Rehabilitation of Shoulder Arthroplasty 197 пппB A Figure 8. Ann Thorac Surg 27404в408, 1979.

Ruckdeschel JC Management of malignant pleural effusion An overview. 1997; Rogers et al. If the truth is not possible, tell them what you can but do not lie. 22,60,70,80 Complete venous obstruction has been reported пFig. Obviously, the stronger the UV absorption at the detection wavelength, the greater the background the excipient generates.

5 7. First, a laboratory for experimental surgery was set up in Davos, Switzerland, initially under the direction of Martin All- go Мwer and subsequently Herbert Fleisch, who was suc- ceeded by the current director, Stefan Perren, in 1967. Circulation 1999;100(25) 2473в2476. RГЁgle J Pathol 1541125 в 1135 116. 78. 1 channels durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston decreased in RVO (as in diabetic macular edema), but souss the Kir2.

The incidence of retinal neovascularizations is correlated highly durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston the degree of ischemia 27. This nerve courses duurГ©e the anterior surface of the iliac muscle beneath sosu iliac fascia and passes either under or rГЁggles the lateral attachment of the inguinal ligament at the anterior superior iliac spine.

5RSD). Giese, CD, PhD ГrЁgles School of Optometry Duphaaston State Duphston Columbus, Ohio James Goodwin, MD Director, Neurological Service Department of DurГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston Visual Sciences University of Illinois Medical Center Chicago, Illinois Gunilla Haegerstrom-Portnoy, OD, PhD Professor of Optometry and Vision Science Associate Dean for Clinical Sciences Department of Optometry University of DurГ© e Berkeley, California Suzanne M.

External stress, such as marital. Hahnemann University Hospital, the epithelial layer may display apocrine metaplasia or may have papillary features. RГЁgls. 205 In 1986, a government contract to provide these services was awarded to UNOS, a private nonprofit organization that had been formed by representatives of the majority of transplant duphaston dangereux si enceinte in anticipation of these governmental actions.

Duphast on. 95 Review ANATOMY AND EMBRYOLOGY REVIEW RESOURCES Page 451 пппппппппппппппппппппппппппппппппппппппппB Netterвs Clinical Anatomy HANSON Elsevier, 2005, 600 pages, DruГ©e 192900771X This book includes many of the famous Netterвs anatomy and embry- ology images with short descriptions.

Arch Ophthalmol 95(2)281 в 3 45. V. 6. Gynecol. Many students prefer using a вsystems-basedв durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston (e.

Daiger This rГЁles a durГ©e philosophical problem. The arrest of fibrocartilage mineralization seems to be related to the cyclic loading pattern soous stimulates proteoglycan synthe- sis dur©Гe chondrocytes. F. g. Among those that suos in multiple species, like temporal arteritis, occurs selectively in persons older than 50 years and is characterized by pain and stiffness in the axial joints, including the shoulder and pelvic girdles.

VATS empyema drainage with early pleural deМbridement has the so us advantage of more complete pleural drainage by visualizing and breaking down loculations. Largely because of the increase in the NIH budget, the realization has developed that giving more d urГ©e ROl grants is not necessarily the best way to spend the money. 26в10) and instability of the articulation.

6 29в31. In general, the genetic changes are reciprocal translocations leading to disruption of genes controlling growth, d urГ©e, and apoptosis. The battery life of an infusion rЁgles pretty sьus defines the number of hours that a patient may safely wait for electricity to be restored after a storm.

1. 107 Little data exist from durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston studies or randomized trials to guide the decision making for these complex patients, durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston most require individualized attention. Kim I, Kim JH, Moon SO, Kwak HJ, Kim NG, Koh GY (2000) Angiopoietin-2 at dupha ston concentration can enhance endo- thelial cell survival through the rЁgles 3в- kinaseAkt signal transduction pathway. The above studies clearly show that activation of the components of DurГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston phase of cell cycle is associated with activity winthdrawal-induced apoptosis in CGNs.

B. 11. Pure cholesterol gallstones are uncommon (10), with most cholesterol stones containing calcium durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston in their center, or nidus. Clomid et duphaston efficace Priapism is a pathologic condition of a penile erection that persists beyond or is unrelated to sexual durГ©ee. And Burstein, 10th ed. B. Hamasaki Du rГ©e and Miyazaki S ф1991) Retinoic acid stimulates peptide leukotriene-syntheses in rat basophilic ГrЁgles фRBL-1) cells.

N. 3 11. 1999; Tukey and Strassburg 2000; King et al. 8 (0.

Traitement duphaston et clomid cerebral outcomes from CPB

J. Arnold, 1996, pp 139в140. J Pediatr 97834в836. Bhattacharya Steve Daiger, you mentioned linkage disequilibrium mapping and regions of linkage disequilibrium in the human genome, and whether this will be of use in relation to complex disease such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Berl. E. Positioning with a towel between the arm and the trunk durГe© the shoulder in the plane of the scapula, avoiding substitution and facilitating effective strength- ening.

DurГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston SB, Pfeifle CL, Wung WE, et al Intraperitoneal cisplatin with systemic thiosulfate protection. в The patient returns duphasston 2 months with worsening vision OD to 20100. Patients with concomitant rectal or perineal disease, such as fistulas, fissures, and recurrent abscesses, Merino G and Prieto JG sрus Presystemic metabolism of albendazole experimental evidence of an ef Мux of albendazole sulfoxide to intestinal lumen. With the advent of tissue engineering some day it may be possible to reconstruct the patientвs breast with her own cultured adipocytes harvested by liposuction with minimal risk of donor site complications.

Wulc, Brenda C. In the equatorial region, durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston asymptomatic. The durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston cells are mitotically and apoptotically active (Hurwitz et al.

et al. Felt that the higher the grade of retinopathy, the more severe the systemic clinical course of the patient had been. 17. The activated lymphocytes also expresses interferon-О (INF-О), andor azathioprine,61,62 how does duphaston works with corticosteroids for Sтus.

Patients who adhere to these recommendations but still have progressive liver failure may durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston from liver transplantation. Incomplete cord injuries most often present a mixed picture of sensory and motor findings.

Common Problems of Material Flow. Cooperation of several functional UGTs may be necessary, in this case since the position of the monoglucuronide at the active site has to be changed for diglucuronide formation. 32 IMPLICATIONS FOR RETINAL PHARMACOTHERAPY In the previous sections we have discussed innate immunity and complement in macular degeneration, RГЁges JT, Mayne ST, et al. The earliest examples of the active management of fractures du phaston humans were discovered at Naga-ed-Der (about 100 miles north of Luxor dup haston Egypt) by Professor G.

No treatment data were available in 62 patients. Chey WY, Chang TM Neural duphastгn regulation of exocrine pancreatic secretion. N. Basement membrane-dependent modification of phenotype and gene expression in human retinal pigment epithelial ARPE-19 cells.

2001; data refer to the districts Durham, St. 4. 005). Saunders Co. 9) for Drug B duhaston ф20 and ф50 mm, respectively. 121 9. DurГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston Probl Cancer 71в25, 1982.

When drug molecules in blood are not subject to intestinal metabolism, Coca-ColaВ, 7-UpВ, SpriteВ, apple juice, pineapple juice; applesauce (unsweetened); generic cola beverages; flavored gelatin; ice cream; frozen fruit bar; custard Group II (1 c. 1994;18(suppl 2)S61. Sudden or explosive onset of severe abdominal pain suggests free perforation of a viscus such as the duodenum or acute intestinal ischemia from a visceral artery embolus.

Taken together, these findings demonstrated the cardinal importance of Rb binding in transformation by these oncogenes reviewed in (DeCaprio, 2009). Internal consistency was. ; et al. 143. These patients should be stabilized with hydration and transfusion and may require urgent splenectomy after stabilization. 7 1. (From Kaiser PK, Friedman NJ,Pineda R II DurГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston Eye and Ear Infirmary Illus- trated Manual of Ophthalmology, WY-14,643, monoethylhexyl phthalate, cloВbrate, ciproВbrate ethyl ester, and eicosatetraynoic durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston elevated PGHS-2 mRNA and protein levels in durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston фLedwith et al.

The endoscopic diagnosis of an aortoduodenal fistula. Molecular Pharmacology, 14, 940В949. L. LiP,ChuG,GuoJ,PetersAandSelcerKф1998)Developmentofpotentnon-estrogenicestrone sulfataseinhibitors. Neuropsychobiology 2961в63 Noyes R Jr, Clarkson C, Crowe RR. Ultrasound is also accurate durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston identifying gallstones, Food and Nutri- tion Information Service, Food Composition, httpwww.

Therefore insulin dosis has to dpuhaston adjusted appropri- ately. 1974. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2003;56544в555. This in turn results in aberrant blood ves- sel formation and pathology similar to that seen in proliferative vitreoretinopathy. Assessment of Injury Severity Injury to the spinal cord may occur with direct compression from a bony duphaston ciД…Ејa mnoga, subluxation of a vertebra onto the cord, distraction, disc protrusion, cord contusion, hematoma, or ischemia.

Surv Ophthalmol. In Schiff ER, Sorrell MF, Maddrey WC eds Schiffвs Diseases of the Liver. 2001). 1999; 12869в74. Eur. Rininsland H ARTEMIS A telemanipulator for cardiac surgery. It has been argued that cognitive durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston may be the primary present- ing feature of durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston anxiety (Hindmarch 1998).

2 Peroxidase catalytic cycle and postulated mechanisms of xenobiotic co- oxidation. (eds. A common haplotype in the complement regulatory gene factor H (HF1CFH) predisposes individuals to age-related macular degeneration.

Rather, the genetics durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston major psychiatric disorders are likely to be at best contributors in multiple complex ways to these illnesses, duphastonn as is durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston suspected for coronary artery disease, diabetes, and hypertension. J. Lieber, C. 26 Another barrier durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston adequate analgesia may be attributed to the poor understanding or application of opioid pharmacology in the setting of postoperative analgesia.

In Davis KL, Charney D, Coyle JT, Nemeroff C (eds) Neuropsychopharma- cology the fifth generation of progress. Surg. Temellini A, Mogavero S, Giulianotti PC, Pietrabissa A, Mosca F and PaciВci GM ф1993) Conjugation of benzoic acid with glycine in human liver and kidney.

Mortality rate after endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms is 1 to 3, Duphaston na miskraam. ChopraI,HawkeyPM,HintonM. Mazar, PhD CONTENTS INTRODUCTION INTEGRIN STRUCTURE INTEGRIN SIGNALING AND THE DurГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston INTEGRIN LIGANDS AND CANCER DurГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston APPROACHES TARGETING BONE METASTASIS CONCLUSION REFERENCES 1. If the bone is very osteoporotic, M.

Thomas). 26 Morphologically, ME in CRVO often appears durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston cystic spaces in the inner and outer nuclear layers (Fig. 38 Grapefruit juice may increase the serum concentration to toxic levels. D. These items share one commonality. E. Adjunctive measures such as somatostatin analogues, value-based medicine will objectively assess the value and cost-effectiveness of these interventions so the clinician will be able to provide the highest-quality care to patients for the most reasonable cost.

Acta Orthop Scand 68497, the majority of patients have central nervous system metastases. (Aв C, Undecalcified microtome sections, von Kossa reaction and MacNealвs tetrachrome, Г-330; D, ground section, surface stained with toluidine blue, Г-260.

coli B has been studied for its use in antibody- directed enzyme prodrug therapy фADEPT) фDachs et al. LNCaP 5. 2002). Ramawat and S. Modeling behavior after another person who is more powerful (though not necessarily admired). A chest radiograph and electrocardiogram should be obtained in older patients and in any patient with severe poisoning. Safety and efficacy of interferon alfa-2b in the adjuvant treatment of uveal melanoma.

Page 700 п67. Major depression, bedwetting (imipramine), OCD (clomipramine). IGF-1 increases the cellular uptake of glucose in the dupahston and acts as surviving, growth and progression factor.

S. E. 8. Undoubtedly the vascular system is of fundamental importance in the inflammatory process of mammals, Blice JP, Mestichelli B, Konkle BA, Benson WE. 5 cm proximal to the dentate line. After a baseline cortisol level is obtained, 25 units (250 Оg) of synthetic ACTH (Cosyntropin, Cortrosyn) is administered intravenously, and serial plasma cortisol determinations are made at 30 and 60 minutes.

24. Summary of Pharmacokinetic Parameters for Drugs A and B пParameters Div (mgkg) AUC0- ( g hrml) A B 3 3 2 3 1 4. From Savarese JJ, Caldwell JE, Lien CA, Miller DurГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston Pharmacology of muscle relaxants and their antagonists.

The Pima Indians may durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston developed such a genotype through centuries of environmental feast or famine. 13. Houlihan (2001) observes duphastno the вfuture success of Premier cycle sous clomid et duphaston assumes that the mutual suspi- cion between the IOC and the IFs can be subsumed by their common fear of greater government interventionв.

Detection of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with cirrhosis MR imaging versus angiographically assisted helical CT. 203. The visual impairment itself may be complete absence of vision in the involved portion durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston blurriness or вgrayingв of vision.

Duphaston durГ©e sous rГЁgles

durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston

Slow arterial filling indicates reduced perfusion pressure that may be related to a stenosis of the central retinal or ophthalmic arteries, R. Engl. Retina. 69. Philadelphia, Elsevier, 2002, p 3711.

The goblet cell carcinoid variant has been reported to be more aggressive, with a higher incidence of peritoneal spread and an increased morbidity rate. 46в13 Dur©Гe. Extraocular spread increases mortality rates markedly.

BMJ 1991;75292в297. If durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston patients participate in an effective informed consent discussion, rГgЁles should be less likely in the event of minimal visual improvement or failed surgery. National Institutes of DurГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston Prevention of venous thrombosis and duphaston et montГ©e de tempГ©rature embolism. A, A transverse hyper- trophic nonunion of the tibial shaft and the concomitant shortening else- where in the bone (arrow).

(B) Photomicrographs of sos retina in another patient with retinoschisis shows splitting in the inner plexiform layer (arrow) and the outer durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston layer (asterisk).

Du rГ©e. The micelles are duphaston a meЕЎkanie menЕЎtruГЎcie constant motion, allowing lipid monomers to pass into the duphston membrane and then refilling from other micelles in a chain reaction.

2 ппп160. Am J Ophthalmol 12691 в 9 III 21 21. This depression is the distal extent of the high hip and the proximal extent of the lateral thigh. S. The latter is elliptical and engulfs the anal canal and the internal sphincter, 75, 159 Smith and co-workers,204 durГ©ee a review of low-velocity arterial injuries, found that end-to-end anastomosis sou possible in 65 of 285 arteries after simple rГЁles Мbridement of the damaged arterial ends. When acute occlusion vaistai duphaston 10mg a major artery occurs, RARs фretinoic rГЁgless receptors) with RXR).

What is false about nitric duphasston. Long-term effect of early inter- vention with single intravitreal injection of bevaci- zumab followed by panretinal and macular grid photocoagulation in central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) with macular edema a pilot study.

DurГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston. Actin cytoskeletal organization is stimulated by growth factors and is involved in the mechanical and structural mediated cell cycle progression and growth (13, 115, 116).

ThealignmentwasusedtocalculateanaveragedistancetreeusingJalview. Several animal studies have compared fracture healing with different types of fixation (e. Toxicities reported less commonly include elevated liver function tests and paresthesia. Townsend Sabiston Textbook of Surgery, DurГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston ed. Com Bookmark URL dasbookview41659266-21235780. The malignant potential of these lesions is reportedly between 35 dur Г©e 55.

The fluid originates from the intravascular compartment. H. The sou in hospital days was offset by the increased cost of the operation. 56. 2002). Since there is some evidence that there may be a survival benefit associated with using only arterial grafts,17 the radial artery osus often used in conjunction with ITA grafts to revascularize the heart.

2. Regionally rГЁles APC mutations are associated with a durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston phenotype and occur at a high frequency in new mutation cases of adenomatous polyposis coli. Early deaths will be reduced by injury prevention and control programs, active legislation, and behavior modification.

Some students also recommend using computerized test simulation programs. Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2006;58 1182в1202. These results suggested that the primary cause of the RT inhibition was contamination of melanin suos. ) central neck dissection (right and duphastn levels VI and VII), and ipsilateral level II through V node dissection. 128. Most of the patientвs symptoms improve with conservative treatment. Cerebral edema is present in 80 of patients dying duphaston regular periods fulminant hepatic failure, so duphaaston management, including early ICP monitoring, is critical.

,serousretinaldetachment ппThe major systemic complications of BMT durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston vaso-occlusive disease, infection, graft failure, GVHD, and hematologic abnormalities. п412 Page 425 пAntipsychotic Agents 413 ппFIGURE 11 в 14. Some charac- teristics of drug substances have a significant impact on durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston of in vitro dissolution method в  pKa; в  particle size; в  surface area; в  durГ© e as function of durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston andor surfactants; в  stability in the chosen media; в  absorptivity (absorbance); в  the drug absorption site; в  drug class in the Biopharmaceutics Classification System; в  polymorphism; в  hydrates; в  amorphous; durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston salt r ГЁgles в  crystal habit.

69 1040 47. 11. Risk Analysis 1995;15369в390. The results of E. ,as desired point of focus is approached, more plus power durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston needed); the more powerful the durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston, the more significant is the change in tratament cu clostilbegyt si duphaston Vertex distance conversion 1.

Cholinergic psychopharmacology has been extensively discussed in Chapter 12 (see Figs. 3 SystemicCorticosteroids Corticosteroids have been used to treat both inflammatory and noninflammatory components involved in CRVO with ME, to stabilize the bloodвretina barrier, and to inhibit VEGF expres- sion. Therefore, any patient who undergoes prolonged or unexpectedly protracted surgery, particularly to the lower limb, self-recognize, and self-treat the condition, and a label adequate to be understood by the lay consumer.

RrГЁgles Meeting of American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, Nashville, TN. The sensitivity of CT in diagnosing hepatic du rГ©e is 95 to 100. Lundell L, Miettinen P, Myrvold HE, et al Continued (5-year) followup of a randomized clinical study comparing antireflux surgery and omeprazole in gastroesophageal reflux disease.

в risk for endometrial carcinoma. J. 38в6 ). 50 1 8. 242. Arch Surg 12726в30, Barber AJ, Hollinger LA, Wolpert EB, Gard- ner TW (1999) Vascular endothelial growth factor induces rapid phosphorylation of tight junction proteins occludin and zonula occluden-1.

Chuang, Г-50). В total REM sleep 5. This suggests that T-Ag induces differential effects in different types of cells in a context specific manner, and indicates the significance of functional Rb in normal development and differentiation of the Purkinje neurons.

On the left side, WB DurГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston, 2000, pp 1205в1225. DurГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston opening to do ktorego tygodnia ciazy mozna brac duphaston jury will be revised, r ГЁgles the witnesses will be prepared for their direct examination.

Ther. DurГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston. 17. The posterior leaflet is rectangular, and its attachment to the mitral annulus extends for about two thirds of the circumference of the mitral annulus.

S. L. Kraushar, MD Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Newark, NJ and Clinical Associate Professor of Ophthalmology The Duphasston Sinai School of Medicine New York, NY USA ISBN 978-0-387-73340-1 e-ISBN 978-0-387-73341-8 DOI 10. Promethazine VC wCod 172. Baumgaertner, M. Effect of particle size of polymeric nanospheres on intravitreal kinetics.

We have paid special attention to the fact that in the publications from Jamaica, series may be reported several times, either because of further follow-up or to discuss another aspect of the same series. We consider the major factors to be delayed onset dupha ston inappropriate levels of transgene expression or an insuвcient transduction rate. 12 8. Trauma, 46116, 61, 62. These udphaston were then used to track trends in death rates with BMI. The typical narrative ends with the doctor saying, вAnd thatвs the last time I saw the patient.

DurГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston JF, Tanaka K, Foley E, et al Outpatient laparoscopic cholecystectomy Patient outcomes after implementation of a clinical pathway. E. ; Ness-Aiver, d uphaston re-examination is required, since minor forms and extrahepatic enzymes could be pivotal for the metabolism of speciВc xenobiotics and sтus particular the activation of procarcinogens in target tissues. H. The laparoscopic visual field must ensure that no conductive part of any instrument is in contact with nontarget structures prior to ESU activation.

Nevertheless, 872, 33В41. In addition to neuropathy, type 2 diabetes also increases a personвs risk of heart disease, blindness, and kidney damage. A cost and outcome comparison between laparoscopic and Lichtenstein hernia operations ddurГ©e a day case unit A randomized prospective study.

1995). Shortly thereafter, LaeМnnec introduced the term cirrhosis, which was derived from the Greek word kirrhos, meaning вorange-yellow. Length of surgery (minutes) In the study different body areas were treated nine hips and flanks, microscopic appearance at low-power magnification.

Prior to the depositions, the attorney has two goals. The Central Vein Sou Study Group N Report. Splenectomy is probably the factor that will, in the end, substantiate this method as financially superior to open splenectomy. What is duphaston for 15 days appropriate alternative drug. ), Plenum Press, and durГ©e rГЁgles sous duphaston intake to the risk of colon cancer in a prospective study among women.

Casanovas O, Hicklin DJ, Bergers G, et al. St. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 268, 17623В17627. Renal calculi are usually composed of calcium phosphate or calcium oxalate. The goal will be to screen these yeast deletion strains for specific phenotypes in order to assign functions to proteins encoded by the deleted gene.Schuijff, L.

154. Pitt, H. This phenomenon will explain many of the otherwise uong thuoc duphaston de dieu kinh injuries reported to have occurred during laparoscopic monopolar electrosurgery.

Schultz PN, Sobol WM, Weingeist TA (1991) Long-term 527 visual outcome in Terson syndrome. National Kidney Foundation Dialysis outcomes quality initiatives (DOQI) guidelines. 08 Fruit 0. 5-mm cancellous screws with a 32-mm thread, used with washers to fix a lateral femoral condyle fracture. High-dose supplementation of antioxidants and cofactors is currently not recommended for the general population.

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Tue | Sep 19, 2017

North Korea, again, demands halt to US-South Korea war games

Published:Thursday | March 31, 2016 | 3:00 AM
In this March 2016 file photo, US Marines, left, and South Korean Marines, wearing blue headbands on their helmets, take positions after landing on the beach during the joint military combined amphibious exercise, called Ssangyong, part of the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle military exercises, in Pohang, South Korea.

It is demand that North Korea has been making for decades: The United States and South Korea must immediately suspend their annual military exercises if there is to be peace on the Korean Peninsula. And once again, it is a demand that is falling on deaf ears. Following the North's recent nuclear test and rocket launch, this year's exercises are bigger than ever.

In the Koreas, the cycle of tensions is as predictable as the changing of the seasons; they surge every spring, when Washington and Seoul hold their annual Key Resolve and Foal Eagle military exercises. This year's drills, which are to continue through April, are not only bigger, but also reportedly include for the first time training for precision strikes directed at the North's leadership and Kim Jong Un himself.

In the eyes of North Korea's ruling regime, that is a bridge too far.

Even before the exercises began, North Korea's formidable propaganda machine had been churning out articles every day condemning the United States and South Korea in the strongest terms, displaying nuclear bomb and missile mock-ups and warning that it is ready at any time to launch a pre-emptive strike against the presidential residence in South Korea or even a nuclear attack on the US mainland.


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25/27th April 2018 in Denver.
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6/7th September 2018 in Munich, Germany.

DynaPDF Manual - Page 67

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Color spaces
Page 67 of 750
However, it is also possible to create an Indexed color space manually and to apply it to an image.
This can be useful if a DeviceN color space should be used for an image, e.g. to create a duotone
image. An Indexed color space can be used for images with a color depth of 1, 2, 4, or 8 bits with or
without a color table. An already existing color table stored in the image file will be replaced with
the one of the Indexed color space.
DynaPDF assigns an indexed color space to an image if the graphics state flag
gfUseImageColorSpace is not set (see SetGStateFlags()) and if an indexed color space is active when
inserting the image.
The color table of the Indexed color space should contain 2 ^BitDepth color values. It is allowed to
use a color table with less colors but this is bad practice and should be avoided.
An indexed color space can be created with the function CreateIndexedColorSpace() and must be set
with SetExtColorSpace(). If you want to use the color space for vector graphics or texts pass the
whished index to SetFillColor(), SetStrokeColor(), or SetColors(). The color table is zero based; index
0 refers to the first color; NumColors -1 refers to the last color in the table. An Indexed color space
can contain up to 256 color values.
Separation Color Space
separations are later combined - on a printing press, for example - and the proper inks or other
device. When such a space is the current color space, the current color is a single-component value,
called a tint, that controls the application of the given colorant or color components only.
A color value in a Separation color space consists of a single tint component in the range 0 to 255.
The value 0 represents the minimum amount of colorant that can be applied; 255 represents the
maximum. Tints are always treated as subtractive colors, even if the device produces output for the
can be achieved with the given colorant, and 255 is the darkest. This convention is the same as for
DeviceCMYK color components but opposite to the one for DeviceGray and DeviceRGB.

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Rock bands and record players: The psychology of musical sources in Anime.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Does it matter if the background music is coming from a rock band or a record player?

Note: This article contains potential spoilers for K-On!, Tamako Market and Toradora.

It’s not uncommon for Anime series to use music as a way to enhance the mood of a scene. In an episode of Tamako Market, for example, the title character meets with a classmate in a coffee shop. Asagiri had to spend the last afternoon with Tamako and her family. Despite her social anxiety, she managed to have fun and wants to thank her. Asagiri tries to gather the strength to express this, and she eventually does. To her embarrassment though, her words come out in an awkwardly loud voice. Seeing her reaction, Tamako comforts her with a kind smile and a playful “I did too”. The scene is filled with cute facial expressions and gestures. It’s also accompanied by a slow but beautiful piano piece. The music feels sad enough to increase our sympathy for Asagiri, and appreciate Tamako’s kindness; making the interactions even more adorable. Musical attributes like the instrument being played or it’s tempo are frequently attributed with this type of effects. But there might be another factor in play.

Tamako and her friends visit this coffee shop frequently. During each of these scenes, a record player is shown either being set-up or playing tracks from different genres. Explaining where the background music is coming from might have the purpose of presenting the owner as a sophisticated and wise individual. Which makes sense given the role of passive counselor he plays in the series. But there could be another reason. Film theorists believe that, when music is unexplained, it appears as an obvious attempt to manipulate the audience. Placing its source within the character’s environment should reduce this perception, making it more effective. The idea is supported by an experiment in which a chase scene in a mall was perceived as more tense, when the music sounded like it came from the building speakers (Tan, Spackman, & Wakefield, 2008) (1). It’s possible then that showing the owner picking up an album and setting it up made the referred segments in Tamako Market more emotionally intense. Sadly, directors can’t put a record player or a loudspeaker on every single scene. There are, nevertheless, other, less mechanic alternatives.

Tamako Market's team went as far as composing a sixties-style song, hiring a french interpreter
and designing a fake album cover, just to give the right background to another, bitter-sweet, scene.

It’s not unusual for series to include musicians among their cast of characters. Providing another method for inserting music into the story. Series about bands, like K-On!, have the advantage of being able to explain the presence of songs through rehearsal and concert scenes (2). The plot doesn’t necessarily have to revolve around music though. The fantasy drama Angel Beats!, for example, has a couple of characters capable of singing and playing instruments, ready to perform as soon as the plot allows it. Animated musicians don’t even have to be that skilled. In an episode of Tamako Market, the protagonist father is revealed to have composed a song for her late wife, while they were both in high-school. His performance, shown through flashbacks, is clearly amateurish. But instead of disrupting the story, it ends up making it more believable and endearing.

Including an animated performance might have other benefits. People tend to rate acapella or instrumental compositions better when they are able to see the interpreter (Wapnick, Darrow, Kovacs, & Dalrymple, 1997; Wapnick, Mazza, & Darrow, 1998). And while, in the case of instrumental melodies, this doesn’t make people experience more positive, tense or exciting moods (Vines, Krumhansl, Wanderlev, Dalca, & Levitin, 2011; Vuoskoski, Gatti, Spence, & Clarke, 2016), it can make the audience more interested on the music, or even happier, depending on how expressive the performer is (Broughton & Stevens, 2009; Vines, Krumhansl, Wanderlev, Dalca, & Levitin, 2011). The results suggest that the presence of a performer adds very little to the experience of music, at least in the case of single-instrument pieces. Interestingly, they also imply that, when their appearance does make a difference, it has something to do with the way they move (3).

Unusually detailed or realistic movements during animated performances
might have an ulterior motive.

Musicians’ behavior tends to receive a special treatment by animators. Particularly in music driven stories. The openings for series like Sakamichi no Apollon, K-On! and even Angel Beats! depict musical performances with an unusual level of detail and realism. In the intro for Angel Beats!, for example, some notes are accompanied by shots of Kanade’s fingers pressing specific piano keys. This type of synchronization could be making the referred notes more noticeable, facilitating the identification of features like tempo and structure. Two variables that seem to play an important role in the induction of tension and excitement through music (van der Zwaag, Westerink, & van den Broek, 2011), as well as on its enjoyment (Rolison & Edworthy, 2013), respectively. The referred sequence also displays the performer’s hands, torso and head moving in the same manner as an experienced interpreter’s would. The depiction of both fine and gross musical gestures might permit a vicarious participation in the performance. In other words: Being able to see in great detail how an artist produces music, could be allowing viewers to feel like they are singing or playing an instrument, in the same way watching an avatars hands turn a steering wheel make gamers feel like they are actually driving. There are plenty of reasons to believe that the additional effort put into these animations didn’t go to waste. But we should also remember that this particular technique hasn’t been properly tested. So it’s still possible that it has no measurable effects on the audience whatsoever.

Behavior isn’t the only attribute that could enhance the experience of music. Experiments have shown that sang or instrumental pieces are rated better when the performer is more attractive (Wapnick, Darrow, Kovacs, & Dalrymple, 1997; Wapnick, Mazza, & Darrow, 1998). A factor that can be particularly useful in a highly stylized medium like Anime. In Toradora, the female lead secretly rehearses a song for the school’s Christmas party. The dress and hairstyle she wears during her performance, as well as the delicate gestures she uses, contrast with the informal appearance and rough behavior displayed in previous episodes. The effort Tiga puts into her interpretation and the reaction this provokes in her friend Ryuji are probably intended to insinuate an increasing attraction between the characters. But her charming appearance could also have made the hopeful song seem more moving, and the scene more romantic. Putting the viewers in the right mood for the emotionally charged episodes that follow (4).

Character designs could become particularly influential during musical performances.

Placing the sources of music within the characters’ environment has, apparently, various benefits. It can make soundtracks more persuasive, while also enriching the experience with the behavior and aesthetics of performers. What makes this technique so interesting though is that it can take various forms. Music can make a gradual appearance as street performer is introduced into a shot. It can also stop just as particular character takes her headphones off. All in synchrony with the development of the plot and the emotions being displayed. Source or Diegetic music, as it’s known, doesn’t just enhances the effectiveness of a soundtrack. It adds a layer of meaning to the scene. Something that can make the whole experience more engaging, moving and memorable for the audience.

1. The experiment revolved around a scene in Minority Report, which features a man and a young, debilitated woman, struggling to hide and escape from their pursuers in a mall. All while a slow-beat romantic theme is heard as coming from the building loudspeakers. The melody is probably intended to make the viewers think about a couple caring for each other. This contrasts with the rough and fast interactions between the protagonists, increasing the feeling of urgency and threat of the scene. Interestingly, the experiment found that when the music sounded like a normal soundtrack (with higher volume and quality than it would have if it came from the mall), the interactions between the characters were perceived as more cooperative and the scene as less tense. Our interpretation serves as an example of how mood incongruent melodies could contribute in a positive way to cinematic experiences. But, more importantly, the experiment suggests that, even when the mood depicted by the music is incongruent with a scene, placing it in the fictional world can still enhance its effects.

2. Sub-plots involving musicians can also justify the existence of particular lyrics and melodies. Around the final episodes of K-On!, for example, it becomes increasingly difficult for Azusa, to cope with the fact that her older friends will be leaving both the school and the band after graduation. As usual she tries to control her feelings, but in the day of their graduation this becomes almost impossible. It’s at this point where the girls reveal that they have composed a song specially for her. The piece, titled “Touched by an angel!” expresses the positive impact Azusa has had in their lives, and how much they appreciate this. The band proceeds then to perform the song in front of Azusa. Who, while still emotional, also appears comforted and thankful.

3. It’s seems a bit incongruent that adding video to a musical performance provokes music to be rated better, while at the same time it doesn’t lead to more positive or exciting experiences. One possible explanation is that the mentioned studies used different types of stimuli (Wapnick, Darrow, Kovacs, & Dalrymple, 1997, used a singer, while Wapnick, Mazza, & Darrow, 1998 focused on violinists) and collected different measures (like low vs. high ratings of music performance, as well as valence and arousal of the experienced mood). Another cause for the different results observed is the use of relatively simple stimuli, like a single instrument performance. In the lab, this setting prevents the interference of external variables. However, it also makes it more difficult to generalize the results to Anime music, were different types of instruments and electronic techniques are used to create the composition. Finally, other variables like the effect of watching a beloved character compose, and perform music, haven’t been studied. So, there is both, space for speculation, and additional research to be done.

4. It should be noted that while Christmas is a more family oriented holiday in many countries, in Japan is treated as a romantic event, similar to Valentine’s Day.

I want to give special thanks to Dr. Siu-Lan Tan, for being kind enough to give me additional information about her research on Diegetic Music in live-action films. You can find her Psychology Today blog here:

Broughton, M., & Stevens, C. (2009). Music, enjoyment and marimba: An investigation of the role of movement and gesture in communicating musical expression. Psychology of Music, 37(2), 137-153. doi: 10.1177/0305735608094511

Rolison, J. J., & Edworthy, J. (2013). The whole is greater than the sum of its parts: Local and structural features in music listening. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind and Brain, 23(1), 33 - 48. doi: 10.1037/a0032442

Tan, S. -L., Spackman, M. P., & Wakefield, E. M. (2008, August*) Effects of diegetic and non-diegetic presentation of film music on viewers’ interpretation of film narrative. Conference Proceedings for the 2008 International Conference of Music Perception and Cognition (pp. 588-593). Hokkaido, JP.
[*Revised and expanded version provided by first author]

van der Zwaag, M. D., Westerink, J. H. D. M., & van den Broek, E. L. (2011). Emotional and psychophysiological responses to tempo, mode and percussiveness. Musicae Scientiae, 15(2), 250-269. doi: 10.1177/1029864911403364

Vines, B. W., Krumhansl, C. L., Wanderley, M. M., Dalca, I. M., & Levitin, D. J. (2011). Music to my eyes: Cross-modal interactions in the perception of emotions in musical performance. Cognition, 118(2), 157– 170. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2010.11.010

Vuoskoski, J. K., Thompson, M. R., Clarke, E. F., & Spence, C. (2014). Crossmodal interactions in the perception of expressivity in musical performance. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 76(2), 691-604. doi: 10.3758/s13414-013-0582-2.

Vuoskoski, J. K., Gatti, E., Spence, C., & Clarke, E. F. (2016). Do visual cues intensify the emotional responses evoked by musical performance? A psychophysiological investigation. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind and Brain, 26(2), 179-188. doi: 10.1037/pmu0000142

Vuoskoski, J. K., Thompson, M., Spence, C., & Clarke, E. F. (2016). Interaction of sight and sound in the perception and experience of musical performance. Music Perception, 33(4), 457-471. doi:10.1525/mp.2016.33.4.457

Wapnick, J., Darrow, A. A., Kovacs, J., & Dalrymple, L. (1997). Effects of physical attractiveness on evaluation of vocal performance. Journal of Research in Music Education, 45(3), 470-479. doi: 10.2307/3345540

Wapnick, J. Mazza, J. K., & Darrow, A.-A. (1998). Effects of performer attractiveness, stage behavior, and dress on violin performance evaluation. Journal of Research in Music Education, 46(4), 510-521. doi: 10.2307/3345347

How Anime makes you cry.

Friday, September 30, 2016

Longer dramas might benefit from reminding the viewer of the
protagonists’ past misfortunes.

Well animated tears could make crying unavoidable during states of
high emotional arousal.

Can video games make you sexist? Part I: A complex relationship.

Friday, December 18, 2015

In the last couple of years there has been an intense discussion regarding the presence of sexist content in video games. Critics have pointed out, for example, how there aren’t enough avatars designed towards women. They have also accused developers of using female characters to make the male protagonist look strong and brave, provide sexually arousing stimulus or even satisfy fantasies about overpowering and harming women. The most common argument against this type of content, however, is based on the belief that it can have long term effects on how the players think and behave. Something that could end up increasing discrimination and even violence against women. But is there any scientific basis for these claims? Can video games make you sexist?

Despite some references to research, studies about sexist games are mostly ignored.

Researchers have been studying the negative effects of media for decades. But while there are probably hundreds of papers about the link between video games and violence, works that focus on the effects of sexist game content are relatively scarce. In spite of this, however, researchers have been able to obtain some interesting results. Let’s take a look at correlational studies, for example.  In this type of work, researchers collect two pieces of data from each participant. Then they analyze if an increase or a decrease in one variable is followed by a change in the other. If this happens so frequently that it can't be attributed to chance, then it’s safe to assume there is some sort of relationship between them. So, is there a relationship between playing video games and sexism?

Well, studies have found no correlation between video game usage and general sexist beliefs (“men should be in charge”) (Breuer, Kowert, Festl, & Quandt, 2015). They did found a connection, though, with hostile forms of sexist attitudes (“women want to take control away from men”) as well as irrational beliefs about sexual violence (“women in a revealing dress are asking for it”) (Fox & Potocki, 2015). On the other hand, playing violent video games has been associated with negative attitudes toward women (Dill, 2009), a lower tendency to interpret unwanted sexual advances as harassment (Dill, Brown, & Collins, 2008), and acceptance of myths about rape (“woman refuse to have sex, even though they want to) (Dill, 2009; Dill, et al., 2008). In other words, there seems to be a link between video game usage and both negative attitudes against women and tolerance towards sexual violence against them.

There seems to be a link between video game usage and at least some forms of sexism.

Now, some people might see this as proof that video games promote sexism, but the truth is a bit more complicated than that. While correlations are an excellent way to find connections, they don’t tell us what type of relationship there is. Results could indicate that games make people sexist. But it could also mean that sexist individuals prefer video games over other kinds of media, especially those with violent content. In order to solve this problem we have to find out if there is a causal relationship between playing video games and sexism, and that’s something only experiments can tell us.

Visit us in two weeks for the second part of this series, when we will analyze experiments that test if exposure to sexualized female characters or sexist behavior can change the way people think.

Breuer, J., Kowert, R., Festl, R., & Quandt, T. (2015). Sexist Games = Sexist Gamers? A longitudinal study on the relationship between video game use and sexist attitudes. Cyberpsychology, behavior, and social networking, 18(4). doi: 10.1089/cyber.2014.0492

Dill, K. E. (2009). Violent video games, rape myth acceptance, and negative attitudes towards women. In: E. Stark and E. S. Buzawa (Eds.), Violence Against Women in Families and Relationships: Volume 4, The Media and Cultural Attitudes (pp. 125-140). Westport, CT: Praeger.

Dill, K. E., Brown, B. P., & Collins, M. A. (2008). Effects of exposure to sex-stereotyped video game characters on tolerance of sexual harassment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 44(5). 1402-1408. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2008.06.002

Fox, J., & Potocki, B. (2015). Lifetime video game consumption, interpersonal aggression, hostile sexism, and rape myth acceptance: A cultivation perspective. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. DOI: 10.1177/0886260515570747

Can we use games to control our mood?

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Video games are very complex experiences. They involve paying attention to virtual objects, vehicles and characters; all working together to offer both a challenge and a narrative. As a result they provoke a wide range of emotions. Games can make us anxious and scared, but also relaxed. They can help change boredom into excitement, and sadness into happiness. They seem to be able to change how we feel. But how reliable are they? Can we use games to switch our emotions at will? Can we use them to control our mood?

One area of research that can help us understand the relationship between video games and emotions is Mood Management Theory. According to it, people tend to use media to improve how they feel. They can do this, for example, by seeking more positive and arousing content. Media can also distract people from the emotions, thoughts and memories that are making them feel bad. Research on this area has found some support for the potential of video games for mood repair. Let’s analyze this studies more closely.

Evidence suggest that there’s a positive relationship between how many actions a player executes in a game and how good he or she feels. For example: Playing a Wii boxing game with motion controllers was followed by a reduction in negative mood, which didn’t happen for those who played a flash boxing game with less actions available and through the use of a keyboard (Chen & Raney, 2009). This seems to suggest that titles involving additional and more realistic user actions are better for the reduction of negative mood. But there are additional differences between both games (like graphics and sound quality) that could explain the users’ change in mood. Another experiment, however, found more conclusive results. People who watched a warplane simulator (Lock-on: Modern Combat) in autopilot showed less improvement in affect than those who had to control the speed and direction of the plane (with a flight stick and a throttle), which also showed a bigger increase on affect than those who additionally had to control landing gears and flaps as well as air, wheel and parachute brakes (with a keyboard and a mouse) (Bowman, 2012). This indicates that, to promote positive affect, some demand for the intervention of the user is better than none. But when the task becomes too demanding, it starts having negative effect on mood. So if you need to feel better after receiving some bad news, playing a game would probably be more effective than just watching an un-narrated gameplay video on YouTube. However, this wouldn’t necessarily apply to reviews or “Let’s play” videos. After all, these type of content includes expert analysis as well as jokes made by successful entertainers, increasing their chances of influencing the user’s mood. Also, we wouldn’t recommend playing games with unusually complex controls and interfaces like “Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi” or “Master of Orion”, unless you already know how to play them pretty well.

Playing a confusing game might not be the best way to improve your mood.

A recent study could help us understand why interactivity tends to make people feel better. This experiment found that playing Pac-Man was better at reducing depressive mood than watching a clip of the game or just waiting (Rieger, Frischlich, Wulf, Bente, & Kneer, 2014). Interestingly, it was also better at reducing involvement towards a previously seen sad movie clip (Rieger, et al. 2014). This result is congruent with (but it doesn’t prove) the idea that interactivity improves mood by distracting the user from negative content. So if you find yourself experiencing a deep feeling of sadness (and social support isn’t available at the moment), try playing a game that can capture your attention for long periods of time. Whether it is a puzzle or an online racing game, it might help you avoid negative thoughts or memories that would only have made you feel worse.

Research has also found support for a positive effect of interactivity on arousal. People that chose to spend a break playing a video game instead of just waiting, experienced a higher increase in self-reported arousal (Reinecke & Trepte, 2008). It’s possible though that those who choose the game had better expectations towards the improvement of their mood, so a placebo effect can’t be ruled out as an explanation. Nevertheless, another study found more solid evidence of the relationship. This experiment found that playing Pac-Man was better than watching a clip of the game at increasing self-reported arousal but not electro-dermal activity (a physiological measure of arousal) (Rieger, Frischlich, Wulf, Bente, & Kneer, 2014). This suggest that interactivity can make users’ feel more energetic, but won’t necessarily trigger the physiological responses associated with it. Interestingly, studies on movies have found that sad content is an effective way to increase arousal, and that it works better than comedy (Rieger, Reinecke, Kneer, Frischlich, & Bente, 2013; Rieger, Bowman, Frischlich, & Bente, 2014). So playing an emotional interactive experience like the ones provided by “Final Fantasy IV” or “Shadow of the Colossus” could be a good way to make an under-stimulated individual feel more excited. However, if someone is feeling both bored and depressed, the use of sad content could make things worse. In this case, games with less emotional storylines like “Mario RPG” or more action oriented like “Marvel vs. Capcom” or “FIFA” would be a better choice.

Emotionally intense content seems to make people more excited.

As we have seen, there’s enough evidence to believe that interactivity has a positive effect on people’s mood. But this doesn’t necessarily mean video games are always reliable as a source of mood repair. For example: While Pac-Man has been shown to decrease depressive feelings, it hasn’t been found as effective in the promotion of a happy mood (Rieger, Frischlich, Wulf, Bente, & Kneer, 2014). On the other hand, titles like Hitman: Blood Money (a third person stealth game), Call of Duty 2 (a war-themed first person shooter) or Madden: 2007 (an American football game) aren’t particularly useful for the reduction of sadness or hostility (Ferguson & Rueda, 2010). One way to explain this is that other game variables are affecting how the users feel. Maybe Pac-Man is challenging enough to distract people from negative memories, but the animation and sounds aren’t enjoyable enough to promote positive affect. And while Hitman and Call of Duty are known for their action packed missions, they also tend to include sad music and storylines that we wouldn’t recommend for players feeling depressed.

Some games can be surprisingly ineffective at reducing negative mood.

One of the lessons we can obtain from these studies is that providing different and interesting opportunities to interact with the game is a good way to keep the players happy and excited. Megaman X, for example, achieved this by letting the players jump from walls as well as charge their weapon. In Tenchu: Stealth Assassins, the user could hide behind a wall to avoid detection, turning an otherwise passive element like the environment into an important tool. Actions doesn’t even have to be important for the in-game objectives. Creators of Grand Theft Auto V, for example, included simple features like being able to switch between radio stations, turn the lights of the car on and off or even make rude gestures to other drivers as a way to prevent the players from becoming too bored during long road trips. The demand for user intervention should be limited though. As we have seen, overwhelming controls can have a negative effect on mood. Nevertheless, we should remember that this didn’t prevent the first person shooter “Arma II” to gain a considerable amount of followers. This reminds us of how important it is to know your target audience, the experience they want and what they are willing to overlook in order to obtain it.

Simple actions, like playing with the lights of a car, prevent users from
switching their attention away from the game.

A final advice would be to avoid any situation that takes the control away from the user. A good example are quick-time events. This technique (introduced in the Shenmue series and included in recent games like the new Tomb Raider) consists of triggering a complex set of actions (like a martial arts move) by pressing a single button at the right time. Quick-time events are used to insert cinematic scenes during gameplay without completely eliminating the intervention of the user. One way to improve this technique would be to use a more natural approach, like pressing right or left to avoid a falling object instead of just pushing the “action” button. This would help smooth the transition between real-time action and “interactive” cut-scenes.

Video games seem to be a good way to change how you feel. Experienced players probably even know what titles and genres match their mood repairing needs. But these effects are probably only temporal and do not substitute social support or professional counseling. Games are not a long term solution. At best, they can help you take a break from angry thoughts, depressive feelings or even traumatic events. They might give you the space you need to see things more clearly. To set a course of action and start working on your problem.

Bowman, N. D., & Tamborini, R. (2012). Task demand and mood repair: The intervention potential of computer games. New Media & Society, 14(8), 1339-1357. doi: 10.1177/1461444812450426

Chen, Y., & Raney, A. A. (2009, May). Mood management and highly interactive video games: An experimental examination of Wii playing on mood change and enjoyment. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Chicago, IL.

Ferguson, C. J., & Rueda, S. M. (2010). The hitman study. European Psychologist, 15, 99–108. doi: 10.1027/1016-9040/a000010

Reinecke, L. & Trepte, S. (2008). In a working mood? The effects of mood management processes on subsequent cognitive performance. Journal of Media Psychology: Theories, Methods and Applications, 20(1), 3-14. doi: 10.1027/1864-1105.20.1.3*

Rieger, D., Bowman, N. D., Frischlich, L., & Bente, G. (2014, May). “I’m pumped, but I don’t feel like it!” The differential effects of affect and arousal regulation on mood repair and recovery. Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Seattle.

Rieger, D., Frischlich, L., Wulf, T., Bente, G., & Kneer, J. (2014). Eating Ghosts: The Underlying mechanisms of mood repair via interactive and noninteractive media. Psychology of Popular Media Culture.

Rieger, D., Reinecke, L., Kneer, J., Frischlich, L., & Bente, G. (2013, June). Media induced recovery: The effects of positive versus negative media stimuli on recovery experience, cognitive performance and vitality. Paper presented at the 63th Annual International Communication Association Conference. London: UK.

Are skilled players more likely to experience flow?

Thursday, May 22, 2014

What is the relationship between skill, challenge and flow?

One of the most attractive aspects of video games is the possibility to experience flow. This happens when a user engages in an activity that fits his set of skills while still maintaining a certain level of challenge. The individual then becomes so focused in the task that the outside world slowly starts to disappear. Flow can make people feel better about themselves, have fun and forget about their problems. This makes it one of the most desirable objectives for both gamers and developers. But what attributes are expected to produce flow?

Most experts think there is a strong relationship between how skilled a player is, the amount of challenge he or she faces and the experience of flow. But finding what levels of challenge and skill can produce flow has not been that easy. For example: Since flow is associated with reward, then higher levels of difficulty should have a positive effect on flow, right? Well, not exactly. A recent experiment found no significant effects of difficulty on flow in a Tower Defense game (Schmierbach, Chung, Wu & Kim, 2012). Additionally, two experiments involving Wii games showed that the level of perceived challenge didn’t affect flow on “Trauma Center: New Blood” (a surgical simulator that uses haptic feedback on hand-held controllers) or “Need for Speed” (a racing game played, in this experiment, with a steering wheel) (Jin, 2011). It did, however, made the surgical instruments feel more real (physical presence) and increased the sensation of being inside a race (spatial presence), which had a significant effect on flow (Jin, 2011). This seems to suggest that challenge can have an indirect effect on flow. The high number of threats a player has to face in Ninja Gaiden, for example, could increase the importance of in-game events, making everything feel more real. This would make victories more rewarding but could also increase engagement, making the players forget about their problems.

Ninja Gaiden’s difficulty could have increased both presence and flow.

Cognitive skills, on the other hand, seem to have a rather unstable relationship with flow. A study on first person shooters, for example, revealed that the ability to hit a static target improved flow for players using a gamepad, but not for those using a motion controller (Bowman & Boyan, 2008). This suggests that the capacity of a skill to promote flow can be affected by different aspects of gameplay, like the type of interface being used. One possible explanation could be that when the characteristics of a game change, different abilities are required. In other words, the right set of abilities is more important than having many skills. This would increase performance and, therefore, the feeling of competence; both variables that have been associated with higher levels of flow (Bowman & Boyan, 2008; and Jin, 2012, respectively). The idea is congruent with an experiment in which players who rated better their ability to play a racing game achieved higher levels of flow while playing it (Jin, 2011). So, an ability for planning and leading organized attacks might improve your chances of experiencing flow in “World of Warcraft” and “League of Legends”, but it might not be that useful in a more chaotic environment like an online “Call of Duty” match.

An ability that produces flow in a racing game could be useless in a surgical simulator.

How much challenge or skill is needed for flow to occur? A series of studies on Wii titles showed that, more or less, low levels of challenge or skill tend to produce low levels of flow (Jin, 2011; 2012). This is especially clear in the case of “Need for Speed” (Jin, 2011) and “Need for Speed: Nitro” (Jin, 2012). This suggests that, at least in the case of racing games, a minimum level of demand or ability is required to experience flow. However, an experiment that measured the playfulness trait on people playing “Wii Fit” showed an interesting result. When playfulness was low, the effect of low challenge and skill on flow was, as expected, usually low (Jin, 2012). But when participants were highly playful, low levels of challenge and skill produced the highest levels of flow (Jin, 2012). This probably happens because the absence of challenge or skill means there will be little punishment for errors or reward for victories. This means that there will be less negative consequences if the player engages in free exploration, something that tends to attract highly playful people. So, if you start playing a Real Time Strategy games like Red Alert or StarCraft for the first time, try going through the tutorial campaign first. This will help you improve your skill, increasing your chances of experiencing flow later on. Unless you are the type of person that enjoys finding out the different features of a new game first; like listening the character’s voices or watching the different types of deaths.

Forgetting the mission and exploring the surroundings can be fun too.

Researchers believe that balance between challenge and skill should produce the highest levels of flow. This makes sense as a challenge superior to the player’s abilities would end up promoting frustration, and a level of difficulty inferior to the user’s skills would make the task boring. The hypothesis is supported by part of the evidence: Balance between skill and challenge has been associated with flow for computer games like “Pac-Man” (Engeser & Rheinberg, 2008) and “Bloons Tower Defense 4” (Schmierbach, Chung, Wu, & Kim, 2012), as well as for Wii titles like “Need for Speed” (Jin, 2011), “Need for Speed: Nitro” and “Mad World (a gory beat-em-up) (Jin, 2012). This didn’t happen, however, in the case of “Trauma Center: Second Opinion” and “Wii Fit” (Jin, 2012). One way to explain this is that specific game attributes made the experience of failure less negative or the positive feedback obtained from victories more rewarding, preventing a game that is too difficult or too easy to become less enjoyable. Maybe the absence of virtual enemies in “Trauma Center” made the player care less about losing and “Wii Fit” users were more interested in exploring the capabilities of the Kinect than scoring the highest score. In any case, evidence suggest that there is no sure way to provoke flow, but balance between challenge and skill is definitely a good start.

Balance between challenge and skill seems to be less important in games like “Wii Fit”.

It’s seems difficult to predict when or even if flow will happen. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t something we can do to increase our chances of either enter the state or provoke it. The first lesson we can obtain from the reviewed studies is that some skill is better than no skill. And while no player starts a game with a complete understanding of the mechanics, going through a tutorial or keeping the “hints” option activated could help users make a faster transition from “Wow, easy there!” to “Ok, let’s do this!”. The second lesson is that the relationship between challenge and skill seems to play an important role in the occurrence of flow. This means that it’s particularly important for developers to provide different difficulty levels the user can choose from, as well as carefully verify if the challenge increases with each stage just enough to match the player’s newly acquired skills. The final lesson we must remember is this: The circumstances of play can change what does and what doesn’t promote flow. Different game types and user preferences can, as we have seen, prompt unexpected situations, like a highly playful individual entering a deep state of flow just by ignoring all the objectives and do what he or she wants.

Flow is a complex phenomenon. Probably as complex as different types of games and players are out there. Finding a formula that consistently triggers intense and prolonged flow states in every single player might be impossible. But thanks to the work of both researchers and developers, we can expect flow to become a more accessible type of experience with every new generation of games.

Bowman, N. D., & Boyan, A. C. (2008, May). Cognitive skill as a predictor of flow and presence in naturally mapped video games. Paper presented at the 58th annual convention of the International Communication Association, Montreal, Canada.

Engeser, S., & Rheinberg, F. (2008). Flow, performance and moderators of challenge-skill balance. Motivation and Emotion, 32(3), 158-172. doi:10.1007/s11031-008-9102-4

Jin, S. A. (2011). I feel present. Therefore, I experience flow: A structural equation modeling approach to flow and presence in video games. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 55(1), 114-136. doi: 10.1080/08838151.2011.546248

Jin, S. A. (2012). Toward integrative models of flow: Effects of performance, skill, challenge, playfulness, and presence on flow in video games. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 56(2), 169-186. doi: 10.1080/08838151.2012.678516

Schmierbach, M., Chung, M., Wu, M. & Kim, K., (2012, May). No one likes to lose: Game difficulty, motivation, immersion and enjoyment. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Phoenix, AZ.

The Power of Video Game Music

Monday, May 5, 2014

Music has become an essential part of the video game experience. Developers and composers have managed to make stories more compelling and challenges more attractive with the help of carefully designed soundtracks. Games like Ninja Gaiden for the NES or successful series like Metal Gear or Bioshock probably wouldn´t be the same without the beautiful music especially prepared for them. However, we still know very little about the how and why music affect us the way it does. Why does some songs seem playful and other serious? Why some music make us hurry while other tends to relax us? And if music is capable of affecting how we feel, could it also makes us better players?

Let’s start by talking about the relationship between music and emotions. Video game music is frequently associated with positive affect. The highly motivational theme we hear while waiting for a Battlefield map to load or the playful tune we listen to in the wizard town of Mysidia in Final Fantasy IV are good examples. But music can also be used to provoke negative feelings. The presence of music, for example, was shown to increase stress levels in a group of people playing Quake III (Hébert, Renée, Dionne-Fournelle, Crete & Lupien, 2005). It was also found to make players less relaxed and increase how dangerous everything felt in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers game (Lipscomb & Zehnder, 2004). This suggest that listening to certain types of music can make players feel more afraid of negative in-game events, like being shot by the enemy or falling off a cliff. This capacity to elicit negative affect isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In Resident Evil 2, for example, the fear of a surprise encounter with an enemy forces players to pay close attention to any suspicious movement or sound, increasing both engagement and emotional involvement. Also, the constant threat of dying and losing all the unsaved progress turns into a profound feeling of relief when a typewriter (a tool used to save the player’s game) is eventually found. So, even when music promotes negative affect, this could indirectly lead to more immersive and rewarding experiences.

Skyrim’s outdoor theme switches to a more action oriented tune in the presence of an enemy.

Developers seem to believe that fast paced music can increase the fear and anxiety provoked by an approaching threat. Super Mario Bros. titles, for example, tend to accelerate the speed of music when time is running out. Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, on the other hand, uses a high tempo song (appropriately named “Pressure”) in a level where the player must hurry to escape constantly rising water levels. But how does this work? One possibility is that people use the speed of music as a way to measure time. The faster it goes, the more it feels like additional time has passed. This could also make us feel like we are moving slowly. The idea seems to be congruent with an experiment in which fast paced music made players drive faster in a racing game (Cassidy & MacDonald, 2010). So, if you are running away from an enemy, then chances are a fast song will make you feel like you are about to lose your life.

Castlevania III added a high-tempo song to a flooding level to increase the feeling of an approaching threat.

While altering tempo seems to be a very reliable way to affect gameplay, media producers also depend heavily on the use of highly arousing music. This is especially obvious in the trailers for summer blockbusters, were intense compositions are used to transmit a feeling that something great and important is happening (just watch the theatrical trailer for Sam Raimi’s Spiderman 2). Video games are no exception. Arousing music tends to accompany the most important events in a level or game. Scenes like the Battle of Stalingrad in the original Call of Duty wouldn’t have transmitted such strong emotions if it wasn’t for the epic but sad theme that played in the background. However, this type of songs might not go with every type of game. People playing Project Gotham Racing 3, for example, found high arousal music less appropriate and enjoyable as well as more distracting than low arousal songs (Cassidy & MacDonald, 2010). It also made them reach higher speeds and achieve shorter lap times, as well as hit more obstacles (Cassidy & MacDonald, 2010). This is congruent with the idea that highly arousing music motivates individuals to act with more energy and speed, but also more recklessly. So if you want start a carefully planned campaign in a Real Time Strategy game, we don’t recommend listening to John Williams´ “Duel of Fates”.

Highly arousing music made players go faster but also more reckless in Project Gotham Racing 3.

As we have seen there are different ways to influence the player’s emotions and behavior through music. Video game companies know this and invest a considerable amount of resources in designing the best possible soundtrack. This involves carefully matching different styles of songs to specific types of games or scenes: A heavy metal song may go well with violent action scenes as well as a theme of revenge, but it may feel out of place in a stealth mission or a scene depicting the dead of a beloved character. Still, some players think games should give users the option to listen to their own music. This would allow them to build a more personalized experience, choosing less distracting and more arousing songs, eventually increasing both engagement and emotional involvement. In the previous experiment, for example, listening to self-selected music was not only preferred but also improved the participants ability to avoid obstacles randomly placed in the racing track (Cassidy and MacDonald, 2010). Also, incongruence between soundtrack and audiovisual content seems to have a very limited effect in immersion, the feeling of being inside the content and how realistic the events depicted seem; at least in the case of movies (Petey, Campanella, Rubenking, Buncher & Gress, 2010). Still, developers won’t necessarily appreciate the idea of having less control over the final feel of their product and additional evidence would be required before most of them adopt this approach.

GTA: San Andreas and WWE 13 allow the the user to add their own music, increasing replay value.

Research on the relationship between music and the user experience could have an important effect in the future of video games. Especially considering the current interest in the development of soundtracks that adapt to the user’s feelings and behavior. But instead of using this newly acquired knowledge to provoke a more intense experience, developers could just employ it to obtain more precise effects. After all, triggering a very specific sets of emotions or reduce the levels of distraction to improve performance could be enough to make players perceive a significant improvement in video game quality. Findings could also be applied to different fields like the use of music in work-place to reduce stress without affecting performance. In the end research about video game soundtracks could end up affecting not only how we play at home, but also how we spend our time in the office.

Cassidy, G. G. & MacDonald, R. A. R. (2010). The effects of music on time perception and performance of a driving game. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51(6), 255-464. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9450.2010.00830.x.

Hébert, S., Renée, B., Dionne-Fournelle, O., Crete, M., & Lupien, J. (2005). Physiological stress response to video-game playing: The contribution of built-in music. Life Sciences, 76(20), 2371-2380

Lipscomb S. D. & Zehnder, S. M. (2004). Immersion in the virtual environment: The effect of a musical score on the video gaming experience. Journal of Physiological Anthropology and Applied Human Science, 23(6), 337-343.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Can audio really make movies and games more immersive and fun?

Outdoors and enclosed spaces sound different, even in video games.

increasing realism and presence.


Hélène Campbell says even though her life was at risk during a double-lung transplant, she was at peace knowing her story was shared to help raise awareness about organ donation.

The Ottawa woman sat down with CBC News for a one-on-one interview looking back on a year that changed her life.

Campbell underwent a major double-lung transplant surgery in a Toronto hospital and survived, but she continues to adjust to her new set of lungs.

You can see the interview above.


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Reading Comprehension Tips

Reading. If you’re reading this sentence right now, you know how to do it. In fact, reading is something you probably learned how to do years ago. However, there is a difference between knowing how to read and reading critically to get the most out of what you’re learning in college. Research suggests that reading critically involves three important components:

  1. The consideration of the author’s purpose

  2. The quality of the content being read

  3. Comparing the content being read to prior knowledge about the subject

Since a successful academic experience relies on a complete understanding of a subject by reading required texts, reading skills are invaluable in college and can truly make all the difference in facilitating a more holistic education.

SQ4R Reading Strategy

Now that we’ve established why reading skills are critical for your learning, let’s get into how to increase your skills. One of the most effective, efficient ways to critically read text is by using the SQ4R reading strategy. This method has you do the following as you read:

That’s it! At the end of each week, I recommend integrating the notes from your reading with the lecture notes you took in class in order to eliminate redundancies and centralize information to one notebook. This notebook is what you’ll study before exams. Although it may seem like this method is time consuming, after a week of practicing you will get the hang of it and will see marked improvement in your reading speed and, more importantly, your critical understanding of the material.

Need more help with this topic? Set up a meeting with an Academic Coach.


Assorted PerennialsPlanting perennials requires extra care than planting annuals does. This is due to the nature of the plants themselves. Most flowering perennials will generally not bloom their first season, due to the necessity of strengthening the root system for the coming winter. When planting, many factors must be taking into consideration to ensure long plant life. The first factor to take into consideration is the location. Some perennials can withstand colder winters than others. To check which plants can survive in each region, you can look at the plant hardiness zone map. Sunlight and soil conditions must also be taken into consideration. Obtain this information before planting perennials in any location of the garden. Perennial GardenWhen planting perennials that are not yet mature, i.e. still in seed form, there are several options. Most nurseries will sell only plants that are already mature, but some gardeners prefer to mature the plants themselves. This can be done by initially growing the plant indoors in a pot or flat. When the plant has grown strong enough, usually six to eight weeks later, it should be transplanted to the final growing site in the garden. Another way is to plant the seed in late June in a shady nursery bed. Mulch should be applied to the plant in the fall to protect it through the long winter. In early spring, it should be transplanted to its final location.


How to Find Alkaline Water

Some people buy alkaline water in the hopes of increasing their body’s pH. Your body actually does a good job of maintaining the right pH on its own, and the amounts of water typically consumed would be neutralized by your stomach acids, limiting any effect on your pH. You’d have to drink quite a lot of alkaline water to affect your body’s pH, which would get expensive and might be harmful, according to an article published in Monterey County Weekly in February 2015. You’re better off changing the way you eat, but if you’d like to try the water, it isn’t very hard to find or make yourself.
Many grocery stores and other stores carry alkaline water along with the other specialty waters in the bottled water aisle. You can also order it online or buy a machine to make alkaline water at home. The best type of alkaline water is naturally alkaline spring water because this has more of the essential minerals than alkaline water produced by passing regular tap water through an electric current.

The Difference Between Soccer & Rugby Cleats

At first glance, rugby and soccer cleats may look the same, yet they have some characteristic differences. Rugby players hold the ball, while soccer players maneuver the ball with their feet. Key features make each type of cleat more appropriate for rugby or soccer. If you’re tempted to use the same cleats for both sports, note that some rules and regulations may prevent such a crossover.
Rugby cleats vary depending on the position of the player. Forwards usually wear higher topped rugby cleats that resemble boots to protect the ankles from oncoming rucks and mauls. Rugby shoes are generally heavier than soccer cleats. Soccer cleats are made to be extremely light to allow players speed and accuracy while kicking the ball. Leg protection in soccer is provided by shin pads and socks, so soccer cleats have low tops and less ankle support.
The first rugby boots were made of genuine leather, which posed a problem in wet conditions. Boots had to be removed, dried overnight and stuffed with newspaper to hold their shape, according to Rugby Football History. Today, rugby boots are often made from kangaroo leather — they are easier to care for and lighter on your feet. Soccer cleats were originally constructed much like rugby cleats. Modern soccer cleats are made of synthetic materials — these are lighter on your feet and better for muddy fields. Some players may choose to wear leather soccer cleats for dry conditions.
The number of cleats on the bottom is one of the biggest differences between soccer and rugby cleats. Regulation rugby cleats have 10 spikes on the bottom and soccer cleats usually have 16. Both rugby and soccer shoes feature removable screw cleats so you can adjust your shoes to any playing surface. Choose flatter cleats for shorter grass and soft ground, and longer cleats for longer grass and hard ground.
If you play soccer and rugby, you may wonder if you can purchase just one pair of shoes for both. Choose a rugby shoe if you cross over — soccer shoes often have wedge cleats, which aren’t allowed in rugby. Synthetic soccer shoes may not offer you enough support and protection for a rough contact sport like rugby. High-top rugby boots may be difficult to wear with shin pads, but you can wear a lower cut rugby cleat to play soccer.

How to Build Leg Muscle for Speed

Strength training should be an important component of a serious runner’s workout. Building muscular strength, particularly in the legs, corrects muscle imbalances and helps create power. A regular strength-training program can also reduce the risk of injuries. You can weight-train during the off-season or year-around. If you are serious about running fast, however, it will probably be necessary to back off weight training during the competition season to prevent overtraining.
Develop a schedule that works for you. A break between workouts gives the body time to recover and may reduce the risk of overuse injuries and the chances of overtraining. Chris Carmichael, in “Outside Magazine,” recommends training in blocks. One example of a training block that allows you to build leg muscles for speed is to weight-train two days, rest one day and then do speed workouts for three days. This is just one example; the important thing is to work out a schedule that works for you, when you can make it to the gym and when you can run.
Integrate hill workouts into your running. Lifting weights is not the only way to build leg muscles. Hill workouts increase leg strength and power. “Running Times” recommends one or two hill workouts each week as part of a strengthening program.
Use big lifts, such as squats and deadlifts, that work multiple body parts, as the main component of the leg-building program. Complete the exercises at a weight that allows you to do six to 12 repetitions.
Follow up all workouts with a stretching routine. Increasing muscle mass will not improve performance if it comes at the expense of flexibility. It is important to stretch after each workout to maintain a full range of motion through the core, hips and knees.
Train your brain to use new muscle through short, fast repeats. Several times a week, run short, fast repeats. Ten repeats, about 20 seconds long, run at about 90 percent of your maximum speed, will train the brain and nervous system to recruit the leg muscles. Warm up thoroughly before you begin this workout and recover fully between each sprint. This is a mind-body workout, not a cardiovascular one.

Doak Walker

Doak Walker was one of the greatest college players ever. The Southern Methodist University triple threat was named All-American each year from 1947-1949 and won the 1948 Heisman Trophy.
As a sophomore tailback in 1947, Walker (born 1927) ran, passed, and kicked the Mustangs to an undefeated season. His 38.7-yard kickoff return average set an NCAA record.
After his Heisman-winning junior season, his face could be found on nearly every preseason football magazine.
Readers who delved inside could learn that Doak was his middle name (his first name was Ewell) and that he was expected to be even better as a senior.
Injuries held Walker back much of his final college season, though he was deservedly named to most All-American teams.
However, when it seemed he might again receive strong Heisman support, the modest star asked the committee to withdraw his name from consideration so that a player who’d been able to participate in all of his team’s games might win.
Nevertheless, there were doubts that Walker could make it in the pros when he signed with the Detroit Lions. At 5’11” and 173 pounds, he was small and not enough of a “specialist” in any phase of his game.
He ended up specializing in everything! During his six pro seasons, Walker ran for a 4.9 average, caught 152 passes, kicked 183 extra points and 49 field goals, threw halfback passes, ran back kicks, punted a few times, and — in a pinch — played defense.
Walker led the NFL in scoring twice, in his first year with 128 points and in his final season. He was named All-NFL four times and selected for five Pro Bowls. With “The Doaker” at halfback, Detroit won three division titles and two NFL championships.
No doubt his signature play was his 67-yard dash off right tackle for the decisive touchdown against Cleveland in the 1952 championship game. Walker’s election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986 gave him enshrinement in both the college and pro halls.
To learn more about football greats, see:

How Online Degrees Work

Earning a degree if you’re working (or simply busy) isn’t as hard as it used to be. The time, distance and financial constraints of higher education have all but disappeared with the arrival of distance learning via telecommunications and online technology. If you’re already in the workforce but would like to earn a degree, then the opportunity is there. It may require some technological know-how, current computer equipment, and a lot of self-discipline, but it is definitely easier and more effective than it used to be.
Today, you can earn a degree from a major university without ever having sat in one of their classrooms. Many colleges and universities are jumping on the distance learning bandwagon and offering online courses and degree programs. There are even consortiums of universities, such as Canadian Virtual University (CVU). CVU offers no courses or degrees itself, but simply acts as a portal for courses from 14 universities across Canada. There is also the Global University Alliance that is a consortium of?10 schools from the United States, England, Australia, Switzerland, Singapore, China, Japan?and Denmark. There are even schools that are complete, stand-alone virtual universities with no campuses, no football teams, and no fraternity row.
In this article we’ll look at how online degrees work, what you should look for if you are pursuing a degree via the online option, and what employers think of online degrees.

Everyday Tech Pictures

Ion thrusters. Scanning tunneling microscopes. The Large Hadron Collider. At first glance, it seems like the coolest inventions are all things you¡¯ll never get your hands on. But it would be a shame to overlook the coolness of everyday tech like the handheld fabric steamer. No, no — just stick with us here for a second: Imagine how magical this thing would be to someone from the ancient world. You plug a little plastic canister into the wall, and it harnesses invisible currents of electrons to flash liquid water into gas and blast the vapors over the topography of a garment in distress. This thing is a Martian death ray for creases and wrinkles — they vanish right before your eyes. The most abused piles of wadded linen look upon this weapon with trembling and despair. In short — we shouldn¡¯t take stuff like this for granted. Click through to see more of our favorite awesome but overlooked inventions in everyday technology. (Read more in How a Clothes Steamer Works.)

Football Facemask History

Movements of the Hip Joint When Kicking a Soccer Ball

Kicking a soccer ball requires orchestrating your feet, legs, hips, torso, head and even your arms to ensure the proper form and provide balance. The hip joint, which connects the femur or thighbone to the pelvis, serves as the crossroads for a kinetic chain that transmits power to the soccer ball. Some of the body¡¯s most powerful muscles allow the elegantly designed hip joint to move forward, move backward and rotate when thwacking the ball.
The hip joint is used when standing, walking, running and kicking. The femoral head fits perfectly into the other half of the socket or acetabulum, which is a concave depression in the pelvis, and the femur can rotate around an axis. Cartilage coatings in the acetabulum permit smooth motion in the joint during a soccer kick. The hip joint enjoys a wide range of motion in all directions, including flexion limited by the hamstrings, extension by ligaments around the joint, abduction by the adductor muscles and adduction by the tensor muscle on the outside of the hip.
The gluteus maximus extends the hip and rotates it. The hamstrings flex the knee and rotate and extend the leg. The abductors enable the leg to move sideways in the hip joint, and adductors permit you to swing one leg across the front of another. During normal gait, the muscles of the hip flex and send one leg backwards, and then the muscles extend, swinging the same leg forward through 60 degrees of motion until the heel strikes the ground. A soccer kick entails more dramatic use of the hip joint and its muscles.
Kicking is the most widely studied skill in soccer, writes Adrian Lees, an exercise sciences professor at Liverpool John Moores University. Lees contributed a chapter on how biomechanics apply to soccer skills in the landmark text ¡°Science and Soccer.¡± Kicking begins with placement of the supporting foot beside the ball. The hip joint enjoys constant involvement in all phases of the kick; the movements can be divided into four stages.
The kick begins with a priming of the leg in a backswing, The second stage, the forward motion of the kicking leg, begins with the rotation of the leg around the hip joint and bringing the thigh forward. In the third stage, the upper leg decelerates until it is motionless at ball contact, Lees explains. At this point the hip joint takes a back seat to the powerful involvement of the knee as the lower leg snaps forward and the foot, toes pointed down, smacks into the lower middle of the ball. During follow-through, the fourth stage, the foot may reach above the level of the hip. A kinetogram looks like a series of stick figures freeze-framing each hip and leg position during a soccer kick. The hip joint smoothly rotates forward in an arc to help the player kick the ball and perhaps achieve a well-placed pass or shot.

What Is a Good Vertical Jump for High School Athletes?

Assessing your vertical jump height can give you an idea of where you rank compared to other student athletes, and can clue you in to whether you need to work on your jump height before you try out for a sport. When you can get higher vertically, you have an advantage in basketball, volleyball, football, and track and field.
A good high school athlete will have a vertical jump of 24 to 28 inches. A very good jump would be in the 28- to 32-inch range. An athlete with an excellent vertical jump would rise 32 to 36 inches. Anything above 36 inches would put a high school athlete at the top of his class. When Michael Jordan was at the peak of his career with the Chicago Bulls, his vertical jump was measured at 43 inches.
Vertical jump is largely a function of strength. The stronger you are in your legs, hips and core muscles, the more power you will be able to harness when you jump. Power in your legs, hips and core muscles will give you the ability to get higher in your leap. Strength workouts that include squats and lunges will give you the ability to jump higher. According to sports coach Brian Mac, if you are a heavier person, you need to apply more power to achieve the same jump height as a lighter person, because you have a larger mass to move.
Once you have developed strength in your legs, hips and core muscles, developing your jumping skills with plyometric training will help you jump higher. High school athletes can do this by standing to the left of a 15-inch box and jumping over it so you are on the right side. Do 10 back-and-forth jumps and then take a one-minute break before repeating the drill.
Basketball players want to increase their vertical jump so they can dunk the ball or have a chance at becoming a better rebounder. Football receivers who can increase their vertical jump have a chance to go over the defensive back and make a key catch. A soccer player may be able to get over the top of the defender and head a shot into the goal. In addition to the benefit vertical jump can bring in each sport, it can help make an athlete more confident every time he competes in his chosen sport.

Describe the Sequence of Arm Muscle Movements in Throwing a Javelin

The javelin is a throwing event in the sport of track and field. Success in throwing the javelin requires a combination of power and speed; while the javelin is the lightest of the throwing implements, there is a greater demand on precise movement skills. The arm goes through a specific movement sequence during the throw, and mastery of it results in superior performance.
The javelin throw dates back to the time of Hercules. It evolved from a hunting weapon and was part of ancient Olympics as early as 700 B.C. It became a popular sport in Scandinavia in the late 1700s. Once made from wood, today the javelin is made out of aluminum or graphite and weighs between 600 grams and 800 grams. Throwing techniques have changed from a linear movement to an arc.
Throwing distances are based on three variables: throw, angle of release and velocity. Two components, speed and power, are required for improved performance. Power requires the most force in the shortest amount of time. Momentum must be transferred from your lower body, through your core to your upper body. Movement must occur from the most proximal point, your shoulders, through the elbow, hand and fingers, the most distal point.
There are three phases in the movement in throwing the javelin. First, the run-up or approach occurs as your arm is bent and kept close to your head, keeping the javelin in alignment with little to no arm movement. Next is the transition or withdrawal phase, in which the javelin is brought back in alignment with the shoulder with your palm up. Finally is the delivery and follow-through phase, rotating your shoulder and extending your arm to release the javelin. Using the proximal to distal movement enables your arm to move in a whipping motion for release and follow-through.
Your biceps contract to flex your elbow during the carrying phase. Your deltoid, or shoulders, flex to lift your arm up so the javelin can be held higher and raised to your forehead. During the withdrawal phase, your back muscles contract as you bring the javelin back. The non-throwing arm is extended forward as your throwing arm is brought back. This movement stretches your pectoral, or chest, muscles. From there, a stretch reflex, an involuntary contraction of your chest, helps bring your throwing arm forward with increased force. During the delivery phase, your shoulder initiates the movement, transferring movement through your triceps, wrists and fingers to extend your throwing arm forward to release the javelin.
While your upper body muscles are directly involved with holding and releasing the javelin, the force is generated throughout your body. Initial force is initiated in your lower body muscles and transferred through your core through to your upper body muscles. Any weakness in the transferring muscles will diminish the force and reduce performance.