Does film criticism affect box office earnings? Evidence from movies released in the U.S. in 2003

In a market characterized by a very large number of consumers, irregularly and infrequently choosing from a constantly changing menu of possibilities, widely available impartial information and advice would be expected to make a significant impact on demand. In the U.S. in 2003, however, there was zero correlation between critical ratings for films and gross box office earnings. For movies released on more than 1,000 screens, critical ratings were indeed positively related to gross earnings, and, together with production budgets and the number of opening screens, explained more than half the variance. But films with only limited opening release received higher average ratings. This is especially the case for foreign movies and documentaries but also true for American films, whose ratings, though positively related to the box office, seldom have enough influence to propel a movie into later wide exhibition or high earnings.

Training physical education students to self-regulate during basketball free throw practice

The additive effects of self-regulation training in forethought, performance, and self-reflection phase processes on acquiring a novel motoric skill (i.e., basketball free throws) and self-reflective beliefs were studied with 50 college students. The results showed a positive linear trend between the number of self-regulatory phases, in which the participants were trained, and their free throw shooting performance and shooting adaptation. The two- and three-phase training groups displayed significantly more accurate free throws and were able to self-correct their shooting form more frequently following missed shots than all other groups. Participants who received three-phase training displayed the most adaptive motivational profile, characterized by making strategic attributions and adaptive inferences and by using self/process criteria during self-evaluations.     

Effects of sensory-level high-volt pulsed electrical current ondelayed-onset muscle soreness

Ten healthy males and ten healthy females aged 21.5 +/- 3.2 years (mean +/- s) participated in the study, which was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of sensory level-high volt pulsed electrical current (HVPC) on delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Arm discomfort, elbow extension range of motion and isometric elbow flexion strength were obtained as baseline measurements. Delayed-onset muscle soreness was induced in the participants' dominant or non-dominant arm using two sets of 20 maximal eccentric elbow flexion contractions. After the induction of DOMS, the participants were randomly divided into an experimental condition (HVPC) or a placebo condition. The experimental condition consisted of 20 min of HVPC immediately after the induction of DOMS, and 20 min every 24 h for three consecutive days thereafter. The participants in the placebo condition received an intervention similar in design; however, no electrical current was administered. Baseline measurements were reevaluated at 24, 48, 72 and 96 h after the induction of DOMS. Three weeks later, the participants returned and the protocol was repeated on the contralateral limb, using the opposite intervention (HVPC or placebo). Repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed a significant increase in overall arm discomfort, decrease in elbow extension and decrease in isometric strength for both conditions over time. No significant main effect of treatment, or time-by-treatment interaction, was found for the HVPC condition when compared with the placebo condition for any variable. Sensory-level HVPC, as utilized in our application, was ineffective in reducing the measured variables associated with DOMS.     

Lower limb joint kinetics in the starting blocks and first stance in athletic sprinting

The aim of this study was to examine lower limb joint kinetics during the block and first stance phases in athletic sprinting. Ten male sprinters (100 m PB, 10.50 ± 0.27 s) performed maximal sprint starts from blocks. External force (1000 Hz) and three-dimensional kinematics (250 Hz) were recorded in both the block (utilising instrumented starting blocks) and subsequent first stance phases. Ankle, knee and hip resultant joint moment, power and work were calculated at the rear and front leg during the block phase and during first stance using inverse dynamics. Significantly (P < 0.05) greater peak moment, power and work were evident at the knee joint in the front block and during stance compared with the rear block. Ankle joint kinetic data significantly increased during stance compared with the front and rear block. The hip joint dominated leg extensor energy generation in the block phase (rear leg, 61 ± 10%; front leg, 64 ± 8%) but significantly reduced during stance (32 ± 9%), where the ankle contributed most (42 ± 6%). The current study provides novel insight into sprint start biomechanics and the contribution of the lower limb joints towards leg extensor energy generation.     

A More Perfect European Union?: The Transnational Networks of the European Union’s Embassy Open House in Washington,D.C.

Annually, the Delegation of the European Union (EU) in Washington, D.C., holds an embassy open house day for its 27 member nations to celebrate European culture and educate tourists on the functions of EU politics and international relations. Amidst an ongoing debt crisis and a continuing exploration of its identity as a supranational entity, “Embassy Day” affords an opportunity to see the EU as a spatial network uneasily caught in the tensions between the often nostalgic nationalism of its constituent countries and the future-oriented technocratic transnationalism of its composite alliance. By analyzing the cultural artifacts of Embassy Day from its handouts, maps, speeches, architecture, and performances, I treat Embassy Day as a “rhetorical experience” and the EU embassies as a transnational network imposed over the city space of Washington, D.C. In the process, I argue that the very fragmented nature of the open house’s complex simulation of Europe mirrors the fragmented nature of European identity itself, and thus displays the anxiety around how the EU places itself and its power vis-à-vis the global community.     

Child and adolescent multidimensional self‐concept: A five‐instrument factor analysis

The factor structure of five self‐concept scales from a hierarchical, multidimensional theoretical model was investigated. The Coopersmith Self‐Esteem Inventory, Multidimensional Self Concept Scale, Piers‐Harris Self‐Concept Scale, Self‐Esteem Index, and the Tennessee Self‐Concept Scale were administered to 221 students in Grades 5 through 8 in a counter‐balanced administration format. The five scales each yielded strong general factors and six dominant factors that coincide with the proposed theoretical model, which reflects social, affect, competence, academic, family, and physical self‐concepts. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Ratings of severity of life events by ninth-grade students

Special education, basic, and honors students rated the severity of stress for each of the life events on the Source of Stress Inventory (Chandler, 1981). There was a significant positive relationship between the Chandler rankings and the rankings made by the 60 ninth-grade students. Special education students reported they had experienced more of the events than had honors students, and the special education students reported more intense stress for the experienced events. Life experiences considered more stressful by students when compared to the stress values assigned by the Chandler rankings (teachers and mental health workers) include poor grades in school, loss of job by parent, mother beginning to work, birth of brother or sister, increased arguments with brothers and sisters vision problem requiring glasses.     

Factor structure of the K-ABC for referred school children

Previous factor analyses of the K-ABC for school-age children have offered varying degrees of support for the test, depending on which subtests have been analyzed. Further, most previous analyses have involved only children from the standardization sample. Here, K-ABC scores for 585 school-age children referred for psychological evaluation were factor analyzed. Results of the analysis of K-ABC MP tests were quite consistent with those of previous analyses and with the structure of the test itself. The factor structure of the MP and Achievement tests together was also consistent with previous analyses and, like those analyses, was somewhat less consistent with the theoretical structure of the K-ABC; the factors found could be interpreted from several perspectives. As in analyses of the standardization data, the Achievement tests appear to be better measures of general intelligence for referred children than do the MP scales. Thus, while it appears that the K-ABC factor structure is quite consistent for both normal and exceptional children, the meaning and names of factors found are open to interpretation.