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Introduction: Anecdotal reports and limited reports suggest a possible link between activities involving rapid acceleration and retinal detachment. We present two novel such cases and review existing literature to investigate the plausibility of this association and delineate in what populations such an association may be more likely. Case Presentation: We report 2 cases of retinal detachment following roller coaster riding. The first, a 24-year-old woman with a family history of retinal detachment, presented with floaters after consecutive rides and was found to have an inferior temporal macula-sparing retinal detachment with associated retinal breaks. The second case, a 25-year-old female with a history of high myopia, presented with visual field defect and was found to have a macula-on retinal detachment with an accompanying tear at the edge of an area of lattice degeneration. Both were successfully treated with pneumatic retinopexy followed by laser retinopexy. Conclusion: Rapid acceleration/deceleration forces, such as those experienced on roller coasters, could potentially lead to retinal detachment. Structural predisposition is likely necessary for acceleration/deceleration injury to lead to retinal detachment, with all known cases having risk factors, including high myopia and positive family history. These same forces in eyes without structural predisposition have resulted in hemorrhage, but not detachment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a rollercoaster activity including virtual reality and following the six-steps engineering design process. In the study, a real-life problem involving a rollercoaster accident was given to 12 pre-service science teachers first. The participants were then asked to imagine, plan, create, and test a rollercoaster without an impulsion or braking system that could prevent this kind of accident. The pre-service teachers worked in groups to design their rollercoaster in three 50-minute sessions. After designing their rollercoasters, the pre-service teachers were shown a rollercoaster video with VR glasses so that they could test their designs by noticing the faulty parts. After they improved their designs, each rollercoaster was evaluated by the researchers using the rubric. The activity is critical in providing pre-service science teachers with an example of integrating the STEM approach into their lessons and incorporating virtual reality in STEM education. The activity also can help students become entrepreneurial thinkers and understand how science is connected to other disciplines such as technology, mathematics, or engineering. The activity can also help students develop 21st-century skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, and analytical thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to propose a model for estimating individual susceptibility to motion sickness by correlating measures of seated postural sway before exposure to a roller coaster movie displayed in a head-mounted display (HMD) with subjective ratings of visually induced motion sickness (VIMS). The participants were required to watch the content for 15 min, and seated center of pressure (sCOP) was measured using a force platform for 5 min before viewing. We developed a VIMS estimating model from 16 subjects and verified it on 15 subjects. SSQ scores for VIMS were strongly correlated with the area of sCOP, the main-to-minor ratio of the sCOP ellipse, and the total length of sCOP, respectively (r = 0.706, r = 0.555, and r = 0.622). When verifying the estimation model, the observed SSQ scores differed by 32.628 ± 29.749 from the expected SSQ scores, and both score sets were positively correlated (r = 0.622). The classification results between nil and mild, moderate, and severe groups for VIMS showed an accuracy of 0.74 using random under-sampling boost (RUSBoost). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The approach of the study is on singularity properties of timelike circular surfaces in Minkowski 3-space. A timelike circular surface is a one-parameter set of Lorentzian circles with stationary radius directing a non-null space curve, which acts as the spine curve, and it has symmetrical properties. In this study, we addressed timelike circular surfaces and gained their geometric and singularity properties such as Gaussian and mean curvatures, comparable with those of ruled surfaces. Consequently, we presented timelike roller coaster surfaces as a special class of timelike circular surfaces. Then, the conditions for timelike roller coaster surfaces to be flat or minimal surfaces are obtained. Meanwhile, we supported the results of the approach with some examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a critical events theoretic analytic lens, we argue that the Covid-19 pandemic had the disruptive power to shake the foundation of sports fanship, much as it affected all aspects of contemporary life across the globe. We conducted a survey of 613 adults in the United States, all of whom self-identified as sports fans. Sports fanship avidity dipped during the height of the pandemic when games, matches, and seasons were cancelled or conducted in protective bubbles without fans in the stands. That dip was temporary. With sports back in full-throttle mode, fanship avidity returned to pre-pandemic levels. Those who identified as strong fans appeared to cherish its return, some even more avid than before. The impact of the pandemic on sports fanship was most acute among those who were not ardent sports fans to begin with—and its impact appears to have extended over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of vibrations during a roller coaster ride is a recurring phenomenon that can deteriorate the overall experience and accelerate material fatigue. Nevertheless, the causes of such vibrations are still not completely understood and are consequently not fully predictable during the design process. One possible source lies on the irregularities of the rails, acting as a forced external excitation. However, a spectral analysis shows deviations with respect to real measurements [1], as the frequencies are not synchronous with the car velocity divided by the spatial irregularity period. Therefore, there is an indication that the vibrations may be due to self‐excitation and/or that the developed models should consider other phenomena not yet contemplated. This investigation analyses –for the first time to the knowledge of the authors– the plausibility of various causes of self‐excited vibrations during a roller coaster car motion. Given the complex structure of a real roller coaster train and the intricate geometry of the track, the study considers as a first step minimal dynamical models running along a straight track. The cause analyzed in this paper is the contribution of the transversal friction force component that develops in the wheel‐rail contact interface to the destabilization of the longitudinal motion, as well as the effect of the various geometrical and inertial parameters. In this first analysis, no external excitation is considered. For a range of parameters, the minimal system presents a Hopf bifurcation. The results are plausible from the general behavior and thus this cause may be retained as a candidate for the real vibrations occurring in roller coasters. However, the applicability of these preliminary results to general roller coaster motions is not yet confirmed, but a superposition with other causalities may render effective. In further investigations, a complete train motion on curved tracks and external perturbations will be studied to determine the share of the different causes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flow field characteristics of Falcon separator are studied by CFD simulation based on Euler-Euler model as multiphase flow model and Reynolds stress model as turbulence model, including particle movement state in delamination area and separation area, three phase (Tangential, radial and axial directions) velocity distribution and turbulence field distribution. Simulation results show that particle movement trajectory is a three-dimensional helical structure with circular motion in groove, which can be regarded as "a circular harmonic motion of a roller coaster"; velocity distribution in the delamination area is almost same as other centrifugal separators but it is quite different in the groove; with feeding of recoil water, the turbulence intensity in the separation area is increased obviously, but it has a lower influence on the disturbance at upper layer of convective membrane, which enhanced the separation effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Acute compartment syndrome (ACS) occurs secondary to increasing pressure within a fascial compartment that exceeds perfusion pressure. This can be caused by spontaneous hematomas, which can be secondary to prolonged anticoagulation therapy. Eliquis® has not been associated with ACS of the thigh in any of the currently published literature. Identifying ACS early is important because it can reduce the risk of permanent structural damage, limb amputations, and mortality rates. Case Report. A 43-year-old male with past medical history of unprovoked Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) eight months prior to presentation on Eliquis® presented to the emergency department for significant right thigh pain after riding a roller coaster. There was increased tone/firmness of the anterior compartment and tenderness on palpation of the proximal two-thirds of the anterior thigh. Imaging, clinical findings, and Stryker needle measurements confirmed ACS secondary to hematoma, which required fasciotomy and evacuation of the hematoma. The patient was temporarily switched to aspirin for DVT prophylaxis postoperatively to prevent new hematoma formation. Six weeks later, the patient arrived at the ED with a DVT that was treated with Eliquis®. Eight months later, the same patient presented with acute right thigh pain that started while lying in bed. A diagnosis of recurrent ACS in the right anterior thigh was made, requiring a fasciotomy. Surgery was successful without any complications. Discussion. Eliquis® is associated with an increased risk of hematoma formation, which can lead to ACS. This is a rare adverse effect that providers should be aware of because it requires early management to prevent ACS-associated complications. This is significant because no currently published literature has identified an association of Eliquis® with ACS in the thigh. In cases of atraumatic ACS, we were unable to find any protocols advocating for or against the use of DVT prophylaxis postfasciotomy in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examining the motion of the roller coaster qualitatively, we see that there is a period of deceleration that starts when the leading car enters the loop. The deceleration continues until the entire loop is traversed. The coaster then continues at constant speed until the tail of the train enters the loop. There is a period of acceleration that ends when the tail of the train leaves the loop. The coaster then continues at constant speed, v, equal to the speed before the loop was encountered. [Extracted from the article]

We examined the effects of using mobile devices with immersive virtual reality for a short period on the physiological parameters of both eyes. The average age of the 50 participants (23 men and 27 women) was 17.72 ± 1.48 years, and refractive error ranged from 0 D to − 5.00 D. All the participants wore + 3.00 D glasses and underwent a 5-min relaxation adjustment through the atomization method. The participants wore immersive virtual reality (VR) glasses to watch a movie on a roller coaster for 10 min. Their relevant physiological parameters of the eyes were measured both before and after using VR glasses. Compared with before VR use, no significant difference (P > 0.05) was observed in the near-horizontal vergence and refractive error but a significant difference (P < 0.05) was observed in the amplitude of accommodation, intraocular pressure, divergence/convergence, and stereopsis after VR use. The corneal elastic coefficient was > 0.2 MPa, and we used Friedenwald's eye rigidity relationship to obtain the K value (0.065–0.09). Approximately 10% of the participants experienced cybersickness symptoms such as nausea and dizziness. The use of VR to watch three-dimensional movies reduced intraocular pressure, which may help prevent or treat glaucoma. Moreover, the binocular convergence was higher when viewing near-field objects in VR than in the real world. Therefore, individuals with convergence excess may experience symptoms. Binocular parallax is the most likely cause of cybersickness symptoms. Thus, mobile VR devices with higher quality and comfort are necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have all experienced the “coronavirus roller coaster” feeling in the previous months. The same metaphor could be applied to work from home, which took adrenaline or melatonin forms depending on the day and activity. For many of us, this was the first experience of working from home, since Serbian legislation does not recognize this form of work engagement. The first analyzes of work from home i our country have shown that such work has both advantages and disadvantages, just like the one in the workplace. However, some of the librarians had the opportunity to learn from those already experienced in working from home, through international projects and activities. Engagement in Europeana and other international initiatives, as well as in several international projects, have made the difficult period of quarantine and pandemic an opportunity for learning and adaptation. And a special advantage was the participation in a series of online workshops Digital Transformation in the time of COVID-19, organized by Europeana for a limited number of participants [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explored the key drivers of customer delight and outrage in North American theme parks. Following content analysis of TripAdvisor postings, the authors revealed the most frequently used codes for delight including rides, travel advice, fun, physical environment, positive food and beverage experience, and well-managed lines. The most frequently used codes for outrage included: pricing, wait times, poor service, malfunctioning attractions, lack of variety, low quality of food, and lack of updates. These codes revealed five key constructs of theme park experiential consumption: core products, customer service, affective individual experience, management philosophy and practice, and pricing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the symptoms may be similar to the concussion syndrome, workup imaging can be considered if the patient had persistent symptoms following a 4D roller coaster ride. Considering the onset of symptoms and her clinical picture and the results of the workup studies, the 4D roller coaster ride was suspected as an etiology of her multifocal SDH. Brain Inj. 2012; 26 (13-14): 1731-6. 6 Kuo C, Wu LC, Ye PP, Laksari K, Camarillo DB, Kuhl E. Pilot findings of brain displacements and deformations during roller coaster rides. [Extracted from the article]

We address Turkheimer's argument that genome-wide association studies of behaviors and psychiatric traits will fail to produce coherent explanations. We distinguish two major sources of potential incoherence (heterogeneity and complexity), showing how they independently threaten coherence and considering how they are being and might better be addressed with protein and other databases and network tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changing acceleration and forces are part of the excitement of a roller coaster ride. According to Newton's second law, , every part of our body must be exposed to a force to accelerate. Since our bodies are not symmetric, the direction of the force matters, and must be accounted for by ride designers. An additional complication is that not all parts of the body accelerate in the same way when the acceleration is changing, i.e. when there is jerk. Softer parts of the body provide varying levels of damping, and different parts of the body have different frequency responses and different resonance frequencies that should be avoided or reduced by the roller coaster designer. This paper discusses the effect of acceleration, jerk, snap and vibration on the experience and safety of roller coaster rides, using authentic data from a dive coaster as an example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have all experienced the “coronavirus roller coaster” feeling in the previous months. The same metaphor could be applied to work from home, which took adrenaline or melatonin forms depending on the day and activity. For many of us, this was the first experience of working from home, since Serbian legislation does not recognize this form of work engagement. The first analyzes of work from home in our country have shown that such work has both advantages and disadvantages, just like the one in the workplace. However, some of the librarians had the opportunity to learn from those already experienced in working from home, through international projects and activities. Engagement in Europeana and other international initiatives, as well as in several international projects, have made the difficult period of quarantine and pandemic an opportunity for learning and adaptation. And a special advantage was the participation in a series of online workshops Digital Transformation in the time of COVID-19, organized by Europeana for a limited number of participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vertebral artery dissection (VAD) is a rare cause of ischemic stroke in young patients. The largely nonspecific symptoms and delayed presentation pose a serious diagnostic challenge. Medical management with either anticoagulation or antiplatelet therapy is recommended, but there are no reports of successful dual therapy. We report a case of spontaneous bilateral vertebral artery dissections (VADs) treated with both anticoagulation and antiplatelet therapy and a literature review on clinical presentation and the current medical and surgical management options. A 37-year-old healthy female presented to the emergency department with worsening neck pain and headache for two weeks despite over-the-counter medication, block therapy, yoga, and deep tissue neck massage. She denied any trauma but admitted to multiple roller coaster rides over the past few months. CT angiography was concerning for VADs, and MRI brain revealed multiple strokes in the left posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) territory. Cerebral arteriography confirmed the diagnosis of VADs. The patient was initiated on warfarin, along with atorvastatin and aspirin. She was discharged home with no complications and followed up with neurology as an outpatient. MR angiography after three months revealed complete resolution of the dissection. The patient did not report any bleeding complications from dual therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vertebral artery dissection (VAD) is a rare cause of ischemic stroke in young patients. The largely nonspecific symptoms and delayed presentation pose a serious diagnostic challenge. Medical management with either anticoagulation or antiplatelet therapy is recommended, but there are no reports of successful dual therapy. We report a case of spontaneous bilateral vertebral artery dissections (VADs) treated with both anticoagulation and antiplatelet therapy and a literature review on clinical presentation and the current medical and surgical management options. A 37-year-old healthy female presented to the emergency department with worsening neck pain and headache for two weeks despite over-the-counter medication, block therapy, yoga, and deep tissue neck massage. She denied any trauma but admitted to multiple roller coaster rides over the past few months. CT angiography was concerning for VADs, and MRI brain revealed multiple strokes in the left posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) territory. Cerebral arteriography confirmed the diagnosis of VADs. The patient was initiated on warfarin, along with atorvastatin and aspirin. She was discharged home with no complications and followed up with neurology as an outpatient. MR angiography after three months revealed complete resolution of the dissection. The patient did not report any bleeding complications from dual therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Your body is not a point particle. The nature and direction of the forces counteracting gravity influence your experience of uniform rectilinear motion—as does your own orientation in relation to the force of gravity. Sensors in smartphones or other devices can capture these forces, and help establish a connection between the personal experience of motion and the textbook description of forces acting on inanimate objects. This work focuses on authentic examples of uniform or nearly uniform rectilinear motion in escalators and roller coasters. Multiple complementary representations of the motion are presented, including photos, graphs of accelerometer, gyroscope and barometer data, mathematical expressions, free-body diagrams and video analysis, including screenshots. The paper aims to inspire teachers to use a larger repertoire with more variation in the examples illustrating uniform rectilinear motion. Analysing these relatively simple motions lays a good foundation for the interpretation of data from more complicated motions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pak-US relations are defined with frequent ups and down in roller coaster motion from engagements to estrangement with shifting priorities of US. Pakistan, Once the most allied ally in 50s, turned in to most sanctioned ally of the United States in 90s. The discord in bilateral relations was transformed in to cooperation by 9/11 terrorists attack on US and Pakistan is listed as key ally in the War against terror in Afghanistan. Since the commencement of War against Terror in Afghanistan the pattern of inter states relation has taken turns with every major event and the changing tones of the last few years indicates that the sky over Pakistan once again seems to be overcast. The rhetoric of "do more" and suspension of all kind of military and economic aid is replica of the past. The backlash of War in Afghanistan appeared with bangs in Pakistan threatening its peace and stability on one hand and polarizing its socio-political fiber of the society on the other. Soon Pakistan's army was left alone by US and the NATO in its operation against the safe heavens of terrorists alongside Durand line with disregard to all of its human and economic cost, suffered as non-NATO ally. Pakistan's importance has once again being signified on the wake of US current strategy of Withdrawal of its forces and successful culmination of Afghan peace process. Pakistan needs to play its card as bargaining chip to seek US weight in resolving its economic, security and Kashmir related issue in befitting manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapeseed is a major oilseed crop in Europe, whose development has been a roller coaster ride over the last 20 years. In a context of increasing demand for organic products, this crop must however face numerous constraints concerning its demanding place in the rotation, a choice of varieties limited to line varieties at least in the Switzerland, a crucial implantation which must cope with variable water stress during sowing and winters with less and less frost, very demanding nitrogen nutrition requirements in the context of organic farming, and particularly harmful pests. A consolidation of the research devoted to rapeseed cultivation, but also a redesign of its cropping system and economic considerations should make it possible to better position this crop in relation to agri-environmental contexts, but also in relation to the complementary aptitudes of other oilseed crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of a virtual reality (VR) system can be assessed from two aspects in the human-VR interaction loop. One aspect is the degree of immersion, which objectively quantifies the performance of the VR system using metrics such as the display field of view or the refresh rate. The other aspect is presence, which measures the user response to the VR system. This article presents a study that compares the impact on presence by changing immersion through enabling and disabling of the head tracking ability on a VR headset. The study quantitatively assesses this change by taking objective measurements of posture and subjective ratings of the VR experience, in terms of presence and motion sickness, after participants have gone through two versions of a roller coaster simulation; one with head tracking on and the other with head tracking off. The results indicate that a loss of immersion, caused by turning the head tracking feature off, results in a significant reduction in postural sway. This loss of immersion also affected presence, as shown through the user surveys. The survey responses indicate that the simulation with head tracking off was less enjoyable and caused more motion sickness compared to when head tracking is kept on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pak-US relations are defined with frequent ups and down in roller coaster motion from engagements to estrangement with shifting priorities of US. Pakistan, Once the most allied ally in 50s, turned in to most sanctioned ally of the United States in 90s. The discord in bilateral relations was transformed in to cooperation by 9/11 terrorists attack on US and Pakistan is listed as key ally in the War against terror in Afghanistan. Since the commencement of War against Terror in Afghanistan the pattern of inter states relation has taken turns with every major event and the changing tones of the last few years indicates that the sky over Pakistan once again seems to be overcast. The rhetoric of "do more" and suspension of all kind of military and economic aid is replica of the past. The backlash of War in Afghanistan appeared with bangs in Pakistan threatening its peace and stability on one hand and polarizing its socio-political fiber of the society on the other. Soon Pakistan's army was left alone by US and the NATO in its operation against the safe heavens of terrorists alongside Durand line with disregard to all of its human and economic cost, suffered as non-NATO ally. Pakistan's importance has once again being signified on the wake of US current strategy of Withdrawal of its forces and successful culmination of Afghan peace process. Pakistan needs to play its card as bargaining chip to seek US weight in resolving its economic, security and Kashmir related issue in befitting manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personality development research heavily relies on the comparison of scale means across age. This approach implicitly assumes that the scales are strictly measurement invariant across age. We questioned this assumption by examining whether appropriate personality indicators change over the lifespan. Moreover, we identified which types of items (e.g. dispositions, behaviours, and interests) are particularly prone to age effects. We reanalyzed the German Revised NEO Personality Inventory normative sample (N = 11,724) and applied a genetic algorithm to select short scales that yield acceptable model fit and reliability across locally weighted samples ranging from 16 to 66 years of age. We then examined how the item selection changes across age points and item types. Emotion‐type items seemed to be interchangeable and generally applicable to people of all ages. Specific interests, attitudes, and social effect items—most prevalent within the domains of Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Openness—seemed to be more prone to measurement variations over age. A large proportion of items were systematically discarded by the item‐selection procedure, indicating that, independent of age, many items are problematic measures of the underlying traits. The implications for personality assessment and personality development research are discussed. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a procedure for the design of the structures of a generic roller coaster ( RC ) is described. This activity is part of a partnership that the authors are entertaining with one of the major European amusement park industries. The full procedure, developed on theoretical bases and under simplified hypotheses, aims to make designers able to properly and quickly size the complete structure (for complete structure authors mean rails and support structures). In the present paper the design of the support structures is presented. The data, needed by this procedure, are: the rail track tridimensional geometry and the time histories of contact forces between vehicles and rails. The procedure has been subsequently verified by applying it to an existing RC in order to test all its capabilities and foresee future development and improvement, aiming to insert it in a consolidated general procedure, ever growing and expanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this report is to describe the case and management of an unexplained vitreous haemorrhage that occurred after repeated roller-coaster riding. The authors inadvertently demonstrate the value of observation over immediate surgery in certain situations and review the literature on vitreoretinal and other ocular complications after roller-coaster riding. A 26-year-old male presented 12 h after riding high-velocity roller-coasters with a left vitreous haemorrhage. A hazy view of the retina and B-scan revealed a bullous area of superior-temporal retinal lifting. A diagnosis of a presumed macula-on retinal detachment was made and the patient was listed for a pars plana vitrectomy retinal detachment repair. An abnormal clotting result, which was subsequently found out to be erroneous, ultimately delayed the procedure. During this delay the vision and retinal view improved to an extent whereby the diagnosis of a retinoschisis with an intraretinal cyst was made and surgery was avoided. The patient regained 6/6 vision, without the need to undergo surgery. Historically the management of an unexplained vitreous haemorrhage was observation with serial B-scans. The current evidence and practice for treating unexplained vitreous haemorrhage have since moved towards early surgical intervention. The authors highlight that despite the current trend, a place remains for conservative management for selected cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a design, a numerical analysis, a build-up and dynamic testing of an engineered and fabricated wheel with a passive vibration damping system designed for a roller coaster system. Taking into account the limited amount of space for fixing a wheel to a roller-coaster, this study shows an approach in which a special wheel design and viscoelastic inserts are used to reduce vibrations. A wheel comprises a rim and hub separated by a viscoelastic material and simultaneously connected by using spring steel fasteners with contractions ensuring elasticity. The dynamic tests of the wheel with a passive vibration damping system were completed with an assessment of the vibration reduction ratio in comparison to conventional roller coaster wheel types currently operated at the amusement park Energylandia located in Zator, Poland. Laboratory test results show reduction of vibrations by 36% in the low frequency range, by 63% in the medium frequency range and by 45% in the high frequency range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With 300,000,000 riders annually, roller coasters are a popular recreational activity. Although the number of roller coaster injuries is relatively low, the precise effect of roller coaster rides on our brains remains unknown. Here we present the quantitative characterization of brain displacements and deformations during roller coaster rides. For two healthy adult male subjects, we recorded head accelerations during three representative rides, and, for comparison, during running and soccer headers. From the recordings, we simulated brain displacements and deformations using rigid body dynamics and finite element analyses. Our findings show that despite having lower linear accelerations than sports head impacts, roller coasters may lead to brain displacements and strains comparable to mild soccer headers. The peak change in angular velocity on the rides was 9.9 rad/sec, which was higher than the 5.6 rad/sec in soccer headers with ball velocities reaching 7 m/sec. Maximum brain surface displacements of 4.0 mm and maximum principal strains of 7.6% were higher than in running and similar to soccer headers, but below the reported average concussion strain. Brain strain rates during roller coaster rides were similar to those in running, and lower than those in soccer headers. Strikingly, on the same ride and at a similar position, the two subjects experienced significantly different head kinematics and brain deformation. These results indicate that head motion and brain deformation during roller coaster rides are highly sensitive to individual subjects. Although our study suggests that roller coaster rides do not present an immediate risk of acute brain injury, their long-term effects require further longitudinal study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our objective was to assess the influence of visual flow direction on physiological changes and symptoms elicited by cybersickness. Twelve healthy subjects (6 male and 6 female) were exposed to a 15-min virtual ride on a rollercoaster on two different days in a counterbalanced manner, such half of participants were facing forward during the first ride while another half was facing backward. Forehead skin conductance, heart rate and HRV parameters (SDRR, RMSSD) were collected as objective measures; subjective symptoms were assessed with the Motion Sickness Assessment Questioner immediately after exposure. We found that while nausea ratings at which participants terminated the experiment did not differ between forward/backward rides, the mean ride tolerance time was significantly longer during reverse ride compared to forward ride (6.1±0.4 vs 5.0±0.5 min, respectively, p = 0.01, η2 = 0.45). Analysis of HRV parameters revealed significant reduction in both RMSSD (p = 0.02, t = 2.62, η2 = 0.43) and SDRR (p = 0.01, t = 2.90, η2 = 0.45) in the forward ride; no such changes were found in the backward ride. We also found that amplitude of phasic changes in forehead skin conductance increased significantly in both ride directions. This increase however was significantly lower (p<0.05) in backward ride when compared to the forward ride. When assessed immediately post-ride, subjects reported significantly lower (p = 0.04) subjective symptom intensity after the reverse ride compared to the forward ride. We conclude that the direction of visual flow has a significant effect on the symptoms reported by the subjects and on the physiological changes during cybersickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A vibration quarter-carbody model of a roller coaster running on a spatial trajectory is derived based upon the motion parameters, vertical acceleration, angular velocity, angular attitude, and transient position. These motion parameters are acquired from an ADAMS virtual prototype. The vibration response of the carbody is obtained by solving the differential equations with variable coefficients. Besides, the validity of both the ADAMS virtual prototype and the vibration model is verified by the simulated results versus the actually measured ones. Furthermore, a method, called as space frequency characteristics, is proposed to investigate the relation between the carbody vibration and the motion parameter of roller coaster, which reveals that the carbody vibration is related to its transient position and the influence of the randomness of the motion parameters on the vibration is eliminated. This research is supposed to be helpful for the fault diagnosis of roller coaster by considering both the vibration and motion signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The omnipresence of screens in contemporary life presents an unprecedented variety of ways of displaying as well as ways of seeing, reacting to and consuming images. This paper focuses on commercial and mediatised leisure spaces in the shape of theme parks and on on-site procedures of production and display of images of roller-coaster riders. Contemporary roller-coaster machines combine speed with high-resolution photography, to supply an enmeshed, mobile-cum-visual product, and the study asks how the images are displayed – by the corporations who run the theme parks and how they are received – by the consumers. First, the material settings in which images of roller-coaster riders are produced and displayed are explored, and then the ‘work’ that viewers engage in when they see themselves is addressed ethnographically in detail: What discursive actions and reactions are publicly performed when consumers face their images? I conceptualise the activities of viewing, and specifically of viewing images of oneself, as ‘work’, a concept which I borrow from Erving Goffman (as in ‘face-work’) and, more recently, from Mark Andrejevic (‘the work of watching’). By using qualitative and ethnographic methods, the study supplies up-close observations and analyses of the media spaces and logic in contemporary amusement parks, and the ‘work’ that viewers undertake when confronted with their images. This study contributes to our understanding of the proliferation of images of oneself in leisure and tourism, of the mediatisation of consumer publics, and of consumers’ activities of viewing their images and reacting to them when the latter are displayed commercially on public screens. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]