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Social networking is an important form of communication for many people today. The language of friendship is sometimes embedded in the operational structure of social media, as is demonstrated by the example of ‘Facebook friends’. This article seeks to examine the nature of friendships as they are mediated by the technology of social networking. It builds a notion of ‘authentic friendship’ by drawing upon the fields of both philosophy and theology, examining several conceptions of friendship as it has been recognised before the advent of social networking. It then examines the contemporary practices of social media users from a behavioural standpoint, drawing conclusions as to the authenticity of different aspects of those relationships.

Awareness of sport-related concussions in soccer has gained recent attention in the medical community. Interestingly, purposeful heading-a unique yet strategic and inherent part of soccer-involves repeated subconcussive blows to the head. We divided 210 female interscholastic soccer players into control (CON [never concussed]) and experimental (EXP [previously concussed]) groups. We assessed neurocognitive performance using the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics computer program before and after the players' competitive season. Headers were recorded at all sanctioned matches. Data were analyzed using a series of one-way analyses of covariance and t tests. Both groups essentially played in the same number of games (EXP = 16.1 vs. CON = 16.1) and had an equal number of total headers (EXP = 24.9 vs. CON = 24.3). Additionally, headers per game were surprisingly low in both groups (1.4 in EXP vs. 1.3 in CON). Unexpectedly, there were no significant differences between the EXP and CON groups across all dependent variables measured (p .05). This study suggests that although previously concussed players involve themselves in purposeful heading (i.e., subconcussive insults) throughout a competitive season, there appear to be no negative consequences on neuropsychological test performance or concussion-related symptoms. Additional research is needed to determine what may result during the course of a playing career.

Objective To measure the acute effects of SRC on cognition and symptoms over a 7-day time course in interscholastic female soccer players. Design Prospective. Setting Soccer fields. Participants 36 interscholastic female soccer players were equally divided into concussed [CON] (age 16.3±1.4 yr.) and non-concussed [NOCON] (age 16.1±1.3 yr.) groups. Intervention A 17-item SRC-symptom checklist was completed resulting in a total symptom score (SX). Neurocognitive performance [ANAM] throughput scores [higher scores better] (SRT1, SRT2, MSP, MTH, CPT1, CPT2, ST6) was also measured. The CON and NOCON were evaluated on five occasions: baseline, day 1 [D1], day 3 [D3], day 5 [D5], and day 7 [D7]. Outcome measures Data from the 8 outcome variables were analysed using the multivariate approach to a repeated measures ANOVA Main results Significant (p Conclusions CON subjects exhibited robust symptoms and neurocognitive deficits in the days immediately following SRC. Similar to American football, our recovery curves represent an initial decline with gradual improvements in the days succeeding post-injury and reinforce the need for clinicians to be cautious in the 7-day period post-concussion and depend on cognitive rest to aid recovery. Competing interests None.

The dominion of Spain, with the accompanying influence of the Roman Catholic Church, endured for some three hundred and fifty years; and there can be no question that the Spaniards, lay and ecclesiastical, rendered a great service to the people of the Islands and to humanity. They welded the numerous warring tribes into a people leading a civilized mode of life and generally with a common religion-the only Christian people in the Orient. The Spaniards, however, failed to give the Filipinos a common language; perhaps this was due to a fear that the latter might become too united and join in opposition to the government. Hence the Spaniards discouraged the learning of their language by the mass of the people, so that at the end of three centuries of their domination, only an educated few, including the more well-to-do and those of Spanish blood, could talk Spanish; the others almost universally communicated with each other in the numerous dialects that prevailed in the Islands. The evils incident to the union of Church and State, with the Church in control, manifested themselves in the form of serious corruption in the government, especially as the years of Spanish domination drew to a close. Just before the arrival of the Americans the Filipinos had risen in actual revolt against their Spanish rulers, with a resultant condition of social unrest and uncertainty, while industry naturally suffered. Conditions in the Islands in 1898 were very bad. The great majority of rural Filipinos were born, lived, and died without once experiencing medical care. It was estimated that there was one doctor for about every 20,000 people. Smallpox, plague, and cholera raged unchecked, ravaging the Islands in deadly succession and carrying off their victims by hundreds of thousands. Banditry was prevalent. Wages were low and manufactures few. Means of transportation were primitive in the extreme, with one short line of inadequately equipped railroad; there were no improved ports or docks with modern freight handling facilities; and the roads were generally impassable in the rainy season. In other words, the Islands were practically stagnant.