Gender inequality among champions and players’ reception of gender disproportion of utility support champions in league of legends

Designing female character in video game has been criticized as being sexually objectified and underrepresented in quantity (number of characters and their appearance rate in the game) and in quality (take only secondary role and inferior ability statistics given). In this paper, we analyze world leading multiple-user online battle arena game league of legends to see if previously criticized gender inequality of champions still stands and conduct a survey of 1,403 players of that game and asks how they feel about serious gender disproportion of utility support champions (all females). The result shows that league of legends still has serious gender disparity in performance parameters and there has been only a small change in 5-year span (2014-2019). The survey result tells us that game players also feel political incorrectness of such gender disproportion, but they accept such gender prototype because they have been taught as such as social role theory explains gender inequality issues

Recombinant mussel proximal thread matrix protein promotes osteoblast cell adhesion and proliferation

BACKGROUND: von Willebrand factor (VWF) is a key load bearing domain for mamalian cell adhesion by binding various macromolecular ligands in extracellular matrix such as, collagens, elastin, and glycosaminoglycans. Interestingly, vWF like domains are also commonly found in load bearing systems of marine organisms such as in underwater adhesive of mussel and sea star, and nacre of marine abalone, and play a critical load bearing function. Recently, Proximal Thread Matrix Protein1 (PTMP1) in mussel composed of two vWF type A like domains has characterized and it is known to bind both mussel collagens and mammalian collagens. RESULTS: Here, we cloned and mass produced a recombinant PTMP1 from E. coli system after switching all the minor codons to the major codons of E. coli. Recombinant PTMP1 has an ability to enhance mouse osteoblast cell adhesion, spreading, and cell proliferation. In addition, PTMP1 showed vWF-like properties as promoting collagen expression as well as binding to collagen type I, subsequently enhanced cell viability. Consequently, we found that recombinant PTMP1 acts as a vWF domain by mediating cell adhesion, spreading, proliferation, and formation of actin cytoskeleton. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that both mammalian cell adhesion and marine underwater adhesion exploits a strong vWF-collagen interaction for successful wet adhesion. In addition, vWF like domains containing proteins including PTMP1 have a great potential for tissue engineering and the development of biomedical adhesives as a component for extra-cellular matrix

Identification of Vulnerable Plaque in a Stented Coronary Segment 17 Years after Implantation Using Optical Coherence Tomography

A patient presented with exertional chest pain two months prior to admission. Coronary angiography revealed a subocclusive stenosis within the boundaries of the stent. Optical coherence tomography showed remarkable intimal growth inside the stent, which demonstrated a heterogeneous appearance including low-intensity areas. These findings were congruent with the morphology of fibroatheroma in the native coronary artery and suggested that new atherosclerotic progression of the intima within the stent had occurred over 17 years following bare metal stent implantation. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the most delayed instances of a bare metal stent restenosis described in the medical literature

Castleman's Disease Presenting with Uveal Effusion Syndrome

We report a rare case of multicentric Castleman's disease that presented with ophthalmic involvement, along with a review of the literature. A 63-year-old male presented with decreased visual acuity in both eyes. Both eyes had serous elevations of the retinas with shifting subretinal fluid and annular choroidal detachment. No retinal breaks were found. Laboratory tests revealed pancytopenia, hypergammaglobulinemia, and an increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Chest and abdominal computed tomographies showed multiple lymphadenopathies in the mediastinum, abdomen, and in both inguinal areas. Histological examination of the inguinal lymph node biopsy was consistent with Castleman's disease. After combination chemotherapy, the serous elevations of both retinas and the annular choroidal detachments of both eyes disappeared. Ophthalmic involvement in Castleman's disease is very rare, and to the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of ophthalmic involvement of Castlemans's disease in Korea

Multi-Player Virtual Ping-Pong Game

In this paper we show how a motion capture system and feedback mechanism can be integrated into a virtual ping-pong game to create a multi-player platform. To trace the motion of each player, optical markers are attached to dif-ferent places on each player’s paddle. For tactile feedback, we designed a controller for a DC (Direct Current) mo-tor, which is also attached to the paddle. This controller communicates with the game server through wireless Blue-tooth technology. When the game server detects a collision between the paddle and ball, the controller receives the message from the game server and then triggers one of the respective paddle’s DC motors to vibrate depending on the position of the impact on the paddle. During an exhibition many people positively responded to the game

Optical cavity with a double-layered cholesteric liquid crystal mirror and its prospective application to solid state laser

The authors have fabricated an optical cavity with silver (Ag) and double-layered cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) mirrors facing each other. This CLC mirror consists of left-handed CLC and right-handed CLC films for high light reflection irrespective of polarization states. A single-mode lasing was observed in dye-doped CLC sandwiched between Ag and double-layered CLC mirrors. The authors also fabricated a flexible solid state device with a spin-coated dye molecular film sandwiched between Ag and double-layered CLC mirrors. Amplified spontaneous emission was observed from the solid state device, suggesting a possible structure for a flexible and tunable solid state laser.open