“White men can't jump.” But can they throw? Social perception in European basketball

"White men can't jump." But can they throw? Social perception in European basketball.

In the present article, we investigate the influence of sociocultural stereotypes on the impression formation of basketball players and coaches. In Experiment 1 (n = 32), participants were shown a picture of a black or white basketball player prior to observation of a point-light video of a player executing a basketball free throw. The participant was informed that the player depicted in the pi...

Can Social Contagion Help Global Health ‘Jump the Shark’?; Comment on “How to Facilitate Social Contagion?”

The instrumental use of social networks has become a central tenet of international health policy and advocacy since the Millennium project. In asking, ‘How to facilitate social contagion?’, Karl Blanchet of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine therefore reflects not only on the recent success, but also hints to growing challenges; the tactics of partnerships, alliances and platfo...

Optimal release conditions for a free throw in basketball

Optimal release conditions for the free throw in men's basketball.

The purpose of this study was to determine the optimum release conditions for the free throw in men's basketball. The study used hundreds of thousands of three-dimensional simulations of basketball trajectories. Five release variables were studied: release height, release speed, launch angle, side angle, and back spin. The free throw shooter was assumed to shoot at 70% and to release the ball 2...

Fistulas first--but can they last?

Efforts during the past 5 to 10 years to increase the proportion of patients in the United States who receive maintenance hemodialysis via a native arteriovenous (AV) fistula have been successful. In 2008, 55% of prevalent patients in the United State were undergoing dialysis via a fistula compared with only 35% in 2003 (1,2). Despite this substantial progress, challenges remain, among the most...