Coma

In medicine, coma (from the Greek κῶμα koma, meaning "deep sleep") is a state of unconsciousness in which a person: cannot be awakened; fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound; lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle; and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as being comatose. Typically, a distinction is made in the medical community between a coma and a medically induced coma, the former is generally understood to be a result of circumstances beyond the control of the medical community, while the latter is generally understood to be a means by which medical professionals may allow a patient's injuries to heal in a controlled environment.

A comatose person exhibits a complete absence of wakefulness and is unable to consciously feel, speak, hear, or move. For a patient to maintain consciousness, two important neurological components must function. The first is the cerebral cortex—the gray matter that forms the outer layer of the brain. The other is a structure located in the brainstem, called reticular activating system (RAS). Injury to either or both of these components is sufficient to cause a patient to experience a coma. The cerebral cortex is a group of tight, dense, "gray matter" composed of the nuclei of the neurons whose axons then form the "white matter", and is responsible for perception, relay of the sensory input (sensation) via the thalamic pathway, and many other neurological functions, including complex thinking.

Coma (novel)

Coma is Robin Cook's first major published novel, published by Signet Book in 1977.Coma was preceded in 1973 by Cook's lesser known novel, The Year of the Intern (also published by Signet Book).

Synopsis

Susan Wheeler is an attractive, 23-year-old third-year medical student working as a trainee at Boston Memorial Hospital. Susan, along with four other students—George, Harvey, Geoffrey, and Paul—takes rounds in surgery rooms and ICUs making post-treatment notations on the health of patients. Mark Bellows, a surgery resident in the hospital, is the instructor and supervisor of this group.

The book is a journey into the inner workings of a hospital. As these students complete their three-month surgical rotation, the dilemmas and problems faced by a woman in a so-called "man's" profession are also highlighted.

It comes to Susan's attention that two patients, Nancy Greenly and Sean Berman, mysteriously went into comas immediately after their operations. These incidents were attributed to complications due to anesthesia. Nancy Greenly became comatose when her brain did not receive sufficient oxygen during surgery. Similarly, Sean Berman, a young man in his 30s in good physical condition, underwent a scheduled knee operation. Despite the operation's success, Sean failed to regain consciousness. Medically, the odds for such occurrences are one in 100,000; however, such odds seemed resolutely higher at the Boston Memorial Hospital.

List of Twin Peaks episodes

Twin Peaks, an American serial drama television series created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, premiered on April 8, 1990 on the ABC Network in the United States and ended on June 10, 1991. The show spans 30 episodes over two seasons. The original pilot and season 2 premiere are 90 minutes long, while all the other episodes are approximately 45 minutes long. ABC canceled the series due to declining ratings in the second season.

Both seasons of Twin Peaks were released on DVD in the U.S. in 2001 and 2007, respectively. A complete series DVD box set, titled "The Definitive Gold Box Edition", with additional features was released on October 30, 2007. The complete series (including the film) was released on Blu-ray with even further material on July 29, 2014.

Twin Peaks follows FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper, who is sent to the fictional town of Twin Peaks, Washington to investigate the murder of popular and respected high school student, Laura Palmer. A feature-length prequel film, titled Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, was released on August 28, 1992, which depicts the events leading up to Laura's death.

Shuffle!

Shuffle! (シャッフル!, Shaffuru!) is a Japanese visual novel developed by Navel. It was originally released as an adult game for Microsoft Windows on January 30, 2004. It was subsequently followed by an all-ages release for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) and an expanded adult release for Windows. The Windows version was localized in English by MangaGamer in 2009. The gameplay in Shuffle! follows a branching plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction and focuses on the appeal of the female main characters. Shuffle! has been re-made into an expanded version called Shuffle! Essence+. It has expanded routes for the original five main heroines as well as new routes for six other characters. Shuffle! also has three spin-off sequels: Tick! Tack! , Really? Really! and Shuffle! Love Rainbow.

Shuffle! has made several transitions to other media. There have been two manga series based on the visual novel. The first was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's magazine Comptiq between December 2003 and 2006. The second was a comic anthology published by Kadokawa Shoten between July 2004 and December 2005. Two anime adaptations were produced by the animation studio Asread. The first anime was twenty-four episodes in length and was broadcast in Japan between July 2005 and January 2006. The second series was a twelve-episode readaptation and was broadcast between January and March 2007. Seven light novels, two fanbooks, nine drama CDs, and seven radio drama CDs adaptations have also been produced.

Shuffling

Shuffling is a procedure used to randomize a deck of playing cards to provide an element of chance in card games. Shuffling is often followed by a cut, to help ensure that the shuffler has not manipulated the outcome.

Shuffling techniques

Overhand shuffle

One of the easiest shuffles to accomplish, the overhand or stripping shuffle is essentially a series of cuts. A group of cards on the bottom (or top) of the deck grasped between the thumb on one side and fingers on the other, lifted sideways out of the deck, and then placed on the top (or bottom). This process is repeated multiple times with random selections of cards in order to randomize them.

The overhand shuffle offers sufficient opportunity for sleight of hand techniques to be used to affect the ordering of cards, creating a stacked deck. The most common way that players cheat with the overhand shuffle is by having a card at the top or bottom of the pack that they require, and then slipping it to the bottom at the start of a shuffle (if it was on top to start), or leaving it as the last card in a shuffle and just dropping it on top (if it was originally on the bottom of the deck).

Shuffle (song)

"Shuffle" is the first single by British alternative rock band Bombay Bicycle Club from their third studio album, A Different Kind of Fix. Through Island Records, the single was released on 23 June 2011 as a digital download in the United Kingdom. The song was chosen as "Record of The Week" by UK radio DJ Zane Lowe. "Shuffle" would become one of the band's most commercially successful singles.

Commercial performance

"Shuffle" peaked at number 64 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's second-most successful single. The single also debuted at number 40 and peaked at number 38 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in the United States, the band's first chart appearance in that country. The song also charted at number 60 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 Singles chart.

Music video

The music video was uploaded to VEVO and YouTube on July 22, 2011. It features Lucy Rose, a fellow artist who is friends with the band. With over three million views, it is the band's most viewed video on YouTube and VEVO to date.

List of Pokémon anime characters

This is a list of Pokémon anime characters.

Main characters

Rivals

Professors

Antagonists

Team Rocket

Team Rocket (ロケット団, Roketto-dan, Rocket Gang) is an organization bent on world domination. Headed by Giovanni, their plan to steal and exploit Pokémon for profit and power is a central plot device used throughout the series. According to the anime, the organization only has bases in the Kanto and Johto regions; however, that does not stop the show's antagonist trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth from following Ash Ketchum to other areas around the Pokémon world. Often, members of Team Rocket are broken up into pairs in order to perform specific heists—like Jessie and James. In the English translations, the pairs are often given names which nod to iconic figures of the American Old West: Jesse James, Butch Cassidy, and Annie Oakley, as well as Atilla the Hun.

Team Magma

Team Magma (マグマ団, Maguma-dan, Magma Gang) is one of the two villainous organizations in the Hoenn Region. They are a group of experts in the fields of geology and plate tectonics. Like Team Rocket, some rebels are Pokémon thieves, but Team Magma specializes in the field of Fire and Ground type Pokémon. In Pokémon Ruby, the team acts as the main crime team antagonists.