Assessing the Risk of Online Gambling Products: A Replication and Validation of Behavioural Markers of Harm Using the Problem Gambling Severity Index.

In this paper, we investigate the validity of objective operator data as proxy indicators for riskier gambling as based upon an independent self-report measure. Such work is important to strengthen the validity of gambling research involving objective behavioral indicators of harm used to detect higher risk gambling or product choices. To address these aims, a total of 21,464 individual customers from a single international operator completed the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI).

A shared journey: evaluating a patient-assessed measure of self-management of chronic conditions in an Australian setting.

Background Patient Assessment of Care in Chronic Conditions (PACIC+), included in some Australian guidelines, has been shown reliable for measuring patient engagement and perception of their care in primary care settings. Various studies have focussed on PACIC+ use in specific conditions. This study aims to expand PACIC+ to measure patient empowerment to self-manage their chronic condition and validate it in the broader Australian primary care population.

Active forest stewardship benefits priority birds in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

Fire suppression has negatively impacted thousands of acres of private and public lands in the United States. As a case study, the New Jersey Pine Barrens (NJPB) are a disturbance driven ecosystem that is experiencing serious ecological implications due to a loss of traditional forest thinning activities such as harvesting for forest products or thinning for wildfire fuel-load reduction measures coupled with a long-standing philosophy of fire suppression and dormant-season prescribed burning. Dense closed-canopy forest conditions, dissimilar to historic open-canopy forests of the NJPB, have reduced abundance and diversity of certain flora and fauna, including regionally imperiled breeding birds.

Exploring the relationships between psychological variables and loot box engagement, part 2: exploratory analyses of complex relationships.

In a pre-registered survey linked to this paper (Exploring the relationships between psychological variables and loot box engagement, part 1: pre-registered hypotheses), we confirmed bivariate associations between engagement with loot boxes (purchasable randomized rewards in video games) and measures of problem gambling, problem video gaming, impulsivity, gambling cognitions, experiences of game-related 'flow', psychological distress and reduced wellbeing. However, these variables have complex relationships, so to gain further insights, we analysed the dataset (1495 gamers who purchase loot boxes and 1223 purchasers of non-randomized content) in a series of Bayesian mixed-effects multiple regressions with a zero-inflation component. The results challenge some well-established results in the literature, including associations between loot box engagement and problematic gambling measures, instead suggesting that this relationship might be underpinned by shared variance with problem video gaming and gambling-related cognitions.

Exploring the relationships between psychological variables and loot box engagement, part 1: pre-registered hypotheses.

Loot boxes are purchasable randomized rewards in video games that share structural and psychological similarities with gambling. Systematic review evidence has established reproducible associations between loot box purchasing and both problem gambling and problem video gaming, perhaps driven by a range of overlapping psychological processes (e.g.

Behavioural Tracking and Profiling Studies Involving Objective Data Derived from Online Operators: A Review of the Evidence.

Studies involving the analysis of objective data from online operators attempt to address common concerns about biases in self-report research. This paper surveys the progress in this area of research over the last 15 years. The findings highlight many areas of achievement, including: the development of a set of behavioural markers that reliably differentiate variations in gambler risk.

The complex nature of human operant gambling behaviour involving slot games: Structural characteristics, verbal rules and motivation.

Gambling behaviour is likely to be strongly influenced by operant learning principles. Most forms of gambling, and most notably slot machine play, follow a random ratio (RR) schedule of reinforcement that should lead to rapid and extinction-resistant behaviour. In this paper we highlight the caveats that need to be applied when generalising animal models of learning to human behaviour.

Mechanisms of autophagic responses to altered nutritional status.

Autophagy is a dynamic process and critical for cellular remodeling and organelle quality control. In response to altered nutritional status (e.g.

Risk of Epidemic Development in Nurseries from Soil Inoculum of .

Soilborne inoculum arising from buried, infested leaf debris may contribute to the persistence of at recurrently positive nurseries. To initiate new epidemics, inoculum must not only survive but also produce sporangia during times conducive to infection at the soil surface. To assess this risk, we performed two year-long experiments in a soil plot at the National Ornamentals Research Site at Dominican University of California.

Empirical Evidence Relating to the Relative Riskiness of Scratch-Card Gambling.

Scratch cards (SCs) or tickets are lottery-based games which are played by scratching to reveal numbers, letters or symbols to win prizes. Such activities have sometimes been likened to paper-based slot-machines, but relatively little systematic analyses have been conducted to examine the risk or harm associated with these activities. In this paper, we provide a narrative review of the peer-reviewed literature relating to the potential association between SCs and problem gambling and what is known from publically available data sources (e.

Sirt1 coordinates with ERα to regulate autophagy and adiposity.

Sex difference in adiposity has long been recognized but the mechanism remains incompletely understood. Previous studies suggested that adiposity was regulated by autophagy in response to energy status change. Here, we show that the energy sensor Sirt1 mediates sex difference in adiposity by regulating autophagy and adipogenesis in partnership with estrogen receptor α (ERα).

The population of oomycetes in a recycled irrigation water system at a horticultural nursery in southern California.

Recapture and recycling of irrigation water is often required to meet enormous water demands at horticultural nurseries. We tested four water types associated with a recycled irrigation system at a commercial container nursery in southern California for presence of oomycete plant pathogens from July 2015 to December 2017. These water types included: the main source of water originating from a reservoir, retention water from an on-site collection pond, irrigation water received by different growing areas within the nursery, and irrigation runoff captured in polyethylene sheet-lined runoff channels.

Root Rot of and by in Oregon Horticultural Nurseries.

Widespread symptoms of root rot and mortality on and were observed in two horticultural nurseries in Oregon, leading to the isolation of a sp. from diseased roots. Based on morphology and sequencing the internal transcribed spacer ITS1-5.

Film-Forming Polymers and Surfactants Reduce Infection and Sporulation of on Rhododendron.

, cause of sudden oak death and ramorum leaf blight, can persist undetected in infested nurseries. Many conventional fungicides are effective in reducing or delaying symptom expression but some may confound visual detection of infected plants. We tested film-forming polymers (FFPs) and surfactants for their ability to reduce infection and sporulation of on rhododendron.

Thermal Inactivation of Inoculum of Two Phytophthora Species by Intermittent Versus Constant Heat.

Research on solarization efficacy has examined the critical temperature and minimum exposure time to inactivate soilborne pathogens. Most mathematical models focus on survival of inoculum subjected to a constant heat regime rather than an intermittent heat regime that better simulates field conditions. To develop a more accurate predictive model, we conducted controlled lab experiments with rhododendron leaf disks infested with Phytophthora ramorum and P.

How I do it: Same day discharge for transurethral resection of prostate using Olympus PlasmaButton and PlasmaLoop.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is one of the most common conditions affecting older men. Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) has widely been considered the gold standard in surgical treatment for BPH. However, this procedure remains largely an inpatient procedure.

Effects of Soil Solarization and Trichoderma asperellum on Soilborne Inoculum of Phytophthora ramorum and Phytophthora pini in Container Nurseries.

Infested container nursery beds are an important source of soilborne Phytophthora spp. for initiating disease through movement with surface water or splashing onto foliage. We investigated the effects of soil solarization, alone or with subsequent amendment with a Trichoderma asperellum biocontrol agent, on the survival of Phytophthora spp.

Treatment of Urethral Strictures from Irradiation and Other Nonsurgical Forms of Pelvic Cancer Treatment.

Radiation therapy (RT), external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), brachytherapy (BT), photon beam therapy (PBT), high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), and cryotherapy are noninvasive treatment options for pelvic malignancies and prostate cancer. Though effective in treating cancer, urethral stricture disease is an underrecognized and poorly reported sequela of these treatment modalities. Studies estimate the incidence of stricture from BT to be 1.

Understanding Within-Session Loss-Chasing: An Experimental Investigation of the Impact of Stake Size on Cognitive Control.

Loss-chasing is a central feature of problematic gambling, yet it remains a poorly conceived and understood concept. Loss-chasing is believed to stem from an erosion of cognitive control when gambling. The opportunity to gamble at significantly disparate stake sizes on a gambling activity is considered to be a risk factor for loss-chasing.

Diagnosis and Management of Intra-articular Causes of Pain After Total Knee Arthroplasty.

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is an effective procedure for decreasing pain, improving functional capability, and increasing the overall quality of life for thousands of people with chronic knee osteoarthritis. Although patient outcomes and satisfaction remain high, a substantial percentage of patients report residual pain after TKA. Sources of postoperative pain include intra- and extra-articular etiologies as well as factors unrelated to the implants themselves.

Phytophthora community structure analyses in Oregon nurseries inform systems approaches to disease management.

Nursery plants are important vectors for plant pathogens. Understanding what pathogens occur in nurseries in different production stages can be useful to the development of integrated systems approaches. Four horticultural nurseries in Oregon were sampled every 2 months for 4 years to determine the identity and community structure of Phytophthora spp.

A descriptive analysis of demographic and behavioral data from Internet gamblers and those who self-exclude from online gambling platforms.

As the popularity of internet gambling increases, the increased opportunities to participate serve to heighten concerns about the potential for gambling related harm. This paper focuses on self-exclusion as one of the main responsible gaming interventions, and is split into three sections. Firstly, we set out a three-tier model for assessing at-risk gambling behaviors which examines player exhibited, declared and inferred behavior.