The (co-)occurrence of problematic video gaming, substance use, and psychosocial problems in adolescents

Aims. The current study explored the nature of problematic (addictive) video gaming and the association with game type, psychosocial health, and substance use. Methods. Data were collected using a paper and pencil survey in the classroom setting. Three samples were aggregated to achieve a total sample of 8478 unique adolescents. Scales included measures of game use, game type, the Video game Addiction Test (VAT), depressive mood, negative self-esteem, loneliness, social anxiety, education performance, and use of cannabis, alcohol and nicotine (smoking). Results. Findings confirmed problematic gaming is most common amongst adolescent gamers who play multiplayer online games. Boys (60%) were more likely to play online games than girls (14%) and problematic gamers were more likely to be boys (5%) than girls (1%). High problematic gamers showed higher scores on depressive mood, loneliness, social anxiety, negative self-esteem, and self-reported lower school performance. Nicotine, alcohol, and cannabis using boys were almost twice more likely to report high PVG than non-users. Conclusions. It appears that online gaming in general is not necessarily associated with problems. However, problematic gamers do seem to play online games more often, and a small subgroup of gamers – specifically boys – showed lower psychosocial functioning and lower grades. Moreover, associations with alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis use are found. It would appear that problematic gaming is an undesirable problem for a small subgroup of gamers. The findings encourage further exploration of the role of psychoactive substance use in problematic gaming

Teacher absence as a factor in gender inequalities in access to primary schooling in rural Pakistan

This paper examines the case of Pakistan, where primary school enrollment among girls in rural areas is substantially lower than among children in urban areas and boys in rural areas, owing to lack of access to government girls’ schools. The focus is on teacher absence as a further barrier to schooling for girls. Using data from a panel study of primary schooling in rural Punjab and NWFP in 1997 and 2004, the report examines trends in teacher absence, examine the factors correlated with teacher absence in the government and private sector, and assesses the implications of these absence levels for access to schooling among enrolled boys and girls

Circular dichroism spectroscopic detection of ligand binding induced subdomain IB specific structural adjustment of human serum albumin

This work demonstrates for the first time that binding of various compounds within subdomain IB of human serum albumin (HSA) provokes characteristic changes in the near-UV circular dichroism (CD) spectrum of the protein. It can be inferred from the spectroscopic features of difference ellipticity signals and from CD displacement experiments that tyrosine residues located in subdomain IB are the source of the observed spectral alterations. It is proposed that inclusion of some ligand molecules (bile acids, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, steroidal terpenes, fatty acids, ibuprofen, and gemfibrozil) into the pocket of subdomain IB disrupts the Tyr138?Tyr161 interhelical π?π stacking interaction, which is reflected in the CD spectrum. This phenomenon can be utilized for the CD detection of subdomain IB specific binding of endo- as well as exogenous agents and to study the drug binding associated local conformational adaptation of the HSA molecule

A meta-analysis of long-term effects of conservation agriculture on maize grain yield under rain-fed conditions

Conservation agriculture involves reduced tillage, permanent soil cover and crop rotations to enhance soil fertility and to supply food from a dwindling land resource. Recently, conservation agriculture has been promoted in Southern Africa, mainly for maize-based farming systems. However, maize yields under rain-fed conditions are often variable. There is therefore a need to identify factors that influence crop yield under conservation agriculture and rain-fed conditions. Here, we studied maize grain yield data from experiments lasting 5 years and more under rain-fed conditions. We assessed the effect of long-term tillage and residue retention on maize grain yield under contrasting soil textures, nitrogen input and climate. Yield variability was measured by stability analysis. Our results show an increase in maize yield over time with conservation agriculture practices that include rotation and high input use in low rainfall areas. But we observed no difference in system stability under those conditions. We observed a strong relationship between maize grain yield and annual rainfall. Our meta-analysis gave the following findings: (1) 92% of the data show that mulch cover in high rainfall areas leads to lower yields due to waterlogging; (2) 85% of data show that soil texture is important in the temporal development of conservation agriculture effects, improved yields are likely on well-drained soils; (3) 73% of the data show that conservation agriculture practices require high inputs especially N for improved yield; (4) 63% of data show that increased yields are obtained with rotation but calculations often do not include the variations in rainfall within and between seasons; (5) 56% of the data show that reduced tillage with no mulch cover leads to lower yields in semi-arid areas; and (6) when adequate fertiliser is available, rainfall is the most important determinant of yield in southern Africa. It is clear from our results that conservation agriculture needs to be targeted and adapted to specific biophysical conditions for improved impact

Effect of per-vaginal insertion of once-used TRIU-B on post-ovulation plasma progesterone and conception rate in buffalo

The present study evaluated the impact of once-used intravaginal progesterone inserts (TRIU-B) from day 4 to day 10 post-ovulation on luteal profile (corpus luteum diameter, CL; plasma progesterone) and conception rate in buffalo (n=80) during summer season. The buffaloes were estrus synchronized by Cloprostenol (500 μg, i.m.) administered 11 days apart, followed by AI during standing estrus. All the buffaloes were equally categorized into control (without TRIU-B) or treatment (pervaginally inserted with once-used TRIU-B) group. From each group, 15 buffaloes were subjected to ovarian ultrasonography for CL diameter measurements on day 4 and day 10 postovulation followed by jugular vein blood collection for plasma progesterone analysis. On day 10 postovulation, the control group buffalo had larger (P<0.05) CL diameter (15.2±0.5 vs. 14.0±0.3 mm), whereas, plasma progesterone was higher (P<0.05) in treatment group (3.4±0.2 vs. 1.7±0.1 ng/ml). Conception rates were 55.0 and 37.5% in treatment and control groups, respectively (χ2=2.46, P>0.05). Moreover, pregnant and non-pregnant buffalo of treatment group exhibited higher (P<0.05) plasma progesterone on day 10 post-ovulation compared to their control counterparts. In conclusion, pervaginal insertion of once-used TRIU-B enhanced post-ovulation plasma progesterone but failed to improve conception rate in buffalo

Improved prediction equations for estimating height in adults from ethnically diverse backgrounds

Background & aims When body height cannot be measured, it can be predicted from ulna length (UL). However, commonly used published prediction equations may not provide useful estimates in adults from all ethnicities. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between UL and height in adults from diverse ethnic groups and to consider whether this can be used to provide useful prediction equations for height in practice. Methods Standing height and UL were measured in 542 adults at seven UK locations. Ethnicity was self-defined using UK Census 2011 categories. Data were modelled to give two groups of height prediction equations based on UL, sex and ethnicity and these were tested against an independent dataset (n = 180). Results UL and height were significantly associated overall and in all groups except one with few participants (P = 0.059). The new equations yielded predicted height (H p) that was closer to measured height in the Asian and Black subgroups of the independent population than the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) equations. For Asian men, (H p (cm) = 3.26 UL (cm) + 83.58), mean difference from measured (95% confidence intervals) was −0.6 (−2.4, +1.2); Asian women, (H p = 3.26 UL + 77.62), mean difference +0.5 (−1.4, 2.4) cm. For Black men, H p = 3.14 UL + 85.80, −0.4 (−2.4, 1.7); Black women, H p = 3.14 UL + 79.55, −0.8 (−2.8, 1.2). These differences were not statistically significant while predictions from MUST equations were significantly different from measured height. Conclusions The new prediction equations provide an alternative for estimating height in adults from Asian and Black groups and give mean predicted values that are closer to measured height than MUST equations

Family Background, Service Providers, and Early Childhood Development in the Philippines: Proxies and Interactions

We examine the importance of family background for early childhood development (ECD) using data collected in 2001 from 3,556 children ages 0–36 months in three regions of the Philippines. We focus on four main research questions: (1) Are associations of family background with ECD in part proxying for health and ECD‐related programs? (2) Are associations of family background with ECD biased due to omission of unobserved community characteristics that may be related to placement of health and ECD‐related services? (3) Are there important interactions between family background and health and ECD‐related programs in their effect on ECD? (4) Are there important interactions among the components of family background? Physical assets and human assets have a number of important positive associations with ECD. These include the positive relations between physical assets and the anthropometrics and hemoglobin levels of children, as well as lower occurrence of worms. Each parent’s schooling and height also have notable positive effects on these outcomes and the motor and language skills of children. The failure to account for community characteristics is related to often substantial bias in the estimated effect of family background on ECD. We do not find strong evidence that interactions are important