595 research outputs found
Problem gambling: a suitable case for social work?
Problem gambling attracts little attention from health and social care agencies
in the UK. Prevalence surveys suggest that 0.6% of the population are
problem gamblers and it is suggested that for each of these individuals,
10–17 other people, including children and other family members, are
affected. Problem gambling is linked to many individual and social problems
including: depression, suicide, significant debt, bankruptcy, family conflict,
domestic violence, neglect and maltreatment of children and offending.
This makes the issue central to social work territory. Yet, the training of
social workers in the UK has consistently neglected issues of addictive
behaviour. Whilst some attention has been paid in recent years to substance
abuse issues, there has remained a silence in relation to gambling
problems. Social workers provide more help for problems relating to addictions
than other helping professions. There is good evidence that treatment,
and early intervention for gambling problems, including psycho-social and
public health approaches, can be very effective. This paper argues that
problem gambling should be moved onto the radar of the social work profession,
via inclusion on qualifying and post-qualifying training programmes
and via research and dissemination of good practice via institutions such as
the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE).
Keywords: problem gambling; addictive behaviour; socia
Transverse Spin at PHENIX: Results and Prospects
The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), as the world's first and only
polarized proton collider, offers a unique environment in which to study the
spin structure of the proton. In order to study the proton's transverse spin
structure, the PHENIX experiment at RHIC took data with transversely polarized
beams in 2001-02 and 2005, and it has plans for further running with transverse
polarization in 2006 and beyond. Results from early running as well as
prospective measurements for the future will be discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, presented at Transversity 2005, Como, Ital
Elliptic Flow in Au+Au Collisions at RHIC
Elliptic flow is an interesting probe of the dynamical evolution of the dense
system formed in the ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions at the Relativistic
Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The elliptic flow dependences on transverse
momentum, centrality, and pseudorapidity were measured using data collected by
the PHOBOS detector, which offers a unique opportunity to study the azimuthal
anisotropies of charged particles over a wide range of pseudorapidity. These
measurements are presented, together with an overview of the analysis methods
and a discussion of the results.Comment: Presented at Hot Quarks 2004; 7 pages, 6 figure
Pseudorapidity Distributions of Charged Particles in d + Au and p + p Collisions at = 200GeV
The measured pseudorapidity distributions of primary charged particles are
presented for d + Au and p + p collisions at 200 GeV
over a wide pseudorapidity range of 5.4. The results
for d + Au collisions are presented for minimum-bias events and as a function
of collision centrality. The measurements for p + p collisions are shown for
minimum-bias events. The ratio of the charged particle multiplicity in d + Au
and p + A collisions relative to that for inelastic p + p collisions is found
to depend only on , and it is remarkably independent of
collision energy and system mass. The deuteron and gold fragmentation regions
in d + Au collisions are in good agreement with proton nucleus data at lower
energies.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. To appear in the proceedings of Seventeenth
International Conference on Ultra-Relativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions
(Quark Matter 2004), Oakland, California from January 11-17, 2004. Submitted
to Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physic
The Landscape of Particle Production: Results from PHOBOS
Recent results from the PHOBOS experiment at RHIC are presented, both from
Au+Au collisions from the 2001 run and p+p and d+Au collisions from 2003. The
centrality dependence of the total charged particle multiplicity in p+p and
d+Au show features, such as Npart-scaling and limiting fragmentation, similar
to p+A collisions at lower energies. Multiparticle physics in Au+Au is found to
be local in (pseudo)rapidity, both when observed by HBT correlations and by
forward-backward pseudorapidity correlations. The shape of elliptic flow in
Au+Au, measured over the full range of pseudorapidity, appears to have a very
weak centrality dependence. Identified particle ratios in d+Au reactions show
little difference between the shape of proton and anti-proton spectra, while
the absolute yields show an approximate m_T scaling.Comment: 8 Pages, 11 Figures, Plenary talk at Quark Matter 2004, Oakland, CA,
January 11-18, 200
Charged antiparticle to particle ratios near midrapidity in p+p collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV
The ratios of the yields of primary charged antiparticles to particles have
been obtained for pions, kaons, and protons near midrapidity for p+p collisions
at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV. Ratios of =1.000 +/- 0.012 (stat.) +/- 0.019
(syst.), =0.93 +/- 0.05 (stat.) +/- 0.03 (syst.), and =0.85 +/-
0.04 (stat.) +/- 0.03 (syst.) have been measured. The reported values represent
the ratio of the yields averaged over the rapidity range of 0.1<y_{pi}<1.3 and
0<y_{K,p}<0.8, and for transverse momenta of 0.1<p_T^{pi,K}<1.0 GeV/c and
0.3<p_T^{p}<1.0 GeV/c. Within the uncertainties, all three ratios are
consistent with the values measured in d+Au collisions at the same energy. The
data are compared to results from other collision systems and energies.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Centrality dependence of charged hadron transverse momentum spectra in d+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV
We have measured transverse momentum distributions of charged hadrons
produced in d+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV. The spectra were obtained
for transverse momenta 0.25 < p_T < 6.0 GeV/c, in a pseudorapidity range of 0.2
< eta < 1.4 in the deuteron direction. The evolution of the spectra with
collision centrality is presented in comparison to p+pbarcollisions at the same
collision energy. With increasing centrality, the yield at high transverse
momenta increases more rapidly than the overall particle density, leading to a
strong modification of the spectral shape. This change in spectral shape is
qualitatively different from observations in Au+Au collisions at the same
energy. The results provide important information for discriminating between
different models for the suppression of high-p_T hadrons observed in Au+Au
collisions.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR
Collision geometry scaling of Au+Au pseudorapidity density from sqrt(s_NN) = 19.6 to 200 GeV
The centrality dependence of the midrapidity charged particle multiplicity in
Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 19.6 and 200 GeV is presented. Within a simple
model, the fraction of hard (scaling with number of binary collisions) to soft
(scaling with number of participant pairs) interactions is consistent with a
value of x = 0.13 +/- 0.01(stat) +/- 0.05(syst) at both energies. The
experimental results at both energies, scaled by inelastic p(pbar)+p collision
data, agree within systematic errors. The ratio of the data was found not to
depend on centrality over the studied range and yields a simple linear scale
factor of R_(200/19.6) = 2.03 +/- 0.02(stat) +/- 0.05(syst).Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PRC-R
Centrality dependence of charged antiparticle to particle ratios near mid-rapidity in d+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV
The ratios of the yields of charged antiparticles to particles have been
obtained for pions, kaons, and protons near mid-rapidity for d+Au collisions at
sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV as a function of centrality. The reported values represent
the ratio of the yields averaged over the rapidity range of 0.1<y_pi<1.3 and
0<y_(K,p)<0.8, where positive rapidity is in the deuteron direction, and for
transverse momenta 0.1<p_(T)^(pi,K)<1.0 GeV/c and 0.3<p_(T)^(p)<1.0 GeV/c.
Within the uncertainties, a lack of centrality dependence is observed in all
three ratios. The data are compared to results from other systems and model
calculations.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR
Event-by-event fluctuations of azimuthal particle anisotropy in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV
This paper presents the first measurement of event-by-event fluctuations of
the elliptic flow parameter v_2 in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200GeV as a
function of collision centrality. The relative non-statistical fluctuations of
the v_2 parameter are found to be approximately 40%. The results, including
contributions from event-by-event elliptic flow fluctuations and from azimuthal
correlations that are unrelated to the reaction plane (non-flow correlations),
establish an upper limit on the magnitude of underlying elliptic flow
fluctuations. This limit is consistent with predictions based on spatial
fluctuations of the participating nucleons in the initial nuclear overlap
region. These results provide important constraints on models of the initial
state and hydrodynamic evolution of relativistic heavy ion collisions.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, Published in Phys. Rev. Lett
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