Mom, Dad It’s Only a Game! Perceived Gambling and Gaming Behaviors among Adolescents and Young Adults: an Exploratory Study

Gambling and gaming are increasingly popular activities among adolescents. Although gambling is illegal in Portugal for youth under the age of 18 years, gambling opportunities are growing, mainly due to similarity between gambling and other technology-based games. Given the relationship between gambling and gaming activities, the paucity of research on gambling and gaming behaviors in Portugal, and the potential negative consequences in the lives of young people, the goal of this study was to explore and compare the perceptions of these two behaviors between Portuguese adolescents and young adults. Results from six focus groups (three with adolescents and three with young adults, comprising 37 participants aged between 13 and 26 years) indicated different perceptions for the two age groups. For adolescents, gaming was associated with addiction whereas for young adults it was perceived a tool for increasing personal and social skills. With regard to gambling, adolescents associated it with luck and financial rewards, whereas young adults perceived it as an activity with more risks than benefits. These results suggest developmental differences that have implications for intervention programs and future research

A unity-based framework for sound transmission and perception in video games

The ability for humans to hear, attend to, and understand incoming sounds is affected, at least, by environmental, morphological, and cognitive factors. Conversely, current implementations of audition in virtual characters often only consider as constraint to the auditory process the distance between the sound emitter and the sound receiver. To cope with this limitation, this paper presents ongoing work on a novel framework integrated in Unity, directed to game developers interested in implementing non-player characters with noisy, character-specific, and context-dependent auditory perception.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Validation of the Portuguese DSM-IV-MR-J

Youth problem gambling is viewed as an emergent public health issue in many countries, and is also an emerging area of public concern in Portugal. However, there is currently no Portuguese instrument that focuses specifically on the measurement of problem gambling among young people. Consequently, the present study aimed to validate the DSM-IV-MR-J for use among Portuguese adolescents and to examine its’ psychometric properties. A cross-cultural adaption of this instrument to the Portuguese language was performed using the translation and back translation method. The final version of the instrument was administered to 753 Portuguese high school and first year college students. The findings revealed an acceptable internal reliability and replicated the one-factor structure of this scale. Based on these findings, the Portuguese DSMIV-MR-J appears to be a valid and reliable instrument, and provides a much needed psychometric tool for the development of more research on youth gambling in Portugal

Prevalence of adolescent problem gambling: a systematic review of recent research

Previous research has shown that gambling is a popular activity among adolescents. Following a rapid expansion of legalized gambling opportunities and the emergence of new forms of gambling, many researchers have carried out studies on adolescent gambling and problem gambling. The present paper reviews studies that have been conducted worldwide since 2000, and then presents a more detailed picture of adolescent gambling research in Europe, by providing a country-by country analysis. After an extensive search on academic databases and following an exclusion process, 44 studies were identified. The findings showed that 0.2–12.3% of youth meet criteria for problem gambling, notwithstanding differences among assessment instruments, cut-offs, and timeframes. However, despite this variability, several demographic characteristics were associated with adolescent gambling involvement and problem gambling. It is concluded that a small but significant minority of adolescents have gambling-related problems. Such findings will hopefully encourage more research into youth gambling to further understand the determinants of this phenomenon

Thermal inactivation of Byssochlamys nivea in pineapple nectar combined with preliminary high pressure treatments

Byssochlamys nivea is a thermal resistant filamentous fungi and potential micotoxin producer. Recent studies have verified the presence of ascospores of such microorganism in samples of pineapple nectars. Although the majority of filamentous fungi have limited heat resistance and are easily destroyed by heat, Byssochlamys nivea ascospores have shown high thermal resistance. The aim of this work was to evaluate the application of linear and Weibull models on thermal inactivation (70, 80 and 90ºC) of Byssochlamys nivea ascospores in pineapple nectar after pretreatment with high pressure (550MPa or 650MPa during 15min). Following the treatments, survival curves were built up for each processing temperature and adjusted for both models. It was observed that survival curves at 90°C after high pressure pretreatment at 550 MPa/15 min did not fit well to linear and Weibull models. For all the other treatments, the Weibull model presented a better fit. At 90ºC without pressure treatment, the Weibull model also showed a better adjustment, having a larger R2 and a smaller RMSE. Regarding the process effectiveness, a 5-log reduction (t5), as recommended for pasteurization, was only achieved for Byssochlamys nivea ascospores presented in pineapple nectar at 90ºC/10.7 min with previous high pressure treatment of 650 MPa for 15 min. Considering the high intensity and energy demanding process with possibly product damage, other preventive and alternative treatments are being investigated

Gambling among adolescents and emerging adults: a cross-cultural study between Portuguese and English youth

In spite of age prohibitions, most research suggests that a large proportion of adolescents engage in gambling, with problem gambling prevalence rates significantly higher than in adults. There is some evidence suggesting that there are cultural variables that might explain the development of gambling behaviours in this age group. However, cross-cultural studies on this field are generally lacking. The present study tested a model in which individual and family variables are integrated into a single perspective as predictors of youth gambling behaviour in two different contexts (i.e. Portugal and England). A total of 1137 adolescents and young adults (552 Portuguese and 585 English) were surveyed with items relating to problem gambling, gambling frequency, sensation seeking, parental attachment, and cognitive distortions. Moreover, this study is the first to examine the mediation effect of sensation seeking between attachment and youth problem gambling. Results demonstrated that English youth showed a higher prevalence of problem gambling. The findings of this study also demonstrated that sensation seeking was a common predictor, mediating the relationship between attachment and problem gambling in both countries. The findings of this study suggest that although there were some common factors between the two samples, youth problem gambling and some risk factors can be influenced by the cultural context

Validação da Escala de Bem-estar W-BQ12 à população de Estudantes do Curso de Licenciatura em Enfermagem da Universidade de Évora.

Tema e Referencial Teórico: No pressuposto de que a entrada no ensino superior e a frequência de um curso com as características da licenciatura de enfermagem são eventos transitivos potenciais geradores de vulnerabilidades em saúde, propusemo-nos desenvolver um estudo denominado “Transição e vulnerabilidades em saúde: O estudante do Ensino Superior de Enfermagem”. Para o efeito, um dos instrumentos de colheita de dados utilizados foi a escala de Bem-estar W-BQ12 de Bradley a qual avalia especificamente as condições de bem-estar, através das seguintes dimensões: Bem-estar negativo; Energia; Bem-estar positivo e Bem-estar Geral. Considerando que a mesma não está validada para esta população, iniciámos o nosso estudo pelo respectivo processo de validação. Objetivos: Validar as propriedades métricas da Escala de Bem-estar W-BQ12 para a População de Estudantes de Enfermagem Descrição dos Procedimentos: A escala Bem-estar W-BQ12 foi aplicada a uma amostra de 250 estudantes de enfermagem da Universidade de Évora, em sala própria e através de autopreenchimento. A amostra foi constituída por 23.67% estudantes do 1º ano, 21.56% do 2º ano, 26.50% do 3º ano e 27.92% do 4º ano. A média de idades dos estudantes foi de 22.30 anos (DP=5.03) e 81.20% eram do sexo feminino e os restantes 18.80% do sexo masculino. Resultados e Principais Conclusões: Da Análise emergiram três fatores que explicam 59.64% da variância total e que reproduzem a estrutura encontrada por Bradley (2009). Todos os itens obtiveram comunalidades acima de .40 e saturações factoriais acima de .50. Todas as correlações item-total corrigidas foram significativas. Os valores de alfa de Cronbach foram de .78 para a subescala de bem-estar negativo (M=2.53, DP=1.93), .70 para a subescala de energia (M=8.00, DP=1.85), e .79 para a subescala de bem estar positivo (M=8.68, DP=2.10). A escala total obteve uma média de 26.16 (DP=5.00) e um alfa de .87. Face aos resultados obtidos concluímos ter a Escala de Bem-Estar W-BQ12 as propriedades adequadas à população em estudo

Utilização da extração em fase sólida seguida de análise por GC-MS na caracterização aromática de uvas da casta Alvarinho

Uma das características mais significativas dos vinhos é o aroma[1]. De acordo com a sequência biotecnológica empregue na elaboração do vinho, o aroma está geralmente dividido em três grupos: aroma primário, que engloba o varietal e o préfermentativo, aroma secundário ou fermentativo e aroma terciário ou pós-fermentativo[1]. Embora seja elevado o número de constituintes voláteis de um vinho passíveis de contribuir para o seu aroma, a tipicidade aromática é principalmente devida aos compostos que procedem das uvas, isto é os compostos de origem varietal. O aroma varietal é constituído por substâncias voláteis presentes numa forma livre, odorífera, e na forma de precursores glicoconjugados, inodoros; estes precursores são suscetíveis de ser hidrolisados durante todas as etapas, desde a produção à abertura da garrafa, originando compostos voláteis. Vários estudos têm sido desenvolvidos no sentido de verificar quais os compostos voláteis presentes em diversas variedades de uva e de que modo estes compostos permanecem, desaparecem ou se transformam durante a vinificação, a conservação e o envelhecimento dos vinhos. O presente trabalho, inserido no âmbito do projeto AGROCONTROL, co-financiado pelo “ON.2 – O Novo Norte” e QREN através do Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER), teve como objetivo a identificação e quantificação dos compostos voláteis de amostras de uvas da casta Alvarinho da colheita de 2011[2-4]. As amostras de uvas deram origem a sumos por trituração num liquidificador, dos quais foram extraídos os compostos voláteis na forma livre e na forma de glicoconjugados, por extração em fase sólida (SPE – Solid Phase Extraction), obtendo-se extratos que foram analisados por GC-MS (GasChromatography-Mass Spectrometry). A extração foi realizada pela passagem de 100 mL de sumo de uva por cartuxos de Lichrolute® EN (Merck), sendo, posteriormente, os compostos aromáticos da fração livre eluídos com 5 mL de mistura azeotrópica pentano-diclorometano (2:1) e os precursores glicoconjugados extraídos com 7 mL de acetato de etilo. Os compostos glicoconjugados foram depois hidrolisados enzimaticamente, com um preparado enzimático comercial (AR 2000), de modo a ser libertados as agliconas aromáticas. A determinação, semi-quantitativa, foi efetuada pelo método do padrão interno, usando 4-nonanol para o efeito. . A identificação dos compostos voláteis foi realizada por comparação dos índices de retenção e dos espectros de massas dos compostos com os de substâncias de referência puras. Os ensaios foram realizados em triplicado. Os resultados obtidos foram comparados com os resultados anteriormente descritos para a mesma casta[5]. Verificou-se que, para os compostos terpénicos analisados, quer na fração livre, quer na fração glicoconjugada, o perfil de compostos terpénicos foi semelhante ao descrito[5]. Os resultados obtidos mostraram uma boa repetibilidade do método utilizado. Este trabalho demonstra a grande aplicabilidade das técnicas analíticas como SPE e GC-MS em áreas como a vinicultura e a enologia