Women's gambling behaviour, product preferences, and perceptions of product harm: Differences by age and gambling risk status

Background: Women's participation in, and harm from gambling, is steadily increasing. There has been very limited research to investigate how gambling behaviour, product preferences, and perceptions of gambling harm may vary across subgroups of women. Methods: This study surveyed a convenience sample of 509 women from Victoria and New South Wales, Australia. Women were asked a range of questions about their socio-demographic characteristics and gambling behaviour. Focusing on four gambling products in Australia-casino gambling, electronic gambling machines (EGMs), horse betting, and sports betting-women were asked about their frequency of participation, their product preferences, and perceptions of product harms. The sample was segmented a priori according to age and gambling risk status, and differences between groups were identified using Chi-square tests and ANOVAs. Thematic analysis was used to interpret qualitative data. Results: Almost two thirds (n=324, 63.7%) of women had engaged with one of the four products in the previous 12 months. Compared to other age groups, younger women aged 16-34 years exhibited a higher proportion of problem gambling, gambled more frequently, and across more products. While EGMs were the product gambled on most frequently by women overall, younger women were significantly more likely to bet on sports and gamble at casinos relative to older women. Qualitative data indicated that younger women engaged with gambling products as part of a 'night out', 'with friends', due to their 'ease of access' and perceived 'chance of winning big'. There were significant differences in the perceptions of the harms associated with horse and sports betting according to age and gambling risk status, with younger women and gamblers perceiving these products as less harmful. Conclusions: This study highlights that there are clear differences in the gambling behaviour, product preferences, and perceptions of product harms between subgroups of women. A gendered approach will enable public health researchers and policymakers to ensure that the unique factors associated with women's gambling are taken into consideration in a comprehensive public health approach to reducing and preventing gambling harm

Deleterious variants in CRLS1 lead to cardiolipin deficiency and cause an autosomal recessive multi-system mitochondrial disease

Mitochondrial diseases are a group of inherited diseases with highly varied and complex clinical presentations. Here, we report four individuals, including two siblings, affected by a progressive mitochondrial encephalopathy with biallelic variants in the cardiolipin biosynthesis gene CRLS1. Three affected individuals had a similar infantile presentation comprising progressive encephalopathy, bull’s eye maculopathy, auditory neuropathy, diabetes insipidus, autonomic instability, cardiac defects and early death. The fourth affected individual presented with chronic encephalopathy with neurodevelopmental regression, congenital nystagmus with decreased vision, sensorineural hearing loss, failure to thrive and acquired microcephaly. Using patient-derived fibroblasts, we characterized cardiolipin synthase 1 (CRLS1) dysfunction that impaired mitochondrial morphology and biogenesis, providing functional evidence that the CRLS1 variants cause mitochondrial disease. Lipid profiling in fibroblasts from two patients further confirmed the functional defect demonstrating reduced cardiolipin levels, altered acyl-chain composition and significantly increased levels of phosphatidylglycerol, the substrate of CRLS1. Proteomic profiling of patient cells and mouse Crls1 knockout cell lines identified both endoplasmic reticular and mitochondrial stress responses, and key features that distinguish between varying degrees of cardiolipin insufficiency. These findings support that deleterious variants in CRLS1 cause an autosomal recessive mitochondrial disease, presenting as a severe encephalopathy with multi-systemic involvement. Furthermore, we identify key signatures in cardiolipin and proteome profiles across various degrees of cardiolipin loss, facilitating the use of omics technologies to guide future diagnosis of mitochondrial diseases.Richard G. Lee ... Janice Fletcher ... et al

Critical literacy as a pedagogical goal in English language teaching

In this chapter, the authors provide an overview of the area of critical literacy as it pertains to second language pedagogy (curriculum and instruction). After considering the historical origins of critical literacy (from antiquity, and including in first language education), they consider how it began to penetrate the field of applied linguistics. They note the geographical and institutional spread of critical literacy practice as documented by published accounts. They then sketch the main features of L2 critical literacy practice. To do this, they acknowledge how practitioners have reported on their practices regarding classroom content and process. The authors also draw attention to the outcomes of these practices as well as challenges that practitioners have encountered in incorporating critical literacy into their second language classrooms

Modeling two-phase flow in a micro-model with local thermal non-equilibrium on the Darcy scale

Loosening local equilibrium assumptions in two-phase flow in porous media gives rise to new, unknown variables. More specifically, when loosening the local thermal equilibrium assumption, one has to describe the heat transfer between multiple phases, present at the same mathematical point. In this paper, we calibrate a macro-scale mathematical model which is free of local equilibrium assumptions to experimental observations. We emphasize the correct determination and upscaling of necessary input parameters from the experimental data achieved by image analysis. By choosing an appropriate scaling parameter, we are able to reproduce experimental measurements satisfactorily. This is a first step towards quantifying heat transfer in two-phase flow in porous media. Ultimately, our aim is to find the limits of the applicability of local equilibrium assumptions in two-phase flow in porous media

Redundancy among mammalian fungal dispersers and the importance of declining specialists

Hypogeous sequestrate (truffle-like) fungi rely primarily on consumption by mammals for dispersal. Most truffle-like fungi are ectomycorrhizal, making mammalian dispersers essential to the maintenance of plant-fungal relationships, soil fungal diversity and ecosystem functioning. Australia has the highest current global rate of mammalian extinctions, including important fungal specialists within the family Potoroidae. Knowing the relative importance of different mammal species as dispersers helps us to understand how this loss in mammal diversity could affect plant-fungi interactions and fungal diversity. Despite detecting a sampling bias in the literature, our meta-analysis confirms that mammals with fungal specialist diets contribute disproportionally more to the potential dispersal of fungi than other mammals within Australia. Three mammal species with generalist diets also consumed fungi at comparable rates to fungal specialist species and, importantly, persist in many areas where fungal specialists are now absent. These results highlight the significance of mammals, particularly fungal specialists, for maintaining diverse ectomycorrhizal fungal communitie