Cultural Icons and Marketing of Gambling

A number of different countries and states have or are in the process of developing formal or informal guidelines to govern gambling advertising and marketing of gambling. There is a growing consensus that gambling advertising should not mislead the public, be fair, provide information on the odds of wining and there should be provisions in place to protect vulnerable groups, such as, children. In the development of these guidelines by different countries or states there has been no real consideration of the need to engage with different indigenous and ethnic populations to ensure that they are protected as vulnerable populations. Further there is a need to engage with these populations within countries and across countries to ensure that indigenous and ethnic minority cultural icons, values, religious practices and music are not used without their permission or exploited in the business of promoting and marketing different forms of gambling products. New Zealand’s experience of marketing and advertising of gambling is discussed in this paper. It is outlined the development of casinos in New Zealand and how Maori were actively encouraged to participate in the opening of these establishments and therefore, legitimate their existence as a safe place for Maori, the indigenous population of New Zealand to frequent on a regular basis. Since then other ethnic minority populations have been targeted to engage in different forms of gambling by recognising their significant cultural events, importance of family events and celebrating and promoting the success of important sport role models. Gambling advertising can be direct or subtle, however, little research has focussed on the third person effect associated with gambling advertising. New Zealand has adopted a public health approach to reduce gambling related harm. One of the key strategies introduced to reduce gambling related harm has been the development and implementation of harm minimisation regulations. Research conducted in New Zealand regarding individuals’ attitudes and behaviour to gambling, highlights that Maori have a high recall of gambling advertisements alongside other ethnic populations. The paper suggests that as part of a public health approach to reduce gambling related harm that it is now timely in New Zealand, for consideration to be given as to how much exposure, if any, New Zealanders should be subjected to gambling advertising

Omega-3 Fatty Acids Improve Recovery, whereas Omega-6 Fatty Acids Worsen Outcome, after Spinal Cord Injury in the Adult Rat

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a cause of major neurological disability, and no satisfactory treatment is currently available. Evidence suggests that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) could target some of the pathological mechanisms that underlie damage after SCI. We examined the effects of treatment with PUFAs after lateral spinal cord hemisection in the rat. The ω-3 PUFAs α-linolenic acid and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) injected 30 min after injury induced significantly improved locomotor performance and neuroprotection, including decreased lesion size and apoptosis and increased neuronal and oligodendrocyte survival. Evidence showing a decrease in RNA/DNA oxidation suggests that the neuroprotective effect of ω-3 PUFAs involved a significant antioxidant function. In contrast, animals treated with arachidonic acid, an ω-6 PUFA, had a significantly worse outcome than controls. We confirmed the neuroprotective effect of ω-3 PUFAs by examining the effects of DHA treatment after spinal cord compression injury. Results indicated that DHA administered 30 min after spinal cord compression not only greatly increased survival of neurons but also resulted in significantly better locomotor performance for up to 6 weeks after injury. This report shows a striking difference in efficacy between the effects of treatment with ω-3 and ω-6 PUFAs on the outcome of SCI, with ω-3 PUFAs being neuroprotective and ω-6 PUFAs having a damaging effect. Given the proven clinical safety of ω-3 PUFAs, our observations show that these PUFAs have significant therapeutic potential in SCI. In contrast, the use of preparations enriched in ω-6 PUFAs after injury could worsen outcome after SCI

Why People Gamble: A Qualitative Study of Four New Zealand Ethnic Groups

In multicultural countries such as New Zealand, it is particularly important that gambling research take into account possible cultural differences. Many New Zealanders come from cultures that do not have a history of gambling, including the Mäori (New Zealand indigenous people), Pacific Islanders, and recent migrants. Little research has examined the reasons why people start and continue to gamble, especially among different ethnic groups. This research project thus aimed to develop a framework to explain how environmental, cultural, and social factors interact with personal attributes to determine gambling behaviors. In a qualitative study, 131 people broadly representative of Mäori, Pacific, Asian, and Päkehä/New Zealand European groups residing in New Zealand were interviewed individually or in focus groups. They included social and problem gamblers, families of problem gamblers, and professionals. Different personal, socioeconomic, environmental, and cultural factors were identified, summarized in a developmental framework, and compared to factors found for ethnic groups in other countries. Public health policy issues were raised, including greater control of gambling promotion. © 2012 The Author(s).published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 28 May 201

Is the Utility of the GLIM Criteria Used to Diagnose Malnutrition Suitable for Bicultural Populations? Findings from Life and Living in Advanced Age Cohort Study in New Zealand (LiLACS NZ).

OBJECTIVES: To investigate associations between nutrition risk (determined by SCREEN-II) and malnutrition (diagnosed by the GLIM criteria) with five-year mortality in Māori and non-Māori of advanced age. DESIGN: A longitudinal cohort study. SETTING: Bay of Plenty and Lakes regions of New Zealand. PARTICIPANTS: 255 Māori; 400 non-Māori octogenarians. MEASUREMENTS: All participants were screened for nutrition risk using the Seniors in the Community: Risk Evaluation for Eating and Nutrition (SCREEN-II). Those at high nutrition risk (SCREEN-II score 0.05) but was for non-Māori. This association remained significant after adjustment for other predictors of death (OR (95% CI); 0.50 (0.29, 0.86), P< 0.05). Reduced food intake was the only GLIM criterion predictive of five-year mortality for Māori (HR (95% CI); 10.77 (4.76, 24.38), P <0.001). For non-Māori, both aetiologic and phenotypic GLIM criteria were associated with five-year mortality. CONCLUSION: Nutrition risk, but not malnutrition diagnosed by the GLIM criteria was significantly associated with mortality for Māori. Conversely, both nutrition risk and malnutrition were significantly associated with mortality for non-Māori. Appropriate phenotypic criteria for diverse populations are needed within the GLIM framework.Publishe

Extremely preterm infants receiving standard care receive very low levels of arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acids

Background & aims Adequate supply of arachidonic (ARA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids is essential for brain development, and extremely preterm infants may be at risk of deficiency. Current levels of ARA and DHA given to extremely preterm infants and the amounts available for accretion have not been established, although recent evidence suggests DHA intake is at a level likely to lead to severe deficits. This study quantified the omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) intakes from all sources in the first six weeks of life of preterm infants in standard care. In addition, the relationship between blood levels of circulating cytokines and PUFAs was explored. Methods Single centre longitudinal study with omega-6 and omega-3 PUFA intake data analysed from all sources for 17 infants born <28 weeks gestation. At six weeks of age the infants' whole-blood fatty acid levels were measured along with a range of cytokines and chemokines analysed by Luminex® multiplex array. Results ARA intake was significantly below international recommendations in weeks 1–5 (all p < 0.05), and DHA intake was significantly below recommendations in week 1 (p < 0.0001). The amounts of ARA and DHA available for accretion were significantly below estimated accretion rates in all weeks (all p < 0.001). Mean ARA and DHA intakes were correlated with their respective blood levels (r = 0.568, p = 0.017 and r = 0.704, p = 0.002). There were significant relationships between MIP-1β and blood DHA levels (rs = 0.559, p = 0.02) and between RANTES and omega-6:omega-3 PUFA ratio (rs = −0.498, p = 0.042). Conclusions This study establishes that extremely preterm infants receive insufficient intakes of ARA and DHA. Moreover, blood fatty acid levels may provide a useful measure of intake, where establishing sufficient consumption could have clinical importance. There may also be important interactions between long-chain PUFA status and markers of inflammation, which requires further study

Relativistic double-zeta, triple-zeta, and quadruple-zeta basis sets for the lanthanides La–Lu

Relativistic basis sets of double-zeta, triple-zeta, and quadruple-zeta quality have been optimized for the lanthanide elements La-Lu. The basis sets include SCF exponents for the occupied spinors and for the 6p shell, exponents of correlating functions for the valence shells (4f, 5d and 6s) and the outer core shells (4d, 5s and 5p), and diffuse functions, including functions for dipole polarization of the 4f shell. A finite nuclear size was used in all optimizations. The basis sets are illustrated by calculations on YbF. Prescriptions are given for constructing contracted basis sets. The basis sets are available as an internet archive and from the Dirac program web site, http://dirac. chem. sdu. dk. © 2010 The Author(s)

Haloquadratum walsbyi : Limited Diversity in a Global Pond

BACKGROUND: Haloquadratum walsbyi commonly dominates the microbial flora of hypersaline waters. Its cells are extremely fragile squares requiring >14%(w/v) salt for growth, properties that should limit its dispersal and promote geographical isolation and divergence. To assess this, the genome sequences of two isolates recovered from sites at near maximum distance on Earth, were compared. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Both chromosomes are 3.1 MB in size, and 84% of each sequence was highly similar to the other (98.6% identity), comprising the core sequence. ORFs of this shared sequence were completely synteneic (conserved in genomic orientation and order), without inversion or rearrangement. Strain-specific insertions/deletions could be precisely mapped, often allowing the genetic events to be inferred. Many inferred deletions were associated with short direct repeats (4-20 bp). Deletion-coupled insertions are frequent, producing different sequences at identical positions. In cases where the inserted and deleted sequences are homologous, this leads to variant genes in a common synteneic background (as already described by others). Cas/CRISPR systems are present in C23(T) but have been lost in HBSQ001 except for a few spacer remnants. Numerous types of mobile genetic elements occur in both strains, most of which appear to be active, and with some specifically targetting others. Strain C23(T) carries two ∼6 kb plasmids that show similarity to halovirus His1 and to sequences nearby halovirus/plasmid gene clusters commonly found in haloarchaea. CONCLUSIONS: Deletion-coupled insertions show that Hqr. walsbyi evolves by uptake and precise integration of foreign DNA, probably originating from close relatives. Change is also driven by mobile genetic elements but these do not by themselves explain the atypically low gene coding density found in this species. The remarkable genome conservation despite the presence of active systems for genome rearrangement implies both an efficient global dispersal system, and a high selective fitness for this species

Long‐Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Lipid Peroxidation Products in Donor Human Milk in the United Kingdom: Results From the LIMIT 2‐Centre Cross‐Sectional Study

Background: Donor human milk is increasingly used as alternative to mother’s own milk to feed preterm infants, however, it may provide less long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA), and more oxidised lipids, which may be detrimental for preterm infant health and development. Levels have not been reported for donor human milk in the U.K. Methods: Donor human milk (n=19) from two neonatal units, milk from preterm mothers from a neonatal unit (n=10), and term mothers from the community (n=11) were analysed for fatty acid, malondialdehyde, 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, and hexanal content. Study registration: NCT03573531 Results: Donor human milk had significantly lower absolute LCPUFA content compared to term milk (P<0.001) and significantly lower omega-3 PUFAs than preterm milk (P<0.05), although relative LCPUFA composition did not differ. Exclusive donor human milk feeding leads to significantly lower fat (3.7 vs. 6.7 g/d) and LCPUFA (DHA: 10.6 vs. 16.8 mg/d; ARA: 17.4 vs. 25.2 mg/d) intake than recommended by ESPGHAN, and provides only 17.3% and 43.1% of the in utero accreted ARA and DHA. Donor human milk also had the highest proportion of lipid peroxidation. Conclusions: This study confirms that donor human milk in the U.K. has insufficient levels of LCPUFAs for preterm infants. It demonstrates for the first time that donor human milk has the highest level of lipid peroxidation, compared to preterm or term milk. This has important implications for preterm infant nutrition, as exclusive donor human milk feeding might not be suitable long-term, and may contribute to the development of major preterm neonatal morbidities