A casino in my pocket: Gratifications associated with obsessive and harmonious passion for mobile gambling

Mobile gambling differs from land-based and traditional forms of gambling in that the opportunity to place bets and engage with casinos is constantly present and easily accessible. Instead of going to a physical bookmaker or casino, mobile gambling is done quickly and swiftly, anytime, anywhere, with a few taps on a mobile device. Previous studies reveal mobile gambling has managed to reach new audiences especially amongst younger people. Gambling harms can have severe adverse effects on individuals, families and society. However, for a subgroup of highly involved individuals, gambling can be considered a harmonious passion that permits frequent gambling without elevating individual’s risks of experience problem gambling manifestations. Combining the Uses and Gratifications (U&G) and Dualistic Model of Passion (DMP) frameworks, the present study aims to determine if and how the different gratifications sought from mobile gambling are susceptible to explaining non-problematic versus problematic patterns in highly involved gamblers. Data were collected over two waves from a global sample of mobile gamblers (N = 327). Results emphasize that the motivational underpinnings of mobile gambling (as measured by the U&G) differ in obsessive versus harmonious passion. Obsessive passion is associated with poor mood and problematic gambling. In contrast, harmonious passion for mobile gambling is associated with positive mood but is unrelated to problematic gambling. Based on these findings, and given that problematic gambling is an internationally relevant public health issue (the prevalence of problem gambling is estimated to range from 0.1% to 5.8% in different countries), we suggest interventions focusing on specific uses and gratifications associated with an obsessive passion for mobile gambling may be effective in reducing problematic usage patterns

Why do People Share Misinformation during the COVID-19 Pandemic?

The World Health Organization have emphasised that misinformation - spreading rapidly through social media - poses a serious threat to the COVID-19 response. Drawing from theories of health perception and cognitive load, we develop and test a research model hypothesizing why people share unverified COVID-19 information through social media. Our findings suggest a person's trust in online information and perceived information overload are strong predictors of unverified information sharing. Furthermore, these factors, along with a person's perceived COVID-19 severity and vulnerability influence cyberchondria. Females were significantly more likely to suffer from cyberchondria, however, males were more likely to share news without fact checking their source. Our findings suggest that to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 misinformation and cyberchondria, measures should be taken to enhance a healthy skepticism of health news while simultaneously guarding against information overload

Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in muscle-invasive bladder cancer was introduced several years ago.&nbsp;Despite the evidence supporting its use in clinical practice, only a minority of patients who undergo&nbsp;radical cystectomy receive preoperative chemotherapy. In addition, recommendations and methods&nbsp;to detect patients who would benefit the most from NAC are still unclear. The European Association of&nbsp;Urology (EAU) guidelines panel on muscle-invasive and metastatic bladder cancer recommends the use&nbsp;of cisplatin-based NAC for T2-T4a, cN0 M0 bladder cancer if the patient has a performance status &ge;2 and if the renal function is not impaired, but the American Urological Association, for example, does not&nbsp;have any guideline recommendations on this topic at all. In this review we describe the current literature&nbsp;supporting NAC in association with radical cystectomy in muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma of the&nbsp;bladder. Evidence acquisition was made searching the Medline database for original articles published&nbsp;before 1st February 2014, with search terms: &ldquo;neoadjuvant chemotherapy&rdquo;, &ldquo;radical cystectomy&rdquo;, and&nbsp;&ldquo;invasive bladder cancer&rdquo;.</p

A casino in my pocket: Gratifications associated with obsessive and harmonious passion for mobile gambling

Mobile gambling differs from land-based and traditional forms of gambling in that the opportunity to place bets and engage with casinos is constantly present and easily accessible. Instead of going to a physical bookmaker or casino, mobile gambling is done quickly and swiftly, anytime, anywhere, with a few taps on a mobile device. Previous studies reveal mobile gambling has managed to reach new audiences especially amongst younger people. Gambling harms can have severe adverse effects on individuals, families and society. However, for a subgroup of highly involved individuals, gambling can be considered a harmonious passion that permits frequent gambling without elevating individual’s risks of experience problem gambling manifestations. Combining the Uses and Gratifications (U&G) and Dualistic Model of Passion (DMP) frameworks, the present study aims to determine if and how the different gratifications sought from mobile gambling are susceptible to explaining non-problematic versus problematic patterns in highly involved gamblers. Data were collected over two waves from a global sample of mobile gamblers (N = 327). Results emphasize that the motivational underpinnings of mobile gambling (as measured by the U&G) differ in obsessive versus harmonious passion. Obsessive passion is associated with poor mood and problematic gambling. In contrast, harmonious passion for mobile gambling is associated with positive mood but is unrelated to problematic gambling. Based on these findings, and given that problematic gambling is an internationally relevant public health issue (the prevalence of problem gambling is estimated to range from 0.1% to 5.8% in different countries), we suggest interventions focusing on specific uses and gratifications associated with an obsessive passion for mobile gambling may be effective in reducing problematic usage patterns.</p

Understanding students’ game experiences throughout the developmental process of the Number Navigation Game

Serious games for learning have received increased attention in recent years. However, empirical studies on students’ gaming experiences throughout the developmental process of serious games and discussions regarding game design are missing. The aims of the present study were to analyze students’ gaming experiences while playing four consecutive versions of the Number Navigation Game (NNG)—a mathematical game-based learning environment focusing on flexibility and adaptivity with whole-number arithmetic; and to provide an extensive review of the NNG developmental and design process over 3 years with focus on how and why the design decisions were made, and how those choices affected students’ gaming experiences. The study employed a mixed-methods design of quantitative and qualitative research. The Game Experience Questionnaire about eight core game experience dimensions was answered by different groups of students at primary schools in Finland in three different experiments after students played four versions of the NNG from 2014 to 2016. Six semi structured interviews related to students’ game experiences, preferences and game features of the latest version of NNG were conducted. Overall, results indicate that improvement in game’s usability and clarity in the user interface has positive impacts on students’ game experiences. Furthermore, there seems to be a clear advantage in having better aesthetics and value in improving extrinsic elements that could contribute to maintain players’ enthusiasm and situational interest in serious games.</p

Comparative analysis of cytokine profiles of glaucomatous tears and aqueous humour reveals potential biomarkers for trabeculectomy complications

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Communication, Collaboration, and Coordination in a Co-located Shared Augmented Reality Game: Perspectives From Deaf and Hard of Hearing People

Co-located collaborative shared augmented reality (CS-AR) environments have gained considerable research attention, mainly focusing on design, implementation, accuracy, and usability. Yet, a gap persists in our understanding regarding the accessibility and inclusivity of such environments for diverse user groups, such as deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) people. To investigate this domain, we used Urban Legends, a multiplayer game in a co-located CS-AR setting. We conducted a user study followed by one-on-one interviews with 17 DHH participants. Our findings revealed the usage of multimodal communication (verbal and non-verbal) before and during the game, impacting the amount of collaboration among participants and how their coordination with AR components, their surroundings, and other participants improved throughout the rounds. We utilize our data to propose design enhancements, including onscreen visuals and speech-to-text transcription, centered on participant perspectives and our analysis

Self-Assembling Peptide Nanofiber Scaffolds Accelerate Wound Healing

Cutaneous wound repair regenerates skin integrity, but a chronic failure to heal results in compromised tissue function and increased morbidity. To address this, we have used an integrated approach, using nanobiotechnology to augment the rate of wound reepithelialization by combining self-assembling peptide (SAP) nanofiber scaffold and Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF). This SAP bioscaffold was tested in a bioengineered Human Skin Equivalent (HSE) tissue model that enabled wound reepithelialization to be monitored in a tissue that recapitulates molecular and cellular mechanisms of repair known to occur in human skin. We found that SAP underwent molecular self-assembly to form unique 3D structures that stably covered the surface of the wound, suggesting that this scaffold may serve as a viable wound dressing. We measured the rates of release of EGF from the SAP scaffold and determined that EGF was only released when the scaffold was in direct contact with the HSE. By measuring the length of the epithelial tongue during wound reepithelialization, we found that SAP scaffolds containing EGF accelerated the rate of wound coverage by 5 fold when compared to controls without scaffolds and by 3.5 fold when compared to the scaffold without EGF. In conclusion, our experiments demonstrated that biomaterials composed of a biofunctionalized peptidic scaffold have many properties that are well-suited for the treatment of cutaneous wounds including wound coverage, functionalization with bioactive molecules, localized growth factor release and activation of wound repair

Prognostic factors in prostate cancer

Prognostic factors in organ confined prostate cancer will reflect survival after surgical radical prostatectomy. Gleason score, tumour volume, surgical margins and Ki-67 index have the most significant prognosticators. Also the origins from the transitional zone, p53 status in cancer tissue, stage, and aneuploidy have shown prognostic significance. Progression-associated features include Gleason score, stage, and capsular invasion, but PSA is also highly significant. Progression can also be predicted with biological markers (E-cadherin, microvessel density, and aneuploidy) with high level of significance. Other prognostic features of clinical or PSA-associated progression include age, IGF-1, p27, and Ki-67. In patients who were treated with radiotherapy the survival was potentially predictable with age, race and p53, but available research on other markers is limited. The most significant published survival-associated prognosticators of prostate cancer with extension outside prostate are microvessel density and total blood PSA. However, survival can potentially be predicted by other markers like androgen receptor, and Ki-67-positive cell fraction. In advanced prostate cancer nuclear morphometry and Gleason score are the most highly significant progression-associated prognosticators. In conclusion, Gleason score, capsular invasion, blood PSA, stage, and aneuploidy are the best markers of progression in organ confined disease. Other biological markers are less important. In advanced disease Gleason score and nuclear morphometry can be used as predictors of progression. Compound prognostic factors based on combinations of single prognosticators, or on gene expression profiles (tested by DNA arrays) are promising, but clinically relevant data is still lacking