Armed robbery in Australia 2009–10: National Armed Robbery Monitoring Program report

This report summarises key findings from information describing the 12,005 victims of armed robbery reported to police in Australia during the 2009 and 2010 calendar years Abstract: The Australian Institute of Criminology’s National Armed Robbery Monitoring Program (NARMP) has been recording and reporting on trends in armed robbery since 2003. It is the only national dataset detailing armed robbery in Australia. This report is the first released after NARMP moved to biennial reporting and it summarises key findings from information describing the 12,005 victims reported to police in Australia during the 2009 and 2010 calendar years

Sphingolipids: the nexus between Gaucher disease and insulin resistance

Sphingolipids constitute a diverse array of lipids in which fatty acids are linked through amide bonds to a long-chain base, and, structurally, they form the building blocks of eukaryotic membranes. Ceramide is the simplest and serves as a precursor for the synthesis of the three main types of complex sphingolipids; sphingomyelins, glycosphingolipids and gangliosides. Sphingolipids are no longer considered mere structural spectators, but bioactive molecules with functions beyond providing a mechanically stable and chemically resistant barrier to a diverse array of cellular processes. Although sphingolipids form a somewhat minor component of the total cellular lipid pool, their accumulation in certain cells forms the basis of many diseases. Human diseases caused by alterations in the metabolism of sphingolipids are conventionally inborn errors of degradation, the most common being Gaucher disease, in which the catabolism of glucosylceramide is defective and accumulates. Insulin resistance has been reported in patients with Gaucher disease and this article presents evidence that this is due to perturbations in the metabolism of sphingolipids. Ceramide and the more complex sphingolipids, the gangliosides, are constituents of specialised membrane microdomains termed lipid rafts. Lipid rafts play a role in facilitating and regulating lipid and protein interactions in cells, and their unique lipid composition enables them to carry out this role. The lipid composition of rafts is altered in cell models of Gaucher disease which may be responsible for impaired lipid and protein sorting observed in this disorder, and consequently pathology. Lipid rafts are also necessary for correct insulin signalling, and a perturbed lipid raft composition may impair insulin signalling. Unravelling common nodes of interaction between insulin resistance and Gaucher disease may lead to a better understanding of the biochemical mechanisms behind pathology

Obesity Prevention Toolkit to Combat Weight Gain Related to Sedentary Behavior and Dietary Habits in College Students: An Evidence-Based Project

Abstract Background: Forty percent of the US population ages 20-39 are categorized as obese, their BMI is over 30, and 35% of college age students are obese or overweight. Issues related to obesity cost the US $147 billion annually. Between 40%-50% of college students are reported to be inactive. Inactivity can lead to increased morbidity and mortality related to increased risks of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, musculoskeletal issues, and depression. Providing dietary and physical activity education and access to nutritional information promotes behavior change in young adults. Aims of Service Change: This evidence-based project proposal aims to provide a toolkit that can be utilized in higher education institutions with incoming students to increase self-efficacy related to positive dietary choices and increased physical activity amongst college age students. Ultimately, this has the potential to reduce the incidence of poor outcomes later in life. Details of Innovation: This toolkit includes: dietary education using online resources, physical activity recommendations in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and access to nutritional information digitally. This will be offered over a three-month period and results will be tracked throughout the term.Outcomes: Implementation of an evidenced-based structured toolkit can provide benefits to higher education institutions by proactively addressing the ramifications of unhealthy lifestyles, weight gain and sedentary behavior which in turn has medical cost saving potential and increased retention rates

An examination of temperament, eating behaviours, and body dissatisfaction as predictors of weight suppression in anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder.

Understanding factors that contribute to weight suppression across eating disorders as well as unique factors that may promote weight suppression for specific disorders is an important field of study. Weight suppression is the difference between highest past body weight and current weight, and has been associated with weight gain, continuation of binge eating and purging, and longer duration of illness in bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa. There is existing research to suggest that eating behaviours and body dissatisfaction may promote weight suppression differently depending on the eating disorder. The aim of the current study was to understand how temperament dimensions (novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence, and persistence), eating behaviours and body dissatisfaction predict weight suppression in a sample of 301 women with a primary diagnosis of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa was associated with higher levels of weight suppression followed by bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder was associated with the lowest weight suppression. Higher harm avoidance (characterised by inhibiting behaviours to avoid negative outcomes, experiencing worry, being fearful of uncertainty, and shyness with new people) and more frequent food restriction were found to positively predict weight suppression in the combined sample. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder diagnoses were examined as possible moderators of the associations among eating behaviours and weight suppression, and body dissatisfaction and weight suppression. No moderation effects were found. These findings suggest that weight suppression is a transdiagnostic risk factor and contribute to understanding how temperament and eating behaviours promote weight suppression and can be applied to promoting healthy weight. Targeting harm avoidance in eating disorder treatment could promote healthy eating and recovery by alleviating the negative impact of weight suppression

Flexible modeling of dependence in volatility processes

This paper proposes a novel stochastic volatility model that draws from the exist- ing literature on autoregressive stochastic volatility models, aggregation of autoregres- sive processes, and Bayesian nonparametric modelling to create a stochastic volatility model that can capture long range dependence. The volatility process is assumed to be the aggregate of autoregressive processes where the distribution of the autoregressive coefficients is modelled using a flexible Bayesian approach. The model provides insight into the dynamic properties of the volatility. An efficient algorithm is defined which uses recently proposed adaptive Monte Carlo methods. The proposed model is applied to the daily returns of stocks

Elevation of gangliosides in four brain regions from Parkinson’s disease patients with a GBA mutation

A number of genetic risk factors have been identified over the past decade for Parkinson's Disease (PD), with variants in GBA prominent among them. GBA encodes the lysosomal enzyme that degrades the glycosphingolipid, glucosylceramide (GlcCer), with the activity of this enzyme defective in Gaucher disease. Based on the ill-defined relationship between glycosphingolipid metabolism and PD, we now analyze levels of various lipids by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry in four brain regions from age- and sex-matched patient samples, including idiopathic PD, PD patients with a GBA mutation and compare both to control brains (n = 21 for each group) obtained from individuals who died from a cause unrelated to PD. Of all the glycerolipids, sterols, and (glyco)sphingolipids (251 lipids in total), the only lipid class which showed significant differences were the gangliosides (sialic acid-containing complex glycosphingolipids), which were elevated in 3 of the 4 PD-GBA brain regions. There was no clear correlation between levels of individual gangliosides and the genetic variant in Gaucher disease [9 samples of severe (neuronopathic), 4 samples of mild (non-neuronopathic) GBA variants, and 8 samples with low pathogenicity variants which have a higher risk for development of PD]. Most brain regions, i.e. occipital cortex, cingulate gyrus, and striatum, did not show a statistically significant elevation of GlcCer in PD-GBA. Only one region, the middle temporal gyrus, showed a small, but significant elevation in GlcCer concentration in PD-GBA. We conclude that changes in ganglioside, but not in GlcCer levels, may contribute to the association between PD and GBA mutations

Sjogren's syndrome: An underdiagnosed condition in mixed connective tissue disease

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of sicca symptoms, dry eye, and secondary Sjögren's syndrome and to evaluate the severity of dry eye in patients with mixed connective tissue disease. METHODS: In total, 44 consecutive patients with mixed connective tissue disease (Kasukawa's criteria) and 41 healthy controls underwent Schirmer's test, a tear film breakup time test, and ocular surface staining to investigate dry eye. In addition, the dry eye severity was graded. Ocular and oral symptoms were assessed using a structured questionnaire. Salivary gland scintigraphy was performed in all patients. Classification of secondary Sjögren's syndrome was assessed according to the American-European Consensus Group criteria. RESULTS: The patients and controls had comparable ages (44.7±12.4 vs. 47.2±12.2 years) and frequencies of female gender (93 vs. 95%) and Caucasian ethnicity (71.4 vs. 85%). Ocular symptoms (47.7 vs. 24.4%) and oral symptoms (52.3 vs. 9.7%) were significantly more frequent in patients than in controls. Fourteen (31.8%) patients fulfilled Sjögren's syndrome criteria, seven of whom (50%) did not have this diagnosis prior to study inclusion. A further comparison of patients with mixed connective tissue disease with or without Sjögren's syndrome revealed that the former presented significantly lower frequencies of polyarthritis and cutaneous involvement than did the patients without Sjögren's syndrome. Moderate to severe dry eye was found in 13 of 14 patients with mixed connective tissue disease and Sjögren's syndrome (92.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Sjögren's syndrome, particularly with moderate to severe dry eye, is frequent in patients with mixed connective tissue disease. These findings alert the physician regarding the importance of the appropriate diagnosis of this syndrome in such patients

The Millimeter Astronomy Legacy Team 90 GHz (MALT90) Pilot Survey

We describe a pilot survey conducted with the Mopra 22-m radio telescope in preparation for the Millimeter Astronomy Legacy Team Survey at 90 GHz (MALT90). We identified 182 candidate dense molecular clumps using six different selection criteria and mapped each source simultaneously in 16 different lines near 90 GHz. We present a summary of the data and describe how the results of the pilot survey shaped the design of the larger MALT90 survey. We motivate our selection of target sources for the main survey based on the pilot detection rates and demonstrate the value of mapping in multiple lines simultaneously at high spectral resolution.Comment: Accepted to ApJS. 23 pages and 16 figures. Full resolution version with an appendix showing all the data (12.1 MB) is available at http://malt90.bu.edu/publications/Foster_2011_Malt90Pilot.pd