Session 2-3-G: The Consumption Screen for Problem Gambling (CSPG): Why a Penchant for Big Macs May Predict Appetites for Gambling

Evidence for a common underlying trait: “Consumptiveness” Consumptiveness: “A persistent orientation towards acquiring and using resources in excess of a proper accounting of their costs and benefits - resulting in harm.” simple behaviors that result in immediate, sensation-oriented rewards alcohol, caffeine, smoking, illicit drugs, energy-rich foods (including salt) Gamblin

Gambling-related harm and the prevention paradox

Abstract (163 words) The prevention paradox (PP) describes a situation in which a greater number of adverse events arise from lower-risk population categories, because they are more prevalent than higher-risk groups. There has been limited and conflicting evidence as to whether the PP applies to gambling-related harm. We assessed the prevalence of 72 harmful consequences from gambling across four risk problem gambling risk categories. Respondents who had gambled on non-lottery forms in the past 6 months completed an online survey (N = 1,524, 49.4% male). The data were weighted to the known prevalence of these risk categories. The prevalence of gambling harms, including severe harms, was generally higher in the three combined lower risk categories compared to the high-risk, but low prevalence, problem-gambling category. The PP was supported not only for milder harms (e.g. increased credit-card debt), but in the case of many serious harms: experiencing separation or end of a relationship, loss of a job, needing to sell personal items, and experiencing domestic violence from gambling. Implications (49 words) The result concords with other sources of evidence that indicate that the bulk of population-level impact of gambling problems are experienced by non-problem gamblers; i.e. those who do not meet clinical criteria for disordered gambling or addiction. This supports the case for a public-health approach to ameliorating gambling-related harm

The dangers of conflating gambling-related harm with disordered gambling

In their critical review of the prevention paradox (PP) applied to gambling-related harm, Delfabbro and King (2017) raise a number of concerns regarding specific assumptions, methods, and findings as well as the general conceptual approach. Besides discussing the PP, the review also considers the merits of considering a “continuum of harm,” as opposed to the more traditional categorical approach to classifying problem gamblers. Their critique is carefully modulated and balanced, and starts a useful dialogue in the context of a public health approach to gambling. Unfortunately, some of Delfabbro and King’s (2017) arguments rest on the treatment of gambling harm as a binary state and conflates gambling-related harm with disordered gambling. In this reply, we argue that the application of PP logic to gambling harm has not yet been addressed by us, and is only indirectly related to the more important objective of understanding how gambling can reduce ones’ quality of life

Cabinet of Curiosities Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra.

Cabinet of Curiosities, a concerto for saxophone quartet and orchestra, is cast in three main movements, preceded by a short prelude. The instrumentation of the work is as follows: Solo Saxophone Quartet (Soprano in B-flat, Alto in E-flat, Tenor in B-flat, Baritone in E-flat), Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, English Horn, 3 B-flat Clarinets (3 doubling Bass Clarinet in B-flat), 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon, 4 Horns in F, 3 Trumpets in C, 2 Tenor Trombones, Bass Trombone, Tuba, Timpani, 3 Percussion (complete percussion instrument list included in score), Piano, Harp, and Strings. Cabinets of curiosities (known also as Kunstkammern), emerged first in the wealthy and royal homes of the sixteenth century. The cabinets held collections of various wondrous and thought-provoking objects with no obvious categorization or curation. Many of these collections included archaeological relics obtained by explorers during their voyages to the new world (Exotica), impressive and curious works of Art (Artificialia), technologically advanced mechanical automata (Scientifica), and obscure and exotic specimens from nature (Naturalia). These collections served primarily as a status symbol for the wealthy patrons that owned them, but were also viewed as a kind of proto-museum displaying, in one room, objects once unknown (and sometimes unbelievable) to European audiences at the time. To these visitors, the cabinet was a microcosm of the world. What is most striking about these early collections was not only the breadth of objects, but also the haphazard curation and organization of them. All of these disparate and eclectic objects were sitting beside one another almost arbitrarily. The purpose of these cabinets were not (at first, anyway) to present an easily followed narrative through science and history, but more generally to display all of the amazing and wondrous stuff the owner has in their collection. There is a kind of gleeful and passionate randomness about this idea that is meant to play out musically through stylistic diversity and eclectic shifts of texture and timbre.AMUMusic: CompositionUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/133369/1/mabrowne_1.pd

Gravity and Man. Part I. Studies on the Effect of Increased Gravitational Force on Man. Part II. The Effects of Other Physiological Stresses on Man's Tolerance to Increased Gravitational Force

The first part of this thesis consists of a general consideration of the physiological effects of acceleration. The means of determining human tolerance to this force is by means of threshold determinations. These are discussed in relation to the mechanical variables involved: strength, duration and rate of application of g. The changes in pulse rate, blood pressure, the electrocardiogram vectorcardiogram and electroencephalogram, have all been analysed and compared with the results of previous investigators. It was found that the pulse rate varied directly with g while the blood pressure bears a reciprocal relationship to g. The changes in pulse rate closely followed changes in blood pressure, and both depended not only on the peak g but also on the rate with which it is applied. There were no characteristic changes in the electrocardiogram, the electrical axis shows a clockwise rotation which is partly positional and may also be related to increased autonomic activity. There was only one arrhythmia in q series of two thousand runs, this occurred at 8.0 g. and reverted spontaneously to sinus rhythm on returning to 1.0 g. No evidence of myocardial ischaemia was obtained from any of the records. The vectorcardiogram shows instantaneously any changes in the electrical axis of the heart but otherwise gives no additional information to that obtained from the E.C.G. There are no characteristic changes in the electroencephalogram during positive acceleration. During the early part of the runs there is a fall in the amplitude of the alpha rhythm which reverts to normal after five to ten seconds. Greyout and blackout occur without any corresponding change in electrical activity. The onset of unconsciousness however is accompanied by the appearance of slow, large amplitude waves. Most subjects exhibit convulsions of a major or minor type when consciousness is lost. These similarly are not accompanied by any E.E.G. changes apart from the dslta activity found with unconsciousness. The optimal conditions for threshold determination are outlined and a method is described which fulfils these conditions. The method depends on loss of central vision by the dark adapted eye and is accurately repeatable. The value of g at which the end point occurs can be varied at will, the upper limit being the level of absolute blackout. The variables are capable of precise specification. The type of g run used is based on the results obtained in the earlier part of this study and allows cardiac compensation to develop as the g increases. The second half of the thesis is an investigation into stress summation in flight. It was thought that many other factors might operate to produce a diminished tolerance to acceleration, and even to lead to loss of consciousness. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)

Open educational resources: A new creative space

'Same places, different spaces'. Proceeding ascilite Auckland 2009.Several agencies in the UK are funding a national programme to develop an infrastructure to support Open Educational Resources (OER). Policies and procedures are being defined and repositories and metadata are being established. Much of the graft involves Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) clearance. But the greatest challenges are with the educational value of the material that is deposited and how they can facilitate and enhance learning. The ambition is for OER to contribute to the teaching-research nexus, where staff and students can meet in a creative space, co-creating resources within an active, co-dependent and interactive curriculum. This paper describes how one University in the UK is currently developing an OER at the institutional level and the challenges that are being encountered.JISCOpen Exeter Projec

Learning Policies from Self-Play with Policy Gradients and MCTS Value Estimates

In recent years, state-of-the-art game-playing agents often involve policies that are trained in self-playing processes where Monte Carlo tree search (MCTS) algorithms and trained policies iteratively improve each other. The strongest results have been obtained when policies are trained to mimic the search behaviour of MCTS by minimising a cross-entropy loss. Because MCTS, by design, includes an element of exploration, policies trained in this manner are also likely to exhibit a similar extent of exploration. In this paper, we are interested in learning policies for a project with future goals including the extraction of interpretable strategies, rather than state-of-the-art game-playing performance. For these goals, we argue that such an extent of exploration is undesirable, and we propose a novel objective function for training policies that are not exploratory. We derive a policy gradient expression for maximising this objective function, which can be estimated using MCTS value estimates, rather than MCTS visit counts. We empirically evaluate various properties of resulting policies, in a variety of board games.Comment: Accepted at the IEEE Conference on Games (CoG) 201

How Well Does a Workshop Work? ‐ Developing a Platform for Fostering and Evaluating Cross‐Sectoral Collaborations in Gabon; Sustainability Cases: An International Platform for Sustainability Education

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138387/1/paf200089.pd

Differential Effects of Reward Drive and Rash Impulsivity on the Consumption of a Range of Hedonic Stimuli

Background and aims Impulsivity has consistently been associated with over-consumption and addiction. Recent research has reconceptualized impulsivity as a two-dimensional construct (Dawe, Gullo, & Loxton, 2004). This study explores the relationship of the two components of impulsivity, reward drive (RD) and rash impulsivity (RI), on a broad group of 23 hedonic consumption behaviors (e.g., gambling, substance use, eating, and media use). We tentatively grouped the behaviors into three descriptive classes: entertainment, foodstuffs, and illicit activities and substances. Results RD and RI positively predicted elevated levels of consumption in a community sample (N=5,391; 51% female), for the vast majority of the behaviors considered. However, the effect sizes for RD and RI varied significantly depending on the behavior; a pattern that appeared to be at least partially attributable to the class of consumption. Results support the view that RD is related more strongly to the consumption of products that provide social engagement or a sense of increased status; whereas RI better reflects an approach toward illicit or restricted products that are intensely rewarding with clear negative consequences. Discussion and conclusion Results support the utility of the two-factor model of impulsivity in explaining individual differences in patterns of hedonic consumption in the general population. We discuss findings in terms of strengthening current conceptualizations of RI and RD as having distinct implications with respect to health-related behaviors

Interprofessional Scenario-Based Learning for New Graduates in a Regional Setting: A Pilot Study

Introduction: Globally there is an increased emphasis on the provision of high quality healthcare and improved productivity under mounting financial constraints. Interprofessional collaboration and practice are considered crucial in promoting teamwork and optimising patient outcomes. However, there is a lack of structured, evaluated interprofessional learning opportunities for graduates in regional and rural health services in Australia. This pilot study reports on a novel interprofessional new graduate learning program that was developed and implemented to address the lack of structured post-qualification interprofessional learning opportunities in the Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service. Methods: Twenty-one participants enrolled in the six-month program, which consisted of six ninety-minute sessions. A mixed method exploratory design was used to collect data using the Interprofessional Socialization and Valuing Scale before and after the program, and a reflective summary at program completion. Results: Results indicated that participation in the program had a positive effect on participants’ attitudes, beliefs and behaviours regarding interprofessional practice as measured on the Interprofessional Socialization and Valuing Scale. Various themes about the usefulness of the program to participants were elicited from the reflective summary data. These included enhanced understanding of interprofessional practice, increased confidence in own professional role, improved understanding of the roles of other professions, increased collaboration with others, improved patient outcomes and improved networking with colleagues. Conclusions: It was concluded that the new graduate interprofessional learning program was a feasible and effective way to facilitate interprofessional learning among health graduates in a regional health service