The association between divorce and patterns of child adjustment

Previous research has indicated that although children from divorced families on average are not as well adjusted as children from intact families, there is a great deal of variability in how these children adjust to the divorce of their parents. In an effort to investigate the within-group variability of children of divorced families the generalizability of clusters of adjustment found by E. M. Hetherington (1989, 1993) was investigated. Data were gathered from 137 boys and girls primarily between the ages of 12-14 years. Participants came from both divorced and intact families. Measures included the Child Behavior Checklist - Youth Self-Report (YSR), the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version (EQ-I: YV), a measure of students' sense of school values and competence (SSVC), and an interview focusing on parents' marital histories. Data for the main sample were submitted to a squared Euclidean cluster analysis using Ward's method of agglomeration. The stability and validity of the derived clusters was investigated via internal replication and a double-cross validation using multiple discriminant analysis. The clusters obtained from the main sample did not evidence a high level of consistency across different subsets of the sample and the correct classification rates were low thus indicating a lack of homogeneity within clusters and discreteness between clusters. No evidence was found for distinct patterns of adjustment within the sample. Possible explanations for the findings are discussed along with the issue of obtaining an adequate sample of children from divorced families

Structured leisure and adolescent adjustment

The relationships between participation in structured leisure (SL) activities (e.g., sports, prosocial activities) and adolescent adjustment were investigated. SL activities have been associated with various developmental benefits but there has been a limited number of studies that have investigated the potential negative aspects of participation. Questionnaire data were collected from 210 boys and girls (between grades 10 and 12). Fourteen students participated in focus groups to obtain a phenomenological perspective on SL participation. Adjustment variables included a well-being composite (comprised of depression, anxiety, self-esteem, and life satisfaction), a school orientation composite (comprised of students’ levels of school involvement and their values regarding school), academic achievement, and self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism. Three hypotheses were examined. First, it was predicted that there would be a curvilinear relationship between the extent of SL participation and the various adjustment variables. Second, aspects of play and leisure were expected to have moderating effects on the relationships between SL participation and outcomes. Third, aspects of perfectionism were hypothesized to play a moderating role on the relationship between SL and adolescent adjustment. Although the present investigation yielded some insightful observations about participation in SL activities, the results provided no direct support for the hypotheses. Regression analyses indicated positive relationships between SL participation and self-oriented perfectionism, and SL participation and academic achievement. Negative relationships were found between the degree of playfulness in SL activities and socially prescribed perfectionism, and between academic achievement and global intrinsic leisure motivation. Notable focus group themes included a distinction between the fun experienced in SL activities and the fun experienced in nonstructured contexts, significant positive and negative experiences related to SL participation, and differences and similarities between the SL context and other contexts such as school. It is argued that leisure theory can contribute to a better understanding of the developmental implications of SL participation and that the relationship between SL participation and perfectionism merits further investigation

I\u27ve always been outspoken on what I think can be improved : An Interview with Dr. Garry J. Smith

Dr. Garry J. Smith has spent many years at the forefront of critical gambling research in Canada. In this interview he talks about the genesis of the Alberta Gambling Research Institute, how sociology brings a different lens to gambling studies than psychology, why he speaks out against certain aspects of commercial gambling, the relationship between fun and fairness, and the critical gaps in research that need to be added to address the inherent conflicts of interest that occur with self-regulated gambling. The interview was conducted by academics Fiona Nicoll and Mark R Johnson on 29 November, 2017. A transcript of the conversation was edited for publication. As part of this process, both interviewers and the interviewee were invited to edit their remarks

Missing in Action? Electronic Gaming Machines in Gambling Studies Research

In the past thirty years casinos across the world have become dominated by the rise of “electronic gaming machines” (EGMs). Expanding with tremendous speed, this technology has arguably become the dominant form of non-online gambling around the world at time of writing (DeMichele, 2017; Schwartz, 2018). EGMs are also noted as being one of the most harmful forms of gambling, with significant numbers of players betting beyond their financial limits (MacLaren et al, 2012; Stewart & Wohl, 2013), spending a disproportionate amount of time playing (Cummings, 1999; Ballon, 2005; Schüll, 2012; cf. Dickerson, 1996), becoming disconnected from the world outside of the “zone” (Schüll, 2012) of gambling play, and even becoming bankrupt or otherwise financially crippled as a result of their use (Petry, 2003; Scarf et al, 2011). Using metadata from Web of Science and Scopus databases, we analysed peer-reviewed gambling research produced in Australia, New Zealand, North America and the UK published between 1996 and 2016. Surprisingly, we found that the overwhelming of majority of articles do not specifically address EGMs as the most popular and pervasive gambling technology available. Our paper teases out some concerning implications of this finding for the interdisciplinary field of gambling studies

Evolution of entanglement within classical light states

We investigate the evolution of quantum correlations over the lifetime of a multi-photon state. Measurements reveal time-dependent oscillations of the entanglement fidelity for photon pairs created by a single semiconductor quantum dot. The oscillations are attributed to the phase acquired in the intermediate, non-degenerate, exciton-photon state and are consistent with simulations. We conclude that emission of photon pairs by a typical quantum dot with finite polarisation splitting is in fact entangled in a time-evolving state, and not classically correlated as previously regarded

Sustained expression of microRNA-155 in hematopoietic stem cells causes a myeloproliferative disorder

Mammalian microRNAs are emerging as key regulators of the development and function of the immune system. Here, we report a strong but transient induction of miR-155 in mouse bone marrow after injection of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) correlated with granulocyte/monocyte (GM) expansion. Demonstrating the sufficiency of miR-155 to drive GM expansion, enforced expression in mouse bone marrow cells caused GM proliferation in a manner reminiscent of LPS treatment. However, the miR-155–induced GM populations displayed pathological features characteristic of myeloid neoplasia. Of possible relevance to human disease, miR-155 was found to be overexpressed in the bone marrow of patients with certain subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Furthermore, miR-155 repressed a subset of genes implicated in hematopoietic development and disease. These data implicate miR-155 as a contributor to physiological GM expansion during inflammation and to certain pathological features associated with AML, emphasizing the importance of proper miR-155 regulation in developing myeloid cells during times of inflammatory stress

Critical Exponents without the Epsilon Expansion

We argue that the sharp-cutoff Wilson renormalization group provides a powerful tool for the analysis of second-order and weakly first-order phase transitions. In particular, in a computation no harder than the calculation of the 1-loop effective potential, we show that the Wilson RG yields the fixed point couplings and critical exponents of 3-dimensional $O(N)$ scalar field theory, with results close to those obtained in high-order \ep-% expansion and large-$N$ calculations. We discuss the prospects for an even more precise computation.Comment: 8 pages, CLNS 94/1279, late

Item 1. Apologies

Apologies were received from Stephen Burt & Dave Bullock. Item 2. Agreement of agenda The agenda was agreed. Item 3. Minutes of last meeting The minutes of the committee meeting & AGM held on 12 th September 2014 were agreed as being correct. Item 4. Items arising Actions from the previous committee meeting were considered and the following matters were discussed: Rain gauge raffle – At the 2013 RMetS Amateur Meteorologist Symposium, MD organised a SIG stand where he raffled an EML rain gauge, signed-up 29 new members & raised £145. MD was thanked for his hard work. New committee member – MD has contacted, but not yet had a reply from, Mark Wilkinson (James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen) to invite him to join the SIG committee. The SIG has offered to pay travel expenses for Mark for one trip/year to attend a SI

Role of AMPA Receptor Cycling in Synaptic Transmission and Plasticity

AbstractCompounds known to disrupt exocytosis or endocytosis were introduced into CA1 pyramidal cells while monitoring excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs). Disrupting exocytosis or the interaction of GluR2 with NSF caused a gradual reduction in the AMPAR EPSC, while inhibition of endocytosis caused a gradual increase in the AMPAR EPSC. These manipulations had no effect on the NMDAR EPSC but prevented the subsequent induction of LTD. These results suggest that AMPARs, but not NMDARs, cycle into and out of the synaptic membrane at a rapid rate and that certain forms of synaptic plasticity may utilize this dynamic process