Adolescent gambling behaviour, a single latent construct and indicators of risk: findings from a national survey of New Zealand high school students

This study explores underlying latent construct/s of gambling behaviour, and identifies indicators of “unhealthy gambling”. Data were collected from Youth’07 a nationally representative sample of New Zealand secondary school students (N = 9107). Exploratory factor analyses, item-response theory analyses, multiple indicators-multiple causes, and differential item functioning analyses were used to assess dimensionality of gambling behaviour, underlying factors, and indicators of unhealthy gambling. A single underlying continuum of gambling behaviour was identified. Gambling frequency and ‘gambling because I can’t stop’ were most strongly associated with unhealthy gambling. Gambling to ‘feel better about myself’ and to ‘forget about things’ provided the most precise discriminants of unhealthy gambling. Multivariable analyses found that school connectedness was associated with lower levels of unhealthy gambling

Unhealthy Gambling Amongst New Zealand Secondary School Students: An Exploration of Risk and Protective Factors

This study sought to determine the prevalence of gambling and unhealthy gambling behaviour and describe risk and protective factors associated with these behaviours amongst a nationally representative sample of New Zealand secondary school students (n = 8,500). Factor analysis and item response theory were used to develop a model to provide a measure of ‘unhealthy gambling’. Logistic regressions and multiple logistic regression models were used to investigate associations between unhealthy gambling behaviour and selected outcomes. Approximately one-quarter (24.2 %) of students had gambled in the last year, and 4.8 % had two or more indicators of unhealthy gambling. Multivariate analyses found that unhealthy gambling was associated with four main factors: more accepting attitudes towards gambling (pp = 0.0061); being worried about and/or trying to cut down on gambling (p p = 0.0009). Unhealthy gambling is a significant health issue for young people in New Zealand. Ethnic and social inequalities were apparent and these disparities need to be addressed

"I am becoming more and more like my eldest brother!": the relationship between older siblings, adolescent gambling severity, and the attenuating role of parents in a large-scale nationally representative survey study

The present study examined the association between having older siblings who gamble and adolescent at-risk/problem gambling and how parents (i.e., parental knowledge of their whereabouts) and peers might moderate such effects. Data were drawn from the ESPAD®Italia2012 survey (European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs) comprising a nationally representative Italian sample of adolescents. The analysis was carried out on a subsample of 10,063 Italian students aged 15–19 years (average age = 17.10; 55 % girls) who had at least one older sibling and who had gambled at some point in their lives. Respondents’ problem gambling severity, older gambler sibling, gambler peers, parental knowledge, and socio-demographic characteristics were individually assessed. Multinomial logistic regression analyses including two- and three-way interactions were conducted. The odds of being an at-risk/problem gambler were higher among high school students with older siblings that gambled and those with peers who gambled. Higher parental knowledge (of who the adolescent was with and where they were in their leisure time) was associated with lower rates of at-risk/problem gambling. There was also an interaction between gamblers with older siblings and parental knowledge. The combination of having siblings who gambled and a greater level of parental knowledge was associated with lower levels of problem gambling. The present study confirmed the occurrence of social risk processes (older siblings and peers who gambled) and demonstrated that gambling among older siblings and peers represents an important contextual factor for increased at-risk/problem gambling. However, parental knowledge appears to be sufficient to counterbalance the influence of older siblings

Functional Interaction between CFTR and the Sodium-Phosphate Co-Transport Type 2a in Xenopus laevis Oocytes

A growing number of proteins, including ion transporters, have been shown to interact with Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane conductance Regulator (CFTR). CFTR is an epithelial chloride channel that is involved in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) when mutated; thus a better knowledge of its functional interactome may help to understand the pathophysiology of this complex disease. In the present study, we investigated if CFTR and the sodium-phosphate co-transporter type 2a (NPT2a) functionally interact after heterologous expression of both proteins in Xenopus laevis oocytes.NPT2a was expressed alone or in combination with CFTR in X. laevis oocytes. Using the two-electrode voltage-clamp technique, the inorganic phosphate-induced current (IPi) was measured and taken as an index of NPT2a activity. The maximal IPi for NPT2a substrates was reduced when CFTR was co-expressed with NPT2a, suggesting a decrease in its expression at the oolemna. This was consistent with Western blot analysis showing reduced NPT2a plasma membrane expression in oocytes co-expressing both proteins, whereas NPT2a protein level in total cell lysate was the same in NPT2a- and NPT2a+CFTR-oocytes. In NPT2a+CFTR- but not in NPT2a-oocytes, IPi and NPT2a surface expression were increased upon PKA stimulation, whereas stimulation of Exchange Protein directly Activated by cAMP (EPAC) had no effect. When NPT2a-oocytes were injected with NEG2, a short amino-acid sequence from the CFTR regulatory domain that regulates PKA-dependent CFTR trafficking to the plasma membrane, IPi values and NPT2a membrane expression were diminished, and could be enhanced by PKA stimulation, thereby mimicking the effects of CFTR co-expression.We conclude that when both CFTR and NPT2a are expressed in X. laevis oocytes, CFTR confers to NPT2a a cAMPi-dependent trafficking to the membrane. This functional interaction raises the hypothesis that CFTR may play a role in phosphate homeostasis

Use of Immunoglobulin G Avidity Assays for Differentiation of Primary from Previous Infections with West Nile Virus

Since its introduction in 1999, West Nile virus (WNV) infections have spread rapidly across the North American continent. Diagnosis of acute WNV infection by detection of WNV-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) is complicated by the persistence of detectable IgM for more than 1 year in some patients. IgG antibody avidity testing was assessed as a supplemental assay in the diagnosis of current infections. Three groups of serum samples were assayed in parallel by two different IgG avidity test systems (indirect immunofluorescence test [IIFT] and prototype enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA]; EUROIMMUN, Luebeck, Germany). Group I (40 sera taken between 2 and 9 days after the onset of influenza-like symptoms) and group II (40 sera taken between 10 and 43 days after onset) were acute and convalescent specimens from patients with a positive anti-WNV IgM test (ELISA; Focus Diagnostics, Cypress, CA). Group III consisted of 43 patient sera collected between 6 and 12 months after infection. IgG antibodies specific for WNV were detected in 38% (ELISA) and 50% (IIFT) of group I sera, in 90% (ELISA and IIFT) of group II sera, and in 100% (ELISA and IIFT) of group III sera. Low-avidity IgG antibodies were demonstrated in 86% (ELISA) and 95% (IIFT) of IgG-positive patient samples taken between 2 and 43 days after the onset of symptoms (groups I and II). High-avidity IgG antibodies were detected in 100% of group III sera obtained 6 months or more after the onset of symptoms (ELISA and IIFT). IgG avidity tests for WNV infections are rapid and simple to perform. The determination of IgG avidity provides additional diagnostic certainty in differentiating between recently acquired and previous infections with WNV

Non-assembly Walking Mechanism for Robotic In-Pipe Inspection

The manufacture and assembly of small-scale robotics can be expensive and time-consuming using traditional methods; especially when complex mechanisms are involved. By refining current additive manufacturing techniques a micro-scale walking robot can be 3D printed without the need for any complex mechanical assembly. The robot requires only the addition of simple circuitry and 2 motors, one for each of the 1 degree of freedom walking mechanisms before it is capable of being driven wirelessly. Once fully assembled, differential drive of the parallel leg sets allows for locomotion in any direction on a 2-D plane. The robot’s compact size; just 62 mm (x) × 38 mm (y) × 88 mm (z), and leg curvature makes travel possible through borehole/pipe diameters as low as 65 mm. By pushing printer tolerances to the limit, complex mechanisms can work in Non-Assembly at a small scale. Through the Query application of these Non-Assembly techniques to field robots such as those intended for use in the Pipebots project could allow for the production of large swarms of robots quickly and affordably