Review of the ACT Government's harm minimisation measures

This report outlines research on the effects of three harm minimisation measures introduced between 1993 and 2002 in the ACT: • a $10 maximum bet on EGMs (electronic gaming machines, or ‘poker’ machines); • a mandatory three-hour shutdown of gaming machines each day; • restriction on cash payment of winnings. The Gambling and Racing Control (Code of Practice) Regulations require that winnings above$1,000 must be paid by non-cash means such as a cheque or electronic transfer. ¶ The report also provides a summary of the ACT gambling and regulatory environment and a policy chronology, with particular focus on the history and objectives of the ACT harm minimisation measures under review.This report was commisioned by ACT GAmbling and Racing Commissio

Restoration and Monitoring of the River Otter Population in Iowa

Northern river otters (Lontra canadensis) were widespread in North America at the time of European settlement. However, river otters were extirpated from most of Iowa in the early 1900s due to habitat degradation and unregulated harvest. In 1985, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources began an effort to restore the river otter population throughout the state, including a pilot study of survival to determine if establishment was feasible. Annual survival was estimated to be 86% during the pilot study. River otters dispersed an average of about 11 km from the point of release and exhibited habitat use typical for the species. Based on the successful pilot study, 261 river otters were released in the state of Iowa from 1986-2001. More recently we examined the age structure and reproductive effort of 81 river otters (43 females and 38 males) collected in Iowa from 1999-2001 to document the characteristics of the reestablished population. We found that 41% of the otters sampled were juveniles, 38% were yearlings and 21% were adults. Fifty-five percent of all female otters were pregnant, and 80% of adult females were pregnant. We observed a mean of 2.9 corpora lutea/female and calculated that female’s ≥ 1 year old could potentially produce an average 5.7 female offspring during an average life span. Based on the widespread distribution, healthy reproductive characteristics, and high survival rates it is feasible that a limited harvest of river otter could be implemented in Iowa

433 Regression analysis of mortality data from the EPHESUS trial reveals significantly higher risk of death for patients with non‐ST segment elevation myocardial infarction

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106689/1/ehfs60288-x.pd

An integrative computational model for intestinal tissue renewal

Objectives\ud \ud The luminal surface of the gut is lined with a monolayer of epithelial cells that acts as a nutrient absorptive engine and protective barrier. To maintain its integrity and functionality, the epithelium is renewed every few days. Theoretical models are powerful tools that can be used to test hypotheses concerning the regulation of this renewal process, to investigate how its dysfunction can lead to loss of homeostasis and neoplasia, and to identify potential therapeutic interventions. Here we propose a new multiscale model for crypt dynamics that links phenomena occurring at the subcellular, cellular and tissue levels of organisation.\ud \ud Methods\ud \ud At the subcellular level, deterministic models characterise molecular networks, such as cell-cycle control and Wnt signalling. The output of these models determines the behaviour of each epithelial cell in response to intra-, inter- and extracellular cues. The modular nature of the model enables us to easily modify individual assumptions and analyse their effects on the system as a whole.\ud \ud Results\ud \ud We perform virtual microdissection and labelling-index experiments, evaluate the impact of various model extensions, obtain new insight into clonal expansion in the crypt, and compare our predictions with recent mitochondrial DNA mutation data. \ud \ud Conclusions\ud \ud We demonstrate that relaxing the assumption that stem-cell positions are fixed enables clonal expansion and niche succession to occur. We also predict that the presence of extracellular factors near the base of the crypt alone suffices to explain the observed spatial variation in nuclear beta-catenin levels along the crypt axis

Case 3: North Middlesex University Hospital Trust and MiddlesexUniversity: a blended learning language skills programme

A case study is presented of a blended learning course, English Language and Communication for Clinical Practice, which was provided for North Middlesex University Hospital by the Academic Writing and Language Team at Middesex Universit

Managing for quality in clinical microbiology services.

The technical quality of the work performed in clinical microbiology laboratories is regularly monitored, by external and internal schemes. Among the factors which might affect quality, attitudes of the laboratory staff are rarely considered. In this study, three concepts recognised by occupational psychologists as being important in the work place, Job Satisfaction, Commitment and Climate, were measured among microbiology biomedical scientists (BMSs) in the United Kingdom A self-report questionnaire was developed through preliminary interviews and two pilot studies. The perceptions of Job Satisfaction, Commitment (to both Profession and Organisation) and Climate were measured using established models from the occupational psychology literature. Three scales were devised specifically during this study to assess an individual BMS's perceptions of the standard of their own performance, the attitudes of their colleagues towards their work and the quality within their laboratory. A fourth measure was developed which collated all the ways that technical quality in clinical microbiology laboratories is currently measured in the UK into one scale. A total of 2415 questionnaires were posted to BMSs employed in National Health Service, Public Health Laboratory Service, Privately funded and University laboratories between November 1998 and February 1999. By March 1999,931 replies had been received, a response rate of 39%. BMSs reported lower Job Satisfaction than Medical Laboratory Technologists (the equivalent profession) in the United States. The results supported Meyer and Allen's (1991) three-component model of commitment and showed that BMSs experienced Professional Commitment more strongly than Organisational Commitment. An eight dimension model of Climate was developed, for clinical microbiology staff, from Newman's (1977) Perceived Work Environment scale. BMSs' perceptions of Individual Climate were affected by a number of demographic factors, but the most important was the size of the laboratory. The optimal number of people in a clinical microbiology department for positive Individual Climate was found to be less than 30. Affective Commitment to the Profession was the component of Commitment which most strongly influenced technical quality, through its positive relationship with an individual BMS's performance at work. Through aggregation of Climate scores for selected laboratories, it was shown that Laboratory Climate correlated positively with technical quality. From BMSs' perceptions of their laboratory's quality, a scale to assess `A Climate for Laboratory Quality' was developed. There was a strong positive relationship between `A Climate for Laboratory Quality' and a department's score on the measure of technical quality. Interviews with staff in four clinical microbiology laboratories supported the questionnaire findings with respect to Laboratory Climate. Qualitative data collected from a representative group of users of each of the four microbiology services showed that users' main concern was rapid turnaround time for results. Comments also highlighted the need for more effective communication between laboratory staff their colleagues working directly with patients

284 Stratification of mortality by risk scores from the EPHESUS trial reveals significant interaction between left ventricular ejection fraction and Killip class

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106753/1/ehfs60196-4.pd

Inter-sectoral Transfer of the Food for Life Settings Framework in England

Organisational settings such as schools, workplaces and hospitals are well recognised as key environments for health promotion. Whilst there is extensive literature on specific types of settings, little empirical research has investigated the transfer of frameworks between sectors. This study analyses Food for Life, an England-wide healthy and sustainable food programme that evolved in schools and is being adapted for children's centres, universities, care homes, and hospital settings. Following a case study design, we interviewed 85 stakeholders in nine settings. Food for Life's systemic framework of 'food education, skills and experience' 'food and catering quality', 'community and partnerships' and 'leadership' carried salience in all types of settings. These were perceived to act both as principles and operational priorities for driving systemic change. However, each setting type differed in terms of the mix of facilitating factors and appropriate indicators for change. Barriers in common included the level of culture-shift required, cost perceptions and organisational complexity. For settings based health promotion practice, this study points to the importance of 'frame-working' (the systematic activity of scoping and categorising the field of change) alongside the development and application of benchmarks to stimulate change. These processes are critical in the transfer of learning from between sectors in a form that balances commonality with sufficient flexibility to adapt to specific settings. Synergy between types of settings is an under-recognised, but critical, part of action to address complex issues such as those emerging from the intersection between food, health and sustainability

The evolution of representation in simple cognitive networks

Representations are internal models of the environment that can provide guidance to a behaving agent, even in the absence of sensory information. It is not clear how representations are developed and whether or not they are necessary or even essential for intelligent behavior. We argue here that the ability to represent relevant features of the environment is the expected consequence of an adaptive process, give a formal definition of representation based on information theory, and quantify it with a measure R. To measure how R changes over time, we evolve two types of networks---an artificial neural network and a network of hidden Markov gates---to solve a categorization task using a genetic algorithm. We find that the capacity to represent increases during evolutionary adaptation, and that agents form representations of their environment during their lifetime. This ability allows the agents to act on sensorial inputs in the context of their acquired representations and enables complex and context-dependent behavior. We examine which concepts (features of the environment) our networks are representing, how the representations are logically encoded in the networks, and how they form as an agent behaves to solve a task. We conclude that R should be able to quantify the representations within any cognitive system, and should be predictive of an agent's long-term adaptive success.Comment: 36 pages, 10 figures, one Tabl

The Resistive-Plate WELL with Argon mixtures - a robust gaseous radiation detector

A thin single-element THGEM-based, Resistive-Plate WELL (RPWELL) detector was operated with 150 GeV/c muon and pion beams in Ne/(5%CH$_4$), Ar/(5%CH$_4$) and Ar/(7%CO$_2$); signals were recorded with 1 cm$^2$ square pads and SRS/APV25 electronics. Detection efficiency values greater than 98% were reached in all the gas mixtures, at average pad multiplicity of 1.2. The use of the 10$^9${\Omega}cm resistive plate resulted in a completely discharge-free operation also in intense pion beams. The efficiency remained essentially constant at 98-99% up to fluxes of $\sim$10$^4$Hz/cm$^2$, dropping by a few % when approaching 10$^5$ Hz/cm$^2$. These results pave the way towards cost-effective, robust, efficient, large-scale detectors for a variety of applications in future particle, astro-particle and applied fields. A potential target application is digital hadron calorimetry.Comment: presented at the 2016 VIenna Conf. On instrumentation. Submitted to the Conference proceeding