Internet Casino-Style Gambling: Is It Legal in Nevada?

The State of Nevada, to retain its position as pace setter in U.S. casino gaming regulation, took important legislative steps to prepare for online gambling. When these legal efforts were discouraged or blocked by the U. S. Department of Justice a new direction emerged. This article traces the shift from implementing online gambling across state lines to intrastate gaming within Nevada with hand-held devices in auxiliary areas of a casino complex beyond the casino floor. Regulatory issues are raised and prospects for inaugurating interactive gaming are discussed

Neural correlates of sexual cue reactivity in individuals with and without compulsive sexual behaviours

Although compulsive sexual behaviour (CSB) has been conceptualized as a "behavioural" addiction and common or overlapping neural circuits may govern the processing of natural and drug rewards, little is known regarding the responses to sexually explicit materials in individuals with and without CSB. Here, the processing of cues of varying sexual content was assessed in individuals with and without CSB, focusing on neural regions identified in prior studies of drug-cue reactivity. 19 CSB subjects and 19 healthy volunteers were assessed using functional MRI comparing sexually explicit videos with non-sexual exciting videos. Ratings of sexual desire and liking were obtained. Relative to healthy volunteers, CSB subjects had greater desire but similar liking scores in response to the sexually explicit videos. Exposure to sexually explicit cues in CSB compared to non-CSB subjects was associated with activation of the dorsal anterior cingulate, ventral striatum and amygdala. Functional connectivity of the dorsal anterior cingulate-ventral striatum-amygdala network was associated with subjective sexual desire (but not liking) to a greater degree in CSB relative to non-CSB subjects. The dissociation between desire or wanting and liking is consistent with theories of incentive motivation underlying CSB as in drug addictions. Neural differences in the processing of sexual-cue reactivity were identified in CSB subjects in regions previously implicated in drug-cue reactivity studies. The greater engagement of corticostriatal limbic circuitry in CSB following exposure to sexual cues suggests neural mechanisms underlying CSB and potential biological targets for interventions

High-Redshift Galaxy Outflows and the Formation of Dwarf Galaxies

We examine the effects of galaxy outflows on the formation of dwarf galaxies in numerical simulations of the high-redshift Universe. Using a Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamic code, we conduct two detailed simulations of a (5.2 Mpc/h)^3 comoving volume of the Universe. In both simulations we implement simple, well-motivated models of galaxy identification and star formation, while our second simulation also includes a simple ``blow-out'' model of galaxy outflows in which supernova driven winds from newly formed disk galaxies punch-out and shock the intergalactic medium while leaving the host galaxies intact. A direct comparison between these simulations suggests that there are two major mechanisms by which outflows affect dwarf formation. Firstly, the formation of an outflow slows down the further accretion of gas onto a galaxy, causing an overall decrease of approximately 50% in the total gas mass accreted by the objects in our simulations. Additionally, our simulations uncover a significant population of approximately 10^9 solar mass objects whose formation is suppressed by the mechanism of ``baryonic stripping,'' in which outflows from early galaxies strip the gas out of nearby overdense regions that would have otherwise later formed into dwarf galaxies. This mechanism may be important in explaining the observed discrepancy between the number of dwarf galaxies predicted and observed in the local group and provide a natural explanation for the formation of empty halos which may be required by the existence of the extremely gas-poor extra-galactic High-Velocity Clouds.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, accepted to the Astrophysical Journa

Circulating vitamin D concentrations and risk of breast and prostate cancer: a Mendelian randomization study.

BACKGROUND: Observational studies have suggested an association between circulating vitamin D concentrations [25(OH)D] and risk of breast and prostate cancer, which was not supported by a recent Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis comprising 15 748 breast and 22 898 prostate-cancer cases. Demonstrating causality has proven challenging and one common limitation of MR studies is insufficient power. METHODS: We aimed to determine whether circulating concentrations of vitamin D are causally associated with the risk of breast and prostate cancer, by using summary-level data from the largest ever genome-wide association studies conducted on vitamin D (N = 73 699), breast cancer (Ncase = 122 977) and prostate cancer (Ncase = 79 148). We constructed a stronger instrument using six common genetic variants (compared with the previous four variants) and applied several two-sample MR methods. RESULTS: We found no evidence to support a causal association between 25(OH)D and risk of breast cancer [OR per 25 nmol/L increase, 1.02 (95% confidence interval: 0.97-1.08), P = 0.47], oestrogen receptor (ER)+ [1.00 (0.94-1.07), P = 0.99] or ER- [1.02 (0.90-1.16), P = 0.75] subsets, prostate cancer [1.00 (0.93-1.07), P = 0.99] or the advanced subtype [1.02 (0.90-1.16), P = 0.72] using the inverse-variance-weighted method. Sensitivity analyses did not reveal any sign of directional pleiotropy. CONCLUSIONS: Despite its almost five-fold augmented sample size and substantially improved statistical power, our MR analysis does not support a causal effect of circulating 25(OH)D concentrations on breast- or prostate-cancer risk. However, we can still not exclude a modest or non-linear effect of vitamin D. Future studies may be designed to understand the effect of vitamin D in subpopulations with a profound deficiency

Efficiency and safety of varying the frequency of whole blood donation (INTERVAL): a randomised trial of 45 000 donors

Background: Limits on the frequency of whole blood donation exist primarily to safeguard donor health. However, there is substantial variation across blood services in the maximum frequency of donations allowed. We compared standard practice in the UK with shorter inter-donation intervals used in other countries. Methods: In this parallel group, pragmatic, randomised trial, we recruited whole blood donors aged 18 years or older from 25 centres across England, UK. By use of a computer-based algorithm, men were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to 12-week (standard) versus 10-week versus 8-week inter-donation intervals, and women were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to 16-week (standard) versus 14-week versus 12-week intervals. Participants were not masked to their allocated intervention group. The primary outcome was the number of donations over 2 years. Secondary outcomes related to safety were quality of life, symptoms potentially related to donation, physical activity, cognitive function, haemoglobin and ferritin concentrations, and deferrals because of low haemoglobin. This trial is registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN24760606, and is ongoing but no longer recruiting participants. Findings: 45 263 whole blood donors (22 466 men, 22 797 women) were recruited between June 11, 2012, and June 15, 2014. Data were analysed for 45 042 (99·5%) participants. Men were randomly assigned to the 12-week (n=7452) versus 10-week (n=7449) versus 8-week (n=7456) groups; and women to the 16-week (n=7550) versus 14-week (n=7567) versus 12-week (n=7568) groups. In men, compared with the 12-week group, the mean amount of blood collected per donor over 2 years increased by 1·69 units (95% CI 1·59–1·80; approximately 795 mL) in the 8-week group and by 0·79 units (0·69–0·88; approximately 370 mL) in the 10-week group (p<0·0001 for both). In women, compared with the 16-week group, it increased by 0·84 units (95% CI 0·76–0·91; approximately 395 mL) in the 12-week group and by 0·46 units (0·39–0·53; approximately 215 mL) in the 14-week group (p<0·0001 for both). No significant differences were observed in quality of life, physical activity, or cognitive function across randomised groups. However, more frequent donation resulted in more donation-related symptoms (eg, tiredness, breathlessness, feeling faint, dizziness, and restless legs, especially among men [for all listed symptoms]), lower mean haemoglobin and ferritin concentrations, and more deferrals for low haemoglobin (p<0·0001 for each) than those observed in the standard frequency groups. Interpretation: Over 2 years, more frequent donation than is standard practice in the UK collected substantially more blood without having a major effect on donors' quality of life, physical activity, or cognitive function, but resulted in more donation-related symptoms, deferrals, and iron deficiency. Funding: NHS Blood and Transplant, National Institute for Health Research, UK Medical Research Council, and British Heart Foundation

Submicron Structures Fabrication and Research

Contains reports on thirteen research projects.Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAG29-83-K-0003)U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research (Contract N00014-79-C-0908)National Science Foundation (Grant ECS82-05701)I.B.M. (PO No. 90305-QPSA-559)U.S. Department of Energy (Contract DE-AC02-82-ER13019)Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (Contract 2069209

Submicron Structures Fabrication and Research

Contains reports on twelve research projects.Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (Subcontract 2069209)Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAG29-C-0104)U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research (Contract N00014-79-C-0908)Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAG29-80-C-0104)Harkness FoundationI.B.M.U.S. Department of Energy (Contract DE-ACO2-80-E10179)National Science Foundation (Grant ECS80-17705