Gambling Treatment Diversion Court: First in Nevada

The first Gambling Treatment Diversion Court was established in Las Vegas, Nevada in fall of 2018 following more than 25 years of effort by passionately concerned non-profit Executives, therapists, lawyers and judges. This panel represents one leader from each of those areas, including Judge Cheryl Moss, the first judge to open the Gambling Treatment Diversion Court (GTDC), Dayvid Figler, the first attorney to successfully represent a gambling client and refer her to the GTDC, Carol O\u27Hare, Executive Director of the non-profit Nevada Council on Problem Gambler with 25+ years leadership and advocacy for problem gamblers, Sydney Smith, M.A., Clinical Director of RISE treatment center in Las Vegas and nationally- and state-certified gambling counselor, and Denise F. Quirk, M.A., Clinical Director of the Reno Problem Gambling Center and nationally- and Nevada-certified problem gambling counselor and instructor at the University of Nevada, Reno. The panel will share the development of gambling diversion treatment, legal challenges and victories, the process of the GTDC, case studies of individuals with Gambling Disorder who have endured and succeeded in the legal process, and discussion relevant to the impact of the gambling diversion process at all levels of evaluation, advocacy, treatment and support for gamblers and communities

The association between dyslipidemia and anthropometric indicators in black and white adolescents residing in Tlokwe Municipality, North-West Province, South Africa: the PAHL study

Background: The dyslipidemia associated with excess weight is a risk for cardiovascular disease. Worldwide and in South Africa adolescent obesity has been reported.Objectives: To determine the association between dyslipidemia and anthropometric indices in black and white adolescents.Methods: The study involved 129 black and 69 white adolescents aged 12 to 16 years. Data collected included height, weight, waist circumference (WC) and skinfolds, blood pressure and blood for glucose, insulin, total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL), triglycerides (Trig) and C - reactive protein (CRP).Results: WC correlated negatively with HDL in both blacks (p=0.042) and whites (p=0.008) and in whites it correlated positively with LDL (p=0.006); TC/HDL (p=<0.001) and LDL/HDL ratio (p<0.0001). WC/Hgt correlated negatively with HDL (p=0.028) and positively with LDL/HDL (p=0.026 and p<0.0001) in both races. In whites positive correlations were between WC/Hgt and TC (p=0.049); LDL (p=0.003) and TC/HDL (p<0.0001). BAZ correlated positively with TC/HDL ratio (p=0.004) and LDL/HDL ratio (p=0.002). The most common abnormalities were HDL and LDL.Conclusion: Whites exhibited more associations between dyslipidemia and anthropometric indicators as compared to Blacks, suggesting that there might be differences in the lipid metabolism or even susceptibility to risk factors in adolescents.Key words: dyslipidemia, anthropometry, adolescent

Neuroactive Steroids Reverse Tonic Inhibitory Deficits in Fragile X Syndrome Mouse Model

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common form of inherited intellectual disability. A reduction in neuronal inhibition mediated by γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptors (GABAARs) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of FXS. Neuroactive steroids (NASs) are known allosteric modulators of GABAAR channel function, but recent studies from our laboratory have revealed that NASs also exert persistent metabotropic effects on the efficacy of tonic inhibition by increasing the protein kinase C (PKC)-mediated phosphorylation of the α4 and β3 subunits which increase the membrane expression and boosts tonic inhibition. We have assessed the GABAergic signaling in the hippocampus of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) knock-out (Fmr1 KO) mouse. The GABAergic tonic current in dentate gyrus granule cells (DGGCs) from 3- to 5-week-old (p21–35) Fmr1 KO mice was significantly reduced compared to WT mice. Additionally, spontaneous inhibitory post synaptic inhibitory current (sIPSC) amplitudes were increased in DGGCs from Fmr1 KO mice. While sIPSCs decay in both genotypes was prolonged by the prototypic benzodiazepine diazepam, those in Frm1-KO mice were selectively potentiated by RO15-4513. Consistent with this altered pharmacology, modifications in the expression levels and phosphorylation of receptor GABAAR subtypes that mediate tonic inhibition were seen in Fmr1 KO mice. Significantly, exposure to NASs induced a sustained elevation in tonic current in Fmr1 KO mice which was prevented with PKC inhibition. Likewise, exposure reduced elevated membrane excitability seen in the mutant mice. Collectively, our results suggest that NAS act to reverse the deficits of tonic inhibition seen in FXS, and thereby reduce aberrant neuronal hyperexcitability seen in this disorder

Constraints on Lema\^{\i}tre-Tolman-Bondi models from Observational Hubble Parameter data

We use the observational Hubble parameter data (OHD), both the latest observational dataset (Stern et al. 2010, referred to as SJVKS) and the simulated datasets, to constrain Lema\^{\i}tre-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) void models. The necessity of the consistency check on OHD itself in the LTB cosmology is stressed. Three voids are chosen as test models and are constrained using the Union2 dataset of SN Ia as well as OHD. Despite their different parametrization, the results from our test models show some indicating similarities, e.g., the best-fit voids obtained from OHD are all considerably broader than those from SN Ia. Due to the small size of the SJVKS dataset, the constraints are not conclusive. The constraining power of the future OHD observations are therefore investigated, through a Figure of Merit (FoM) analysis based on the Monte Carlo simulated data. We found that, in the case that the future OHD become more consistent with SN Ia, the results from the test models are almost unanimous: 1) as many as 32 OHD data points at the SJVKS-like uncertainty level are needed to give a higher FoM than the Union2 dataset of SN Ia; 2) precise observation helps reduce this required number; 3) increasing the survey depth does not always increase the FoM. On the other hand, if the future OHD and the Union2 dataset keep favor different voids, in a similar manner as they do at present, the 1{\sigma} confidence regions obtained from the two probes should finally separate. We test this conjecture and found that, the minimum observational requirement (the size of the dataset, the uncertainty level and the survey depth) for this inconsistency to emerge depends strongly on the void model.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in Ap

PKSB1740-517: An ALMA view of the cold gas feeding a distant interacting young radio galaxy

Cold neutral gas is a key ingredient for growing the stellar and central black hole mass in galaxies throughout cosmic history. We have used the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) to detect a rare example of redshifted $^{12}$CO(2-1) absorption in PKS B1740-517, a young ($t \sim 1.6 \times 10^{3}$ yr) and luminous ($L_{\rm 5 GHz} \sim 6.6 \times 10^{43}$ erg s$^{-1}$ ) radio galaxy at $z = 0.44$ that is undergoing a tidal interaction with at least one lower-mass companion. The coincident HI 21-cm and molecular absorption have very similar line profiles and reveal a reservoir of cold gas ($M_{\rm gas} \sim 10^{7} - 10^{8}$ M$_{\odot}$), likely distributed in a disc or ring within a few kiloparsecs of the nucleus. A separate HI component is kinematically distinct and has a very narrow line width ($\Delta{v}_{\rm FWHM} \lesssim 5$ km s$^{-1}$), consistent with a single diffuse cloud of cold ($T_{\rm k} \sim 100$ K) atomic gas. The $^{12}$CO(2-1) absorption is not associated with this component, which suggests that the cloud is either much smaller than 100 pc along our sight-line and/or located in low-metallicity gas that was possibly tidally stripped from the companion. We argue that the gas reservoir in PKS B1740-517 may have accreted onto the host galaxy $\sim$50 Myr before the young radio AGN was triggered, but has only recently reached the nucleus. This is consistent with the paradigm that powerful luminous radio galaxies are triggered by minor mergers and interactions with low-mass satellites and represent a brief, possibly recurrent, active phase in the life cycle of massive early type galaxies.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

A simple method to assess the oxidative susceptibility of low density lipoproteins

BACKGROUND: Oxidative modification of low density lipoproteins (LDL) is recognized as one of the major processes involved in atherogenesis. The in vitro standardized measurement of LDL oxidative susceptibility could thus be of clinical significance. The aim of the present study was to establish a method which would allow the evaluation of oxidative susceptibility of LDL in the general clinical laboratory. RESULTS: LDL was isolated from human plasma by selective precipitation with amphipathic polymers. The ability of LDL to form peroxides was assessed by measuring thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) after incubation with Cu(2+) and H(2)O(2). Reaction kinetics showed a three-phase pattern (latency, propagation and decomposition phases) which allowed us to select 150 min as the time point to stop the incubation by cooling and EDTA addition. The mixture Cu(2+)/H(2)O(2) yielded more lipoperoxides than each one on its own at the same time end-point. Induced peroxidation was measured in normal subjects and in type 2 diabetic patients. In the control group, results were 21.7 ± 1.5 nmol MDA/mg LDL protein, while in the diabetic group results were significantly increased (39.0 ± 3.0 nmol MDA/mg LDL protein; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: a simple and useful method is presented for the routine determination of LDL susceptibility to peroxidation in a clinical laboratory

Salford postgraduate annual research conference (SPARC) 2012 proceedings

These proceedings bring together a selection of papers from the 2012 Salford Postgraduate Annual Research Conference (SPARC). They reflect the breadth and diversity of research interests showcased at the conference, at which over 130 researchers from Salford, the North West and other UK universities presented their work. 21 papers are collated here from the humanities, arts, social sciences, health, engineering, environment and life sciences, built environment and business