Dark nudges in gambling

‘Nudge’ has come into common usage in behavioral science, the intersection of psychology and economics, for situations where a ‘choice architect’ aligns a system with consumers’ best long - term interests (Thaler & Sunstein, 2008). A cafeteria designer might ‘nudge’ her customers by placing the salad bar centrally, while relegating unhealthier foods to a corner. In this editorial I argue that, in gambling, nudging works differently. Gambling’s ‘dark nudges’ are designed to exploit gamblers’ biases, as economic rationality on the part of gambling firms predicts. Gambling’s dark nudges reveal the contradictions of industry - led responsible gambling initiatives, and show how stronger regulation is required to reverse gambling’s spiralling public health costs (Korn & Shaffer, 1999; Livingstone & Adams, 2011; Markham & Young, 2015; Orford, 2005; Orford, 2010

The glacial geomorphology of western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

Reconstructing the response of present-day ice sheets to past global climate change is important for constraining and refining the numerical models which forecast future contributions of these ice sheets to sea-level change. Mapping landforms is an essential step in reconstructing glacial histories. Here we present a new map of glacial landforms and deposits on nunataks in western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Nunataks are mountains or ridges that currently protrude through the ice sheet and may provide evidence that they have been wholly or partly covered by ice, thus indicating a formerly more extensive (thicker) ice sheet. The map was produced through a combination of mapping from Worldview satellite imagery and ground validation. The sub-metre spatial resolution of the satellite imagery enabled mapping with unprecedented detail. Ten landform categories have been mapped, and the landform distributions provide evidence constraining spatial patterns of a previously thicker ice sheet

Ice surface changes during recent glacial cycles along the Jutulstraumen and Penck Trough ice streams in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica

Reconstructing past ice-sheet surface changes is key to testing and improving ice-sheet models. Data constraining the past behaviour of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet are sparse, limiting our understanding of its response to past, present and future climate change. Here, we report the first cosmogenic multi-nuclide (10Be, 26Al, 36Cl) data from bedrock and erratics on nunataks along the Jutulstraumen and Penck Trough ice streams in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Spanning elevations between 741 and 2394 m above sea level, the samples have apparent exposure ages between 2 ka and 5 Ma. The highest-elevation bedrock sample indicates (near-) continuous minimum exposure since the Pliocene, with a low apparent erosion rate of 0.15 ± 0.03 m Ma−1, which is similar to results from eastern Dronning Maud Land. In contrast to studies in eastern Dronning Maud Land, however, our data show clear indications of a thicker-than-present ice sheet within the last glacial cycle, with a thinning of ∼35–120 m during the Holocene (∼2–11 ka). Difficulties in separating suitable amounts of quartz from the often quartz-poor rock-types in the area, and cosmogenic nuclides inherited from exposure prior to the last deglaciation, prevented robust thinning estimates from elevational profiles. Nevertheless, the results clearly demonstrate ice-surface fluctuations of several hundred meters between the current grounding line and the edge of the polar plateau for the last glacial cycle, a constraint that should be considered in future ice-sheet model simulations

Geographically touring the eastern bloc: British geography, travel cultures and the Cold War

This paper considers the role of travel in the generation of geographical knowledge of the eastern bloc by British geographers. Based on oral history and surveys of published work, the paper examines the roles of three kinds of travel experience: individual private travels, tours via state tourist agencies, and tours by academic delegations. Examples are drawn from across the eastern bloc, including the USSR, Poland, Romania, East Germany and Albania. The relationship between travel and publication is addressed, notably within textbooks, and in the Geographical Magazine. The study argues for the extension of accounts of cultures of geographical travel, and seeks to supplement the existing historiography of Cold War geography

Marketing and advertising online sports betting: a problem gambling perspective

In this article, online sports betting is explored with the objective of critically examining the potential impact on problem gambling of the emerging product features and advertising techniques used to market it. First, the extent of the issue is assessed by reviewing the sports betting prevalence rates and its association with gambling disorders, acknowledging the methodological difficulties of an unambiguous identification of what exactly constitutes sports-related gambling today. Second, the main changes in the marketization of online betting products are outlined, with specific focus on the new situational and structural characteristics that such products present along with the convergence of online betting with other adjacent products. Third, some of the most prevalent advertising master narratives employed by the betting industry are introduced, and the implications for problem gamblers and minors are discussed

Human papillomavirus prevalence among indigenous and non-indigenous Australian women prior to a national HPV vaccination program

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Indigenous women in Australia have a disproportionate burden of cervical cancer despite a national cervical screening program. Prior to introduction of a national human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination program, we determined HPV genotype prevalence by Indigenous status and residence in remote areas.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We recruited women aged 17 to 40 years presenting to community-based primary health services for routine Pap screening across Australia. A liquid-based cytology (LBC) cervical specimen was tested for HPV DNA using the AMPLICOR HPV-DNA test and a PGMY09/11-based HPV consensus PCR; positive specimens were typed by reverse hybridization. We calculated age-adjusted prevalence by weighting to relevant population data, and determined predictors of HPV-DNA positivity by age, Indigenous status and area of residence using logistic regression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 2152 women (655 Indigenous), prevalence of the high-risk HPV genotypes was similar for Indigenous and non-Indigenous women (HPV 16 was 9.4% and 10.5%, respectively; HPV 18 was 4.1% and 3.8%, respectively), and did not differ by age group. In younger age groups, the prevalence of other genotypes also did not differ, but in those aged 31 to 40 years, HPV prevalence was higher for Indigenous women (35% versus 22.5%; <it>P </it>< 0.001), specifically HPV clades α5 (OR = 2.1, 95% CI 1.1 to 4.3) and α7, excluding type 18 (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1 to 3.3). In multivariate analysis, detection of any HPV genotype was strongly associated with smoking and Pap-test abnormalities, with both risk factors more common among Indigenous women.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although we found no difference in the prevalence of HPV16/18 among Australian women by Indigenous status or, for Indigenous women, residence in remote regions, differences were found in the prevalence of risk factors and some other HPV genotypes. This reinforces the importance of cervical screening as a complement to vaccination for all women, and the value of baseline data on HPV genotype prevalence by Indigenous status and residence for the monitoring of vaccine impact.</p

Model Selection in Time Series Studies of Influenza-Associated Mortality

Background: Poisson regression modeling has been widely used to estimate influenza-associated disease burden, as it has the advantage of adjusting for multiple seasonal confounders. However, few studies have discussed how to judge the adequacy of confounding adjustment. This study aims to compare the performance of commonly adopted model selection criteria in terms of providing a reliable and valid estimate for the health impact of influenza. Methods: We assessed four model selection criteria: quasi Akaike information criterion (QAIC), quasi Bayesian information criterion (QBIC), partial autocorrelation functions of residuals (PACF), and generalized cross-validation (GCV), by separately applying them to select the Poisson model best fitted to the mortality datasets that were simulated under the different assumptions of seasonal confounding. The performance of these criteria was evaluated by the bias and root-mean-square error (RMSE) of estimates from the pre-determined coefficients of influenza proxy variable. These four criteria were subsequently applied to an empirical hospitalization dataset to confirm the findings of simulation study. Results: GCV consistently provided smaller biases and RMSEs for the influenza coefficient estimates than QAIC, QBIC and PACF, under the different simulation scenarios. Sensitivity analysis of different pre-determined influenza coefficients, study periods and lag weeks showed that GCV consistently outperformed the other criteria. Similar results were found in applying these selection criteria to estimate influenza-associated hospitalization. Conclusions: GCV criterion is recommended for selection of Poisson models to estimate influenza-associated mortality and morbidity burden with proper adjustment for confounding. These findings shall help standardize the Poisson modeling approach for influenza disease burden studies. © 2012 Wang et al.published_or_final_versio