5,469 research outputs found
Video game addiction: past, present and future
No full textGaming addiction has become a topic of increasing research interest. The last decade has witnessed a significant increase in the number of empirical studies examining various aspects of problematic video game play and video game addiction. This paper begins with a brief past history of how research into video game addiction has changed over the last three decades (i.e., the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s). It then examines more thoroughly the contemporary research literature by analyzing the (i) prevalence of problematic video game use and video game addiction, (ii) negative consequences of excessive video game use, (iii) factors associated with problematic video game use and video game addiction, and (iv) the treatment of problematic video game use and video game addiction. The paper concludes by looking at the trends in the field and a somewhat theoretical examination of what the future of video game addiction might be.Mark D. Griffiths, Daria J. Kuss and Daniel L. Kin
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Validation of data analysis routines for a thermal probe apparatus using numerical data sets
No full textMost thermal properties of construction materials used in the analysis of building performance have been measured under laboratory conditions, using a guarded hot box or hot plate apparatus. As a consequence, these properties seldom reflect the impact of actual conditions (especially moisture content) on the values of conductivity and diffusivity. Hence there is a need to develop techniques that allow to take into account local conditions, and measure building material properties in situ. One option available is the use of a thermal probe. The thermal probe technique is based on creating a line source in a material sample, and measuring the temperature rise in the sample in reaction to heat being applied. Obviously the data analysis routines used to calculate thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity based on the temperature rise observed are crucial to the success of the technique. Transient thermal simulation of a of a model representing a line source in an infinite material sample has been used to generate a set of numerical data sets to validate analysis routines in conjunction with an experimental thermal probe apparatus. Findings show that by careful application of these routines, a close agreement with simulation input values can be achieved, with errors of less than one percent. This validates the analysis routines and provides a deeper appreciation of the theoretical behaviour of a thermal probe
Health outcomes of children born to mothers with chronic kidney disease: a pilot study
No full textThis study aimed to study the health of children born to mothers with chronic kidney disease. Twenty-four children born to mothers with chronic kidney disease were compared with 39 matched control children born to healthy mothers without kidney disease. The well-being of each child was individually assessed in terms of physical health, neurodevelopment and psychological health. Families participating with renal disease were more likely to be from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Significantly fewer vaginal deliveries were reported for mothers with renal disease and their infants were more likely to experience neonatal morbidity. Study and control children were comparable for growth parameters and neurodevelopment as assessed by the Griffiths scales. There was no evidence of more stress amongst mothers with renal disease or of impaired bonding between mother and child when compared to controls. However, there was evidence of greater externalizing behavioral problems in the group of children born to mothers with renal disease. Engaging families in such studies is challenging. Nonetheless, families who participated appreciated being asked. The children were apparently healthy but there was evidence in this small study of significant antenatal and perinatal morbidity compared to controls. Future larger multi-center studies are required to confirm these early findings
Self-compression of 4.9 µm pulses to sub-40 fs with 2 mJ energy in Zinc Sulfide
No full textNonlinear self-compression of few-cycle multi-mJ pulses at 4.9 µm in ZnS is presented. 80 fs input pulses are compressed to 37 fs with 2.1 mJ energy at a 1 kHz repetition rate. © 2024 The Author(s
The Warwick Hip Trauma Evaluation – an abridged protocol for the WHiTE Study : a multiple embedded randomised controlled trial cohort study
No full textFractures of the proximal femur are one of the greatest challenges facing the medical community, constituting a heavy socioeconomic burden worldwide. The National Hip Fracture Audit currently provides a framework for service evaluation. This evaluation is based upon the assessment of process rather than assessment of patient-centred outcome and therefore it fails to provide meaningful data regarding the clinical effectiveness of treatments. This study aims to capture data from the cohort of patients who present with a fracture of the proximal femur at a single United Kingdom Major Trauma Centre. Patient-centred outcomes will be recorded and provide a baseline cohort within which to test the clinical effectiveness of experimental interventions
How not to get scar(r)ed: pointers to the correct diagnosis in patients with suspected primary cicatricial alopecia.
No full textPrimary cicatricial alopecias (PCAs) are a rare, but important, group of disorders that cause irreversible damage to hair follicles resulting in scarring and permanent hair loss. They may also signify an underlying systemic disease. Thus, it is of paramount importance that clinicians who manage patients with hair loss are able to diagnose these disorders accurately. Unfortunately, PCAs are notoriously difficult conditions to diagnose and treat. The aim of this review is to present a rational and pragmatic guide to help clinicians in the professional assessment, investigation and diagnosis of patients with PCA. Illustrating typical clinical and histopathological presentations of key PCA entities we show how dermatoscopy can be profitably used for clinical diagnosis. Further, we advocate the search for loss of follicular ostia as a clinical hallmark of PCA, and suggest pragmatic strategies that allow rapid formulation of a working diagnosis
The fire resistance of high-strength concrete containing natural zeolites
No full textMore sustainable and environmentally friendly concretes are essential to reduce the climatic and environmental impact of the growing demand for concrete to fuel urban sprawl. This manuscript reports on an experimental study designed to test the fire resistance of one such concrete, prepared to contain natural zeolite-bearing tuff. The fire resistance of concretes containing natural zeolites has received little attention and is therefore poorly understood. Relative reductions in residual uniaxial compressive strength as a function of increasing temperature (up to 1000 °C) were very similar for the reference concrete (containing no tuff) and the tuff-bearing concrete. These data can be explained by the similar influence of high-temperature on the chemical (dehydroxylation reactions) and physical (microcracking and porosity) properties of both concretes. The satisfactory performance of the concrete containing natural zeolites following fire is welcome owing to the economic, climatic, and environmental benefits of using natural pozzolan and aggregate substitutes
Correction to: Chamoun et al., Bacterial pathogenesis and interleukin-17: interconnecting mechanisms of immune regulation, host genetics, and microbial virulence that influence severity of infection
No full textChamoun MN, Blumenthal A, Sullivan MJ, Schembri MA, Ulett GC. 2018. Bacterial pathogenesis and interleukin-17: interconnecting mechanisms of immune regulation, host genetics, and microbial virulence that influence severity of infection. Critical Reviews in Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1080/1040841X.2018.1426556.
When the above article was first published online, the below three corrections were missed.
The author ‘Antje Blumenthal’ was wrongly affiliated to the affiliation “cSchool of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, and Australian Infectious Disease Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia”. Now this affiliation has been removed for this author.
The affiliation ‘bTranslational Research Institute, The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, Woolloongabba, Australia’ of the author ‘Antje Blumenthal’ should read ‘bThe University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, Translational Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia’.
In Table 3, the sentence ‘Benefit of manipulating IL-17 levels to improve immunization strategies M. tuberculosis’ should read “Benefit of manipulating IL-17 levels to improve immunization strategies against M. tuberculosis”.No Full Tex
Historical changes on rocky shores in the Western Cape, as revealed by repeat photography
No full textIncludes bibliographical references.Photography has always had a record-keeping purpose, whether to document famous people, or other news-worthy events, such as wars (Webb et al . 2010). Prior to photography becoming a practical tool, researchers in biology relied on drawings and precise descriptions to pass on what they observed during field work (George 1980). In truth, there are very few fields in science which have not made use of photography in some form (George 1980). Taxonomy has been a benefactor, since colour images taken in the field can be used to record distinctive characteristics of organisms that may later lose their pigmentation during preservation (George 1980). Of more relevance to this paper are the many uses of photography in marine ecology which George (1980) suggests are “...to aid site and habitat description, to record the relationship of plants and animals to the environment and to one another, to measure population numbers and the size of individual organisms, and to record the changes in community structure that take place with time.” This list does not take into account the advantages of video to document behavioural studies. As the old adage explains, “a picture is worth a thousand words” and photographs taken at the shore are often far more valuable than lengthy written descriptions used to “set the scene” (George 1980). As with all methods of sampling, however, there is a trade-off between the advantages and disadvantages involved. The disadvantages are similar to those shared with most disciplines interested in sea-shore studies. For example, time is a limiting constraint, as most photographs need to be taken at low tide and indeed the most effective photographic sampling is carried out during spring low tides , when the greatest area of intertidal habitat is exposed. Capturing images during these brief windows often complicates large-scale spatial studies, especially with limited resources (Murray et al . 2006). Furthermore, issues may arise with the detail that can occur due to the resolution of the photograph, as well as identifying taxa of a similar appearance, and problems with analysis may arise where the organisms are in high concentrations and/or stratified (Murray et al . 2006). There are, however, many advantages to the correctly applied photographic method: the greatest perhaps being that the images may be stored and used for further analysis at a later date. These stored images can also be kept on record and used to analyse changes that may have occurred over time. Photographs also have another advantage, in that they are more easily interpreted by people without scientific backgrounds that may not easily understand graphs or complicated figures (Murray et al . 2006). Further examples of the application of photographic techniques in marine biology include photographic surveys and photographic tagging, which has for many years been used in identifying whales, dolphins or seals (McConkey 1999). Photography has also proved useful as a tool for conducting population counts, such as on the West Coast, where seal populations are photographed from the air to determine breeding success (Griffiths et al . 2004). Aerial photography has also been used in conjunction with infra-red photographic techniques to determine the extent of kelp populations along the South African coast (Bolton and Anderson 1990)... This chapter uses repeat photography to illustrate changes that have occurred on rocky shores in the Western Cape over the past hundred years. Changes are documented under four categories; changes in range, climate change, intertidal invasion and direct anthropogenic effects. Images were sourced from books, members of the public and subject specialists and were selected based on their suitability. The sites of the images were identified and repeat photographs captured. The images depict the slow but progressive easterly spread of the kelp Ecklonia maxima and the range contraction of the warmer-water mussel Perna perna. Evidence suggests that a changing climate is the major driver of both of these changes. No change in zonation due to changing sea levels was observed. However, the range contraction of P. perna is complicated by the introduction of an alien mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis. Repeat photography shows the changes that M. galloprovincialis has caused on the intertidal community in Saldanha Bay. Another invasive organism, Balanus glandula, is shown to have greatly altered the community structure of the Blouberg intertidal zone. Also of interest is the degree of building development that has taken place along the shore. Repeat photography proved a useful tool for documenting changes that are separated by large amounts of time, and is recommended as a useful technique for the surveillance and monitoring of rocky shores
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