Gambling addiction and the impact on significant others: A systematic review

Gambling addiction is a worrying social phenomenon as it has far-reaching effects not only on various aspects of a pathological gambler’s life, but also on mental health, financial stability, and the dynamics of the whole family. While the impact of problem on individuals is often highlighted, the impact on families often receives insufficient attention. To address this gap, a thorough literature review was conducted, which identified and analyzed 21 empirical studies that specifically examine the impact of problem on family structures and relationships as experienced by significant others. The findings of the study indicate that problem is associated with numerous detrimental effects on both families and overall family functioning. These adverse effects can manifest in various ways, including increased conflict within the family, emotional distress among family members, financial strain, and even the potential for a breakdown in communication and trust. Children of addicts also seem to experience significant negative consequences with the onset of emotional difficulties and high-risk behaviors. Given the findings as they emerge, it becomes apparent that understanding the interaction between problem and family life is crucial to developing effective interventions.

Undergraduate students’ arising ideas during the implementation of a teaching-learning sequence on size-dependent properties in the nanoscale

Nanotechnology is a field of science with increasing importance in the scientific community, hence there is an arising need for future scientists who will be able to compose a future ‘nano-workforce’. Therefore, the integration of this field in university curricula is of great importance. Even though the educational significance of nanotechnology is well-established, there is little precedent in the science education literature for teaching learning sequences for university education, based on a robust theoretical framework. This study aims at addressing this challenge by investigating undergraduate students’ ideas during a teaching learning sequence about the size-dependent optical properties of nanomaterials. The study was conducted with eight undergraduate students from the Departments of Chemistry and Physics. This investigation implemented a teaching experiment design. The analysis yielded a series of ideas, as well as the factors that potentially trigger them. While students appear to initially perceive optical properties as size-independent, through activities and inputs by the researcher this view changes to partially size-dependent, and finally to fully size-dependent. The findings of this study could prove to be a valuable foundation for designing future teaching and learning sequences in tertiary education.

Optimizing personalized screening intervals for clinical biomarkers using extended joint models

This research advances joint modeling and personalized scheduling for HIV and TB by incorporating censored longitudinal outcomes in multivariate joint models, providing a more flexible and accurate approach for complex data scenarios. Inspired by the SAPiT study, we deviate from standard model selection procedures by using super learning techniques to identify the optimal model for predicting future events in event-free subjects. Specifically, the Integrated Brier score and Expected Predictive Cross-Entropy (EPCE) identified the multivariate joint model with the parameterization of the area under the longitudinal profiles of CD4 count and viral load as optimal and strong predictors of death. Integrating this model with a risk-based screening strategy, we recommend extending intervals to 10.3 months for stable patients, with additional measurements every 12 months. For patients with deteriorating health, we suggest a 3.5-month interval, followed by 6.2 months, and then annual screenings. These findings refine patient care protocols and advance personalized medicine in HIV/TB co-infected individuals. Furthermore, our approach is adaptable, allowing adjustments based on patients' evolving health status. While focused on HIV/TB co-infection, this method has broader applicability, offering a promising avenue for biomarker studies across various disease populations and potential for future clinical trials and biomarker-guided therapies.

The Greek legislative decree of 1923: the legal foundation for modern urban planning

Determinants of vessels’ fixtures allocation over contracts of different duration and global economic uncertainty

This paper proposes a methodological framework to investigate the decision of economic agents to allocate vessel fixtures between ‘short,’ ‘medium,’ and ‘longer-term’ contracts and reveal the economic forces that drive decisions and the risk preferences of the participants in these markets. A unique database of individual vessel fixtures in the dry-bulk sector of the maritime industry is utilized. Application of the methodology to the data shows that relative freight rates of ‘short,’ ‘medium,’ and ‘longer-term’ contracts and the global ‘economic sentiment’ are the driving forces in the choice of the vessel fixture duration. An economic uncertainty index is introduced for the first time, which is able to capture the global ‘economic sentiment’ in the markets. This is found significant in driving decisions in this international industry, which is affected by global geoeconomic and political events. Specifically, it is shown that periods of high economic risk lead dry-bulk market participants to opt for relatively shorter, over longer-term, vessel fixtures.

Model-free bootstrap and conformal prediction in regression: conditionality, conjecture testing, and pertinent prediction intervals

Predictive inference under a general regression setting is gaining more interest in the big-data era. In terms of going beyond point prediction to develop prediction intervals, two main threads of development are conformal prediction and Model-free prediction. Recently, a new conformal prediction approach was proposed that exploits the same uniformization procedure as in the well-known Model-free Bootstrap. Hence, it is of interest to compare and further investigate the performance of the two methods. In the paper at hand, we contrast the two approaches via theoretical analysis and numerical experiments with a focus on conditional coverage of prediction intervals. We discuss suitable scenarios for applying each algorithm, underscore the importance of conditional vs. unconditional coverage, and show that, under mild conditions, the Model-free bootstrap yields prediction intervals with guaranteed better conditional coverage compared to quantile estimation. We also extend the concept of ‘pertinence’ of prediction intervals to the nonparametric regression setting, and give concrete examples where its importance emerges under finite sample scenarios. Finally, we define the new notion of ‘conjecture testing’ that is the analog of hypothesis testing as applied to the prediction problem; we also devise a modified conformal score to allow conformal prediction to handle one-sided ‘conjecture tests’, and compare to the Model-free bootstrap.

Inequalities for ratios of modified Struve functions

The Mittag-Leffler expansion for the modified Struve functions$ _{\nu }(x) $L ν ( x )of the first kind, valid for all$ x\in $ x ∈ Rand$ \vert \nu \vert 1/2 $ | ν | ≤ 1 / 2 , is utilized in order to obtain bounds for the ratios$ _{\nu -1}(x _{\nu }(x)} $L ν − 1 ( x )L ν ( x )and$ _{\nu }'(x _{\nu }(x)} $L ν ′ ( x )L ν ( x ). Moreover, several inequalities are also obtained for the function$ \sum _{n=1}^{+ }^{2}} $∑ n = 1 + ∞2 x 2 + h ν , n 2, where$ h_{\nu,n} $h ν , nis the n th positive zero of the Struve function$ H_{\nu }(x) $H ν ( x ) , appearing in the Mittag-Leffler expansion.

Cold pressor test and paradoxical blood pressure reduction in light chain amyloidosis

Patients with AL amyloidosis present sustained paradoxical vasodilation in response to sympathetic stimulation by cold pressor test (CPT). The clinical relevance is unknown. Peripheral and central systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were measured at 3 min (end of CPT) and at 6 min, before and 12 months after treatment initiation in 113 treatment-naïve AL amyloidosis patients. Ten healthy volunteers were assessed at baseline. All-cause and cardiovascular mortality were recorded. Percentage reductions in central SBP and peripheral DBP at 6 min [AL vs controls: %CSBP6min (mean, SD) 0.7 ± 8.44 vs 7.57 ± 5.59; %DBP6min (mean, SD) 0.64 ± 8.91 vs 14 ± 9.11; p  < 0.01 for both] were associated with all-cause and cardiovascular death (%CSBP6min HR = 0.945 and HR = 0.946 respectively; %DBP6min HR = 0.949 and HR = 0.916 respectively; p  < 0.05 for all) after adjustment for disease-related risk factors. %CSBP6min provided incremental value over Mayo stage and was associated with neurological and cardiac dysfunction and myocardial infiltration. At 12 months, %CSBP6min further decreased in patients with earlier poor hematologic treatment response. %CSBP6min, a noninvasive, readily available marker, was associated with cardiac dysfunction, poor survival, and its further post-treatment reduction was associated with hematologic response.

Integrated terrestrial and submarine geomorphological mapping provides insights into the Quaternary landscape evolution of the Gulf of Corinth, Greece

This study presents a 1:150,000 scale geomorphological map of the Gulf of Corinth (central Greece), integrating terrestrial and submarine landforms. The Gulf, an asymmetric WNW-ESE half-graben, is one of the tectonically most active areas in the eastern Mediterranean, with an uplifting southern flank and a downward flexed northern one. A multidisciplinary approach, combining field surveys and high-resolution seafloor bathymetry, was used to map the emerged and submerged geological and geomorphological features. The southern terrestrial sector shows clear evidence of tectonic uplift, such as marine terraces, elevated Gilbert deltas, tidal notches at higher elevations, and reversed drainage features. In contrast, the northern part is notable for the absence of Quaternary marine or lacustrine sediments and displays a gently sloping shelf with submerged tidal notches, indicating ongoing tectonic subsidence. The map offers a comprehensive view of the complex geomorphology of the region, shaped by Quaternary tectonic activity.

Akkermansia muciniphila modulates intestinal mucus composition to counteract high-fat diet-induced obesity in mice

This study investigates whether live Akkermansia muciniphila Muc T supplementation can counteract obesity and metabolic dysfunctions induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) by modulating intestinal mucus production, secretion and composition. C57BL/6J mice were fed an HFD with or without live A. muciniphila Muc T (2 × 10 8 CFU per day) supplementation or a control diet for 6 weeks. Body weight, fat mass gain and metabolic markers were measured. Intestinal mucus characteristics were assessed via gene expression analysis of mucins and analysed mucin glycosylation by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Mice receiving live A. muciniphila Muc T exhibited reduced body weight gain and fat mass accumulation compared to HFD controls, without changes in muscle mass. A. muciniphila improved gut barrier integrity by increasing antimicrobial peptide expression in the jejunum and in the colon of HFD-fed mice. Furthermore, live A. muciniphila Muc T influenced markers of goblet cell differentiation and restored the expression of mucin markers altered by HFD. Specifically, live A. muciniphila Muc T counteracted HFD-induced mucin 3 (Muc3) expression depletion in the colon. Although the overall mucus thickness was not affected by live A. muciniphila Muc T , the bacteria significantly modulated mucin glycans composition. Live A. muciniphila Muc T did not change the gut microbiota composition. These findings highlight the protective effects of live A. muciniphila Muc T against diet-induced metabolic dysfunctions by modulating adiposity, mucus layer composition, and glycan profiles. This reinforces its potential as a therapeutic strategy for metabolic disorders associated with gut microbiota alterations.