Alcohol Mixed with Energy Drinks: Consumption Patterns and Motivations for Use in U.S. College Students

Binge drinking in college students is widespread and known to cause significant harms and health hazards for the drinker. One factor that may be exacerbating hazardous drinking in young people is the new popular trend of consuming alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmED). However, rates of AmED use and motivations for AmED consumption in college students have not been well established. In this study, 706 undergraduate college students from a university in the United States participated in a web-based survey that queried self-reported alcohol, energy drink, and AmED use. In addition, motivations for using AmEDs were assessed. The results indicated that for all participants, 81% reported that they have tried at least one energy drink in the past and 36% reported consumption of at least one energy drink in the past 2 weeks. Alcohol consumption patterns were similar to findings from U.S. national surveys of college drinking, as 37% of respondents were classified as binge drinkers and 23% abstained from drinking. In the whole sample (including the alcohol abstainers), 44% reported trying AmED at least once and 9% reported AmED consumption at least once in the past 2 weeks. 78% of respondents agreed with the statement that AmEDs appeal to underage drinkers. When AmED users were asked about various motivations for consuming AmEDs, users reported that they consumed these beverages to get drunk and reduce sedation compared to alcohol alone. In conclusion, the consumption of AmEDs is common in U.S. college students. Motivations for using AmEDs include the reduction of the sedative effects of alcohol, an important interoceptive cue that one should stop drinking

Characterization of biodegradable poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-butyleneadipate) copolymers obtained from their homopolymers by microwave-assisted transesterification

Copolymers containing(R)-3-hydroxybutyricacid (HB), 1,4-butanediol (B), andadipicacid (A) were synthesized by microwave-assisted transesterification o fbiodegradable poly(R-3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and poly(1,4-butyleneadipate) (PBA) in solution at different reaction times, composition of the starting mixture, and amount of 4-toluene sulfonic acid, used as a catalyst. The copolyesters were characterized with regard to their molecular weights, thermal properties, molar composition, and average blockl ength of repeating units by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXS), 1H-NMR, and 13C-NMR, respectively. Random and microblock copolymers could be obtained depending on experimental conditions, with weight average molecular weight of up to 17,000. The glass transition temperature (Tg) of all samples lay in the range between the Tgs of PBA and PHB, while their structure varied from partially crystalline to totally amorphous. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI- TOF) mass spectra of copolymers allowed us to ascertain that they were hydroxyl and carboxyl chain-end terminated

REVERSIBLE MUTAROTATION IN A MACROCYCLIC YTTERBIUM COMPLEX

M40 is a four-fold symmetry macrocyclic ligand endowed with axial and central chiral elements, all of R configuration. It promptly binds late lanthanides (Yb III and Lu III) yielding a negative helicity, as witnessed by NIR-electronic circular dichroism. In the course of a few hours, a new conformation of the complex takes over, which has opposite helicity and allows for a dynamic free-bound equilibrium. Upon slow solvent evaporation, the original conformation is retrieved and the whole dynamic process can be started again, as in a sandclock, allowing one to envisage applications as a time-marker chiral switch. Helices are a-changing: In a macrocyclic complex of late lanthanides, a slow ligand conformational rearrangement in solution leads to helicity inversion that can be reverted by slow solvent evaporation and provides a circular dichroism time-marker (see graphic)