Realising the technological promise of smartphones in addiction research and treatment: An ethical review

Background Smartphone technologies and mHealth applications (or apps) promise unprecedented scope for data collection, treatment intervention, and relapse prevention when used in the field of substance abuse and addiction. This potential also raises new ethical challenges that researchers, clinicians, and software developers must address. Aims This paper aims to identify ethical issues in the current uses of smartphones in addiction research and treatment. Methods A search of three databases (PubMed, Web of Science and PsycInfo) identified 33 studies involving smartphones or mHealth applications for use in the research and treatment of substance abuse and addiction. A content analysis was conducted to identify how smartphones are being used in these fields and to highlight the ethical issues raised by these studies. Results Smartphones are being used to collect large amounts of sensitive information, including personal information, geo-location, physiological activity, self-reports of mood and cravings, and the consumption of illicit drugs, alcohol and nicotine. Given that detailed information is being collected about potentially illegal behaviour, we identified the following ethical considerations: protecting user privacy, maximising equity in access, ensuring informed consent, providing participants with adequate clinical resources, communicating clinically relevant results to individuals, and the urgent need to demonstrate evidence of safety and efficacy of the technologies. Conclusions mHealth technology offers the possibility to collect large amounts of valuable personal information that may enhance research and treatment of substance abuse and addiction. To realise this potential researchers, clinicians and app-developers must address these ethical concerns to maximise the benefits and minimise risks of harm to users

Attitudes of Students in a Wildlife Damage Management Class Towards Nuisance Wildlife Control

Students majoring in wildlife management at the University of Georgia have the option of enrolling in our Wildlife Damage Management course. Students participate in a variety of field activities associated with the laboratory portion of the class while also attending twice-weekly lectures on wildlife damage topics. Each spring at the beginning of the semester, students participate in a short survey to assess their opinions on various topics related to wildlife damage management. The same students participate in the same survey at the end of the semester. We have been collecting pre-and post-course data since 1994. Significantly more students agreed with a variety of coyote (Canis latrans) control activities in the post-class survey except when asked about paying farmers and ranchers for livestock losses. They disagreed with this practice and did not change their view. Students generally agreed with the practice of using poison to control selected species except eagles but there were fewer significant attitude shifts pre-and post-class. As expected, students scored high on knowledge questions related to coyotes. The statement that producers had the right to protect property saw a significant change in attitude (\u3e percentage agreed post-class)

Classical XY model with conserved angular momentum is an archetypal non-Newtonian fluid

We find that the classical one-dimensional (1D) XY model, with angular-momentum-conserving Langevin dynamics, mimics the non-Newtonian flow regimes characteristic of soft matter when subjected to counter-rotating boundaries. An elaborate steady-state phase diagram has continuous and first-order transitions between states of uniform flow, shear-banding, solid-fluid coexistence and slip-planes. Results of numerically studies and a concise mean-field constitutive relation, offer a paradigm for diverse non-equilibrium complex fluids

Rural-Urban Disparities in Emergency Department Intimate Partner Violence Resources

Objective: Little is known about availability of resources for managing intimate partner violence (IPV) at rural hospitals. We assessed differences in availability of resources for IPV screening and management between rural and urban emergency departments (EDs) in Oregon. Methods: We conducted a standardized telephone interview of Oregon ED directors and nurse managers on six IPV-related resources: official screening policies, standardized screening tools, public displays regarding IPV, on-site advocacy, intervention checklists and regular clinician education. We used chi-square analysis to test differences in reported resource availability between urban and rural EDs. Results: Of 57 Oregon EDs, 55 (96%) completed the survey. A smaller proportion of rural EDs, compared to urban EDs, reported official screening policies (74% vs. 100%, p=0.01), standardized screening instruments (21% vs. 55%, p=0.01), clinician education (38% vs. 70%, p=0.02) or on-site violence advocacy (44% vs. 95%, p<0.001). Twenty-seven percent of rural EDs had none or one of the studied resources, 50% had two or three, and 24% had four or more (vs. 0%, 35%, and 65% in urban EDs, p=0.003). Small, remote rural hospitals had fewer resources than larger, less remote rural hospitals or urban hospitals. Conclusion: Rural EDs have fewer resources for addressing IPV. Further work is needed to identify specific barriers to obtaining resources for IPV management that can be used in all hospital settings. [West J Emerg Med. 2011;12(2):178-183.

Calibration Uncertainty for Advanced LIGO's First and Second Observing Runs

Calibration of the Advanced LIGO detectors is the quantification of the detectors' response to gravitational waves. Gravitational waves incident on the detectors cause phase shifts in the interferometer laser light which are read out as intensity fluctuations at the detector output. Understanding this detector response to gravitational waves is crucial to producing accurate and precise gravitational wave strain data. Estimates of binary black hole and neutron star parameters and tests of general relativity require well-calibrated data, as miscalibrations will lead to biased results. We describe the method of producing calibration uncertainty estimates for both LIGO detectors in the first and second observing runs.Comment: 15 pages, 21 figures, LIGO DCC P160013

Illicit purchasing and use of flavour accessories after the European Union menthol cigarette ban: Findings from the 2020-2021 ITC Netherlands Surveys

Background The 2020 European Union (EU) menthol cigarette ban increased quitting among pre-ban menthol smokers in the Netherlands, but some reported continuing to smoke menthol cigarettes. This study examined three possible explanations for post-ban menthol use—(i) illicit purchasing, (ii) use of flavour accessories and (iii) use of non-menthol replacement brands marketed for menthol smokers. Methods Data were from the ITC Netherlands Cohort Surveys among adult smokers before the menthol ban (Wave 1: February–March 2020, N = 2067) and after the ban (Wave 2: September–November 2020, N = 1752; Wave 3: June–July 2021, N = 1721). Bivariate, logistic regression and generalized estimating equation model analyses were conducted on weighted data. Results Illicit purchasing remained low from pre-ban (2.4%, 95% CI: 1.8–3.2, Wave 1) to post-ban (1.7%, 1.2–2.5%, Wave 3), with no difference between menthol and non-menthol smokers from Wave 1 to Wave 3. About 4.4% of post-ban menthol smokers last purchased their usual brand outside of the EU and 3.6% from the internet; 42.5% of post-ban menthol smokers and 4.4% of smokers overall reported using flavour accessories, with greater odds among those aged 25–39 years vs. 55+ (aOR = 3.16, P = 0.002). Approximately 70% of post-ban smokers who reported using a menthol brand were actually using a non-menthol replacement brand. Conclusions There was no increase in illicit purchasing or of smuggling outside the EU among menthol and non-menthol smokers in the Netherlands 1 year after the EU menthol cigarette ban. Use of flavour accessories and non-menthol replacement brands best explain post-ban menthol use, suggesting the need to ban accessories and ensure industry compliance

The Association between Emergency Department Resources and Diagnosis of Intimate Partner Violence

Objective: There is little information about which intimate partner violence (IPV) policies and services assist in the identification of IPV in the emergency department (ED). The objective of this study was to examine the association between a variety of resources and documented IPV diagnoses. Methods: Using billing data assembled from 21 Oregon EDs from 2001 to 2005, we identified patients assigned a discharge diagnosis of IPV. We then surveyed ED directors and nurse managers to gain information about IPV-related policies and services offered by participating hospitals. We combined billing data, survey results and hospital-level variables. Multivariate analysis assessed the likelihood of receiving a diagnosis of IPV depending on the policies and services available. Results: In 754,597 adult female ED visits, IPV was diagnosed 1,929 times. Mandatory IPV screening and victim advocates were the most commonly available IPV resources. The diagnosis of IPV was independently associated with the use of a standardized intervention checklist (OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.04-2.82). Public displays regarding IPV were negatively associated with IPV diagnosis (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.35-0.88). Conclusions: IPV remains a rare documented diagnosis. Most common hospital-level resources did not demonstrate an association with IPV diagnoses; however, a standardized intervention checklist may play a role in clinicians\u27 likelihood diagnosing IPV

Supersymmetry in the shadow of photini

Additional neutral gauge fermions -- "photini" -- arise in string compactifications as superpartners of U(1) gauge fields. Unlike their vector counterparts, the photini can acquire weak-scale masses from soft SUSY breaking and lead to observable signatures at the LHC through mass mixing with the bino. In this work we investigate the collider consequences of adding photini to the neutralino sector of the MSSM. Relatively large mixing of one or more photini with the bino can lead to prompt decays of the lightest ordinary supersymmetric particle; these extra cascades transfer most of the energy of SUSY decay chains into Standard Model particles, diminishing the power of missing energy as an experimental handle for signal discrimination. We demonstrate that the missing energy in SUSY events with photini is reduced dramatically for supersymmetric spectra with MSSM neutralinos near the weak scale, and study the effects on limits set by the leading hadronic SUSY searches at ATLAS and CMS. We find that in the presence of even one light photino the limits on squark masses from hadronic searches can be reduced by 400 GeV, with comparable (though more modest) reduction of gluino mass limits. We also consider potential discovery channels such as dilepton and multilepton searches, which remain sensitive to SUSY spectra with photini and can provide an unexpected route to the discovery of supersymmetry. Although presented in the context of photini, our results apply in general to theories in which additional light neutral fermions mix with MSSM gauginos.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures, references adde

Evaluation of Interdisciplinary Terrorism Preparedness Programs: A Pilot Focus Group Study

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://www.ingentaconnect.comMany terrorism preparedness trainings occur throughout the United States, yet few qualitatively examine trainees' needs and interests, reactions to training, or suggestions for training improvement. Eleven posttraining focus groups were conducted with 31 training participants at six sites. Participants were stratified by health profession discipline, and discipline-specific moderators conducted each session to better understand and probe for feedback. One additional moderator attended all sessions to increase consistency in methods across sessions. Focus group participants assessed changes in their perceptions, knowledge, and beliefs about terrorism preparedness. Participants reported perceiving terrorism as a potential threat but less likely than natural disasters. All-hazards crossover training for responding to terrorism and natural disasters was requested. The training was viewed positively, including the enrollment process, training content, and reference materials. Participants reported increased confidence in abilities to recognize a terrorist event. Participants stated they would like the training repeated annually with more first responders in attendance. Participants from rural areas had unique training needs based on limited resources and multiple roles of staff. While most participants wanted a longer, multispecialty conference with in-depth, discipline-specific breakout sessions, physicians requested shorter, separate training. Multispecialty training methods were successful and appreciated. This pilot study may serve as a template for qualitative evaluation of terrorism preparedness conferences for health professionals