The Negative Relationship between Religiosity and Substance Use

The negative association between religiosity and substance abuse is well established in previous literature. Scholarly research continues to find support for both intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity functioning as protective factors against substance abuse with intrinsic religiosity’s negative correlation with substance use being more established in literature than extrinsic religiosity. This study focuses on the relationship between college student intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity, measured by the Intrinsic/Extrinsic Religiosity Scale and substance use, measured by the Texas Christian University Drug Screen-5 (TCUDS-5). The Intrinsic/Extrinsic Religiosity Scale and the TCUDS-5 are well established instruments with historically high internal consistency. We hypothesized that there was a negative correlation between religiosity scores and substance use scores among our population. Additionally, we hypothesized that intrinsic religiosity would have a stronger relationship with substance use than extrinsic religiosity would. In order to test our hypothesis, a survey was administered to undergraduate students at a university in the southeast. After cleaning the data, our total sample consisted of 386 students. Of those surveyed, 256 are female, 127 are male, and 1 classified other. The majority of the population identified as White (n = 328), followed by Black (n = 28), Hispanic (n = 23), and Asian, Native American/Pacific Islander, Multiracial, or Other (n = 7). All students received extra credit as an incentive to voluntarily complete a larger battery of measures related to habits and addiction. However, this analysis will only include the Intrinsic/Extrinsic Religiosity Scale (M = 12.019, SD = 5.55) and the TCUDS-5 (M = 0.762, SD = 2.004). A Pearson correlation was completed to determine whether there was a statistically significant relationship between religiosity and substance use in college students. All analyses were conducted using JASP. Results supported our hypothesis with findings indicating evidence for a statistically significant negative correlation between intrinsic religiosity and substance abuse (r = -.142, p = .005). Our hypothesis that extrinsic religiosity will not be as strongly related to substance use as intrinsic religiosity was supported for social extrinsic religiosity (r = -.121, p =.018), but not supported for personal extrinsic religiosity measure (r = -.15, p =.002). The results of this study contribute to the converging evidence that intrinsic religiosity is inversely related to substance use and could serve as a protective factor against problematic substance use. Those who have internalized their faith may rely on faith to cope with stress rather than use substances or restrict use due to religious beliefs. Thus, this study provides potential support for the theory that religiosity is a protective factor against substance use disorders. Future research should investigate the longitudinal impact of religiosity on substance use in college students and other populations

Payments for Carbon Sequestration to Alleviate Development Pressure in a Rapidly Urbanizing Region

The purpose of this study was to determine individuals’ willingness to enroll in voluntary payments for carbon sequestration programs through the use of a discrete choice experiment delivered to forest owners living in the rapidly urbanizing region surrounding Charlotte, North Carolina. We examined forest owners’ willingness to enroll in payments for carbon sequestration policies under different levels of financial incentives (annual revenue), different contract lengths and different program administrators (e.g., private companies versus a state or federal agency). We also examined the influence forest owners’ sense of place had on their willingness to enroll in hypothetical programs. Our results showed a high level of ambivalence towards participating in payments for carbon sequestration programs. However, both financial incentives and contract lengths significantly influenced forest owners’ intent to enroll. Neither program administration nor forest owners’ sense of place influenced intent to enroll. While our analyses indicated payments from carbon sequestration programs are not currently competitive with the monetary returns expected from timber harvest or property sales, certain forest owners might see payments for carbon sequestration programs as a viable option for offsetting increasing tax costs as development encroaches and property values rise

Factors Impacting COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Resistance Among College Students in Northwest Ohio

Background: Vaccination is a critical strategy for controlling the transmission of COVID-19 and for returning to normalcy on college campuses; however, vaccine hesitancy and resistance persist as a significant barrier. This study utilized the integrated behavior model (IBM) and the precaution adoption process model (PAPM) to identify factors predictive of COVID-19 vaccine willingness (receptive, hesitant, and resistant) among college students. Methods: A sample of 1248 students at 2 universities in northwest Ohio were surveyed online in 2021. Stata/SE, version 17 (StataCorp) software was used to conduct stepwise logistic regression to investigate the association of theoretical constructs with vaccine willingness, after controlling for COVID-19 related factors and sociodemographic factors. Results: Most students (82.5%) were vaccine receptive, 6.9% were vaccine hesitant, and 10.6% were vaccine resistant. Vaccine hesitancy was higher among students aged 18 to 22 years (9.3%), undergraduates (16.5%), and students who identified as Black (13%) or Middle Eastern (14.3%). Lower vaccine hesitance was significantly predicted by IBM constructs of positive attitudes, high self-efficacy, and high salience. Not getting an influenza vaccine in the past 3 years and viewing vaccination as a personal choice were significantly associated with higher vaccine hesitancy. Lower odds of vaccine resistance were predicted by higher subjective norms. Descriptive norms, not getting an influenza vaccine in the past 3 years, agreeing with conspiracies, and viewing vaccination as a personal choice were strongly predictive of higher vaccine resistance. Conclusion: Identifying the factors that predict vaccine hesitancy and resistance among college students is critical for college administrators, and for those who are designing health communication campaigns, to increase vaccination among this priority population

The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey. IX. Estimating the Efficiency of Galaxy Formation on the Lowest-Mass Scales

The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey has recently determined the luminosity function of galaxies in the core of the Virgo cluster down to unprecedented magnitude and surface brightness limits. Comparing simulations of cluster formation to the derived central stellar mass function, we attempt to estimate the stellar-to-halo-mass ratio (SHMR) for dwarf galaxies, as it would have been before they fell into the cluster. This approach ignores several details and complications, e.g., the contribution of ongoing star formation to the present-day stellar mass of cluster members, and the effects of adiabatic contraction and/or violent feedback on the subhalo and cluster potentials. The final results are startlingly simple, however; we find that the trends in the SHMR determined previously for bright galaxies appear to extend down in a scale-invariant way to the faintest objects detected in the survey. These results extend measurements of the formation efficiency of field galaxies by two decades in halo mass, or five decades in stellar mass, down to some of the least massive dwarf galaxies known, with stellar masses of $\sim 10^5 M_\odot$.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures; published in ApJ July 1st 201

Does metformin protect against osteoarthritis? An electronic health record cohort study

BackgroundObesity is a major risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA) whilst there is some evidence that diabetes also increases risk. Metformin is a common oral treatment for those with diabetes.ObjectiveThe aim is to investigate whether metformin reduces the risk of OA.MethodsThis was a cohort study set within the Consultations in Primary Care Archive, with 3217 patients with type 2 diabetes. Patients at 13 general practices with recorded type 2 diabetes in the baseline period (2002–2003) and no prior record of OA were identified. Exposure was a prescription for metformin. Outcome was an OA record during follow up. Cox proportional hazard models with Gamma frailty term were fitted: adjusted for age, gender, deprivation, and comorbidity.ResultsThere was no association between prescribed metformin treatment at baseline and OA (adjusted HR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.91, 1.15). A similar non- significant association was found when allowing exposure status of prescription of metformin to vary over time

Inhibition of CCL3 abrogated precursor cell fusion and bone erosions in human osteoclast cultures and murine collagen-induced arthritis

Objective Macrophage inflammatory protein 1-alpha (CCL3) is a chemokine that regulates macrophage trafficking to the inflamed joint. The agonistic effect of CCL3 on osteolytic lesions in patients with multiple myeloma is recognized; however, its role in skeletal damage during inflammatory arthritis has not been established. The aim of the study was to explore the role of osteoclast-associated CCL3 upon bone resorption, and to test its pharmacological blockade for protecting against bone pathology during inflammatory arthritis. Methods CCL3 production was studied during osteoclast differentiation from osteoclast precursor cells: human CD14-positive mononuclear cells. Mice with CIA were treated with an anti-CCL3 antibody. The effect of CCL3 blockade through mAb was studied through osteoclast number, cytokine production and bone resorption on ivory disks, and in vivo through CIA progression (clinical score, paw diameter, synovial inflammation and bone damage). Results Over time, CCL3 increased in parallel with the number of osteoclasts in culture. Anti-CCL3 treatment achieved a concentration-dependent inhibition of osteoclast fusion and reduced pit formation on ivory disks (P ⩽ 0.05). In CIA, anti-CCL3 treatment reduced joint damage and significantly decreased multinucleated tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-positive osteoclasts and erosions in the wrists (P < 0.05) and elbows (P < 0.05), while also reducing joint erosions in the hind (P < 0.01) and fore paws (P < 0.01) as confirmed by X-ray. Conclusion Inhibition of osteoclast-associated CCL3 reduced osteoclast formation and function whilst attenuating arthritis-associated bone loss and controlling development of erosion in murine joints, thus uncoupling bone damage from inflammation. Our findings may help future innovations for the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory arthritis

Kidney Recovery in Patients with Acute Kidney Injury Treated in Outpatient Hemodialysis or Rehabilitation Facilities

Rationale & Objective: Since January 2017, patients with acute kidney injury requiring dialysis (AKI-D) can be discharged to outpatient dialysis centers for continued hemodialysis (HD) support. We aimed to examine the rate of kidney recovery, time to recovery, and hospitalization-related clinical parameters associated with kidney recovery in patients with AKI-D. Study Design: Single-center prospective cohort study. Setting & Participants: 111 adult patients who were admitted to the University of Kentucky Hospital, experienced AKI-D, and were discharged with need of outpatient HD. Exposure: Hospitalization-related clinical parameters were evaluated. Outcome: Kidney recovery as a composite of being alive and no longer requiring HD or other form of kidney replacement therapy. Analytical Approach: Discrete-time survival analysis and logistic regression were used to determine adjusted probabilities of kidney recovery at prespecified time points and to evaluate clinical parameters associated with recovery. Results: 45 (41%) patients recovered kidney function, 25 (55.5%) within the first 30 days following discharge, 16 (35.5%) within 30 to 60 days, and 4 (9%) within 60 to 90 days. Adjusted probabilities of recovery were 36.7%, 27.4%, and 6.3%, respectively. Of the remaining patients, 49 (44%) developed kidney failure requiring chronic kidney replacement therapy and 17 (15%) died or went to hospice. Patients who did not recover kidney function were older, had more comorbid conditions, had lower estimated glomerular filtration rates at baseline, and received more blood transfusions during hospitalization when compared with those who recovered kidney function. Limitations: Selection bias given that patients included in the study were all eligible for AKI management with outpatient HD as part of Medicare/Medicaid services. Conclusions: At least one-third of AKI-D survivors discharged from an acute care hospital dependent on HD recovered kidney function within the first 90 days of discharge, more commonly in the first 30 days postdischarge. Future studies should elucidate clinical parameters that can inform risk classification and interventions to promote kidney recovery in this vulnerable and growing population

The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey. X. Properties of Ultra-Compact Dwarfs in the M87, M49 and M60 Regions

We use imaging from the Next Generation Virgo cluster Survey (NGVS) to present a comparative study of ultra-compact dwarf (UCD) galaxies associated with three prominent Virgo sub-clusters: those centered on the massive, red-sequence galaxies M87, M49 and M60. We show how UCDs can be selected with high completeness using a combination of half-light radius and location in color-color diagrams ($u^*iK_s$ or $u^*gz$). Although the central galaxies in each of these sub-clusters have nearly identical luminosities and stellar masses, we find large differences in the sizes of their UCD populations, with M87 containing ~3.5 and 7.8 times more UCDs than M49 and M60, respectively. The relative abundance of UCDs in the three regions scales in proportion to sub-cluster mass, as traced by X-ray gas mass, total gravitating mass, number of globular clusters, and number of nearby galaxies. We find that the UCDs are predominantly blue in color, with ~85% of the UCDs having colors similar to blue GCs and stellar nuclei of dwarf galaxies. We present evidence that UCDs surrounding M87 and M49 may follow a morphological sequence ordered by the prominence of their outer, low surface brightness envelope, ultimately merging with the sequence of nucleated low-mass galaxies, and that envelope prominence correlates with distance from either galaxy. Our analysis provides evidence that tidal stripping of nucleated galaxies is an important process in the formation of UCDs.Comment: 37 pages, 40 figures. To appear in The Astrophysical Journa

Global projections of flash drought show increased risk in a warming climate

Flash drought, characterized by unusually rapid drying, can have substantial impact on many socioeconomic sectors, particularly agriculture. However, potential changes to flash drought risk in a warming climate remain unknown. In this study, projected changes in flash drought frequency and cropland risk from flash drought are quantified using global climate model simulations. We find that flash drought occurrence is expected to increase globally among all scenarios, with the sharpest increases seen in scenarios with higher radiative forcing and greater fossil fuel usage. Flash drought risk over cropland is expected to increase globally, with the largest increases projected across North America (change in annual risk from 32% in 2015 to 49% in 2100) and Europe (32% to 53%) in the most extreme emissions scenario. Following low-end and medium scenarios compared to high-end scenarios indicates a notable reduction in annual flash drought risk over cropland

Boronate ester cross-linked PVA hydrogels for the capture and H2O2-mediated release of active fluorophores

A new set of PVA hydrogels were formed using the boronate ester fluorescent probe, PF1 and the novel boronate fluorescent probe PT1 as the covalent crosslinkers. Treatment with aqueous H2O2 allowed triggered release of the fluorescent dye accompanied by complete dissolution of the hydroge