Predictors of problematic non-medical prescription pain and stimulant use

Recent results from a nationally representative sample indicated that young adults exhibited the greatest illicit drug use (SAMHSA, 2013b). The non-medical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD) is the second most commonly reported form of illicit substance use by young adults, preceded only by marijuana (SAMHSA, 2013b). This is a growing public health concern with an estimated 2.4 million Americans engaged in NUMPD for the first time within the past year in 2010, an average of 6,600 initiates per day (SAMHSA, 2013b). Prescription opioid abuse alone was estimated to cost the U.S. $55.7 billion in 2007 (Birnbaum et al., 2011). NMUPD has been linked with abuse and dependence, and a variety of other negative outcomes, including mental illness, (e.g., Bavarian et al., 2013), poor school performance (Arria et al., 2011), emergency room visits (SAMHSA, 2013a, 2013b), more frequent sexual risk behaviors (Benotsch et al., 2011), and death (CDC, 2012; Paulozzi et al., 2012). Additionally, young adults who engage in NMUPD are significantly more likely than their peers to use other illicit drugs and to combine prescription drugs with alcohol and other substances. These practices increase the risk of potentially dangerous drug interactions, and their negative outcomes (Garnier et al., 2009; McCabe et al., 2006; SAMHSA, 2006). Therefore, prevention is key to reducing this great public health concern and its grave costs to society. One way to prevent substance use and abuse is to investigate why specific groups of people use and to target interventions specifically to modifiable predictors. The current study focuses on such potential predictors. The sample included 193 undergraduate students (70.4% female) from diverse ethnic groups (55% White) attending a large public university who endorsed NMUPD of either pain or stimulant medications in the past year. Participants completed an online questionnaire that assessed their ratings of their problematic NMUPD use, sleep problems, emotion regulation difficulties, depressive symptoms, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms from reliable and valid measures. Using regression models run separately for users of pain and stimulant medications, emotion regulation difficulties and PTSD symptoms were found to predict non-medical problematic use of both pain and stimulant medications (betas ranged from .22 - .32, ps \u3c .05). Sleep problems and depressive symptoms were found to only predict problematic use of stimulants (betas = .33, ps \u3c .01). When all the significant predictors were entered into a multiple regression for each prescription category, no one predictor was significant above and beyond other predictors (see Table 1). However, PTSD symptoms explained the most variance in both models. These results suggest that all of these predictors are important to consider when investigating NMUPD in young adults. Since results from treatment research investigating abuse of other substances have found that integrated approaches that combine mental health and substance use are more effective than interventions that address substance use and mental health problems separately (e.g., Drake et al., 2008), future prevention and intervention efforts should consider all of the variables investigated. If resources are limited targeting PTSD symptoms may be the most effective.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/gradposters/1012/thumbnail.jp

Changes in the activities of ornithine transcarbarnylase and arginase, and concentrations of nitrogenous substances during germination and seedling development of Vitis vinifera L.

During germination and subsequent growth of seedlings of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Chenin blanc, marked changes occurred in the concentrations of the total nonprotein nitrogen fraction, amino nitrogen, and alnide nitrogen, and in the activities of ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) and arginase. The level of total nonprotein nitrogen was lower in seeds than in seedlings, with maximum concentration reached at the 3rd stage of seedling growth (10 to 15 d after germination) and thereafter declining rapidly. Changes in the concentration of amino nitrogen and amide nitrogen fractions paralleled that of the total nonprotein nitrogen. The concentration of glutalnine exceeded that of asparagine at all stages of seedling development. The presence of OTC and arginase in seeds and seedlings, as well as the parallel changes between arginase activity and concentration of free arginine, suggested that the biosynthesis and degradation of this amino acid in grapevine tissues occurs through the KREBS-HENSELEIT pathway. The MICHAELIS constant for arginase, calculated from the LINEWEAVER-BURK plot, differed in seedlings at three different stages of seedling development. Veränderungen in der Aktivität der Ornithintranscarbamylase und der Arginase sowie der Konzentration der Stickstoffverbindungen während der Keimung und der Sämlingsentwicklung von Vitis vinifera L.Im Verlauf der Keimung und des anschließenden Wachstums der Sämlinge von Vitis vinifera L., cv . Chenin blanc, traten deutliche Veränderungen in der Konzentration des gesamten nicht-proteingebundenen Stickstoffs, des Amino- und des Amidstickstoffs sowie in der Aktivität der Ornithintranscarbamylase (OTC) und der Arginase auf. Die Samen besaßen einen niedrigeren Gehalt an gesamtem nicht-proteingebundenem Stickstoff als die Sämlinge, wobei die maximale Konzentration im 3. Stadium des Sämlingswachstums erreicht wurd~ (10-15 d nach der Keimung); danach nahm sie rasch ab. Die Verschiebungen in der Konzentration des Amino- und Amidstickstoffs verliefen parallel zu den Konzentrationsänderungen des gesamten nichtproteingebundenen Stickstoffs. In allen Stadien der Sämlingsentwicklung lag die Glutamin- über der Asparaginkonzentration. Das Vorkommen von OTC und Arginase in Samen und Sämlingen sowie die parallelen Veränderungen von Arginaseaktivität und Konzentration des freien Arginins la~sen vermuten, daß die Biosynthese und der Abbau dieser Aminosäure im Rebengewebe über den KREBS-HENSELEIT-Cyklus ablaufen. In den Sämlingsstadien 3, 4 und 5 wurden - nach LINEWEAVER-BURK - unterschiedliche MICHAELIS Konstanten der Arginase ermittelt

Use of prescription drugs and future delinquency among adolescent offenders

Non-medical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD) by adolescents is a significant public health concern. The present study investigated the profile of NMUPD in 1349 adolescent offenders from the Pathways to Desistance project, and whether NMUPD predicted future delinquency using longitudinal data. Results indicated that increased frequency and recency of NMUPD in adolescent offenders are related to some demographic factors, as well as increased risk for violence exposure, mental health diagnoses, other drug use, and previous delinquency, suggesting that severity of NMUPD is important to consider. However, ANCOVA analyses found that NMUPD was not a significant predictor of drug-related, non-aggressive, or aggressive delinquency 12 months later beyond other known correlates of delinquency. Age, sex, exposure to violence, lower socioeconomic status, more alcohol use, and having delinquency histories were more important than NMUPD in predicting future delinquency. These findings suggest that although NMUPD is an important risk factor relating to many correlates of delinquency, it does not predict future delinquency beyond other known risk factors

Modal identification of a flexible footbridge using output-only methods

This work researches the modal frequencies identification of a footbridge structure by output only technique. The structural system of the footbridge herein considered is a continuous curved girder, i.e. belongs to a frequently used one all around the world in urbanized areas. It is located on the Princeton University campus in the US and serves as an on-site laboratory for short- and long-term research and educational purposes. The investigation utilizes measurements collected by long-gauge fiber optic strain sensors installed along the main-span and south-east leg of the structure. The power spectral density of the distributed long-gauge dynamic strain response in terms of curvature is used for detecting the modal frequencies of the footbridge. Pedestrian loading represents the external excitation. However, detailed information on the load intensity, frequency and distribution are lacking. This aspect represents the challenge of the present research with the aim to obtain as much information as possible about the modal characteristics of the footbridge from very limited dynamic information (only on the structural response) and without knowing the input conditions. Previously published research serves as a guide for evaluating the effectiveness of the results and the effectiveness of the employed methodology. This preliminary step paves the path to further research, i.e., (i) to the implementation of a refined finite element model of the entire structure for dynamic analysis, and (ii) to the development of a new wireless sensor network, by using as a reference the results from the existing embedded fiber optic sensor

Quantifying the impact of dissimilar HPV vaccination uptake among Manitoban school girls by ethnicity using a transmission dynamic model

BACKGROUND: Gardasil, a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, began among grade 6 girls in Manitoba, Canada in 2008. In Manitoba, there is evidence that First Nations, Metis, and Inuit women (FNMI) have higher HPV prevalence, lower invasive cervical cancer (ICC) screening, and higher ICC incidence than all other Manitoban (AOM) women. We developed a mathematical model to assess the plausible impact of unequal vaccination coverage among school girls on future cervical cancer incidence. METHODS: We fit model estimated HPV prevalence and ICC incidence to corresponding empirical estimates. We used the fitted model to evaluate the impact of varying levels of vaccination uptake by FNMI status on future ICC incidence, assuming cervical screening uptake among FNMI and AOM women remained unchanged. RESULTS: Depending on vaccination coverage, estimated ICC incidence by 2059 ranged from 15% to 68% lower than if there were no vaccination. The level of cross-ethnic sexual mixing influenced the impact that vaccination rates among FNMI has on ICC incidence among AOM, and vice versa. The same level of AOM vaccination could result in ICC incidence that differs by up to 10%, depending on the level of FNMI vaccination. Similarly, the same level of FNMI vaccination could result in ICC incidence that differs by almost 40%, depending on the level of AOM vaccination. CONCLUSIONS: If we are unable to equalize vaccination uptake among all school girls, policy makers should prepare for higher levels of cervical cancer than would occur under equal vaccination uptak

Lifetimes of electrons in the Shockley surface state band of Ag(111)

We present a theoretical many-body analysis of the electron-electron (e-e) inelastic damping rate $\Gamma$ of electron-like excitations in the Shockley surface state band of Ag(111). It takes into account ab-initio band structures for both bulk and surface states. $\Gamma$ is found to increase more rapidly as a function of surface state energy E than previously reported, thus leading to an improved agreement with experimental data

Electromagnetic field correlations near a surface with a nonlocal optical response

The coherence length of the thermal electromagnetic field near a planar surface has a minimum value related to the nonlocal dielectric response of the material. We perform two model calculations of the electric energy density and the field's degree of spatial coherence. Above a polar crystal, the lattice constant gives the minimum coherence length. It also gives the upper limit to the near field energy density, cutting off its $1/z^3$ divergence. Near an electron plasma described by the semiclassical Lindhard dielectric function, the corresponding length scale is fixed by plasma screening to the Thomas-Fermi length. The electron mean free path, however, sets a larger scale where significant deviations from the local description are visible.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure files (.eps), \documentclass[global]{svjour}, accepted in special issue "Optics on the Nanoscale" (Applied Physics B, eds. V. Shalaev and F. Tr\"ager

Interaction of the Electromagnetic p-Waves with Thin Metal Films

For the first time it is shown that for thin metallic films thickness of which not exceed thickness of skin-layer, the problem allows analytical solution for arbitrary boundary value problems. The analysis of dependence of coefficients of transmission, reflection and absorbtion on angle incidence, thickness of films and coefficient of specular reflection is carried out.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure

Metabolic effects of elevated temperature on organic acid degradation in ripening <em>Vitis vinifera</em> fruit

First published online: September 1, 2014Berries of the cultivated grapevine Vitis vinifera are notably responsive to temperature, which can influence fruit quality and hence the future compatibility of varieties with their current growing regions. Organic acids represent a key component of fruit organoleptic quality and their content is significantly influenced by temperature. The objectives of this study were to (i) manipulate thermal regimes to realistically capture warming-driven reduction of malate content in Shiraz berries, and (ii) investigate the mechanisms behind temperature-sensitive malate loss and the potential downstream effects on berry metabolism. In the field we compared untreated controls at ambient temperature with longer and milder warming (2-4 °C differential for three weeks; Experiment 1) or shorter and more severe warming (4-6 °C differential for 11 days; Experiment 2). We complemented field trials with control (25/15 °C) and elevated (35/20 °C) day/night temperature controlled-environment trials using potted vines (Experiment 3). Elevating maximum temperatures (4-10 °C above controls) during pre-véraison stages led to higher malate content, particularly with warmer nights. Heating at véraison and ripening stages reduced malate content, consistent with effects typically seen in warm vintages. However, when minimum temperatures were also raised by 4-6 °C, malate content was not reduced, suggesting that the regulation of malate metabolism differs during the day and night. Increased NAD-dependent malic enzyme activity and decreased phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and pyruvate kinase activities, as well as the accumulation of various amino acids and γ-aminobutyric acid, suggest enhanced anaplerotic capacity of the TCA cycle and a need for coping with decreased cytosolic pH in heated fruit.C. Sweetman, V. O. Sadras, R. D. Hancock, K. L. Soole and C. M. For

Interaction of Electromagnetic S-Wave with a Metal Film Located Between Two Dielectric Mediums

Generalization of the theory of interaction of electromagnetic S-wave with a metal film on a case of the film concluded between two dielectric environments is developed.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figure