The Impact of 9/11 and its Aftermath on Substance Use and Psychological Functioning: An Overview

This Essay provides a brief summary and evaluation of findings on the mental health and substance abuse consequences of the events of 9/11 throughout the nation and in United States\u27 cities. It also presents new data obtained from clients who entered substance abuse treatment in New York and other cities either before 9/11 or during a six-month period following the events. This Essay discusses how best to interpret these varying research findings. It concludes that crisis produces many responses and most people just coped with 9/11 in their individual ways

Gender Differences in Modifying Lumbopelvic Motion during Hip Medial Rotation in People with Low Back Pain

Reducing increased or early lumbopelvic motion during trunk or limb movements may be an important component of low back pain treatment. The ability to reduce lumbopelvic motion may be influenced by gender. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effect of gender on the ability of people with low back pain to reduce lumbopelvic motion during hip medial rotation following physical therapy treatment. Lumbopelvic rotation and hip rotation before the start of lumbopelvic rotation were assessed pre- and posttreatment for 16 females and 15 males. Both men and women decreased lumbopelvic rotation and completed more hip rotation before the start of lumbopelvic rotation post-treatment compared to pre-treatment. Men demonstrated greater lumbopelvic rotation and completed less hip rotation before the start of lumbopelvic rotation than women both pre- and post-treatment. Both men and women reduced lumbopelvic motion relative to their starting values, but, overall, men still demonstrated greater and earlier lumbopelvic motion. These results may have important implications for understanding differences in the evaluation and treatment of men and women with low back pain

Discontinuities in soil strength contribute to destabilization of nutrient-enriched creeks

In a whole-ecosystem, nutrient addition experiment in the Plum Island Sound Estuary (Massachusetts), we tested the effects of nitrogen enrichment on the carbon and nitrogen contents, respiration, and strength of marsh soils. We measured soil shear strength within and across vegetation zones. We found significantly higher soil percent organic matter, carbon, and nitrogen in the long-term enriched marshes and higher soil respiration rates with longer duration of enrichment. The soil strength was similar in magnitude across depths and vegetation zones in the reference creeks, but showed signs of significant nutrient-mediated alteration in enriched creeks where shear strength at rooting depths of the low marsh-high marsh interface zone was significantly lower than at the sub-rooting depths or in the creek bank vegetation zone. To more closely examine the soil strength of the rooting (10-30 cm) and sub-rooting (40-60 cm) depths in the interface and creek bank vegetation zones, we calculated a vertical shear strength differential between these depths. We found significantly lower differentials in shear strength (rooting depth \u3c sub-rooting depths) in the enriched creeks and in the interface zones. The discontinuities in the vertical and horizontal shear strength across the enriched marshes may contribute to observed fracturing and slumping occurring in the marsh systems. Tide gauge data also showed a pattern of rapid sea level rise for the period of the study, and changes in plant distribution patterns were indicative of increased flooding. Longer exposure times to nutrient-enriched waters and increased hydraulic energy associated with sea level rise may exacerbate creek bank sloughing. Additional research is needed, however, to better understand the interactions of nutrient enrichment and sea level rise on soil shear strength and stability of tidal salt marshes

First Spitzer Space Telescope Observations of Magnetic Cataclysmic Variables: Evidence for Excess Emission at 3--8 microns

We present the first observations of magnetic cataclysmic variables with the Spitzer Space Telescope. We used the Infrared Array Camera to obtain photometry of the polars EF Eri, GG Leo, V347 Pav, and RX J0154.0-5947 at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 $\mu$m. In all of our targets, we detect excess mid-infrared emission over that expected from the component stars alone. We explore the origin of this IR excess by examining bremsstrahlung, cyclotron emission, circumbinary dust, and L/T brown dwarf secondary stars. Bremsstrahlung and cyclotron emission appear unlikely to be significant contributors to the observed fluxes. At present, the most likely candidate for the excess emission is dust that is probably located in a circumbinary disk with an inner temperature near 800 K. However, a simple dust disk plus any reasonable low mass or brown dwarf-like secondary star is unable to fully explain the observed flux densities in the 3--8 $\mu$m region.Comment: Accepted to ApJ Letter

Early Life Risk Factors for Incident Atrial Fibrillation in the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study

Background-Early life risk factors are associated with cardiometabolic disease, but have not been fully studied in atrial fibrillation (AF). There are discordant results from existing studies of birth weight and AF, and the impact of maternal body size, gestational age, placental size, and birth length is unknown. Methods and Results-The Helsinki Birth Cohort Study includes 13 345 people born as singletons in Helsinki in the years 1934-1944. Follow-up was through national registries, and ended on December 31, 2013, with 907 incident cases. Cox regression analyses stratified on year of birth were constructed for perinatal variables and incident AF, adjusting for offspring sex, gestational age, and socioeconomic status at birth. There was a significant U-shaped association between birth weight and AF (P for quadratic term = 0.01). The lowest risk of AF was found among those with a birth weight of 3.4 kg (3.8 kg for women [85th percentile] and 3.0 kg for men [17th percentile]). High maternal body mass index (>= 30 kg/m(2)) predicted offspring AF; hazard ratio 1.36 (95% CI 1.07-1.74, P = 0.01) compared with normal body mass index ( Conclusions-High maternal body mass index during pregnancy and maternal height are previously undescribed predictors of offspring AF. Efforts to prevent maternal obesity might reduce later AF in offspring. Birth weight has a U-shaped relation to incident AF independent of other perinatal variables.Peer reviewe

Putting It All Together

Putting it all together: technology design drivers to move your classroom from your campus to the world This workshop will introduce methodologies available for moving the current “classroom” mindset to a learning environment without boundaries. Participants will explore the design drivers necessary to create the technology supports for transcendent learning environments

How climate change skeptical leaders may “Trump” supporters’ pro-environmental engagement

We explored how climate change engagement may be impacted when climate skeptical leaders are elected and implement policies that contribute to climate change. We used questionnaires at 3 time points (1 day before US election, 20 days into Trump administration, 100 days into Trump administration) with independent samples. Trump supporters’ behavioral intentions, perceived risks, emotional engagement, and policy preferences lower than prior to presidential election (ps < .05), though their beliefs in climate change are stable (ps > .13). Emotional engagement with pro-environmental behavior mediates the relations between time and behavioral intentions, perceived risk of climate change, and policy preferences among Trump supporters. Clinton supporters showed no changes over time. People who support neither Trump nor Clinton showed a significant increase in anthropogenic climate change beliefs since before the election. These results suggest that climate skeptical leaders may change supporters' climate change engagement by changing their feelings about pro-environmental behavior

Joint analysis of stressors and ecosystem services to enhance restoration effectiveness

With increasing pressure placed on natural systems by growing human populations, both scientists and resource managers need a better understanding of the relationships between cumulative stress from human activities and valued ecosystem services. Societies often seek to mitigate threats to these services through large-scale, costly restoration projects, such as the over one billion dollar Great Lakes Restoration Initiative currently underway. To help inform these efforts, we merged high-resolution spatial analyses of environmental stressors with mapping of ecosystem services for all five Great Lakes. Cumulative ecosystem stress is highest in near-shore habitats, but also extends offshore in Lakes Erie, Ontario, and Michigan. Variation in cumulative stress is driven largely by spatial concordance among multiple stressors, indicating the importance of considering all stressors when planning restoration activities. In addition, highly stressed areas reflect numerous different combinations of stressors rather than a single suite of problems, suggesting that a detailed understanding of the stressors needing alleviation could improve restoration planning. We also find that many important areas for fisheries and recreation are subject to high stress, indicating that ecosystem degradation could be threatening key services. Current restoration efforts have targeted high-stress sites almost exclusively, but generally without knowledge of the full range of stressors affecting these locations or differences among sites in service provisioning. Our results demonstrate that joint spatial analysis of stressors and ecosystem services can provide a critical foundation for maximizing social and ecological benefits from restoration investments. www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1213841110/-/DCSupplementa

Lived Experiences of American Adults who Survive COVID-19: Implications for Physical Activity and Interpersonal Stress

Introduction: The cumulative number of COVID-19 cases has surpassed 579 million globally. Symptoms during and after COVID-19 infection vary from mild cold symptoms to severe multisystem illness. Given the wide range of symptom presentations and complications post COVID-19, the purpose of this study was to describe the lived experience of American adults surviving COVID-19. Method: This study employed an exploratory qualitative description design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 35 individuals, [white (94%), female (71%), mean age = 43.7 years], with proximity to a university in an urban Midwest American city. Interviews occurred between May and August 2021, three or more months after participants tested positive for COVID-19. Results: Forty percent of the 35 participants experienced prolonged COVID-19 symptoms impacting their lifestyle. Four themes characterized the impacts of the post COVID-19 condition on the lives of the participants within the context of a global pandemic: (a) disruptions in health & well-being, (b) persistent uncertainty, (c) disruptions in interpersonal relationships, (d) beneficent outcomes and adaptation. Discussion: This study of COVID-19 has identified important implications for physical activity and interpersonal stress. Prolonged COVID-19 symptoms led to disruptions in the health, well-being, and interpersonal relationships of participants. Healthcare professionals need to attend to symptoms post COVID-19, assess interpersonal functioning, and provide guidance on physical activity. Future studies are recommended to track consequences of COVID-19’s impact on long-term health and well-being