State Medical Marijuana Laws and the Prevalence of Opioids Detected Among Fatally Injured Drivers

Objectives. To assess the association between medical marijuana laws (MMLs) and the odds of a positive opioid test, an indicator for prior use. Methods. We analyzed 1999–2013 Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data from 18 states that tested for alcohol and other drugs in at least 80% of drivers who died within 1 hour of crashing (n = 68 394). Within-state and between-state comparisons assessed opioid positivity among drivers crashing in states with an operational MML (i.e., allowances for home cultivation or active dispensaries) versus drivers crashing in states before a future MML was operational. Results. State-specific estimates indicated a reduction in opioid positivity for most states after implementation of an operational MML, although none of these estimates were significant. When we combined states, we observed no significant overall association (odds ratio [OR] = 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.61, 1.03). However, age-stratified analyses indicated a significant reduction in opioid positivity for drivers aged 21 to 40 years (OR = 0.50; 95% CI = 0.37, 0.67; interaction P < .001). Conclusions. Operational MMLs are associated with reductions in opioid positivity among 21- to 40-year-old fatally injured drivers and may reduce opioid use and overdose

PH wave-front propagation in the urea-urease reaction

The urease-catalyzed hydrolysis of urea displays feedback that results in a switch from acid (pH ∼3) to base (pH ∼9) after a controllable period of time (from 10 to \u3e5000 s). Here we show that the spatially distributed reaction can support pH wave fronts propagating with a speed of the order of 0.1-1 mm min-1. The experimental results were reproduced qualitatively in reaction-diffusion simulations including a Michaelis-Menten expression for the urease reaction with a bell-shaped rate-pH dependence. However, this model fails to predict that at lower enzyme concentrations, the unstirred reaction does not always support fronts when the well-stirred reaction still rapidly switches to high pH. © 2012 by the Biophysical Society

Base-catalyzed feedback in the urea-urease reaction

The bell-shaped rate-pH curve coupled to production of base in the urea-urease reaction was utilized to give feedback-driven behavior: an acid-to-base pH clock (a kinetic switch), bistability and hysteresis between an acid/base state when the initial pH was adjusted by a strong acid, and aperiodic pH oscillations when the initial pH was adjusted by a weak acid in an open reactor. A simple model of the reaction reproduced most of the experimental results and provided insight into the role of self-buffering in the dynamics. This reaction suggests new possibilities in the development of biocompatible feedback to couple to pH-sensitive processes for bioinspired applications in medicine, engineering, or materials science. © 2010 American Chemical Society

Motion and Interaction of Aspirin Crystals at Aqueous–Air Interfaces

Small-molecule amphiphiles such as aspirin have unique properties arising from a combination of an aromatic hydrophobic part and a hydrophilic part. We show that crystals of aspirin are capable of generating convective flows at the air–aqueous interface from both Marangoni effects (through weak surface activity) and capillarity (surface deformations). The flow-driven motion of millimeter-sized crystals was found to depend on the presence of other ions in solution as well as the distance and orientation of the crystals. The interactions lead to the formation of groups of two or more crystals that also underwent motion. The convective flows created by small amphiphile crystals might be exploited in the dynamic self-organization of particles at interfaces

Motion and Interaction of Aspirin Crystals at Aqueous–Air Interfaces

Small-molecule amphiphiles such as aspirin have unique properties arising from a combination of an aromatic hydrophobic part and a hydrophilic part. We show that crystals of aspirin are capable of generating convective flows at the air–aqueous interface from both Marangoni effects (through weak surface activity) and capillarity (surface deformations). The flow-driven motion of millimeter-sized crystals was found to depend on the presence of other ions in solution as well as the distance and orientation of the crystals. The interactions lead to the formation of groups of two or more crystals that also underwent motion. The convective flows created by small amphiphile crystals might be exploited in the dynamic self-organization of particles at interfaces

Motion and Interaction of Aspirin Crystals at Aqueous–Air Interfaces

Small-molecule amphiphiles such as aspirin have unique properties arising from a combination of an aromatic hydrophobic part and a hydrophilic part. We show that crystals of aspirin are capable of generating convective flows at the air–aqueous interface from both Marangoni effects (through weak surface activity) and capillarity (surface deformations). The flow-driven motion of millimeter-sized crystals was found to depend on the presence of other ions in solution as well as the distance and orientation of the crystals. The interactions lead to the formation of groups of two or more crystals that also underwent motion. The convective flows created by small amphiphile crystals might be exploited in the dynamic self-organization of particles at interfaces

Motion and Interaction of Aspirin Crystals at Aqueous–Air Interfaces

Small-molecule amphiphiles such as aspirin have unique properties arising from a combination of an aromatic hydrophobic part and a hydrophilic part. We show that crystals of aspirin are capable of generating convective flows at the air–aqueous interface from both Marangoni effects (through weak surface activity) and capillarity (surface deformations). The flow-driven motion of millimeter-sized crystals was found to depend on the presence of other ions in solution as well as the distance and orientation of the crystals. The interactions lead to the formation of groups of two or more crystals that also underwent motion. The convective flows created by small amphiphile crystals might be exploited in the dynamic self-organization of particles at interfaces

Additional file 6: Figure S2. of Cross-disorder comparative analysis of comorbid conditions reveals novel autism candidate genes

First two Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) dimensions of our dataset generated by MDS on a dissimilarity matrix using Jaccard Coefficient when k = 6. Each group is highlighted in a different color and the disorders conforming them are detailed in Additional file 5: Table S4, along with their corresponding mean Jaccard Coefficient value. The autism sibling comorbid disorders are clustered together in group 2 (PDF 180 kb