I Did What Last Night? Adolescent Risky Sexual Behaviors and Substance Abuse

Risky sexual behaviors by teenagers have shown to be strongly correlated with drug and alcohol consumption. The purpose of this study is to examine the question of whether alcohol and drug use increases the likelihood that teenagers will engage in four risky sexual behaviors: having sex, sex with multiple partners, sex without a condom, and sex without birth control. Two-stage least squares and a reduced form model are used to account for the potential endogeneity of substance use. The finding that alcohol consumption (as defined by either heavy drinking or drinking any amount) is unrelated to the probability of having sex is consistent with the findings of previous studies that also account for the potential endogeneity of alcohol consumption. The findings imply that the risky behaviors of sexually active teens, who may have made the decision long ago to become sexually active, might be altered through policies designed to reduce alcohol consumption.

The Effects of Alcohol Regulation on Physical Child Abuse

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of alcohol regulation on physical child abuse. Given the established relationship between alcohol consumption and violence, the principal hypothesis to be tested is that an increase in the price of alcohol will lead to a reduction in the incidence of violence. We also examine the effects of measures of the ease of obtaining alcohol, illegal drug prices, and the socio-demographic characteristics of the parent on the incidence of child abuse. Data on violence come from the 1976 and 1985 Physical Violence in American Families surveys. We estimate a reduced form model where violence is affected by the state excise tax rate on beer and other regulatory variables, and a structural model where violence is determined partly by consumption. Both equations are estimated separately for mothers and fathers. Results indicate that increases in the beer tax may decrease the incidence of violence committed by females but not by males. This is consistent with our second finding that violence by females increases with alcohol consumption while violence by males is not sensitive to changes in consumption.

Alcohol Regulation and Violence on College Campuses

This study focuses on the effects of variations in alcoholic beverage prices among states of the United States on violence on college campuses. The principal hypothesis tested is that the incidence of violence is negatively related to the price of alcohol. This hypothesis is derived from two well established relationships: the positive relationship between alcohol and violence and the negative relationship between the use of alcohol and its price. The data employed in the study are the 1989, 1990, and 1991 Core Alcohol and Drug Surveys of College Students. They contain almost 120,000 college students from approximately 200 colleges and universities throughout the United States and have measures of alcohol use and the adverse consequences of its use. These adverse consequences include the following indicators of violence: getting in trouble with the police, residence hall, or other college authorities; damaging property or pulling a fire alarm; getting into an argument or a fight; and taking advantage of another person sexually or having been taken advantage of sexually. The principal finding is that the incidence of each of these four acts of violence is inversely related to the price of beer in the state in which the student attends college.

An Investigation of the Effects of Alcohol Policies on Youth STDs

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of alcohol policies in reducing the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases among youth. Previous research has shown that risky sexual practices (e.g., unprotected sex and multiple partners) that increase the risk of contracting a STD are highly correlated with alcohol use. If alcohol is a cause of risky sexual behavior, then policies that reduce the consumption of alcohol may also reduce the incidence of STDs. In this paper, we examine the relationship between alcohol policies (e.g., beer taxes and statutes pertaining to alcohol sales and drunk driving) and rates of gonorrhea and AIDS among teenagers and young adults. Results indicate that higher beer taxes are associated with lower rates of gonorrhea for males and are suggestive of lower AIDS rates. Strict drunk driving policies in the form of zero tolerance laws may also lower the gonorrhea rate among males under the legal drinking age.

Model of Transcriptional Activation by MarA in Escherichia coli

We have developed a mathematical model of transcriptional activation by MarA in Escherichia coli, and used the model to analyze measurements of MarA-dependent activity of the marRAB, sodA, and micF promoters in mar-rob- cells. The model rationalizes an unexpected poor correlation between the mid-point of in vivo promoter activity profiles and in vitro equilibrium constants for MarA binding to promoter sequences. Analysis of the promoter activity data using the model yielded the following predictions regarding activation mechanisms: (1) MarA activation of the marRAB, sodA, and micF promoters involves a net acceleration of the kinetics of transitions after RNA polymerase binding, up to and including promoter escape and message elongation; (2) RNA polymerase binds to these promoters with nearly unit occupancy in the absence of MarA, making recruitment of polymerase an insignificant factor in activation of these promoters; and (3) instead of recruitment, activation of the micF promoter might involve a repulsion of polymerase combined with a large acceleration of the kinetics of polymerase activity. These predictions are consistent with published chromatin immunoprecipitation assays of interactions between polymerase and the E. coli chromosome. A lack of recruitment in transcriptional activation represents an exception to the textbook description of activation of bacterial sigma-70 promoters. However, use of accelerated polymerase kinetics instead of recruitment might confer a competitive advantage to E. coli by decreasing latency in gene regulation.Comment: 30 pages, 2 figure

BEGIN Partnership: Using Problem-Based Learning to Teach Genetics & Bioethics

A science education center at a university medical school had grant funding to develop a genetics curriculum unit, but needed a dissemination plan. A statewide science teacher organization that provided professional development training was facing decreased funding. These two groups combined their efforts, and created a unique partnership, called BEGIN (Biotechnology, Ethics and Genetics Instructional Network) that has brought together university medical and science faculty and high school biology teachers. The main goal of this partnership is to provide high school biology teachers with new instructional tools to face the challenges of teaching genetics and bioethics in a manner that is content-rich, research and standards-based, and relevant to students\u27 lives. This article describes the BEGIN partnership and summarizes the tiered approach used for designing, pilot-testing, and disseminating a new problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum module on the bioethics of DNA testing for Huntington\u27s disease. The article also provides some preliminary data on the effectiveness of this approach in transforming teacher practice

Social organization of the New Zealand dusky dolphin

Social organization of dolphins in extensive societies has not been well studied. Off Kaikoura, New Zealand, thousands of dusky dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) gather, feeding nocturnally on deep scattering layer prey, resting and socializing diurnally. During 1997-2003, interval sampling was used to monitor large assemblages numbering hundreds (n=169), smaller mating groups (mean+s.e.=7+1.6 adults, n=42), mother-calf nurseries (mean+s.e.=13+1.6 adults, 1+0.5 juveniles, 4+0.7 calves and 1+0.4 neonates, n=41), and non-mating adult groups (mean+s.e.= 9+1.3 adults, 1+0.2 juvenile, n=37). Group size, distance from shore (east), ranging along shore (north), traveling, inter-individual distance, and noisy leaping peaked in winter (n=39), with dolphins maintaining closer proximity to each other in smaller, more restful groups, closer to shore during the spring-summer-autumn (n=234) reproductive seasons. Dolphin groups were found closest to shore (west) during early morning, spread out and leaping often. Resting peaked at midday in tight groups. Late in the day, dolphins spread out, moving eastward (offshore) in preparation for feeding. Large groups exhibited coordinated travel, with noisy leaps as a directional signal. "Mating of the quickest" occurred in groups of (median) 6 males chasing 1 female. Leaping rarely occurred in restful nurseries, which at times associated with Hector's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus hectori). Other mixed-species groups included common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), southern right whale dolphins (Lissodelphis peronii), long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala malaena), and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Killer whales (Orcinus orca) elicited predator assessment and evasion. Whale riding occurred with larger whales. Residence was seasonal, with 1,969+814.9 from a population of 12,626 dolphins spending 103+38.0 days in Kaikoura (mean+s.e., mark-recapture mortality, single-season lagged-ID emigration models, n=153 weeks). Dolphins (n=39) summering in Kaikoura migrated to the Marlborough Sounds in winter, where small, coordinated groups foraged diurnally on schooling fishes in shallow bays, often associated with sea birds and New Zealand fur seals (Arctocephalus forsteri). Aquaculture may threaten dusky dolphin foraging habitat in Admiralty Bay, where an estimated 220 dolphins gathered to feed each winter. Photo-identification research, enhanced by digital techniques, demonstrated a structured fission-fusion society. Dusky dolphins associated with preferred long-term (>1,000 days) hunting companions in Admiralty Bay and non-random casual acquaintances (200 days) in Kaikoura (lagged-association models)

A high-density relativistic reflection origin for the soft and hard X-ray excess emission from Mrk 1044

We present the first results from a detailed spectral-timing analysis of a long ($\sim$130 ks) XMM-Newton observation and quasi-simultaneous NuSTAR and Swift observations of the highly-accreting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 1044. The broadband (0.3$-$50 keV) spectrum reveals the presence of a strong soft X-ray excess emission below $\sim$1.5 keV, iron K$_{\alpha}$ emission complex at $\sim$6$-$7 keV and a `Compton hump' at $\sim$15$-$30 keV. We find that the relativistic reflection from a high-density accretion disc with a broken power-law emissivity profile can simultaneously explain the soft X-ray excess, highly ionized broad iron line and the Compton hump. At low frequencies ($[2-6]\times10^{-5}$ Hz), the power-law continuum dominated 1.5$-$5 keV band lags behind the reflection dominated 0.3$-$1 keV band, which is explained with a combination of propagation fluctuation and Comptonization processes, while at higher frequencies ($[1-2]\times10^{-4}$ Hz), we detect a soft lag which is interpreted as a signature of X-ray reverberation from the accretion disc. The fractional root-mean-squared (rms) variability of the source decreases with energy and is well described by two variable components: a less variable relativistic disc reflection and a more variable direct coronal emission. Our combined spectral-timing analyses suggest that the observed broadband X-ray variability of Mrk~1044 is mainly driven by variations in the location or geometry of the optically thin, hot corona.Comment: 23 pages, 19 figures, 4 tables, Published in MNRA

T-Lymphocyte Subset Studies to Monitor Patients with AIDS and AIDS-Related Complex

Multiple specimens from 124 patients from our clinic were evaluated for T4/T8 cell ratio over three to 28 months. Twenty-nine of 30 patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), 58 of 71 patients with AIDS-related complex (ARC), and four of 23 patients at risk showed initial T4/T8 cell ratios of less than 0.8. which either remained unchanged or decreased. Seventeen of 23 AIDS patients and two of 20 ARC patients with a consistently low ratio (0.3 or less) died during the follow-up period. This indicated that the severity of disease could be predicted by periodical T4/T8 cell ratio studies. These serial studies appeared to be valuable in monitoring the course of patients with AIDS, ARC, and the human immunodeficiency virus infection and also in evaluating the effects of available drug treatment