Alcohol and healthy ageing: a challenge for alcohol policy

Objectives: This paper presents findings of a qualitative study of older people's use of alcohol during retirement and identifies ways that an improved understanding of older people's drinking can inform policy approaches to alcohol and active and healthy ageing. Study design: Qualitative semi-structured interviews conducted with a self-selecting sample of retired people. Methods: Participants were recruited from three geographical locations in the West of Scotland. A quota sampling design was used to ensure a broad spread of participants in terms of socio-economic position, age and gender. In total 40 participants were interviewed and the data analysed thematically using Braun and Clarke's (2006) approach. Results: Amongst those who used alcohol, it was most often framed in terms of pleasure, relaxation, socialising and as a way to mark the passage of time. Alcohol was often associated with social occasions and interactions both in private and in public spaces. There were also many examples of the use of imposed routines to limit alcohol use and of a decreasing volume of alcohol being consumed as participants aged. This suggests that older people are often active in constructing what they regard as ‘healthier’ routines around alcohol use. However, processes and circumstances associated with ageing can lead to risk of social isolation and/or increased alcohol consumption. Such processes include retirement from paid work and other ‘biographical disruptions’ such as caring for a partner, bereavement and/or loss of social networks. Conclusions: These findings highlight processes that can result in changes in drinking habits and routines. Whilst these processes can be associated with a reduction or cessation of alcohol use as people age, they can also be associated with increased risk of harmful alcohol consumption. Fractured or disrupted routines, particularly those associated with bereavement or the burden of caring responsibilities, through increasing the risk of loneliness and isolation, can construct increased risk of harmful alcohol consumption. These findings reframe the pathway of risk between ageing and alcohol-related harm by highlighting the vulnerability to harmful drinking practices brought by fracture or sudden change of routine. The findings point to a role for public health in supporting the reconstruction of routines that provide structure and meaning and can be used to actively manage the benefits and harms associated with drinking

Competency-based assessment for the training of PhD students and early-career scientists.

The training of PhD students and early-career scientists is largely an apprenticeship in which the trainee associates with an expert to become an independent scientist. But when is a PhD student ready to graduate, a postdoctoral scholar ready for an independent position, or an early-career scientist ready for advanced responsibilities? Research training by apprenticeship does not uniformly include a framework to assess if the trainee is equipped with the complex knowledge, skills and attitudes required to be a successful scientist in the 21st century. To address this problem, we propose competency-based assessment throughout the continuum of training to evaluate more objectively the development of PhD students and early-career scientists. © 2018, Verderame et al

Observations of High Vibrational Levels of the 4fσ 41Σ+ u State of H2

Resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization via the EF 1Σg+, v′ = 6 double-well state has been used to probe the energy region below the third dissociation limit of H2 where several high vibrational levels of the 41Σu+ state are expected. Theoretical ab initio potential energy curves for this state predict a deep inner well and shallow outer well where vibrational levels above v = 8 are expected to exhibit the double-well character of the state. Since the 41Σu+ state has f-state character, transitions to it from the ground state are nominally forbidden. However, the d character of the outer well of the EF 1Σg+ state allows access to this state. We report observations of transitions to the v = 9–12 levels of the 41Σu+ state and compare their energies to predicted energies calculated from an ab initio potential energy curve with adiabatic corrections. Assignments are based on measured energies and linewidths, rotational constants, and expected transition strengths. The amount of agreement between the predicted values and the observations is mixed, with the largest discrepancies arising for the v = 9 level, owing to strong nonadiabatic electronic mixing in this energy region

Observations of High Vibrational Levels of the 4fσ 41Σ+ u State of H2

Resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization via the EF 1Σg+, v′ = 6 double-well state has been used to probe the energy region below the third dissociation limit of H2 where several high vibrational levels of the 41Σu+ state are expected. Theoretical ab initio potential energy curves for this state predict a deep inner well and shallow outer well where vibrational levels above v = 8 are expected to exhibit the double-well character of the state. Since the 41Σu+ state has f-state character, transitions to it from the ground state are nominally forbidden. However, the d character of the outer well of the EF 1Σg+ state allows access to this state. We report observations of transitions to the v = 9–12 levels of the 41Σu+ state and compare their energies to predicted energies calculated from an ab initio potential energy curve with adiabatic corrections. Assignments are based on measured energies and linewidths, rotational constants, and expected transition strengths. The amount of agreement between the predicted values and the observations is mixed, with the largest discrepancies arising for the v = 9 level, owing to strong nonadiabatic electronic mixing in this energy region

Dynamics of Rydberg States of Nitric Oxide Probed By Two-Color Resonant Four-Wave Mixing Spectroscopy

Two-color resonant four-wave mixing (TC-RFWM) spectroscopy has been used to probe highly excited v = 0 and v = 1 Rydberg states of nitric oxide. Transitions to n = 16-30, v = 0, Rydberg states, and the 8p, 9p, 7f, 8f, 8s, and 9s, v = 1 Rydberg states from the A (2)Sigma(+), v\u27 = 0 and 1 states have been recorded. The decay rate of the 8p and 9p, v = 1 states has been extracted from the observed line profiles by using a recently developed model for the excitation of quasibound resonances in TC-RFWM spectroscopy. Transitions from the A (2)Sigma(+), v\u27 = 1 state to the X (2)Pi(3/2), v = 10 state have also been observed, allowing an absolute calibration of the TC-RFWM signal intensity. This calibration is used to determine an excited-state absorption cross section for the 9p, v = 1 Rydberg state. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-9606(98)01625-0]

Line Intensities and Molecular Opacities of the FeH F4Δi−X4ΔiF^4\Delta_i-X^4\Delta_i Transition

We calculate new line lists and opacities for the $F^4\Delta_i-X^4\Delta_i$ transition of FeH. The 0-0 band of this transition is responsible for the Wing-Ford band seen in M-type stars, sunspots and brown dwarfs. The new Einstein A values for each line are based on a high level ab initio calculation of the electronic transition dipole moment. The necessary rotational line strength factors (H\"onl-London factors) are derived for both the Hund's case (a) and (b) coupling limits. A new set of spectroscopic constants were derived from the existing FeH term values for v=0, 1 and 2 levels of the $X$ and $F$ states. Using these constants extrapolated term values were generated for v=3 and 4 and for $J$ values up to 50.5. The line lists (including Einstein A values) for the 25 vibrational bands with v$\leq$4 were generated using a merged list of experimental and extrapolated term values. The FeH line lists were use to compute the molecular opacities for a range of temperatures and pressures encountered in L and M dwarf atmospheres. Good agreement was found between the computed and observed spectral energy distribution of the L5 dwarf 2MASS-1507.Comment: 52 pages, 3 figures, many tables, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement

Continuity of heavy Rydberg behaviour in the ungerade ion-pair states of H 2

Heavy Rydberg behaviour and absolute quantum defects are reported for resonances in the ungerade manifold of H2 above the (1s, 3l) dissociation limit. The continuity of the vibrational progression of the B\u27\u27B-bar state through the crossing with the 3p asymptote is demonstrated and a predominantly diabatic picture of the vibrational motion emerges, indicating that the ion-pair resonances possess little 61Σu+ state character

The Normalization of Leisure Sex and Recreational Drugs: Exploring Associations Between Polydrug Use and Sexual Practices by English Festival-Goers

The relationship between drug use and sexual practice is complex. Significant focus has been placed on risky practices, yet the broader associations between drug use and sexual activities remain elusive outside such contexts. This is despite similar trends of liberalizing attitudes and practices being identified in each area, theorized as the normalization of recreational drug use and the liberalization of consensual sexual practice. In this article, we draw on convenience sample surveys of 966 festival-goers at an English music festival in 2016 and 2019 to assess prevalence of polydrug use and to examine whether people who consume illicit drugs are more likely to engage in sexual behaviors considered more liberal than the traditional norm. We show that people who reported polydrug use in the last 12 months were significantly more likely to engage in non-traditional sexual behaviors, including sex with a friend and anal sex, in that same time period. In combining and comparing two usually distinct discourses, this exploratory study suggests that the normalization of drugs and the liberalization of consensual sexual practices are related and can be conceptualized as part of a broader societal acceptance and cultural accommodation of illicit drug use and particular sexual practices as leisure activities, despite markedly different policy and legal contexts for each activity. We conclude that the concept of “normalization” may be more appropriate to understanding changes in sexuality than “liberalization” in the context of “leisure sex” and call for further cross-disciplinary research on drugs and sex using this approach