Effects of backpacking holidays in Australia on alcohol, tobacco and drug use of UK residents

BACKGROUND: Whilst alcohol and drug use among young people is known to escalate during short holidays and working breaks in international nightlife resorts, little empirical data are available on the impact of longer backpacking holidays on substance use. Here we examine changes in alcohol, tobacco and drug use when UK residents go backpacking in Australia. METHODS: Matched information on alcohol and drug use in Australia and the UK was collected through a cross sectional cohort study of 1008 UK nationals aged 18–35 years, holidaying in Sydney or Cairns, Australia, during 2005. RESULTS: The use of alcohol and other drugs by UK backpackers visiting Australia was common with use of illicit drugs being substantially higher than in peers of the same age in their home country. Individuals showed a significant increase in frequency of alcohol consumption in Australia compared to their behaviour in the UK with the proportion drinking five or more times per week rising from 20.7% (UK) to 40.3% (Australia). Relatively few individuals were recruited into drug use in Australia (3.0%, cannabis; 2.7% ecstasy; 0.7%, methamphetamine). However, over half of the sample (55.0%) used at least one illicit drug when backpacking. Risk factors for illicit drug use while backpacking were being regular club goers, being male, Sydney based, travelling without a partner or spouse, having been in Australia more than four weeks, Australia being the only destination on their vacation and drinking or smoking five or more days a week. CONCLUSION: As countries actively seek to attract more international backpacker tourists, interventions must be developed that target this population's risk behaviours. Developing messages on drunkenness and other drug use specifically for backpackers could help minimise their health risks directly (e.g. adverse drug reactions) and indirectly (e.g. accidents and violence) as well as negative impacts on the host country

Interventions to support people exposed to adverse childhood experiences : systematic review of systematic reviews

BACKGROUND: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) such as abuse, neglect or household adversity may have a range of serious negative impacts. There is a need to understand what interventions are effective to improve outcomes for people who have experienced ACEs. METHODS: Systematic review of systematic reviews. We searched 18 database sources from 2007 to 2018 for systematic reviews of effectiveness data on people who experienced ACEs aged 3-18, on any intervention and any outcome except incidence of ACEs. We included reviews with a summary quality score (AMSTAR) of 5.5 or above. RESULTS: Twenty-five reviews were included. Most reviews focus on psychological interventions and mental health outcomes. The strongest evidence is for cognitive-behavioural therapy for people exposed to abuse. For other interventions - including psychological therapies, parent training, and broader support interventions - the findings overall are inconclusive, although there are some positive results. CONCLUSIONS: There are significant gaps in the evidence on interventions for ACEs. Most approaches focus on mitigating individual psychological harms, and do not address the social pathways which may mediate the negative impacts of ACEs. Many negative impacts of ACEs (e.g. on health behaviours, social relationships and life circumstances) have also not been widely addressed by intervention studies

Measurements of the Electric Form Factor of the Neutron up to Q2=3.4 GeV2 using the Reaction He3(e,e'n)pp

The electric form factor of the neutron was determined from studies of the reaction He3(e,e'n)pp in quasi-elastic kinematics in Hall A at Jefferson Lab. Longitudinally polarized electrons were scattered off a polarized target in which the nuclear polarization was oriented perpendicular to the momentum transfer. The scattered electrons were detected in a magnetic spectrometer in coincidence with neutrons that were registered in a large-solid-angle detector. More than doubling the Q2-range over which it is known, we find GEn = 0.0225 +/- 0.0017 (stat) +/- 0.0024 (syst), 0.0200 +/- 0.0023 +/- 0.0018, and 0.0142 +/- 0.0019 +/- 0.0013 for Q2 = 1.72, 2.48, and 3.41 GeV2, respectively.Comment: submitted to PR

Nighttime assaults: using a national emergency department monitoring system to predict occurrence, target prevention and plan services

Background: Emergency department (ED) data have the potential to provide critical intelligence on when violence is most likely to occur and the characteristics of those who suffer the greatest health impacts. We use a national experimental ED monitoring system to examine how it could target violence prevention interventions towards at risk communities and optimise acute responses to calendar, holiday and other celebration-related changes in nighttime assaults. Methods: A cross-sectional examination of nighttime assault presentations (6.01 pm to 6.00 am; n = 330,172) over a three-year period (31st March 2008 to 30th March 2011) to English EDs analysing changes by weekday, month, holidays, major sporting events, and demographics of those presenting. Results: Males are at greater risk of assault presentation (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 3.14, 95% confidence intervals [CIs] 3.11-3.16; P < 0.001); with male:female ratios increasing on more violent nights. Risks peak at age 18 years. Deprived individuals have greater risks of presenting across all ages (AOR 3.87, 95% CIs 3.82-3.92; P < 0.001). Proportions of assaults from deprived communities increase midweek. Female presentations in affluent areas peak aged 20 years. By age 13, females from deprived communities exceed this peak. Presentations peak on Friday and Saturday nights and the eves of public holidays; the largest peak is on New Year’s Eve. Assaults increase over summer with a nadir in January. Impacts of annual celebrations without holidays vary. Some (Halloween, Guy Fawkes and St Patrick’s nights) see increased assaults while others (St George’s and Valentine’s Day nights) do not. Home nation World Cup football matches are associated with nearly a three times increase in midweek assault presentation. Other football and rugby events examined show no impact. The 2008 Olympics saw assaults fall. The overall calendar model strongly predicts observed presentations (R2 = 0.918; P < 0.001). Conclusions: To date, the role of ED data has focused on helping target nightlife police activity. Its utility is much greater; capable of targeting and evaluating multi-agency life course approaches to violence prevention and optimising frontline resources. National ED data are critical for fully engaging health services in the prevention of violence

A Search for Dark Higgs Bosons

Recent astrophysical and terrestrial experiments have motivated the proposal of a dark sector with GeV-scale gauge boson force carriers and new Higgs bosons. We present a search for a dark Higgs boson using 516 fb-1 of data collected with the BABAR detector. We do not observe a significant signal and we set 90% confidence level upper limits on the product of the Standard Model-dark sector mixing angle and the dark sector coupling constant.Comment: 7 pages, 5 postscript figures, published version with improved plots for b/w printin

Interplay Between Childhood Physical Abuse and Familial Risk in the Onset of Psychotic Disorders

Background: Childhood abuse is considered one of the main environmental risk factors for the development of psychotic symptoms and disorders. However, this association could be due to genetic factors influencing exposure to such risky environments or increasing sensitivity to the detrimental impact of abuse. Therefore, using a large epidemiological case-control sample, we explored the interplay between a specific form of childhood abuse and family psychiatric history (a proxy for genetic risk) in the onset of psychosis. Methods: Data were available on 172 first presentation psychosis cases and 246 geographically matched controls from the Aetiology and Ethnicity of Schizophrenia and Other Psychoses study. Information on childhood abuse was obtained retrospectively using the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire and occurrence of psychotic and affective disorders in first degree relatives with the Family Interview for Genetic Studies. Results: Parental psychosis was more common among psychosis cases than unaffected controls (adjusted OR = 5.96, 95% CI: 2.09–17.01, P = .001). Parental psychosis was also associated with physical abuse from mothers in both cases (OR = 3.64, 95% CI: 1.06–12.51, P = .040) and controls (OR = 10.93, 95% CI: 1.03–115.90, P = .047), indicative of a gene-environment correlation. Nevertheless, adjusting for parental psychosis did not measurably impact on the abuse-psychosis association (adjusted OR = 3.31, 95% CI: 1.22–8.95, P= .018). No interactions were found between familial liability and maternal physical abuse in determining psychosis caseness. Conclusions: This study found no evidence that familial risk accounts for associations between childhood physical abuse and psychotic disorder nor that it substantially increases the odds of psychosis among individuals reporting abuse

The relationship between a trusted adult and adolescent outcomes:A protocol of a scoping review

Abstract Background Although documentation of harm towards children and young people has existed for centuries, it was not until the 1960s that it became a specific focus for health professionals. Since that time, the importance of protective social networks has become better understood. The concept of trusted adults has come into sharper focus, with children being encouraged to develop networks of dependable adults to turn to for support in times of need. While many child protection processes highlight risks to younger children, there has been less emphasis on older children. The role of trusted adults may be particularly important during adolescence, due to burgeoning independence, developing sexuality, relationship formation, and associated vulnerabilities. While important choices relating to health and education are made during this period, there is little formal evidence relating to the impact of trusted adults on such outcomes. This review therefore aims to focus on the role and influence of trusted adults for adolescents. Methods This study is a scoping review. A broad range of databases will be searched, including MEDLINE, ERIC, Education Abstracts, Web of Science, ASSIA, Sociological Abstracts, and PsycINFO. Predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria will be used, with a focus on outcomes relating to health and education. Two reviewers will blind screen papers independently at all screening stages, with conflicts being resolved by a third reviewer. Quantitative and qualitative studies, as well as unpublished (grey) literature/reports, will be included. We will use the World Health Organization’s ‘second decade’ definition of adolescence. We aim to collate and map evidence in a broad overview and produce meta-analyses of homogenous data. Where this is not possible, a narrative summary will be produced. Discussion There appears to be sparse knowledge regarding the role of trusted adults for adolescents. Potential benefits to health and wellbeing may impact on educational attainment, and vice versa. These areas are of particular relevance during the second decade, when decisions that affect future direction, achievement, and wellbeing are being made. The increased understanding of the role of trusted adults provided by this review may help to inform practice and policy and lead to potential benefits for the health and education of adolescents. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD 4201707673

Rapid interactome profiling by massive sequencing

We have developed a high-throughput protein expression and interaction analysis platform that combines cDNA phage display library selection and massive gene sequencing using the 454 platform. A phage display library of open reading frame (ORF) fragments was created from mRNA derived from different tissues. This was used to study the interaction network of the enzyme transglutaminase 2 (TG2), a multifunctional enzyme involved in the regulation of cell growth, differentiation and apoptosis, associated with many different pathologies. After two rounds of panning with TG2 we assayed the frequency of ORFs within the selected phage population using 454 sequencing. Ranking and analysis of more than 120 000 sequences allowed us to identify several potential interactors, which were subsequently confirmed in functional assays. Within the identified clones, three had been previously described as interacting proteins (fibronectin, SMOC1 and GSTO2), while all the others were new. When compared with standard systems, such as microtiter enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay, the method described here is dramatically faster and yields far more information about the interaction under study, allowing better characterization of complex systems. For example, in the case of fibronectin, it was possible to identify the specific domains involved in the interaction

An exploratory study of the relationship between parental attitudes and behaviour and young people's consumption of alcohol

Background Concern is growing regarding frequent and excessive misuse of alcohol by young people. The average age at which young people in Europe start to drink is twelve and a half, and during the last decade, the quantity of alcohol consumed by younger adolescents in the UK has increased. Families are known to play an important role in shaping young people's alcohol misuse, although family risk and protective factors associated with misuse in a UK context are in need of further investigation. Methods The study used a cross-sectional design, involving secondary analyses of self-completion questionnaire responses from 6,628 secondary school children (i.e. aged 11-16 years), from 12 schools within an urban location in Wales. Items relating to family functioning and perceived parental attitudes were first subjected to factor analysis. Associations of family closeness and conflict, parental monitoring and attitudes and family history of substance misuse with children's self reported alcohol consumption were examined using logistic regression analyses. Results Approximately three quarters of respondents reported having tried alcohol, most of whom had first tried alcohol aged 12 or under. Parental monitoring and family closeness were positively correlated with one another and were both associated with significantly lower levels of drinking behaviours. Family violence and conflict, more liberal parental attitudes towards substance use and towards alcohol and petty crime, and family history of substance misuse were positively correlated with one another and with higher levels of drinking behaviours. Parental monitoring was identified as the family functioning factor most consistently associated with drinking behaviour in multivariate analyses. Conclusions Significant relationships were found between young people's drinking behaviours and perceptions of risk and protective factors in the family environment. Parental monitoring was strongly associated with family closeness and appeared to form one part of a parenting style of more general communication and regulation of children's behaviour. Findings support the need for alcohol misuse prevention interventions which address risk and protective factors within the family setting. Timing of such prevention work should be related both to the development of family relationships and the age at which young people begin drinking alcohol

Auditory Feedback Control of Vocal Pitch during Sustained Vocalization: A Cross-Sectional Study of Adult Aging

Background: Auditory feedback has been demonstrated to play an important role in the control of voice fundamental frequency (F0), but the mechanisms underlying the processing of auditory feedback remain poorly understood. It has been well documented that young adults can use auditory feedback to stabilize their voice F0 by making compensatory responses to perturbations they hear in their vocal pitch feedback. However, little is known about the effects of aging on the processing of audio-vocal feedback during vocalization. Methodology/Principal Findings: In the present study, we recruited adults who were between 19 and 75 years of age and divided them into five age groups. Using a pitch-shift paradigm, the pitch of their vocal feedback was unexpectedly shifted 650 or 6100 cents during sustained vocalization of the vowel sound/u/. Compensatory vocal F0 response magnitudes and latencies to pitch feedback perturbations were examined. A significant effect of age was found such that response magnitudes increased with increasing age until maximal values were reached for adults 51–60 years of age and then decreased for adults 61–75 years of age. Adults 51–60 years of age were also more sensitive to the direction and magnitude of the pitch feedback perturbations compared to younger adults. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that the pitch-shift reflex systematically changes across the adult lifespan. Understanding aging-related changes to the role of auditory feedback is critically important for our theoretica