Federal Limitations on State Power to Regulate Radioactive Waste

Radioactive Wast

Characterizing the Patterns, Predictors, and Processes Involved in Recovery from Substance Use Disorders

Alcohol and drug use disorders are associated with significant cost to individuals, families, and society.Approximately 40-75% of affected individuals remit from alcohol use disorders (AUD). Although the development of AUD is well studied, recovery from AUD and factors that contribute to recovery are not as well characterized. With the definition of recovery evolving towards a process rather than an outcome, there is a need to better understand psychosocial functioning and quality of life among individuals at different points in their recovery journeys. Concurrently, additional research is needed to understand the interplay between sources of recovery capital, individual differences in risk factors for substance use, genetic influences, and psychosocial functioning and quality of life. To address that gap, we used a subsample of young adults who met criteria for AUD in their lifetime but later remitted (N = 323), derived from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) Prospective Study, to investigate profiles of functioning related to quality of life at first remitted assessment. We also examined recovery capital, epidemiological risk factors for substance use, and genome-wide polygenic risk scores as predictors of these profiles. Results suggested that a two-profile solution fit the data best, with 40% of participants categorized into the “infrequent alcohol use, good health” profile and 60% into the “frequent alcohol use, good to very good health” profile. These findings indicate heterogeneity in functioning related to quality of life among those in AUD remission. Importantly, however, individuals in the “frequent alcohol use, good to very good” profile relative to individuals in the “infrequent alcohol use, good health” profile may represent those individuals who matured out of AUD. Social support for recovery, lifetime maximum depressive and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, and lifetime exposure to sexual assaultive trauma were higher in the “infrequent alcohol use, good health” profile than in the “frequent alcohol use, good to very good health” profile, while affiliation with deviant peers during adolescence and sensation seeking was higher in the latter profile. When examining the joint influence of all predictors on assigned profile membership, none had a unique effect. None of our polygenic risk scores were associated with assigned profile membership. Our findings add to the body of literature suggesting thatheterogeneity in patterns of quality of life exists among those in AUD remission. Although none of our predictors had a unique effect on assigned profile membership when modeled simultaneously, findings suggest that mechanisms that underlie the development of AUD, such as comorbid internalizing symptoms and externalizing behaviors, may be important to consider with respect to quality of life in AUD remission. Moreover, findings from the present study can inform our understanding of recovery processes. The present findings underscore the importance of measuring individuals’ self-reported recovery status and/or recovery identity so as not to conflate recovery processes with maturing out of AUD

Amor Fati in Jaco Van Dormael\u27s Film, Mr. Nobody

The argument in this thesis is how the philosophies of the German Frederich Nietzsche are portrayed throughout the Belgian director Jaco Van Dormael’s film Mr. Nobody (2009). Mr. Nobody is a film about every imaginable way one man’s life could unfold from every major and minor decision he makes. Nietzsche’s philosophy of Amor Fati, or love of fate, is portrayed by the film’s main character, Nemo Nobody (Jared Leto). Within the different quantum branches of Nemo’s life he portrays both the man of reason and the man of intuition; a topic central to Nietzsche’s philosophy. In the various timelines in the film Nemo lives as either the man of intuition, embracing this idea of amour fati, or as the man of reason who tries to master his fate. This thesis examines a few scenes that are the keys to understanding the different ways in which to live one’s life and how no matter what one chooses, every life is the right life and in theory could be lived over and over again for all eternity

A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF THE STRESS-BUFFERING EFFECTS OF ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS ON ALCOHOL OUTCOMES IN COLLEGE STUDENTS EXPOSED TO TRAUMA

This study examined interplay between interpersonal trauma (IPT), relationship status, relationship satisfaction (SAT), and partner substance use (PSU), and whether these relationship dimensions moderated associations between IPT and alcohol outcomes. Data came from a longitudinal study of college students (N=9,911; 61%female; 49%White). Precollege IPT increased the likelihood of being in a relationship, while college-onset IPT decreased the likelihood. IPT predicted lower SAT and higher PSU. Individuals with precollege IPT consumed more alcohol than those without IPT, but this was mitigated for those in relationships. Individuals with college-onset IPT consumed more alcohol than those without IPT, and this was more pronounced with higher PSU. Effects changed modestly when controlling for PTSD. Findings suggest timing of IPT impacts its effects on relationship dimensions, and their interactive effects on alcohol. Involvement in relationships, but not relationship satisfaction, buffers against the effects of IPT on alcohol use, while high PSU partner exacerbates it

Examination of Regional Transit Service Under Contracting: A Case Study in the Greater New Orleans Region, Research Report 10-09

Many local governments and transit agencies in the United States face financial difficulties in providing adequate public transit service in individual systems, and in providing sufficient regional coordination to accommodate transit trips involving at least one transfer between systems. These difficulties can be attributed to the recent economic downturn, continuing withdrawal of the state and federal funds that help support local transit service, a decline in local funding for transit service in inner cities due to ongoing suburbanization, and a distribution of resources that responds to geographic equity without addressing service needs. This study examines two main research questions: (1) the effect of a “delegated management” contract on efficiency and effectiveness within a single transit system, and (2) the effects of a single private firm—contracted separately by more than one agency in the same region—on regional coordination, exploring the case in Greater New Orleans. The current situation in New Orleans exhibits two unique transit service conditions. First, New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA) executed a “delegated management” contract with a multinational private firm, outsourcing more functions (e.g., management, planning, funding) to the contractor than has been typical in the U.S. Second, as the same contractor has also been contracted by another transit agency in an adjacent jurisdiction—Jefferson Transit (JeT), this firm may potentially have economic incentives to improve regional coordination, in order to increase the productivity and effectiveness of its own transit service provision. Although the limited amount of available operation and financial data has prevented us from drawing more definitive conclusions, the findings of this multifaceted study should provide valuable information on a transit service contracting approach new to the U.S.: delegated management. This study also identified a coherent set of indices with which to evaluate the regional coordination of transit service, the present status of coordination among U.S. transit agencies, and barriers that need to be resolved for regional transit coordination to be successful

Is the New Ecological Paradigm Scale Stuck in Time? A Working Paper

The most frequently used environmental attitude scale – the New Environmental Paradigm scale – may be woefully dated. The scale was designed to measure adherence to a paradigm of environmentally focused ethics and beliefs. However, scale items drawn on a not-yet-solidified worldview have led to issues of reliability and validity

The antibody loci of the domestic goat (Capra hircus)

The domestic goat (Capra hircus) is an important ruminant species both as a source of antibody-based reagents for research and biomedical applications and as an economically important animal for agriculture, particularly for developing nations that maintain most of the global goat population. Characterization of the loci encoding the goat immune repertoire would be highly beneficial for both vaccine and immune reagent development. However, in goat and other species whose reference genomes were generated using short-read sequencing technologies, the immune loci are poorly assembled as a result of their repetitive nature. Our recent construction of a long-read goat genome assembly (ARS1) has facilitated characterization of all three antibody loci with high confidence and comparative analysis to cattle. We observed broad similarity of goat and cattle antibody-encoding loci but with notable differences that likely influence formation of the functional antibody repertoire. The goat heavy-chain locus is restricted to only four functional and nearly identical IGHV genes, in contrast to the ten observed in cattle. Repertoire analysis indicates that light-chain usage is more balanced in goats, with greater representation of kappa light chains (~ 20-30%) compared to that in cattle (~ 5%). The present study represents the first characterization of the goat antibody loci and will help inform future investigations of their antibody responses to disease and vaccination

Compartment Model for Controlling Infectious Livestock Disease: Cost-Effective Control Strategies for Johne's Disease In Dairy Herds

Replaced with revised version of paper 06/08/11.animal compartment model, dairy cattle disease, Johne’s disease, livestock disease control, Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis, Farm Management, Livestock Production/Industries,