Examining the relationship of dieting behavior and substance use among female adolescents

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)The problem behavior theory suggests that the engagement in one problematic behavior increases the likelihood of engagement in another problematic behavior. Previous research has found among youth an increasing probability of co-occurring dieting and substance use behavior, particularly among girls. However, to date findings are inconclusive on the temporal ordering of these behaviors. Further, limited research has been conducted to explore whether the temporal ordering of the two behaviors exist similarly between White and Black youth. The present study will use a cross-lagged panel design across one year to examine the temporal ordering between dieting behavior and substance use among a sample of 2,016 adolescent females (grade mean=7; 77.2% White; 22.8% Black). We hypothesized that a bidirectional relationship would be observed between the two behaviors. However, given no published studies on this relationship by race, no a priori hypotheses were made for this second aim. Result showed that within the full sample dieting behavior significantly predicted substance use one year later, but the inverse relationship was not found. Additionally, this effect was replicated in the White sample but null effects in both directions was found among Black youth. These findings provide support for a temporal relationship between dieting behavior and substance use, such that the former predicts risk for the latter. Moreover, although there is evidence of race differences in the risk pathway, further research is needed to confirm this effect. Future studies are also needed to determine whether this observed temporal relationship is present among adolescent females of other racial/ethnic groups, as well as if the relationship varies as a function of other demographic variables, such as age (e.g., early, mid, or late-adolescence)

Computational modeling of the auditory brainstem response to continuous speech.

OBJECTIVE: The auditory brainstem response can be recorded non-invasively from scalp electrodes and serves as an important clinical measure of hearing function. We have recently shown how the brainstem response at the fundamental frequency of continuous, non-repetitive speech can be measured, and have used this measure to demonstrate that the response is modulated by selective attention. However, different parts of the speech signal as well as several parts of the brainstem contribute to this response. Here we employ a computational model of the brainstem to elucidate the influence of these different factors. APPROACH: We developed a computational model of the auditory brainstem by combining a model of the middle and inner ear with a model of globular bushy cells in the cochlear nuclei and with a phenomenological model of the inferior colliculus. We then employed the model to investigate the neural response to continuous speech at different stages in the brainstem, following the methodology developed recently by ourselves for detecting the brainstem response to running speech from scalp recordings. We compared the simulations with recordings from healthy volunteers. MAIN RESULTS: We found that the auditory-nerve fibers, the cochlear nuclei and the inferior colliculus all contributed to the speech-evoked brainstem response, although the dominant contribution came from the inferior colliculus. The delay of the response corresponded to that observed in experiments. We further found that a broad range of harmonics of the fundamental frequency, up to about 8 kHz, contributed to the brainstem response. The response declined with increasing fundamental frequency, although the signal-to-noise ratio was largely unaffected. SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest that the scalp-recorded brainstem response at the fundamental frequency of speech originates predominantly in the inferior colliculus. They further show that the response is shaped by a large number of higher harmonics of the fundamental frequency, reflecting highly nonlinear processing in the auditory periphery and illustrating the complexity of the response

Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults in the United Arab Emirates: Clinical Features and Factors Related to Insulin-Requirement

AIMS: To describe and to characterize clinical features of latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) compared to type 1 and type 2 diabetes in the UAE. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study a dataset including 18,101 subjects with adult-onset (>30 years) diabetes was accessed. 17,072 subjects fulfilled the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Data about anthropometrics, demographics, autoantibodies to Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase (GADA) and to Islet Antigen 2 (anti-IA2), HbA1c, cholesterol and blood pressure were extracted. LADA was diagnosed according to GADA and/or anti-IA2 positivity and time to insulin therapy. RESULTS: 437 (2.6%) patients were identified as LADA and 34 (0.2%) as classical type 1 diabetes in adults. Mean age at diagnosis, BMI, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure and HbA1c significantly differed between, LADA, type 2 and type 1 diabetes, LADA showing halfway features between type 2 and type 1 diabetes. A decreasing trend for age at diagnosis and waist circumference was found among LADA subjects when subdivided by positivity for anti-IA2, GADA or for both antibodies (p=0.013 and p=0.011 for trend, respectively). There was a gradual downward trend in autoantibody titre in LADA subjects requiring insulin within the first year from diagnosis to subjects not requiring insulin after 10 years of follow-up (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study describing the clinical features of LADA in the UAE, which appear to be different from both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, we showed that the clinical phenotype of LADA is dependent on different patterns of antibody positivity, influencing the time to insulin requirement

Trauma and racial discrimination: examining their association with marijuana behaviors among black young adults

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)Marijuana use has been shown to increase and peak during young adulthood (i.e., ages 18-35). However, it appears that Black individuals do not decline in use at rates similar to other race groups. Marijuana use among Black adults has been linked to more problems such as increased arrests, greater mental health disorder diagnoses, and substance dependence. The biopsychosocial model of racism and race-based theoretical framework aims to understand how factors such as racial discrimination as a traumatic event could be associated with marijuana behaviors, particularly among Black adults. The present study aims to examine the association between racial discrimination and marijuana use and problem use above and beyond trauma exposure. Further, I aimed to explore whether gender or vocation (college, community, and military) moderated the relationships. 391 Black adults (57.5% female; mean age 24.9) completed measures on marijuana use and problems, trauma exposure, and racial discrimination distress. Hierarchical linear regression and Hayes PROCESS macro were used to evaluate the study aims. Racial discrimination distress was associated with marijuana use above and beyond trauma exposure (R2=.016, p=.004). However, racial discrimination distress did not add significant variance within the model for problem marijuana use (R2=.001, p=.419). Additionally, moderation by gender and vocation were not supported in either model. Taken together, the present results support that examining psychological and health outcomes among Black young adults should include an evaluation of racial discrimination distress. Further, future studies should continue to evaluate sociodemographic factors in larger more representative community-based studies to better understand potential variation in risk among Black young adults

Tingkat Kerentanan Sosial Ekonomi Petani terhadap Jatuhan Piroklastik Gunungapi (Kasus : Desa Ngargomulyo, Kecamatan Dukun, Kabupaten Magelang).

Penelitian dilakukan di Desa Ngargomulyo yang berada dalam kawasan berpotensi terlanda lontaran batu pijar dan hujan abu lebat. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah 1) Mengkaji tingkat kerentanan sosial ekonomi petani Desa Ngargomulyo dalam menghadapi ancaman jatuhan piroklastik Gunungapi Merapi; 2) Mengkaji upaya yang dilakukan oleh stakeholder kebencanaan untuk mengurangi kerentanan sosial-ekonomi petani. Metode analisis data dalam penelitian ini adalah analisis deskripitif kuantitatif untuk tujuan yang pertama dan deskiptif kualitatif untuk tujuan yang kedua.Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa 25 persen responden memiliki kerentanan sosial ekonomi tinggi, 47 persen memiliki kerentanan sedang dan 28 persen responden memiliki kerentanan rendah. Petani dengan dukungan aset natural yang lemah dan secara sosial kurang beruntung lebih rentan terhadap bahaya jatuhan piroklastik.Upaya yang dilakukan Pemerintah Desa Ngargomulyo dan rumah tangga tani adalah adanya inisasi konsep desa saudara dan tabungan ternak bencana. Peran LSM yang menonjol adalah peran LSM Save The Children dan Muslim Aid yang melakukan pendampingan kepada petani terkait dengan kegiatan pertanian serta kebencanaan

Trends in typologies of concurrent alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use among US adolescents: An ecological examination by sex and race/ethnicity

Substance use during adolescence is a public health concern due to associated physical and behavioral health consequences. Such consequences are amplified among concurrent substance users. Although sex and racial/ethnic differences in single-substance use have been observed, the current literature is inconclusive as to whether differences exist in the prevalence of concurrent use. The current study used data from the 2011–2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health to examine typologies (single and concurrent patterns) of alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use among current adolescent users age 12–18 by sex and race/ethnicity. Participants were 14,667 White, Hispanic, African American, Asian, and Native American adolescents. The most common typology was alcohol only, followed by concurrent use of alcohol and marijuana. Weighted prevalence estimates indicated that adolescent females were more likely to be current users of alcohol only, whereas male adolescents were more likely to belong to all other typologies. Compared to Whites, racial/ethnic minorities had larger proportions of marijuana only users and were generally less likely than or equally likely to be concurrent users. One exception was for African American adolescents, who were more likely to be alcohol and marijuana users than their White counterparts. Results suggest that concurrent substance use is common among U.S. adolescents, making up over 40% of past-month use, but typologies of use vary by sex and race/ethnicity. Preventive interventions should consider all typologies of use rather than only single substance exposures and address patterns of use that are most pertinent to adolescents based on sex and race/ethnicity

Pengaruh Jenis Kemasan terhadap Kondisi Penyimpanan Gabah Kering Panen, Rendemen Giling dan Beras Kepala

Aging is a natural and spontaneous phenomenon which occurs during storage of dry grain, involving physical changes and chemical that would alter the quality of the cooking, processing, taste and nutritional value as well as affect the commercial value of rice. Naturally aging takes a long time between 6-12 months so it is less economical. Aging may be accelerated by increasing the grain moisture content and storage temperature. Freshly harvested rough rice contains high moisture content ranging between 21-26% and respiration activity is still high which generate heat that can be accumulated by the packaging, so the grain temperature increases. The purpose of this study was to determine the types of packaging which can increase the temperature and RH storage, milling yield and head rice yield. Grain varieties used are Siam Pandak with five types of packaging, ie black plastic bags, sacks, cans, wood and tarpaulin, and stored for 72 hours. As a control, direct drying grain harvest is used. Observations are including temperature and RH in packaging, milling recovery and head rice yields. The results showed that all types of packaging used can increase the temperature and RH in the packaging than the temperature and RH in storage space. The most high milling recovery obtained from black plastic packaging, while the head rice yields all kinds of packaging meets the quality criteria V ISO 6128-2008 except wood packaging, although based on the percentage of head rice, tarpaulins packaging has the highest head rice

Catechol-O-Methyltransferase moderates effect of stress mindset on affect and cognition

There is evidence that altering stress mindset—the belief that stress is enhancing vs. debilitating—can change cognitive, affective and physiological responses to stress. However individual differences in responsiveness to stress mindset manipulations have not been explored. Given the previously established role of catecholamines in both placebo effects and stress, we hypothesized that genetic variation in catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), an enzyme that metabolizes catecholamines, would moderate responses to an intervention intended to alter participants’ mindsets about stress. Participants (N = 107) were exposed to a stress mindset manipulation (videos highlighting either the enhancing or debilitating effects of stress) prior to engaging in a Trier Social Stress task and subsequent cognitive tasks. The associations of the COMT rs4680 polymorphism with the effect of stress mindset video manipulations on cognitive and affective responses were examined. Genetic variation at rs4680 modified the effects of stress mindset on affective and cognitive responses to stress. Individuals homozygous for rs4680 low-activity allele (met/met) were responsive to the stress-is-enhancing mindset manipulation as indicated by greater increases in positive affect, improved cognitive functioning, and happiness bias in response to stress. Conversely, individuals homozygous for the high-activity allele (val/val) were not as responsive to the stress mindset manipulation. These results suggest that responses to stress mindset intervention may vary with COMT genotype. These findings contribute to the understanding of gene by environment interactions for mindset interventions and stress reactivity and therefore warrant further investigations