LONGITUDINAL PROSPECTIVE RELATIONS BETWEEN CANNABIS USE AND SUBSTANCE-FREE ACTIVITIES IN A DIVERSE COMMUNITY SAMPLE OF EMERGING ADULT HEAVY DRINKERS

National drinking and drug use trends suggest emerging adulthood (ages 18-25) is the developmental apex of harmful co-use of alcohol and drugs, with notable recent increases in cannabis use among emerging adults. Many emerging adults naturally begin to reduce harmful alcohol or drug use into their late 20s and 30s, however, a significant subgroup report a developmentally persistent pattern of frequent alcohol and cannabis use. There is evidence that limited access to alternative substance-free reinforcement (SFR) is a risk factor for chronic alcohol and drug misuse, there is a need for longitudinal research that examines changes in patterns of SFR and cannabis use during this developmental window. This study examined baseline associations and dynamic relations between cannabis use and SFR using latent change score modeling over 32-months (five assessment waves) in a community sample of heavy drinking emerging adults (baseline N = 439, Mage = 22.60, 53.8% female, 47.7% White, 41.3% Black). Cannabis use and depressive symptoms were associated with less access to substance-free rewards at baseline. Participants with less household income, other drug use in the past-month, and more recent heavy drinking days reported more cannabis use at baseline. Cannabis use and SFR showed small decreases over study waves and participants with higher baseline cannabis use showed smaller reductions in cannabis use over time and steeper reductions in SFR. Assigned sex and college status influenced the magnitude of change trajectories of SFR (Female: β = -.09, p = .02 Male: β = -.23, p \u3c .001) and cannabis use (Non college: β = -.12, p \u3c.001; College: β = -.22, p \u3c .001), respectively. Contrary to hypotheses, cannabis use was not prospectively associated with subsequent change in substance-free activity engagement across waves, or vice versa. Overall results are consistent with previous research suggesting that cannabis use is associated with less access to SFR, but do not suggest a specific prospective association between these two outcomes in emerging adult heavy drinkers

The Implementation of a Teacher Referral Behavioral Checklist in the Identification of Language Processing Deficits

The identification of language processing deficits has been acknowledged as a difficult task for the speech/language clinician. The literature has cited certain observable behaviors associated with language processing deficits, but these behaviors are often subtle enough to escape detection during routine speech and language screenings. Therefore, many language processing deficits are not identified until after the children have begun to experience academic struggle and/or failure. Several authors (Chalfant & Foster, 1974; Shepherd, 1982; Wiig & Semel, 1980) have suggested that classroom teachers may be useful in aiding speech/language pathologists in identifying these deficits. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a Behavioral Checklist of documented observable behaviors which could be used as a teacher referral form to assist speech/language pathologists in the identification of children with potential language processing deficits. The proposed Behavioral Checklist was completed by the classroom teachers of forty second and third grade subjects. Each subject was then given the Language Processing Test (LPT) (Richard and Hanner, 1985) and the Test of Problem Solving (TOPS) (Zachman, Jorgensen, Huisingh & Barrett, 1984). Each of the forty subjects were reevaluated by their teachers on the Behavioral Checklist three weeks later. Scores were calculated for each of the measurements and compared statistically using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and Multiple Linear Regression. Analysis of the data revealed significant reliability of the proposed Behavioral Checklist (R2= .77). Although the relationship between the Behavioral Checklist and language processing performance on the LPT and TOPS were not found to be statistically significant, an inverse relationship was suggested. These findings indicate that the proposed Behavioral Checklist is a reliable measure for using classroom teachers to observe behaviors associated with potential language processing deficits. Future research needs to re-address the second question to determine the relationship between the Behavioral Checklist and standardized tests used for identifying children with potential language processing deficits

Coagulase-negative staphylococci as a cause of infections related to intravascular prosthetic devices: limitations of present therapy

Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) are an important cause of catheter-related bloodstream infections. This review will shed light on the pathogenesis related to biofilm formation, and will discuss antimicrobial susceptibility of CNS to older and newer antibiotics, as well as therapeutic options

Control of Error Rates in Adaptive Analysis of Orthogonal Saturated Designs

Individual and simultaneous confidence intervals using the data adaptively are constructed for the effects in orthogonal saturated designs under the assumption of effect sparsity. The minimum coverage probabilities of the intervals are equal to the nominal level 1 - α

GSK-3β phosphorylation of functionally distinct tau isoforms has differential, but mild effects

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tau protein exists as six different isoforms that differ by the inclusion or exclusion of exons 2, 3 and 10. Exon 10 encodes a microtubule binding repeat, thereby resulting in three isoforms with three microtubule binding repeats (3R) and three isoforms that have four microtubule binding repeats (4R). In normal adult brain, the relative amounts of 3R tau and 4R tau are approximately equal. These relative protein levels are preserved in Alzheimer's disease, although in other neurodegenerative tauopathies such as progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration and Pick's disease, the ratio of 3R:4R is frequently altered. Because tau isoforms are not equally involved in these diseases, it is possible that they either have inherently unique characteristics owing to their primary structures or that post-translational modification, such as phosphorylation, differentially affects their properties.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have determined the effects of phosphorylation by a kinase widely believed to be involved in neurodegenerative processes, glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β), on the microtubule binding and inducer-initiated polymerization of these isoforms in vitro. We have found that each isoform has a unique microtubule binding and polymerization profile that is altered by GSK-3β. GSK-3β phosphorylation had differential effects on the isoforms although there were similarities between isoforms and the effects were generally mild.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results indicate that tau phosphorylation by a single kinase can have isoform specific outcomes. The mild nature of these changes, however, makes it unlikely that differential effects of GSK-3β phosphorylation on the isoforms are causative in neurodegenerative disease. Instead, the inherent differences in the isoform interactions themselves and local conditions in the diseased cells are likely the major determinant of isoform involvement in various neurodegenerative disorders.</p

Structure Preserving Spatial Discretization of a 1-D Piezoelectric Timoshenko Beam

In this paper we show how to spatially discretize a distributed model of a piezoelectric beam representing the dynamics of an inflatable space reflector in port-Hamiltonian (pH) form. This model can then be used to design a controller for the shape of the inflatable structure. Inflatable structures have very nice properties, suitable for aerospace applications, e.g., inflatable space reflectors. With this technology we can build inflatable reflectors which are about 100 times bigger than solid ones. But to be useful for telescopes we have to achieve the desired surface accuracy by actively controlling the surface of the inflatable. The starting point of the control design is modeling for control. In this paper we choose lumped pH modeling since these models offer a clear structure for control design. To be able to design a finite dimensional controller for the infinite dimensional system we need a finite dimensional approximation of the infinite dimensional system which inherits all the structural properties of the infinite dimensional system, e.g., passivity. To achieve this goal first divide the one-dimensional (1-D) Timoshenko beam with piezoelectric actuation into several finite elements. Next we discretize the dynamics of the beam on the finite element in a structure preserving way. These finite elements are then interconnected in a physical motivated way. The interconnected system is then a finite dimensional approximation of the beam dynamics in the pH framework. Hence, it has inherited all the physical properties of the infinite dimensional system. To show the validity of the finite dimensional system we will present simulation results. In future work we will also focus on two-dimensional (2-D) models.

Galactic distribution of merging neutron stars and black holes - prospects for short GRB progenitors and LIGO/VIRGO

We have performed detailed population synthesis on a large number (20 million) of binary systems in order to investigate the properties of massive double degenerate binaries. We have included new important results in our input physics in order to obtain more reliable estimates of the merging timescales and relative formation rates. These improvements include refined treatment of the binding energy in a common envelope, helium star evolution and reduced kicks imparted to newborn black holes. The discovery and observations of GRB afterglows and the identification of host galaxies have allowed comparisons of theoretical distributions of merger sites with the observed distribution of afterglow positions relative to host galaxies. To help investigate the physical nature of short- and long-duration GRBs, we compute the distances of merging neutron stars (NS) and/or black holes (BH) from the centers of their host galaxies, as predicted by their formation scenario combined with motion in galactic potentials. Furthermore, we estimate the formation rate and merging rate of these massive double degenerate binaries. The latter is very important for the prospects of detecting gravitational waves with LIGO/VIRGO. We find that the expected detection rate for LIGO II is ~850 per year for galactic field sources and that this rate is completely dominated by merging BHBH binaries. Even LIGO I may detect such an event (~0.25 per year). Our preferred model estimate the Galactic field NSNS merger rate to be ~1.5*10^(-6) per year. For BHBH systems this model predicts a merger rate of ~9.7*10^{-6} per year. Our studies also reveal an accumulating numerous population of very wide orbit BHBH systems which never merge (t >> t_Hubble).Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, accepted by MNRA