Understanding Rates of Marijuana Use and Consequences Among Adolescents in a Changing Legal Landscape.

Purpose of Review:There is not one answer to address whether marijuana use has increased, decreased, or stayed the same given changes in state legalization of medical and non-medical marijuana in the USA. Recent Findings:Evidence suggests some health benefits for medical marijuana; however, initiation of marijuana use is a risk factor for developing problem cannabis use. Though use rates have remained stable over recent years, about one in three 10th graders report marijuana use, most adolescents do not view the drug as harmful, and over 650,000 youth aged 12 to 17 struggle with cannabis use disorder. Summary:Although the health benefits of medical marijuana are becoming better understood, more research is needed. Intervention and prevention programs must better address effects of marijuana, acknowledging that while there may be some benefits medically, marijuana use can affect functioning during adolescence when the brain is still developing

Frontiers of Health Policy: Digital Data and Personalized Medicine

This paper argues that due to two unstoppable mechanisms, some of the most pressing future questions in health policy will relate to the use of digital technologies to analyze data concerning patient health. The first mechanism is the shift away from a system where patient data was essentially temporary and not intended to be reused or easily accessed again, to a new digital world where patient data is easily transferred and accessed repeatedly. The second mechanism is a fundamental deepening of the nature of patient data that enables increased personalization of health care for each individual patient, based on not only their detailed medical history, but also their likely future medical history that can be projected for their genetic makeup. We summarize our research investigating the potential consequences of policies in this new world where patient data is virtually costless to store, share, and individualize. We emphasize that issues of data management and privacy are now at the forefront of health policy considerations. Digital data and digital technologies have the potential to transform medicine through two mechanisms. First, digital patient data is far easier to share and access than traditional paper records. This has many potential upsides, but also raises the question of how the potential benefits of sharing patient data are moderated by privacy concerns. Second, the advent of digital storage has now made it possible to store, virtually costlessly, vast swathes of data about any one individual patient. Such individualized data also enables a patient-centric approach to medicine, often referred to as “personalized” or “precision” medicine, based on that individual patient’s genetic makeup. This article discusses the potential benefits and possible policy consequences of this digital shift. It emphasizes that the benefits of digital technologies are found when data is actually transferred and repeatedly accessed. This emphasizes that policies that wish to encourage the potential upside of digital technologies should emphasize easy data transfer. Empirical evidence suggests that health-care providers may not individually have the right incentives to share data, and therefore if a policy aims to encourage data transfer it needs to not only subsidize the adoption of digital technologies, but also make sure that there are the right incentives to use these technologies to share data. Often, well-meaning policies toward data security and data privacy can hamper this process. This article also suggests that there are distinct concerns related to the deepening and individualizing of data that is associated with personalized medicine, and that while there is potentially a large upside in terms of medical outcomes, the risks associated with this data are unusual. If policymakers seek to encourage personalized medicine, they might be especially successful to employ an approach to data management that gives control of the use of the data to the patient.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Career Award 6923256

Active Social Media Management: The Case of Health Care

Given the demand for authentic personal interactions over social media, it is unclear how much firms should actively manage their social media presence. We study this question empirically in a health care setting. We show that active social media management drives more user-generated content. However, we find that this is due to an incremental increase in user postings from an organization's employees rather than from its clients. This result holds when we explore exogenous variation in social media policies, employees, and clients that are explained by medical marketing laws, medical malpractice laws, and distortions in Medicare incentives. Further examination suggests that content being generated mainly by employees can be avoided if a firm's postings are entirely client focused. However, most firm postings seem not to be specifically targeted to clients' interests, instead highlighting more general observations or achievements of the firm itself. We show that untargeted postings like these provoke activity by employees rather than clients. This may not be a bad thing because employee-generated content may help with employee motivation, recruitment, or retention, but it does suggest that social media should not be funded or managed exclusively as a marketing function of the firm

Electronic Discovery and the Adoption of Information Technology

After firms adopt electronic information and communication technologies, their decision-making leaves a trail of electronic information that may be more extensive and accessible than a paper trail. We ask how the expected costs of litigation affect decisions to adopt technologies, such as electronic medical records (EMRs), which leave more of an electronic trail. EMRs allow hospitals to document electronically both patient symptoms and health providers’ reactions to those symptoms and may improve the quality of care that makes the net impact of their adoption on expected litigation costs ambiguous. This article studies the impact of state rules that facilitate the use of electronic records in court. We find evidence that hospitals are one-third less likely to adopt EMRs after these rules are enacted

Pre-Erythrocytic Vaccine Candidates in Malaria

A vaccine providing sterile immunity against malaria has been shown to be possible with antigens from the pre-erythrocytic stages of malaria. Therefore, it is reasonable to focus vaccine development efforts on the pre-erythrocytic stages, consisting of both sporozoites and liver stage parasites, where it is expected that sterile immunity against the parasite can be elicited to block the development of blood stage infection, clinical disease, and resulting parasite transmission. Accordingly, we will review the preclinical and clinical studies of malaria pre-erythrocytic efforts as well as highlight the advances, trends, and roadblocks encountered in these efforts

Synthesis and characterisation of pyrene-labelled polydimethylsiloxane networks: towards the in situ detection of strain in silicone elastomers

Pyrene-substituted polyhydromethylsiloxanes (PHMS-Py-x) were synthesised by the hydrosilylation reaction of prop-3-enyloxymethylpyrene with polyhydromethylsiloxane (M-n = 3700). The ratio of pyrene substituent to Si-H unit was varied to afford a range of pyrene-functionalised polysiloxanes. These copolymers were subsequently incorporated into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomers by curing via either Pt(0) catalysed hydrosilylation with divinyl-terminated PDMS (M-n = 186) and tetrakis(dimethylsiloxy) silane, or Sn(II) catalysed condensation with alpha,omega-dihydroxyPDMS (M-n = 26 000) and tetraethoxysilane. An alternative method involving the synthesis and integration of [3-(pyren-1-ylmethoxy)propyl]triethoxysilane (Py-TEOS) into PDMS elastomers was also investigated: a mixture of alpha,omega-dihydroxyPDMS (M-n = 26 000), tetraethoxysilane, and Py-TEOS was cured using an Sn( II) catalyst. Certain of the resulting fluorescent pyrene-labelled elastomers were studied by differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis. No significant changes were observed in the thermal or mechanical properties of the elastomers containing pyrene when compared to otherwise identical samples not containing pyrene. All of the pyrene-containing elastomers were demonstrated to be fluorescent under suitable excitation in a photoluminescent spectrometer. Two of the elastomers were placed in a photoluminescence spectrometer and subjected to cycles of extension and relaxation (strain = 0-16.7%) while changes in the emission spectra were monitored. The resulting spectra of the elastomer containing the PHMS-Py-50 copolymers were variable and inconsistent. However, the emission peaks of elastomers containing Py-TEOS displayed clear and reproducible changes in fluorescence intensity upon stretching and relaxation. The intensity of the monomer and excimer emission peaks was observed to increase with elongation of the sample and decrease upon relaxation. Furthermore, the ratio of the intensities of the excimer : monomer peak decreased with elongation and increased with relaxation. In neither case was there appreciable hysteresis, suggesting that fluorescent labelling of elastomers is a valid approach for the non-invasive in situ monitoring of stress and strain in such materials

The Grizzly, April 25, 1995

Coming Soon: The New Wismer • Two Suspects Apprehended for Oklahoma City Bombing • Mathematics Awareness Week • Clare Zeberkiewicz Awarded UPS Scholarship • Spring Fling • A Midnight Jog • Dr. Clark Responds to Core Concerns • Recycling at Ursinus • Travel Opportunities Offer Escape from Ursinus Campus • New House to Focus on Unity and Diversity • Rape Aggression Defense Teaches Valuable Self-Defense Techniques • Alpha Kappa Delta to Form • The Costa Rica Experience • Don\u27t miss the Concert Band and Jazz Ensemble • Comedian Rich Ramirez Delivers • Politics Comes to Ursinus • Sammartino Named Player of the Week • Baseball Team Ties Record for Wins • Lacrosse Team Stays Alive for Playoff Bid • Men\u27s Tennis Team on a Roll • Track Teams Gear Up for Conference Meet • All-Sports Reception Set for May 1 • Volleyball Team Seeks Players • Cosgrove Named First Team All-American • Women\u27s Tennis • Champions! Softball Team Shares Centennial Title • Softball Team Plays HR Derbyhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1360/thumbnail.jp

Cyclic Tensile Strain Enhances Osteogenesis and Angiogenesis in Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Osteoporotic Donors

We have shown that the uniaxial cyclic tensile strain of magnitude 10% promotes and enhances osteogenesis of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) and human adipose-derived stem cells (hASC) from normal, nonosteoporotic donors. In the present study, MSC from osteoporotic donors were analyzed for changes in mRNA expression in response to 10% uniaxial tensile strain to identify potential mechanisms underlying the use of this mechanical loading paradigm for prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. Human MSC isolated from three female, postmenopausal osteoporotic donors were analyzed for their responses to mechanical loading using microarray analysis of over 47,000 gene probes. Human MSC were seeded in three-dimensional collagen type I constructs to mimic the organic extracellular matrix of bone and 10% uniaxial cyclic tensile strain was applied to promote osteogenesis. Seventy-nine genes were shown to be regulated within hMSC from osteoporotic donors in response to 10% cyclic tensile strain. Upregulation of six genes were further confirmed with real-time RT-PCR: jun D proto-oncogene (JUND) and plasminogen activator, urokinase receptor (PLAUR), two genes identified as potential key molecules from network analysis; phosphoinositide-3-kinase, catalytic, delta polypeptide (PIK3CD) and wingless-type MMTV integration site family, member 5B (WNT5B), two genes with known importance in bone biology; and, PDZ and LIM domain 4 (PDLIM4) and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), two genes that we have previously shown are significantly regulated in hASC in response to this mechanical stimulus. Function analysis indicated that 10% cyclic tensile strain induced expression of genes associated with cell movement, cell proliferation, and tissue development, including development in musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems. Our results demonstrate that hMSC from aged, osteoporotic donors are capable of enhanced osteogenic differentiation in response to 10% cyclic tensile strain with significant increases in the expression of genes associated with enhanced cell proliferation, musculoskeletal development, and angiogenesis. Surprisingly, cyclic tensile strain of magnitude 10% not only enhanced osteogenesis in hMSC from osteoporotic donors, but also enhanced expression of angiogenic factors. Better understanding and methodologies to promote osteogenesis in hMSC from elderly, osteoporotic donors may greatly facilitate achieving long-term success in bone regeneration and functional bone tissue engineering for this ever-growing patient population