International Students’ Perceptions and Experiences of British Drinking Cultures.

While the increased scale and importance of international students to the UK Higher Education sector is now well established, little is known about the ways in which students from non-UK countries experience and interact with the heavy drinking culture that predominates on and near many British universities. Drawing on qualitative interviews, this article analyses the perceptions, attitudes and experiences of British drinking cultures held by international students studying on postgraduate courses at a UK university. Students report prior awareness of alcohol consumption being important to British culture and recount both positive and negative experiences of witnessing and, for many, participating in drinking alcohol. Students make ready comparisons with the drinking habits and attitudes of their own culture. Further still, many made a distinction between the public house, or ‘pub’, as a welcoming and friendly social space and bars and nightclubs where a far greater risk of exposure to violence and harassment was perceived. The article provides theoretical insights to support future and more wide-ranging research into mobile drinking cultures and also suggests practical implications to inform stakeholders with interests in the welfare of international students in the UK in relation to the provision of effective and proactive policies which address the impact of British drinking cultures on international student integration and wellbeing

Bentham, Not Epicurus: The Relevance of Pleasure to Studies of Drug-Involved Pain

There is a disproportionate focus on pain over pleasure in policy-relevant research on drugs. This is unfortunate because theories of and findings on drug-involved pleasure can be used to inform knowledge of drug-involved pain. The cross-fertilization of theories and findings is bolstered by the availability of a conceptual framework that links drug-involved pain and pleasure in a comprehensive, powerful, simple, and instrumental manner. This article proposes such a framework. It consists of four types of drug-involved pain and pleasure: drug-specific corporal; drug-related corporal; economic; and, social. This quaternary scheme is illustrated with findings from four literatures, namely those on methamphetamine use; alcohol-related sexual contact among college students; resource transfer among drug users and dealers; and, relational and communal issues related to drugs. The article concludes with implications for the field

Phaeohyphomycosis caused by Alternaria infectoria in a renal transplant recipient36699

We report on a case of phaeohyphomycosis caused by Alternaria infectoria in a renal transplant recipient with pulmonary infiltrates and multiple skin lesions. Diagnosis was based on microscopy and culture of the skin lesions. Treatment consisted of a combination of surgical excision and systemic antifungal therapy, first with itraconazole and subsequently with liposomal amphotericin B, for 39 days. At a 20-month follow-up visit, no recurrence of the skin lesions or the pulmonary infiltrates had occurred</p

Alcohol Use in Emerging Adulthood: Can Moffitt's Developmental Theory Help Us Understand Binge Drinking Among College Students?

It is well-known that college students are at an increased risk for alcohol use and binge drinking compared to their same-age peers who are not in college. We use Moffitt\u27s developmental taxonomy, specifically, her discussion of adolescence-limited offending, to contextualize this finding regarding this minor form of deviance. We also incorporate Arnett\u27s notion of emerging adulthood to argue that the maturity gap, as described by Moffitt, can extend beyond adolescence. The current research used data from Wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 4,264). We examined differences in sample characteristics between respondents who were currently enrolled in college full-time and those who were not. We also estimated several logistic regression models to determine how full-time college status and two measures of maturity were correlated with weekly binge drinking. We found that respondents who were full-time college students had an increased risk for binge drinking and were also less mature than their peers. Further analyses indicated that full-time college students were at an increased risk for binge drinking because they lacked maturity and the lack of adult roles that characterize the college years gives students more freedom to binge drink. These results supported both Moffitt\u27s explanation of adolescence-limited offending and Arnett\u27s notion of emerging adults

Self-Control and Substance Use Among College Students

Gottfredson and Hirschi\u27s self-control theory has generated considerable academic interest and become one of the most influential theories of the past 20 years. The current study seeks to confirm and extend this line of research by examining the generality of self-control across several forms of substance use: binge drinking, marijuana use, prescription drug misuse, and other illicit drug use. Data were collected from a sample of more than 1,000 undergraduate students attending a public university in the United States. Findings indicate that students with low selfcontrol were at greater risk for reporting binge drinking, marijuana use, and prescription drug misuse. Further analysis indicates that the influence of self-control on substance use is moderated by opportunity and peer influence. That is, self-control was significantly correlated to binge drinking and marijuana use when students reported greater opportunity to use and also when they reported substance use by their friends. © The Author(s)2013