Trends and correlates of marijuana use among late middle-aged and older adults in the United States, 2002–2014

BACKGROUND: Recent trend studies suggest that marijuana use is on the rise among the general population of adults ages 18 and older in the United States. However, little is known about the trends in marijuana use and marijuana-specific risk/protective factors among American adults during the latter part of adulthood. METHOD: Findings are based on repeated, cross-sectional data collected from late middle-aged (ages 50–64) and older adults (ages 65 and older) surveyed as part of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2002 and 2014. RESULTS: The prevalence of past-year marijuana use among late middle-aged adults increased significantly from a low of 2.95% in 2003 to a high of 9.08% in 2014. Similarly, the prevalence of marijuana use increased significantly among older adults from a low of 0.15% in 2003 to a high of 2.04% in 2014. Notably, the upward trends in marijuana use remained significant even when accounting for sociodemographic, substance use, behavioral, and health-related factors. We also found that decreases in marijuana-specific protective factors were associated with the observed trend changes in marijuana use among late middle-aged and older adults, and observed a weakening of the association between late-middle aged marijuana use and risk propensity, other illicit drug use, and criminal justice system involvement over the course of the study. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from the present study provide robust evidence indicating that marijuana use among older Americans has increased markedly in recent years, with the most evident changes observed between 2008 and 2014

Healing of Periodontal Flaps Following Use of MBR 4197 (Flucrylate) in Rhesus Monkeys: A Biometric and Histometric Evaluation

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141198/1/jper0305.pd

Vertical Variability and Lateral Distribution of Late Wisconsinan Sediments Parallel to theAxis of the Buried Valley of Mud Brook North of Akron, Summit County, Ohio

Author Institution: Department of Geology & Environmental Science, University of AkronThe buried valley of Mud Brook in northern Summit County, OH, contains sediments associated with the late Wisconsinan glaciation. The vertical variability and lateral distribution of these sediments can be ascertained from information derived from logs from highway borings and water wells along a 15-km north-south transect parallel to the axis of the buried valley. Textural, carbonate, clay mineral, and lithologic analyses of samples from roadcuts, geological borings, and some highway department borings provide additional information to assign lithofacies units to specific glaciations. Cross sections show that nearly similar depositional environments existed before each late Wisconsinan glacial advance. The proglacial sediments consist of outwash and lacustrine deposits overridden by ice that deposited an overlying till. Sediments associated with the Lavery and Hiram advances overlie a Kent-aged kame plateau within the Summit County Morainic Complex at the southern end of the study area. Farther north meltwater accumulated and drowned ground moraine to form post-glacial lakes that were eventually drained as the drainage network of Mud Brook became better integrated

Notes on the Natural History of Lasiurus borealis in Arkansas

Since June 1982 we have studied various aspects of red bat ecology in Arkansas with emphasis on field work in the Ouachita Mountains and examination of specimens submitted to the Arkansas Department of Health Rabies Laboratory (ADHRL).This study reports on continued field work in the Ouachita Mountains using radiotelemetry and updates information regarding red bats submitted to the ADHRL through December 1996. In addition, we revisited a cave previously reported to contain a large number of red bat skull and skeletal remains. We also report remains from another cave system in northcentral Arkansas. These investigations have yielded additional information on distribution, growth and development of young, litter size, use of atypical roosts, active period and hibernation roost site selection, copulation, and incidence of rabies

Firearm injury among people experiencing homelessness: Cross-sectional evidence from a national survey of United States emergency departments

OBJECTIVES: Persons experiencing homelessness (PEH) are at high risk for violent victimization. This study leverages unique data from a national study in the United States of America to provide estimates of non-fatal firearm injury among PEH and to describe the contexts related to injury, such as substance use, intent of the injury, and precipitating interpersonal factors. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional. METHODS: Data from the 1993-2020 National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-Firearm Injury Surveillance Study (NEISS-FISS) were used to describe the context and characteristics of non-fatal firearm injury among PEH aged 16 years or older. Homeless status and substance use data were extracted from a de-identified narrative field. Estimates were weighted to account for the NEISS-FISS complex sampling design. RESULTS: Probable homelessness was identified in 0.10% of cases (n = 3,225). Substance use was documented in 22.73% of cases. Assault comprised 82.64% of injuries. Patients were mostly male (81.38%). Missing data were common on contextual variables: verbal argument (64.62%), physical fight (54.48%) or other criminal activity (62.33%). CONCLUSIONS: Assault is a leading cause of non-fatal firearm injury for PEH and is greater than rates of assault in non-fatal firearm injuries in the general population. Substance use was documented in nearly one quarter of patients, although this is less than expected given prior evidence. Reliance on narrative fields for key variables likely underestimates rates of PEH and substance use

Study of aircraft in intraurban transportation systems, volume 1

An analysis of an effective short range, high density computer transportation system for intraurban systems is presented. The seven county Detroit, Michigan, metropolitan area, was chosen as the scenario for the analysis. The study consisted of an analysis and forecast of the Detroit market through 1985, a parametric analysis of appropriate short haul aircraft concepts and associated ground systems, and a preliminary overall economic analysis of a simplified total system designed to evaluate the candidate vehicles and select the most promising VTOL and STOL aircraft. Data are also included on the impact of advanced technology on the system, the sensitivity of mission performance to changes in aircraft characteristics and system operations, and identification of key problem areas that may be improved by additional research. The approach, logic, and computer models used are adaptable to other intraurban or interurban areas

Calixarene Assisted Rapid Synthesis of Silver-Graphene Nanocomposites with Enhanced Antibacterial Activity

Demonstrated herein is a single rapid approach employed for synthesis of Ag–graphene nanocomposites, with excellent antibacterial properties and low cytotoxicity, by utilizing a continuous hydrothermal flow synthesis (CHFS) process in combination with p-hexasulfonic acid calix[6]arene (SCX6) as an effective particle stabilizer. The nanocomposites showed high activity against E. coli (Gram-negative) and S. aureus (Gram-positive) bacteria. The materials were characterized using a range of techniques including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, UV–vis spectrophotometry, FT-IR, and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). This rapid, single step synthetic approach not only provides a facile means of enabling and controlling graphene reduction (under alkaline conditions) but also offers an optimal route for homogeneously producing and depositing highly crystalline Ag nanostructures into reduced graphene oxide substrate

Micrometeorite Impact Test of Flex Solar Array Coupon

Spacecraft with solar arrays operate throughout the near earth environment and are planned for outer planet missions. An often overlooked test condition for solar arrays that is applicable to these missions is micrometeoroid impacts and possibly electrostatic discharge (ESD) events resulting from these impacts. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is partnering with Space Systems/Loral, LLC (SSL) to examine the results of simulated micrometeoroid impacts on the electrical performance of an advanced, lightweight flexible solar array design. The test is performed at MSFC's Micro Light Gas Gun Facility with SSL-provided coupons. Multiple impacts were induced at various locations on a powered test coupon under different string voltage (0V-150V) and string current (1.1A - 1.65A) conditions. The setup, checkout, and results from the impact testing are discussed

Micrometeorite Impact Test of Flex Solar Array Coupon

Spacecraft with solar arrays operate throughout the near earth environment and are increasingly planned for outer planet missions. An often overlooked test condition for solar arrays that is applicable to these missions is micrometeorite impacts and possibly electrostatic discharge (ESD) events resulting from these impacts. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is partnering with Space Systems/Loral, LLC (SSL) to examine the results of simulated micrometeorite impacts on the electrical performance of an advanced, lightweight flexible solar array design. The test is performed at NASA MSFC's Microlight Gas Gun Facility. The SSL-provided coupons consist of three strings, each string with two solar cells in series. Five impacts will be induced at various locations on a powered test coupon under different string voltage (0 volts - 150 volts) and string current (1.1 amperes - 1.65 amperes) conditions. The maximum specified test voltage and current represent margins of 1.5 times for both voltage and current. The test parameters are chosen to demonstrate new array design robustness to any ESD event caused by plasma plumes resulting from a simulated micrometeorite impact. A second unpowered coupon will undergo two impacts: one impact on the front side and one impact on the back side. Following the impact testing, the second coupon will be exposed to a thermal cycle test to determine possible damage propagation and further electrical degradation due to thermally-induced stress. The setup, checkout, and results from the impact testing are discussed. The challenges for impact testing include precise coupon alignment to control impact location; pressure management during the impact process; and measurement of the true transient electrical response during impact on the powered coupon. Results from pre- and post-test visual and electrical functional testing are also discussed

Ghost Busting: PT-Symmetric Interpretation of the Lee Model

The Lee model was introduced in the 1950s as an elementary quantum field theory in which mass, wave function, and charge renormalization could be carried out exactly. In early studies of this model it was found that there is a critical value of g^2, the square of the renormalized coupling constant, above which g_0^2, the square of the unrenormalized coupling constant, is negative. Thus, for g^2 larger than this critical value, the Hamiltonian of the Lee model becomes non-Hermitian. It was also discovered that in this non-Hermitian regime a new state appears whose norm is negative. This state is called a ghost state. It has always been assumed that in this ghost regime the Lee model is an unacceptable quantum theory because unitarity appears to be violated. However, in this regime while the Hamiltonian is not Hermitian, it does possess PT symmetry. It has recently been discovered that a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian having PT symmetry may define a quantum theory that is unitary. The proof of unitarity requires the construction of a new time-independent operator called C. In terms of C one can define a new inner product with respect to which the norms of the states in the Hilbert space are positive. Furthermore, it has been shown that time evolution in such a theory is unitary. In this paper the C operator for the Lee model in the ghost regime is constructed exactly in the V/N-theta sector. It is then shown that the ghost state has a positive norm and that the Lee model is an acceptable unitary quantum field theory for all values of g^2.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figure