Limiting Alcohol Outlet Density to Prevent Alcohol Use and Violence: Estimating Policy Interventions Through Agent-Based Modeling.

Increasing alcohol outlet density is well-documented to be associated with increased alcohol use and problems, leading to the policy recommendation that limiting outlet density will decrease alcohol problems. Yet few studies of decreasing problematic outlets and outlet density have been conducted. We estimated the association between closing alcohol outlets and alcohol use and alcohol-related violence, using an agent-based model of the adult population in New York City.

Urban-rural variation in the socioeconomic determinants of opioid overdose.

Background: Prescription opioid overdose (POD) and heroin overdose (HOD) rates have quadrupled since 1999. Community-level socioeconomic characteristics are associated with opioid overdoses, but whether this varies by urbanicity is unknown.

Methods: In this serial cross-sectional study of zip codes in 17 states, 2002-2014 (n = 145,241 space-time units), we used hierarchical Bayesian Poisson space-time models to analyze the association between zip code-level socioeconomic features (poverty, unemployment, educational attainment, and income) and counts of POD or HOD hospital discharges.

Effects of sulfane sulfur content in benzyl polysulfides on thiol-triggered HS release and cell proliferation.

Investigations into hydrogen sulfide (HS) signaling pathways have demonstrated both the generation and importance of persulfides, which are reactive sulfur species that contain both reduced and oxidized sulfur. These observations have led researchers to suggest that oxidized sulfur species, including sulfane sulfur (S), are responsible for many of the physiological phenomena initially attributed to HS. A common method of introducing S to biological systems is the administration of organic polysulfides, such as diallyl trisulfide (DATS).

Prevalence of Cannabis Use in Youths After Legalization in Washington State.

This survey study examines changes in the use of marijuana by adolescents since legalization of recreational use in Washington State.

Predictors of self-harm emergency department visits in adolescents: A statewide longitudinal study.

Objective: This study investigated patient- and area-level characteristics associated with adolescent emergency department (ED) patients' risk of subsequent ED visits for self-harm.

Method: Retrospective analysis of adolescent patients presenting to a California ED in 2010 (n = 480,706) was conducted using statewide, all-payer, individually linkable administrative data. We examined associations between multiple predictors of interest (patient sociodemographic factors, prior ED utilization, and residential mobility; and area-level characteristics) and odds of a self-harm ED visit in 2010.

Does epimuscular myofascial force transmission occur between the human quadriceps muscles in vivo during passive stretching?

This study sought to examine the shear modulus (i.e., an force index) of three quadriceps muscles [i.

An unusual case of hypercapnic respiratory failure.

Asphyxiating thoracic dystrophy (ATD also known as Jeune syndrome) is a very rare disorder with an incidence in the United States of 1 case per 100,000-130,000 live births. Chronic alveolar hypoventilation leading to concurrent hypoxia is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in these patients due to its complications. A 22-year-old male with past medical history of ATD and severe kyphoscoliosis presented with progressively worsening shortness of breath for several days.

Prescription Drug Monitoring Program: Registration and Use by Prescribers and Pharmacists Before and After Legal Mandatory Registration, California, 2010-2017.

Objectives: To estimate the effect of California's prescription drug monitoring program's (PDMP) registration mandate on use of the PDMP.

Methods: We evaluated the effect of California's mandatory PDMP registration law by fitting time series models on the percentage of clinicians registered for California's PDMP and the percentage of clinicians who were active PDMP users (users who created ≥ 1 patient prescription reports in a given month) from 2010 through 2017. We also compared PDMP use among early PDMP adopters (clinicians who registered > 8 months before the mandatory registration deadline) versus late adopters (clinicians who registered ≤ 8 months before the deadline).

Assessing the impact of alcohol taxation on rates of violent victimization in a large urban area: an agent-based modeling approach.

Aims: To use simulation to estimate the impact of alcohol taxation on drinking, non-fatal violent victimization and homicide in New York City (NYC). We simulate the heterogeneous effects of alcohol price elasticities by income, level of consumption and beverage preferences, and examine whether taxation can reduce income inequalities in alcohol-related violence.

Design: Agent-based modeling simulation.

An Examination of Parental and Peer Influence on Substance Use and Criminal Offending During the Transition from Adolescence to Adulthood.

Although peer behavior and parent-child-conflict have been associated with adolescent and young adults' behavior, prior studies have not adequately controlled for selection effects and other confounders, or examined whether associations change across the transition to adulthood or by race. Using annual data from young men followed from 17-26, within-individual change models examined whether substance use or offending increased in the year after boys began affiliating with friends who engaged in substance use/offending and/or experienced increased parent-son-conflict. Moderation analyses tested whether associations varied by age or race.

Thionoesters: A Native Chemical Ligation-Inspired Approach to Cysteine-Triggered HS Donors.

Native chemical ligation (NCL) is a simple, widely used, and powerful synthetic tool to ligate N-terminal cysteine residues and C-terminal α-thioesters via a thermodynamically stable amide bond. Building on this well-established reactivity, as well as advancing our interests in the chemical biology of reactive sulfur species including hydrogen sulfide (HS), we hypothesized that thionoesters, which are constitutional isomers of thioesters, would undergo a similar NCL reaction in the presence of cysteine to release HS under physiological conditions. Herein, we report mechanistic and kinetic investigations into cysteine-mediated HS release from thionoesters.

A typology of prescription drug monitoring programs: a latent transition analysis of the evolution of programs from 1999 to 2016.

Background And Aims: Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMP), defined as state-level databases used in the United States that collect prescribing information when controlled substances are dispensed, have varied substantially between states and over time. Little is known about the combinations of PDMP features that, collectively, may produce the greatest impact on prescribing and overdose. We aimed to (1) identify the types of PDMP models that have developed from 1999 to 2016, (2) estimate whether states have transitioned across PDMP models over time and (3) examine whether states have adopted different types of PDMP models in response to the burden of opioid overdose.

Risks and Benefits of Marijuana Use: A National Survey of U.S. Adults.

Background: Despite insufficient evidence regarding its risks and benefits, marijuana is increasingly available and is aggressively marketed to the public.

Objective: To understand the public's views on the risks and benefits of marijuana use.

Design: Probability-based online survey.

[Neisseria meningitidis pneumonia. A case report].

Few cases of bacteremic pneumonia by Neisseria meningitidis (NM) have been described worldwide; mostly in elderly patients or those with comorbidities. They appear clinically indistinguishable from other acute infectious pneumoniae, that do not develope the syndrome of meningococcemia. We report a 17-years-old male, without prior medical history, consulting in the emergency department with a 7-day history of productive cough, right pleural pain, fever and dyspnea.

Correction to: Predictive and prognostic clinical and pathological factors of nivolumab efficacy in non-small-cell lung cancer patients.

Clinical and Translational Oncology.

Occurrence of anthropozoonotic parasitic infections and faecal microbes in free-ranging sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) from the Mediterranean Sea.

Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are the largest toothed whales and only living member of family Physeteridae. Present survey represents first report on cultivable faecal microbes and gastrointestinal helminths and protozoans infecting free-ranging sperm whales inhabiting Mediterranean Sea waters surrounding Balearic Archipelago, Spain. Twenty-five individual sperm whale scat samples, including one calf, were collected without disturbance of animals during the summer of 2016.

Association Between Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs and Nonfatal and Fatal Drug Overdoses: A Systematic Review.

Background: Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are a key component of the president's Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan to prevent opioid overdoses in the United States.

Purpose: To examine whether PDMP implementation is associated with changes in nonfatal and fatal overdoses; identify features of programs differentially associated with those outcomes; and investigate any potential unintended consequences of the programs.

Data Sources: Eligible publications from MEDLINE, Current Contents Connect (Clarivate Analytics), Science Citation Index (Clarivate Analytics), Social Sciences Citation Index (Clarivate Analytics), and ProQuest Dissertations indexed through 27 December 2017 and additional studies from reference lists.

Association of Pharmaceutical Industry Marketing of Opioid Products to Physicians With Subsequent Opioid Prescribing.

This database analysis examines the extent to which pharmaceutical industry marketing of opioid products to physicians during 2014 was associated with opioid prescribing during 2015.

Longitudinal Patterns of Physical Activity Among Older Adults: A Latent Transition Analysis.

Most epidemiologic studies of physical activity measure either total energy expenditure or engagement in a single type of activity, such as walking. These approaches may gloss over important nuances in activity patterns. We performed a latent transition analysis to identify patterns of activity, as well as neighborhood and individual determinants of changes in those activity patterns, over 2 years in a cohort of 2,023 older adult residents of New York, New York, surveyed between 2011 and 2013.

S Marks the Spot: Linking the Antioxidant Activity of N-Acetyl Cysteine to HS and Sulfane Sulfur Species.

N-Acetyl cysteine (NAC) is commonly used as an antioxidant and cytoprotectant, yet a broadly applicable mechanism of these activities has remained elusive. In this issue of Cell Chemical Biology, Ezeriņa et al. (2018) report an alternative mechanism for NAC cytoprotection and antioxidant activity by demonstrating that NAC treatment increases sulfane sulfur production via intermediate HS generation.

Firearm mortality in California, 2000-2015: the epidemiologic importance of within-state variation.

Purpose: Firearm mortality is a significant problem in the United States. Previous studies have largely focused on firearm mortality at the national or state level, leaving open the question of within-state variation. This study examined firearm mortality within California.