'Authentic' or 'corny': LGBTQ+ young adults respond to visual, thematic and semantic elements of culturally targeted tobacco public education advertisements.

Background: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) young adults (YA) experience disparities in nicotine and tobacco use. Mass-reach health communications can prevent nicotine and tobacco initiation and progression, but LGBTQ+adults report low engagement. Although cultural targeting (CT) could reach LGBTQ+YA, we know little about the strategies that resonate with this population.

Minority stressors and tobacco use among a US sample of sexual and gender minority young adults.

Introduction: Young adults who are sexual and gender minorities (SGM) are at the highest risk for tobacco initiation in young adulthood. Minority stress theory suggests that sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI)-based discrimination may contribute to nicotine and tobacco use disparities. Our study aimed to quantify the association between SOGI-based distal minority stressors and current tobacco use among SGM young adults living in the United States (US).

Acute effects of different types of cannabis on young adult and adolescent resting-state brain networks.

Adolescence is a time of rapid neurodevelopment and the endocannabinoid system is particularly prone to change during this time. Cannabis is a commonly used drug with a particularly high prevalence of use among adolescents. The two predominant phytocannabinoids are Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), which affect the endocannabinoid system.

Persistent increased severity of cannabis use disorder symptoms in adolescents compared to adults: a one-year longitudinal study.

Adolescence is a developmental period characterised by increased vulnerability to cannabis use disorder (CUD). However, previous investigations of this vulnerability have relied on cross-sectional comparisons and lack a detailed assessment of cannabis quantity, a potentially important confounding factor. Here, we aimed to investigate the one-year course of CUD in adolescents compared to adults who currently use cannabis, adjusting for a comprehensive measure of cannabis quantity.

The acute effects of cannabis, with and without cannabidiol, on attentional bias to cannabis related cues: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study.

Rationale: Attentional bias to drug-related stimuli is hypothesised to contribute towards addiction. However, the acute effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on attentional bias to cannabis cues, the differential response in adults and adolescents, and the moderating effect of cannabidiol (CBD) are unknown.

Objectives: Our study investigated (1) the acute effects of vaporised cannabis on attentional bias to cannabis-related images in adults and adolescents and (2) the moderating influences of age and CBD.

Enhanced cannabis timeline followback (EC-TLFB): Comprehensive assessment of cannabis use including standard THC units and validation through biological measures.

Aims: The aims of this study were to present an enhanced cannabis timeline followback (EC-TLFB) enabling comprehensive assessment of cannabis use measures, including standard tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) units, and to validate these against objectively indexed urinary 11-nor-9-carboxy-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH) concentrations.

Design: We used cross-sectional baseline data from the 'CannTeen' observational longitudinal study.

Setting: The study was conducted in London, UK.

Evaluating the effects of nicotine concentration on the appeal and nicotine delivery of oral nicotine pouches among rural and Appalachian adults who smoke cigarettes: A randomized cross-over study.

Background And Aims: Oral nicotine pouches (ONPs) probably offer reduced harm compared with cigarettes, but independent data concerning their misuse liability are lacking. We compared nicotine delivery and craving relief from ONPs with different nicotine concentrations to cigarettes.

Design: This was a single-blind, three-visit (≥ 48-hour washout), randomized-cross-over study.

Measuring white matter microstructure in 1,457 cannabis users and 1,441 controls: A systematic review of diffusion-weighted MRI studies.

Introduction: Cannabis is the most widely used regulated substance by youth and adults. Cannabis use has been associated with psychosocial problems, which have been partly ascribed to neurobiological changes. Emerging evidence to date from diffusion-MRI studies shows that cannabis users compared to controls show poorer integrity of white matter fibre tracts, which structurally connect distinct brain regions to facilitate neural communication.

Associations between regular cannabis use and brain resting-state functional connectivity in adolescents and adults.

Background/aim: Cannabis use is highly prevalent in adolescents; however, little is known about its effects on adolescent brain function.

Method: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was used in matched groups of regular cannabis users ( = 70, 35 adolescents: 16-17 years old, 35 adults: 26-29 years old) and non-regular-using controls ( = 70, 35 adolescents/35 adults). Pre-registered analyses examined the connectivity of seven major cortical and sub-cortical brain networks (default mode network, executive control network (ECN), salience network, hippocampal network and three striatal networks) using seed-based analysis methods with cross-sectional comparisons between user groups and age groups.

High potency cannabis use, mental health symptoms and cannabis dependence: Triangulating the evidence.

Background: Cannabis potency (concentration of Δ-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol) has been associated with risks of adverse mental health outcomes and addiction but no studies have triangulated evidence from self-report and objective measures of cannabis potency. We hypothesised that users of high potency cannabis would have higher levels of (a) anxiety, (b) depression and (c) psychosis-like symptoms (d) cannabis dependence than users of lower potency cannabis.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 410 participants donated a sample of cannabis for analysis of THC concentration and reported their cannabis potency preference.

Effects of cannabidiol on anandamide levels in individuals with cannabis use disorder: findings from a randomised clinical trial for the treatment of cannabis use disorder.

Cannabidiol (CBD) has shown promise in treating psychiatric disorders, including cannabis use disorder - a major public health burden with no approved pharmacotherapies. However, the mechanisms through which CBD acts are poorly understood. One potential mechanism of CBD is increasing levels of anandamide, which has been implicated in psychiatric disorders including depression and cannabis use disorder.

Episodic foresight is impaired following acute alcohol intoxication.

Background: Alcohol intoxication disrupts many aspects of cognition, including the generation of phenomenological characteristics of future events (a component of episodic foresight), and the execution of directed preparatory behaviours (a component of prospective memory). However, no study has tested whether alcohol intoxication is also associated with deficits engaging episodic foresight to future-directed behaviour.

Aims: This study was designed to provide the first test of how alcohol intoxication influences the functional application of episodic foresight.

Experimental and Updated Kinetic Modeling Study of Neopentane Low Temperature Oxidation.

Neopentane is an ideal fuel model to study low-temperature oxidation chemistry. The significant discrepancies between experimental data and simulations using the existing neopentane models indicate that an updated study of neopentane oxidation is needed. In this work, neopentane oxidation experiments are carried out using two jet-stirred reactors (JSRs) at 1 atm, at a residence time of 3 s, and at three different equivalence ratios of 0.

Kinetic Properties Study of H Atom Abstraction by CHȮ Radicals from Fuel Molecules with Different Functional Groups.

The detailed kinetic properties of hydrogen atom abstraction by methylperoxy (CHȮ) radicals from alkanes, alkenes, dienes, alkynes, ethers, and ketones are systematically studied in this work. Geometry optimization, frequency analysis, and zero-point energy corrections were performed for all species at the M06-2X/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory. The intrinsic reaction coordinate calculation was consistently performed to ensure that the transition state connects the correct reactants and products, and one-dimensional hindered rotor scanning results were performed at the M06-2X/6-31G level of theory.

Substance Use and Attendance Motives of Electronic Dance Music (EDM) Event Attendees: A Survey Study.

EDM event attendees are a high-risk population for substance use and associated adverse effects. The aim of this study was to examine substance use at EDM events, focusing on associations between attendance motives and substance use. Sociodemographic characteristics, event specifics, past-year use, and attendance motives were assessed through an online survey.

Coral Gardens Reef, Belize: An Acropora spp. refugium under threat in a warming world.

Live coral cover has declined precipitously on Caribbean reefs in recent decades. Acropora cervicornis coral has been particularly decimated, and few Western Atlantic Acropora spp. refugia remain.

The acute effects of cannabis with and without cannabidiol in adults and adolescents: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover experiment.

Background And Aims: Long-term harms of cannabis may be exacerbated in adolescence, but little is known about the acute effects of cannabis in adolescents. We aimed to (i) compare the acute effects of cannabis in adolescent and adult cannabis users and (ii) determine if cannabidiol (CBD) acutely modulates the effects of delta-9-tetrahydocannabinol (THC).

Design: Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover experiment.

High-Accuracy Heats of Formation for Alkane Oxidation: From Small to Large via the Automated CBH-ANL Method.

It is generally challenging to obtain high-accuracy predictions for the heat of formation for species with more than a handful of heavy atoms, such as those of importance in standard combustion mechanisms. To this end, we construct the CBH-ANL approach and illustrate that, for a set of 194 alkane oxidation species, it can be used to produce Δ(0 K) values with 2σ uncertainties of 0.2-0.

The Effects of Acute Cannabis With and Without Cannabidiol on Neural Reward Anticipation in Adults and Adolescents.

Background: Adolescents may respond differently to cannabis than adults, yet no previous functional magnetic resonance imaging study has examined acute cannabis effects in this age group. In this study, we investigated the neural correlates of reward anticipation after acute exposure to cannabis in adolescents and adults.

Methods: This was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover experiment.

Effect of four-week cannabidiol treatment on cognitive function: secondary outcomes from a randomised clinical trial for the treatment of cannabis use disorder.

Rationale: Chronic cannabis use is associated with impaired cognitive function. Evidence indicates cannabidiol (CBD) might be beneficial for treating cannabis use disorder. CBD may also have pro-cognitive effects; however, its effect on cognition in people with cannabis use disorder is currently unclear.

Pyridinium-Inspired Organocatalysts for Carbon Dioxide Fixation: A Density Functional Theory Inspection.

The current project aims to apply the virtues of minimalism to examine the catalytic ability of commercially organic compounds of small chemical structures to catalyze the coupling reaction between carbon dioxide and propylene oxide (PO) under mild conditions. The proposed catalysts are pyridinium iodide (), 2-hydroxypyridinium iodide (), and piperidinium iodide (), where their structure is based on cooperative acidic and nucleophilic motifs. The quantum chemistry model, M062X-D3/def2-TZVP//M062X-D3/def2-SVPP, was used to understand the reaction mechanism and the catalytic performance.

Anhedonia, Apathy, Pleasure, and Effort-Based Decision-Making in Adult and Adolescent Cannabis Users and Controls.

Background: Cannabis use may be linked with anhedonia and apathy. However, previous studies have shown mixed results, and few have examined the association between cannabis use and specific reward sub-processes. Adolescents may be more vulnerable than adults to harmful effects of cannabis.

Age differences in the behavioural economics of cannabis use: Do adolescents and adults differ on demand for cannabis and discounting of future reward?

Background: Adolescence is a period of psychological and neural development in which harms associated with cannabis use may be heightened. We hypothesised that adolescent who use cannabis (adolescentsWUC) would have steeper delay discounting (preference for immediate over future rewards) and greater demand (relative valuation) for cannabis than adults who use cannabis (adultsWUC).

Methods: This cross-sectional study, part of the 'CannTeen' project, compared adultsWUC (n = 71, 26-29 years old) and adolescentsWUC (n = 76, 16-17 years old), and gender- and age-matched adolescent (n = 63) and adult (n = 64) controls.