The Future of Substance Abuse Now: Relationships among Adolescent Use of Vaping Devices, Marijuana, and Synthetic Cannabinoids.

Substances that can be vaped include nicotine, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and a range of synthetic drugs called new psychoactive substances (NPS). Due to the rising popularity of vaping among adolescents, it is crucial to understand the relationships between vaping and illicit drug use. This paper examined the prevalence and trends of using vaping devices, marijuana vaping, marijuana products, synthetic cannabinoids and mist contents among youth.

A GIS approach to sediment displacement in mixed sand and gravel beach environments.

Mixed sand and gravel beaches pose special management issues as they are morphologically distinct from either pure sand or shingle beaches. On the mixed sand and gravel beaches of the Canterbury Bight, New Zealand, displacement of sediments operates within a two-part sediment transport system. The large sediments are retained in the beaches, while the fine sand, silt, and mud are transported offshore to the continental shelf.

Associations between frequency of cigarette and alternative tobacco product use and depressive symptoms: A longitudinal study of young adults.

The association between cigarette use and depression has been documented in many studies. Fewer studies have examined other tobacco products such as electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and hookah that are used by young adults. This study examined whether increased frequency of use of these products was associated with depressive symptoms in a cohort of n = 5236 Texas college students followed from 2014 to 2017.

The value of putting fire in its place.

The realization that some incidents involving fire and mental health service users could have been avoided led to holistic safety assessments, say David Marsden and Paula Breeze.

Comparison of tumor and normal tissue dose for accelerated partial breast irradiation using an electronic brachytherapy eBx source and an Iridium-192 source.

The objective of this study has been to compare treatment plans for patients treated with electronic brachytherapy (eBx) using the Axxent System as adjuvant therapy for early stage breast cancer with treatment plans prepared from the same CT image sets using an Ir-192 source. Patients were implanted with an appropriately sized Axxent balloon applicator based on tumor cavity size and shape. A CT image of the implanted balloon was utilized for developing both eBx and Ir-192 brachytherapy treatment plans.

Discovery of a quorum sensing modulator pharmacophore by 3D small-molecule microarray screening.

The screening of large arrays of drug-like small-molecules was traditionally a time consuming and resource intensive task. New methodology developed within our laboratories provides an attractive low cost, 3D microarray-assisted screening platform that could be used to rapidly assay thousands of compounds. As a proof-of-principle the platform was exploited to screen a number of quorum sensing analogs.

3D small-molecule microarrays.

A PEG based 3D hydrogel slide was developed specifically for small-molecule microarraying purposes, which displayed improved loading capacity, signal sensitivity and spot morphology compared with a commercially available slide and comparative 2D slide.

Oculomotor function in multiple system atrophy: clinical and laboratory features in 30 patients.

We reviewed the clinical and laboratory oculomotor features in 30 patients with probable multiple system atrophy (MSA), 22 with MSA-P and 8 with MSA-C. Six patients were also examined post mortem, MSA being confirmed in four and excluded in two (Parkinson's disease and progressive supranuclear palsy). Clinical examination showed the following abnormalities; excessive square wave jerks--21 of 30 patients; mild vertical supranuclear gaze palsy--8 of 30; gaze-evoked nystagmus--12 of 30 patients, three of whom had no extraocular evidence of cerebellar dysfunction; positioning downbeat nystagmus--10 of 25; mild or moderate saccadic hypometria--22 of 30; impaired ("broken up") smooth pursuit--28 of 30; reduced VOR suppression--16 of 24.

Aging and fertility patterns in wild chimpanzees provide insights into the evolution of menopause.

Human menopause is remarkable in that reproductive senescence is markedly accelerated relative to somatic aging, leaving an extended postreproductive period for a large proportion of women. Functional explanations for this are debated, in part because comparative data from closely related species are inadequate. Existing studies of chimpanzees are based on very small samples and have not provided clear conclusions about the reproductive function of aging females.

Role of a FMRFamide-like family of neuropeptides in the pharyngeal nervous system of Caenorhabditis elegans.

The nervous system of C. elegans has a remarkable abundance of flp genes encoding FMRFamide-like (FLP) neuropeptides. To provide insight into the physiological relevance of this neuropeptide diversity, we have tested more than 30 FLPs (encoded by 23 flps) for bioactivity on C.

Theoretically predicted rate constants for mercury oxidation by hydrogen chloride in coal combustion flue gases.

In this work, theoretical rate constants are estimated for mercury oxidation reactions by hydrogen chloride that may occur in the flue gases of coal combustion. Rate constants are calculated using transition state theory at the quadratic configuration interaction (QCI) level of theory with single and double excitations, and are compared to results obtained from density functional theory, both including high level pseudopotentials for mercury. Thermodynamic and kinetic data from the literature are used to assess the accuracy of the theoretical calculations when possible.