Genetic and environmental influences on alcohol consumption in middle to late life.

Objective: Alcohol use is common in older adults and linked to poor health and aging outcomes. Studies have demonstrated genetic and environmental contributions to the quantity of alcohol consumption in mid-to-late life, but less is known about whether these influences are moderated by sociodemographic factors such as age, sex, and educational attainment. This study sought to better understand sociodemographic trends in alcohol consumption across the second half of the life course and their underlying genetic and environmental influences.

REAL-TIME RECURSIVE ESTIMATION OF, AND UNCERTAINTY QUANTIFICATION FOR, BREATH ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION VIA LQ TRACKING CONTROL-BASED INVERSE FILTERING OF TRANSDERMAL ALCOHOL BIOSENSOR SIGNALS.

The utility of newly developed wearable biosensors for passively, non-invasively, and continuously measuring transdermal alcohol levels in the body in real time has been limited by the fact that raw transdermal alcohol data does not consistently correlate (quantitatively or temporally) with interpretable metrics of breath and blood across individuals, devices, and the environment. A novel method using a population model in the form of a random abstract hybrid system of ordinary and partial differential equations and linear quadratic tracking control in Hilbert space is developed to estimate blood or breath alcohol concentration from the biosensor-produced transdermal alcohol level signal. Using human subject data in the form of 270 drinking episodes, the method is shown to produce estimates of blood or breath alcohol concentration that are highly correlated and thus good predictors of breath analyzer measurements.

A Method of Precise Auto-Calibration in a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System Accelerometer.

A novel design of a MEMS (Micro-Electromechanical System) capacitive accelerometer fabricated by surface micromachining, with a structure enabling precise auto-calibration during operation, is presented. Precise auto-calibration was introduced to ensure more accurate acceleration measurements compared to standard designs. The standard mechanical structure of the accelerometer (seismic mass integrated with elastic suspension and movable plates coupled with fixed plates forming a system of differential sensing capacitors) was equipped with three movable detection electrodes coupled with three fixed electrodes, thus creating three atypical tunneling displacement transducers detecting three specific positions of seismic mass with high precision, enabling the auto-calibration of the accelerometer while it was being operated.

A population model-based linear-quadratic Gaussian compensator for the control of intravenously infused alcohol studies and withdrawal symptom prophylaxis using transdermal sensing.

An output feedback LQG compensator (combined controller and state estimator) for the regulation of intravenous-infused alcohol studies and treatment using a noninvasive transdermal alcohol biosensor is developed. The design is based on a population model involving an abstract semi-linear parabolic hybrid reaction-diffusion system involving coupled partial and ordinary differential equations with random parameters known only up to their distributions. The scheme developed is based on a weak formulation of the model equations in an appropriately constructed Gelfand triple of Bochner spaces wherein the unknown random parameters are treated as additional spatial variables.

A genetically informed longitudinal study of early-life temperament and childhood aggression.

The present study examined the longitudinal associations between three dimensions of temperament - activity, affect-extraversion, and task orientation - and childhood aggression. Using 131 monozygotic and 173 dizygotic (86 same-sex) twin pairs from the Louisville Twin Study, we elucidated the ages, from 6 to 36 months, at which each temperament dimension began to correlate with aggression at age 7. We employed latent growth modeling to show that developmental increases (i.

Computation of nonparametric, mixed effects, maximum likelihood, biosensor data based-estimators for the distributions of random parameters in an abstract parabolic model for the transdermal transport of alcohol.

The existence and consistency of a maximum likelihood estimator for the joint probability distribution of random parameters in discrete-time abstract parabolic systems was established by taking a nonparametric approach in the context of a mixed effects statistical model using a Prohorov metric framework on a set of feasible measures. A theoretical convergence result for a finite dimensional approximation scheme for computing the maximum likelihood estimator was also established and the efficacy of the approach was demonstrated by applying the scheme to the transdermal transport of alcohol modeled by a random parabolic partial differential equation (PDE). Numerical studies included show that the maximum likelihood estimator is statistically consistent, demonstrated by the convergence of the estimated distribution to the "true" distribution in an example involving simulated data.

An Abstract Parabolic System-Based Physics-Informed Long Short-Term Memory Network for Estimating Breath Alcohol Concentration from Transdermal Alcohol Biosensor Data.

The problem of estimating breath alcohol concentration based on transdermal alcohol biosensor data is considered. Transdermal alcohol concentration provides a promising alternative to classical methods such as breathalyzers or drinking diaries. A physics-informed long Short-term memory (LSTM) network with covariates for the solution of the estimation problem is developed.

Remember This: Age Moderation of Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Verbal Episodic Memory from Midlife through Late Adulthood.

It is well documented that memory is heritable and that older adults tend to have poorer memory performance than younger adults. However, whether the magnitudes of genetic and environmental contributions to late-life verbal episodic memory ability differ from those at earlier ages remains unresolved. Twins from 12 studies participating in the Interplay of Genes and Environment in Multiple Studies (IGEMS) consortium constituted the analytic sample.

Social anxiety and alcohol consumption: The role of social context.

Research has identified social anxiety as a risk factor for the development of alcohol use disorder. However, studies have produced equivocal findings regarding the relationship between social anxiety and drinking behaviors in authentic drinking environments. This study examined how social-contextual features of real-world drinking contexts might influence the relationship between social anxiety and alcohol consumption in everyday settings.

Substance Use Descriptive Norms and Behaviors among US College Students: Findings from the Healthy Minds Study.

Background: Social norms have been associated with alcohol use in college populations; however, more research is needed to confirm the associations between social norms and a range of substance use behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We analyzed data from the Healthy Minds Study (September 2020-December 2020), a non-probability sample administered online to college students. We used multivariable logistic regression to test for associations between respondents' perceptions of substance use behaviors in their respective colleges and their own substance use behaviors, adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, and international student status.

Unpacking the Tibial Tubercle-Trochlear Groove Distance: Evaluation of Rotational Factors, Trochlear Groove and Tibial Tubercle Position, and Role of Trochlear Dysplasia.

Background: The tibial tubercle to trochlear groove (TT-TG) distance is often utilized for determining the surgical treatment for patients with patellar instability (PI). It is thought to directly represent the position of the TT on the tibia. Recent work has shown that the measurement of the TT-TG distance is multifactorial.

Estimating Likelihood of Dementia in the Absence of Diagnostic Data: A Latent Dementia Index in 10 Genetically Informed Studies.

Background: Epidemiological research on dementia is hampered by differences across studies in how dementia is classified, especially where clinical diagnoses of dementia may not be available.

Objective: We apply structural equation modeling to estimate dementia likelihood across heterogeneous samples within a multi-study consortium and use the twin design of the sample to validate the results.

Methods: Using 10 twin studies, we implement a latent variable approach that aligns different tests available in each study to assess cognitive, memory, and functional ability.

Non-daily Cigarette Smoking: Stability and Transition to Abstinence in Young Adults.

Introduction: There is increasing recognition that non-daily cigarette smoking is common in early adulthood but less is known about its stability over time, or what influences transitions to heavier or nonsmoking. We examined the stability of non-daily smoking in a sample of young adults, and tested whether social and cognitive factors predicted transitions to other smoking patterns over time.

Aims And Methods: Participants were 579 young adults (18-24 years old at enrollment, 52% male) who were non-daily and never-daily cigarette smokers and California residents.

Patellar Height Correlates Modestly With Trochlear Dysplasia: A Magnetic Resonance Imaging Analysis.

Purpose: To evaluate whether there is a correlation between the position of the patella and trochlear morphology in patients with and without patellar instability using exclusively MRI measurements.

Methods: MRI scans of knees in patients with patellofemoral instability and knees of patients with an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) tear as a control group were reviewed. Measurements of patellar position (Canton-Deschamps ratio, Patellar Trochlear Index, and lateral patellar inclination) and trochlear morphology (lateral trochlear inclination and sulcus angle) were obtained from each scan.

Blood and Breath Alcohol Concentration from Transdermal Alcohol Biosensor Data: Estimation and Uncertainty Quantification via Forward and Inverse Filtering for a Covariate-Dependent, Physics-Informed, Hidden Markov Model.

Transdermal alcohol biosensors that do not require active participation of the subject and yield near continuous measurements have the potential to significantly enhance the data collection abilities of alcohol researchers and clinicians who currently rely exclusively on breathalyzers and drinking diaries. Making these devices accessible and practical requires that transdermal alcohol concentration (TAC) be accurately and consistently transformable into the well-accepted measures of intoxication, blood/breath alcohol concentration (BAC/BrAC). A novel approach to estimating BrAC from TAC based on covariate-dependent physics-informed hidden Markov models with two emissions is developed.

Tilt Sensor with Recalibration Feature Based on MEMS Accelerometer.

The main errors of MEMS accelerometers are misalignments of their sensitivity axes, thermal and long-term drifts, imprecise factory calibration, and aging phenomena. In order to reduce these errors, a two-axial tilt sensor comprising a triaxial MEMS accelerometer, an aligning unit, and solid cubic housing was built. By means of the aligning unit it was possible to align the orientation of the accelerometer sensitive axes with respect to the housing with an accuracy of 0.

Patellar Tendon Imbrication for Patella Alta.

Patella alta is a significant contributor to patellar instability. Historically, distalizing tibial tubercle osteotomy has been recommended for this problem; however, complications such as nonunion, fracture and hardware irritation are concerning. Additionally, the procedure cannot be performed on skeletally immature patients without violation of the proximal tibial physis.

Uncertainty Quantification in Estimating Blood Alcohol Concentration From Transdermal Alcohol Level With Physics-Informed Neural Networks.

We develop an approach to estimate a blood alcohol signal from a transdermal alcohol signal using physics-informed neural networks (PINNs). Specifically, we use a generative adversarial network (GAN) with a residual-augmented loss function to estimate the distribution of unknown parameters in a diffusion equation model for transdermal transport of alcohol in the human body. We design another PINN for the deconvolution of the blood alcohol signal from the transdermal alcohol signal.

Deconvolving breath alcohol concentration from biosensor measured transdermal alcohol level under uncertainty: a Bayesian approach.

The posterior distribution (PD) of random parameters in a distributed parameter-based population model for biosensor measured transdermal alcohol is estimated. The output of the model is transdermal alcohol concentration (TAC), which, via linear semigroup theory can be expressed as the convolution of blood or breath alcohol concentration (BAC or BrAC) with a filter that depends on the individual participant or subject, the biosensor hardware itself, and environmental conditions, all of which can be considered to be random under the presented framework. The distribution of the input to the model, the BAC or BrAC, is also sequentially estimated.

Discoid Lateral Meniscus Saucerization and Treatment of Intrasubstance Degeneration Through an Accessory Medial Portal Using a Small Arthroscope.

Discoid lateral meniscus (DLM) is a rare meniscal variant characterized by an increased amount of meniscal tissue that resembles the shape of a disc as opposed to the typical crescent shape of the lateral meniscus. Surgical intervention is recommended for symptomatic DLM with persistent pain, mechanical symptoms, or motion impairment. The technique described is a reliable and reproducible method to identify and treat intrasubstance degeneration (ID) in the setting of DLM.

Decreased Colony-Forming Ability of Subacromial Bursa-Derived Cells During Revision Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair.

Purpose: To compare the cellular viability and differentiation potential of subacromial bursa-derived cells (SBDCs) located over the rotator cuff muscle and tendon of patients undergoing primary versus revision arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR).

Methods: Subacromial bursa was harvested from 18 primary (57.1 ± 4.

Concept of an In-Plane Displacement Sensor Based on Grating Interferometry with a Stepwise Change of Sensitivity.

Grating Interferometry, known in the relevant literature as the High Sensitivity Moiré Interferometry, is a method for in-plane displacement and strain measurement. The sensitivity of this method depends on the spatial frequency of the diffraction grating attached to the object under test. For typical specimen grating, with high spatial frequency of 1200 lines per mm, the basic sensitivity is 0.

Medial Patellofemoral Ligament Reconstruction and Lateral Retinacular Lengthening from a Lateral Approach.

The medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) is frequently torn and attenuated in patients with acute or chronic patellar instability. The mainstay for surgical treatment has become MPFL reconstruction to reestablish the checkrein to lateral patellar translation. The authors describe a technique for MPFL reconstruction with concomitant lateral retinacular lengthening with a gracilis allograft and adjustable loop cortical femoral fixation performed chiefly from a lateral parapatellar approach.

Effects of stomach content on the breath alcohol concentration-transdermal alcohol concentration relationship.

Introduction: Wearable devices that obtain transdermal alcohol concentration (TAC) could become valuable research tools for monitoring alcohol consumption levels in naturalistic environments if the TAC they produce could be converted into quantitatively-meaningful estimates of breath alcohol concentration (eBrAC). Our team has developed mathematical models to produce eBrAC from TAC, but it is not yet clear how a variety of factors affect the accuracy of the models. Stomach content is one factor that is known to affect breath alcohol concentration (BrAC), but its effect on the BrAC-TAC relationship has not yet been studied.