Cannabidiol usage, efficacy, and side effects: analyzing the impact of health conditions, medications, and cannabis use in a cross-sectional online pilot study.

Background: Products containing cannabidiol (CBD) are attracting attention because of their potential therapeutic benefits and positive impacts on well-being and mental health. Although additional research is needed to understand their effectiveness in treating mental disorders, cross-sectional studies may help identify the factors influencing CBD use patterns. This study examined the impact of variables such as health status, medication use, medical supervision, gender, age, and cannabis use on CBD consumption patterns.

SC2EGSet: StarCraft II Esport Replay and Game-state Dataset.

As a relatively new form of sport, esports offers unparalleled data availability. Our work aims to open esports to a broader scientific community by supplying raw and pre-processed files from StarCraft II esports tournaments. These files can be used in statistical and machine learning modeling tasks and compared to laboratory-based measurements.

Association between real-time strategy video game learning outcomes and pre-training brain white matter structure: preliminary study.

In recent years the association between video games, cognition, and the brain has been actively investigated. However, it is still unclear how individual predispositions, such as brain structure characteristics, play a role in the process of acquiring new skills, such as video games. The aim of this preliminary study was to investigate whether acquisition of cognitive-motor skills from the real-time strategy video game (StarCraft II) is associated with pre-training measures of brain white matter integrity.

Psychophysiological, but Not Behavioral, Indicator of Working Memory Capacity Predicts Video Game Proficiency.

Visual working memory (VWM) is the ability to actively maintain visual information over short periods of time and is strongly related to global fluid intelligence and overall cognitive ability. In our study, we used two indices of visual working memory capacity: the behavioral estimate of capacity (K) and contralateral delay activity (CDA) in order to check whether training in a Real-Time Strategy (RTS) video game StarCraft II can influence the VWM capacity measured by the change detection task. We also asked a question whether individual differences in behavioral and psychophysiological indices of VWM can predict the effectiveness of video game training.

Theta and Alpha Oscillatory Activity During Working Memory Maintenance in Long-Term Cannabis Users: The Importance of the Polydrug Use Context.

Impairments in various subdomains of memory have been associated with chronic cannabis use, but less is known about their neural underpinnings, especially in the domain of the brain's oscillatory activity. To investigate neural oscillatory activity supporting working memory (WM) in regular cannabis users and non-using controls. We focused our analyses on frontal midline theta and posterior alpha asymmetry as oscillatory fingerprints for the WM's maintenance process.

: Visual Episodic Memory in Cannabis Users and Polydrug Cannabis Users: ROC and ERP Preliminary Investigation.

While research has consistently identified an association between long-term cannabis use and memory impairments, few studies have examined this relationship in a polydrug context (i.e., when combining cannabis with other substances).

The role of individual differences in attentional blink phenomenon and real-time-strategy game proficiency.

The impact of action videogame playing on cognitive functioning is the subject of debate among scientists, with many studies showing superior performance of players relative to non-players on a number of cognitive tasks. Moreover, the exact role of individual differences in the observed effects is still largely unknown. In our Event-Related Potential (ERP) study we investigated whether training in a Real Time Strategy (RTS) video game StarCraft II can influence the ability to deploy visual attention measured by the Attentional Blink (AB) task.

Toxic picoplanktonic cyanobacteria--review.

Cyanobacteria of a picoplanktonic cell size (0.2 to 2.0 µm) are common organisms of both freshwater and marine ecosystems.

New tardigrade records for the Baltic states with a description of Minibiotus formosus sp. n. (Eutardigrada, Macrobiotidae).

In sixteen moss, lichen and mixed (moss/lichen) samples, collected from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, 291 specimens, 48 simplexes, including one exuvium with 6 eggs, and 8 free-laid eggs of eutardigrades were found. In total, 17 species, together with one new to science, were identified (all are new records for the Baltic states): Astatumen bartosi, Diphascon (Adropion) prorsirostre, D. (Diphascon) bullatum, D.

Optimisation of an analytical method and results from the inter-laboratory comparison of the migration of regulated substances from food packaging into the new mandatory European Union simulant for dry foodstuffs.

This paper presents the outcome of the development, optimisation and validation at European Union level of an analytical method for using poly(2,6-diphenyl phenylene oxide--PPPO), which is stipulated in Regulation (EU) No. 10/2011, as food simulant E for testing specific migration from plastics into dry foodstuffs. Two methods for fortifying respectively PPPO and a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film with surrogate substances that are relevant to food contact were developed.

Monitoring of occupational exposure to volatile organohalogen solvents (VOXs) in human urine samples of dry-cleaner workers by TLHS-DAI-GC-ECD procedure.

Chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents are often used for dry-cleaning clothes in the laundry industry. The object of this study was to monitor the occupational exposure of dry-clean employees coming into contact with VOXs. Twenty five workers collected their urine samples before the work shift, after 4 h of work and after the work shift.

Optimization of a novel procedure for determination of VOCs in water and human urine samples based on SBSE coupled with TD-GC-HRMS.

In this study, stir-bar sorptive extraction and thermal desorption followed by gas chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry was applied for determination of halo-organic compounds (bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, bromoform, and tetrachloroethylene) in water and human urine samples. Time of extraction and stirring speed were optimized. The results show that the optimum extraction time is 30 min with 600 rpm of stirring speed with Twister of 20 mm in length and 1.

Sample preparation for gas chromatographic determination of halogenated volatile organic compounds in environmental and biological samples.

In this review, the wide spectrum of the techniques of isolation and/or preconcentration and final determination of halogenated volatile organic compounds (HVOCs) in water, air, soil, sediment and biological fluids are presented and discussed. The techniques discussed are solvent microextraction, solid phase extraction, gas extraction (static and dynamic techniques), membrane processes and passive sampling. Also, direct techniques, such as direct aqueous injection into gas chromatography (GC) column and membrane inlet mass spectrometry, are presented.

A comparison of three solvent-free techniques coupled with gas chromatography for determining trihalomethanes in urine samples.

The analysis of volatile organic compounds in samples of biological fluids characterized by complex matrices is highly challenging. This paper presents a comparison of the results obtained in this field using three solvent-free techniques: thin-layer headspace with autogenous generation of liquid sorbent (TLHS) and membrane separation of the trace substances (pervaporation, PV), both of which are coupled to direct aqueous injection gas chromatography-electron capture detection (TLHS-DAI-GC-ECD and PV-DAI-GC-ECD), as well as conventional static headspace analysis followed by GC analysis with ECD detection (HS-GC-ECD). Basic validation parameters of the HS-GC-ECD, TLHS-DAI-GC-ECD and PV-DAI-GC-ECD procedures were calculated for water and urine samples.