Racial/ethnic disparities in exposure to e-cigarette advertising among U.S. youth.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to assess exposure to e-cigarette advertising across multiple marketing channels among U.S. youth and to examine whether racial/ethnic disparities exist in exposure to e-cigarette advertisements. STUDY DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study. METHODS: Cross-sectional data were drawn from a longitudinal survey of participants recruited from two nationally representative panels (NORC's AmeriSpeak® and GfK's KnowledgePanel). A total of 2043 youth aged 13-17 completed the initial 2018 survey, and 2013 youth completed the follow-up survey in 2019 (including a replenishment sample of 690 youth). Outcome variables were self-reported e-cigarette advertisement exposure in the past three months through various sources, such as television, point of sale, and online/social media. Generalized estimating equation models were used to estimate the adjusted odds ratios (AOR) of the association between racial/ethnic identity and e-cigarette advertisement exposure. RESULTS: The prevalence of reported exposure to e-cigarette advertisements through any channel was 79.8% (95% CI: 77.1-82.2) in 2018 and 74.9% (95% CI: 72.5-77.1) in 2019, respectively. Point of sale was the most common source of e-cigarette advertisement exposure in both years. Non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic Asian youth were more likely to report exposure to e-cigarette advertisements through television (AOR = 2.07, 95% CI: 1.44-2.99 and AOR = 2.11, 95% CI: 1.17-3.82, respectively) and online/social media (AOR = 1.61; 95% CI: 1.11-2.33 and AOR = 1.99, 95% CI: 1.10-3.59, respectively) channels compared with non-Hispanic White youth. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial proportion of U.S. youth reported exposure to e-cigarette advertising through a variety of marketing channels. Significant racial/ethnic disparities existed, with non-Hispanic Black and Asian youth reporting more marketing exposure than their non-Hispanic White counterparts.

Listening for rain: Principal component analysis and linear discriminant analysis for broadband acoustic rainfall detection.

Rain falling on the ocean creates acoustic signals. Ma and Nystuen [(2005). J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol. 22, 1225-1248] described an algorithm that compares three narrowband "discriminant" frequencies to detect rain. In 2022, Trucco, Bozzano, Fava, Pensieri, Verri, and Barla [(2022). IEEE J. Oceanic Eng. 47(1), 213-225] investigated rain detection algorithms that use broadband spectral data averaged over 1 h. This paper implements a rainfall detector that uses broadband acoustic data at 3-min time resolution. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) reduces the dimensionality of the broadband data. Rainfall is then detected via a Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) on the data's principal component projections. This PCA/LDA algorithm was trained and tested on 5 months of data recorded by hydrophones in a shallow noisy cove, where it was not feasible to average spectral data over 1 h. The PCA/LDA algorithm successfully detected 78 ± 5% of all rain events over 1 mm/h, and 73 ± 5% of all rain events over 0.1 mm/h, for a false alarm rate of ≈ 1% in both cases. By contrast, the Ma and Nystuen algorithm detected 32 ± 5% of the rain events over 1.0 mm/h when run on the same data, for a comparable false alarm rate.

Cessation and reduction in smoking behavior: impact of creating a smoke-free home on smokers.

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of a creating a smoke-free home (SFH) on cessation and reduction of cigarette smoking on low-income smokers. This secondary data analysis uses data from study participants who were originally recruited through 2-1-1 information and referral call centers in Atlanta (Georgia, 2013), North Carolina (2014) and the Texas Gulf Coast (2015) across three randomized controlled trials testing an intervention aimed at creating SFHs, pooling data from 941 smokers. Participants who reported adopting a SFH were more likely to report quitting smoking than those who did not adopt a SFH. This was true at 3-month follow-up and even more pronounced at 6-month follow-up and persisted when considering only those who consistently reported no smoking at 3 and 6 months. Among those who did not stop smoking, the number of cigarettes per day declined significantly more and quit attempts were more frequent for those who created a SFH compared with those who did not. Findings suggest that creating a SFH facilitates cessation, reduces cigarette consumption and increases quit attempts. Future studies should assess the long-term impact of SFHs on sustaining cessation.

Intent to quit among daily and non-daily college student smokers.

Given the high prevalence of young adult smoking, we examined (i) psychosocial factors and substance use among college students representing five smoking patterns and histories [non-smokers, quitters, native non-daily smokers (i.e. never daily smokers), converted non-daily smokers (i.e. former daily smokers) and daily smokers] and (ii) smoking category as it relates to readiness to quit among current smokers. Of the 4438 students at six Southeast colleges who completed an online survey, 69.7% (n = 3094) were non-smokers, 6.6% (n = 293) were quitters, 7.1% (n = 317) were native non-daily smokers, 6.4% (n = 283) were converted non-daily smokers and 10.2% (n = 451) were daily smokers. There were differences in sociodemographics, substance use (alcohol, marijuana, other tobacco products) in the past 30 days and psychosocial factors among these subgroups of students (P < 0.001). Among current smokers, there were differences in cigarettes smoked per day, recent quit attempts, self-identification as a smoker, self-efficacy and motivation to quit (P < 0.001). After controlling for important factors, converted non-daily smokers were more likely to be ready to quit in the next month versus native non-daily smokers (OR = 2.15, CI 1.32-3.49, P = 0.002). Understanding differences among young adults with different smoking patterns and histories is critical in developing interventions targeting psychosocial factors impacting cessation among this population.

Smoking patterns, attitudes and motives: unique characteristics among 2-year versus 4-year college students.

Given the previously documented higher rates of smoking among 2-year college students in comparison with 4-year university students, this study compares smoking patterns, attitudes and motives among 2-year and 4-year college students. Two thousand two hundred and sixty-five undergraduate students aged 18-25 years at a 2-year college and a 4-year university completed an online survey in 2008. Current (past 30-day) smoking was reported by 43.5% of 2-year and 31.9% of 4-year college students, and daily smoking was reported by 19.9% of 2-year and 8.3% of 4-year college students. Attending a 2-year college was associated with higher rates of current smoking [odds ratio (OR) = 1.72] and daily smoking (OR = 2.84), and with less negative attitudes regarding smoking, controlling for age, gender, ethnicity and parental education. Also, compared with 4-year college student smokers, 2-year college smokers had lower motivation to smoke for social reasons, but more motivation to smoke for affect regulation, after controlling for age, gender, ethnicity and parental education. Two- and 4-year college students report different smoking patterns, attitudes and motives. These distinctions might inform tobacco control messages and interventions targeting these groups of young adults.

Risk factors of violent offending in mentally ill prisoners with autism spectrum disorders.

BACKGROUND: Results of research regarding a possible causal relation between autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and violence are mixed. Several explanations have been proposed. AIMS: To assess prevalence rates of comorbid disorders in a large sample of mentally ill offenders diagnosed with ASD. Offenders with and without comorbid mental disorders were compared on several characteristics. To better understand the relationship between ASD and violent criminal behavior, the predictive value of several proposed risk factors (comorbidity, negative social network/influenceability, and childhood trauma/victimization) on violent offending was investigated. METHOD: Data of 394 male offenders with a diagnosis of ASD were included. Prevalence rates of comorbid mental disorders next to ASD were calculated, and characteristics were compared using chi-square or t-tests. The predictive value of the risk factors was assessed using a binary logistic regression (n = 357). RESULTS: High rates of comorbidity were found (78.9%), specifically for substance use disorders (39.8%), schizophrenia spectrum disorders (31.7%), and neurodevelopmental disorder other than ASD (24.1%). Offenders with and without comorbidity differed significantly in their criminal and mental health care history. Both comorbidity (OR = 1.68; 95% CI 1.27-2.18) and a negative social network/influenceability (OR = 1.49; 95% CI 1.11-1.99) showed to be significant predictors of violent offending within this sample. CONCLUSIONS: The highest rates of comorbid disorders found were disorders that have been previously linked to violent offending, and the risk of violent offending could be unrelated to ASD. However, the role of social functioning indicates a risk specific to the symptoms of ASD.

Transketolase abnormality in cultured fibroblasts from familial chronic alcoholic men and their male offspring.

We have investigated a thiamine-dependent enzyme, transketolase, in cultured fibroblasts from 41 human subjects, including patients with alcoholism-associated Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (n = 3), familial chronic alcoholic males (n = 7), their sons (n = 7), nonalcoholic men (n = 7), their male offspring (n = 7), and three generations of an Amish family (n = 10) without any history of alcoholism. This study was undertaken to delineate whether transketolase abnormality (i.e., high Michaelis Menton constant (Km) for thiamine pyrophosphate), previously reported in patients with Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is prevalent among familial chronic alcoholic men and their sons without prior history of alcohol abuse but who are at high risk for alcoholism. Our data suggest that an inborn error (i.e., high Km of transketolase for thiamine pyrophosphate) predisposing to thiamine deficiency diseases similar to those reported in Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome may occur in the general population. However, for some as yet unexplained reason(s) this variant seems to occur more frequently among familial chronic alcoholic men and their male offspring without any history of alcoholism. The inheritance pattern of this enzyme variant as revealed from an Amish pedigree study may be autosomal recessive as previously suggested.

Smoking behavior and beliefs about the impact of smoking on anti-tuberculosis treatment among health care workers.

SETTING: Tuberculosis (TB) health care facilities throughout Georgia. OBJECTIVE: To describe smoking behaviors among health care workers (HCWs) at TB facilities and determine HCWs' knowledge and beliefs regarding the impact of tobacco use on anti-tuberculosis treatment. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey from May to December 2014 in Georgia. Adult HCWs (age 18 years) at TB facilities were eligible. We administered a 60-question anonymous survey about tobacco use and knowledge of the effect of smoking on anti-tuberculosis treatment. RESULTS: Of the 431 HCWs at TB facilities who participated, 377 (87.5%) were female; the median age was 50 years (range 20-77). Overall, 59 (13.7%) HCWs were current smokers and 35 (8.1%) were past smokers. Prevalence of current smoking was more common among physicians than among nurses (18.6% vs. 7.9%, P < 0.0001). Among HCWs, 115 (26.7%) believed smoking does not impact anti-tuberculosis treatment, and only 25.3% of physicians/nurses received formal training in smoking cessation approaches. Physicians who smoked were significantly more likely to believe that smoking does not impact anti-tuberculosis treatment than non-smoking physicians (aOR 5.11, 95%CI 1.46-17.90). CONCLUSION: Additional education about the effect of smoking on TB treatment outcomes is needed for staff of TB health care facilities in Georgia. Nurses and physicians need more training about smoking cessation approaches for patients with TB.

Biochemical changes during clomipramine treatment of childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Peripheral measures of serotonergic and noradrenergic function were obtained in 29 obsessive-compulsive adolescents and 31 age- and sex-matched controls, as well as in a subsample of 22 patients after five weeks of treatment with clomipramine hydrochloride (134 +/- 33 mg/d) (mean +/- SD) given in a double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Drug-free obsessive-compulsive subjects did not differ from controls on measures of platelet serotonin and monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity, nor on plasma epinephrine or norepinephrine concentrations at rest and after a standard orthostatic challenge procedure. Compared with placebo, treatment with clomipramine was clinically effective and produced a marked decrease in platelet serotonin concentration, a trend toward a reduction in platelet MAO activity, and a rise in standing plasma norepinephrine. Clinical improvement during drug therapy was closely correlated with pretreatment platelet serotonin concentration and MAO activity, as well as with the decrease in both measures during clomipramine administration. This suggests that the effects of clomipramine on serotonin uptake may be essential to the antiobsessional action observed.

Behavioral effects of caffeine in children. Relationship between dietary choice and effects of caffeine challenge.

From a survey of 24-hour caffeine intake of 798 grade-school children (mean age, 10.3 years), 19 "high consumers" (reported intake of 500 mg/day or more) and a matched group of 19 "low consumers" were recruited for a double-blind, placebo-controlled, caffeine challenge study. Children received 5 mg/kg of caffeine twice a day or placebo for two weeks each, using a crossover design. While not receiving caffeine, high consumers had higher scores on an anxiety questionnaire and tended to have lower autonomic arousal (less frequent spontaneous skin conductance response and lower skin conductance level). While receiving caffeine, low consumers were perceived by their parents as more emotional, inattentive, and restless, while high consumers were not rated as changed. These differences cannot be attributed to tolerance, withdrawal, or subject selection, and suggest a possible physiological basis in children for dietary caffeine preference.

Clomipramine treatment of childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder. A double-blind controlled study.

Nineteen children (mean [+/- SD] age, 14.5 +/- 2.3 years) with severe, primary obsessive-compulsive disorder completed a ten-week, double-blind, controlled trial of clomipramine hydrochloride (mean dosage, 141 mg/day) or placebo, each of which was administered for five weeks. Half of the subjects had not responded to previous treatment with other tricyclic antidepressants. There was a significant improvement in observed and self-reported obsessions and compulsions that was independent of the presence of depressive symptoms at baseline. Improvement in obsessive-compulsive symptoms did not correlate significantly with plasma concentrations of the drug or its metabolites. Clomipramine appears to be effective in the treatment of children with obsessive-compulsive disorder and the treatment seems to be independent of an antidepressant effect.

Drainage of brain extracellular fluid into blood and deep cervical lymph and its immunological significance.

Cerebral extracellular fluids drain from brain to blood across the arachnoid villi and to lymph along certain cranial nerves (primarily olfactory) and spinal nerve root ganglia. Quantification of the connection to lymph in rabbit, cat and sheep, using radiolabelled albumin as a marker of flow, indicates that a minimum of 14 to 47% of protein injected into different regions of brain or cerebrospinal fluid passes through lymph. The magnitude of the outflow to lymph is at variance with the general assumption that the absence of conventional lymphatics from the brain interrupts the afferent arm of the immune response to brain antigens. The immune response to antigens (albumin or myelin basic protein) introduced into the central nervous system (CNS) has been analysed using a rat model with normal brain barrier permeability. The micro-injection of antigen into brain or cerebrospinal fluid elicits a humoral immune response, with antibody production in cervical lymph nodes and spleen, and also affects cell-mediated immunity. Furthermore, antigen may be more immunogenic when administered into the CNS than into conventional extracerebral sites. Clearly, the afferent arm of the immune response to antigens, within the CNS, is intact. Modern studies suggest that the efferent arm is also intact with passage of activated lymphocytes into the brain. Results support a new view of CNS immunology which incorporates continuous and highly regulated communication between the brain and the immune system in both health and disease.

Idiopathic hypercalciuria: hydrochlorothiazide decrease urinary calcium without altered renal response to parathyroid hormone.

Hydrochlorothiazide (HTZ) therapy reduces the urinary excretion of calcium (UCa V) in patients with idiopathic hypercalciuria (IH). To test the role of parathyroid hormone (PTH), namely the possibility that HTZ sensitizes the kidney to PTH as the sole or contributory cause of decreased UCa V associated with HTZ therapy, we measured urinary excretion of calcium (UCa V) and cAMP (UcAMP V), the tubular reabsorption of phosphate (TRP), plasma immunoreactive PTH, and the renal response to infused PTH (change in UcAMP V and TRP) in 10 patients with IH. Patients were studied before (control) and after 4 weeks of treatment with HTZ (100 mg/day). HTZ therapy significantly reduced UCa V (mean change, -122 +/- 19 mg/24 h). The UcAMP V, TRP, and plasma levels of calcium, phosphorus, and immunoreactive PTH were initially within the normal range and did not change significantly during HTZ therapy. PTH infusion resulted in a significant increase in the UcAMP V and a significant decrease in TRP during both control and HTZ therapy studies. There was, however, no significant difference in the degree of these renal responses to PTH infusion during the control vs. HTZ therapy studies. We conclude that the hypocalciuric effect of HTZ in patients with IH is independent of changes in PTH secretion, and that HTZ does not cause general sensitization of the nephron, namely proximal tubules, to PTH, as assessed by an increase in UcAMP V and a decrease in TRP.

Orthophosphate therapy decreases urinary calcium excretion and serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D concentrations in idiopathic hypercalciuria.

Orthophosphate treatment of patients with idiopathic hypercalciuria reduces the urinary excretion of calcium. To examine the role of altered vitamin D metabolism in reducing the renal excretion of calcium, we studied 11 patients with idiopathic hypercalciuria before and after 2 weeks of treatment with oral neutral orthophosphate (2 g phosphorus/day). Variables measured were urine calcium and phosphorus and seseserum calcium, phosphorus, immunoreactive parathyroid hormone, and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25-(OH)2D]. Oral phosphate treatment significantly decreased urine calcium excretion [mean change (delta), -123 mg/24 h], increased urine phosphorus (mean delta, serum levels of 1,25-(OH)2D (mean delta, -22 pg/ml). Pretreatment levels of 1,25-(OH)2D were high when compared with levels in age-matched controls, whether assessed as the arithmetic mean (57 vs. 33 pg/ml; P < 0.025), the logarithmically normalized (42 vs. 27 pg/ml). Phosphate treatment decreased serum levels of 1,25-(OH)2D to a mean of 35 pg/ml (logarithmically normalized mean, 22 pg/ml; median, 21 pg/ml), values not significantly different from those of normal controls. Serum calcium and phosphorus concentrations were not changed by treatment. Serum immunoreactive parathyroid hormone values increased minimally within the normal range (mean delta, +2 microleq/ml; P <0.025). We conclude that the effect of oral phosphate therapy in decreasing urinary calcium excretion may involve the reduced synthesis of 1,25-(OH)2D, independent of altered parathyroid function.

In vivo identification and quantitative evaluation of carrier-mediated transport of lactate at the cellular level in the striatum of conscious, freely moving rats.

Intracerebral dialysis has allowed the continuous, on-line measurement of lactate in the extracellular fluid (ECF) of conscious, freely moving rats. The rapid time response of the technique allows the direct determination of the time course of changes in lactate in ECF following externally imposed stimuli. The time course of lactate appearance in ECF was found to be considerably slower than that observed in tissue following electroconvulsive shock or during ischemia following cardiac arrest. The ECF data could be fit to an integrated Michaelis-Menten model that assumed reversible transport of lactate across the cell membrane. This transport was found to act only when energy supplies could maintain membrane integrity and function, since ECF levels of lactate failed to follow tissue levels after cardiac arrest when energy resources are depleted. The calculated rate of cellular lactate transport was two orders of magnitude faster than transport of lactate across the blood-brain barrier in the adult rat, and passive diffusion of lactate was not found to contribute significantly across either cell or blood-brain barriers. Probenecid, an inhibitor of acid transport, was able to block both the efflux of lactate from cell to ECF and the consequent reuptake of lactate by cells in the striatum of the rat following electroconvulsive shock or ischemia.

Depression in the abstinent alcoholic.

Of 72 alcoholics who had abstained for a mean of 64 months, 15% had serious, debilitating depressive symptoms, which had begun after a mean of 35 months of sobriety.

Effects of sugar and aspartame on aggression and activity in children.

Habitual sugar consumption and behavior following challenge by sugar and aspartame were studied in 30 preschool boys. The 18 subjects whose parents considered them sugar reactive had more disruptive behavior problems at baseline than the other 12 subjects. Habitual sugar consumption correlated only with duration of aggression against property in alleged responders. Double-blind crossover challenges with aspartame, saccharin, sucrose, and glucose produced no significant effect on aggression or observers' ratings of behavior. Lower actometer counts followed the trials of aspartame, but the difference was not apparent to observers. It is unlikely that sugar and aspartame are clinically significant causes of disruptive behavior.

Computerized tomography and neuropsychological test measures in adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The authors administered CAT scans and neuropsychological tests to 16 adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (mean age +/- SD = 13.7 +/- 1.6 years) and 16 matched controls. The patients had a mean ventricular-brain ratio (VBR) significantly higher than the controls' and showed spatial-perceptual deficits similar to those found in patients with frontal lobe lesions. Memory, reaction time, and decision time did not differ significantly from controls'. Neurodevelopmental examination of seven patients yielded a high frequency of age-inappropriate synkinesias and left hemibody signs. These results suggest CNS dysfunctioning in children with obsessive-compulsive disorder, with possible right cerebral involvement. However, the patients' neuropsychological test deficits and VBRs were not correlated.

Clinical symptoms of adult metachromatic leukodystrophy and arylsulfatase A pseudodeficiency.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical symptoms in adult metachromatic leukodystrophy and in adult pseudodeficiency for arylsulfatase A. DESIGN: Case series. SETTING: University hospital. PATIENTS: Twenty-five adult patients with very low arylsulfatase A activity. RESULTS: In 13 patients, a diagnosis of adult metachromatic leukodystrophy was made. The main symptoms were dementia, behavioral abnormalities, ataxia, and polyneuropathy. In 12 patients, a diagnosis of arylsulfatase A pseudodeficiency was made. No characteristic clinical syndrome could be detected in these patients. CONCLUSIONS: Adult metachromatic leukodystrophy is a progressive metabolic disease with symptoms of demyelination of the central and peripheral nervous systems. Diagnosis must be confirmed by determination of arylsulfatase A activity and accumulation of sulfatides. Pseudodeficiency for arylsulfatase A can be confirmed or excluded by means of DNA analysis.