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Alcohol and Other Drug Facilitated Sexual Violence (AODFSV), known as "drink-spiking," is the administration of alcohol or other drugs to someone without their consent, with the intent to harm them. Investigation into portrayals of AODFSV in the Australian news media is needed. Using feminist critical discourse analysis, this paper investigated the portrayal of AODFSV in the Australian news media in the past ten years. 226 articles were included for analysis and three themes were identified. Firstly, "how the media constructs the drink spiking narrative," uses the "cautionary tale" that warns women about the dangers of the night-time economy and reinforces and perpetuates victim-blaming and rape myths. Secondly, "how the media normalises the drink spiking discourse" focuses on the substances used in drink spiking, the settings, the construction of the perpetrator and the victim as well as the depictions of sexual violence. Thirdly, "how the media shapes responses from emergency services" including police and hospital staff. This paper highlights the way the media creates and reinforces drink-spiking discourse, which constructs drink-spiking as individual behaviour rather than a culturally embedded issue. Such ideology perpetuates victim blaming and rape myths. We argue for critical and thoughtful reporting on AODFSV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims The literature review aimed to identify the barriers the Punjabi and/or Sikh community have in accessing support for alcohol addiction. Method A systematic review of the literature was undertaken of four scholarly databases, Google Scholar and grey literature on UK-based research conducted after 1980 into alcohol addiction in the Punjabi and/or Sikh community. Fourteen papers met the inclusion criteria outlined in the paper and were included in the review. Results Ten main barriers to accessing support were found; stigma, religion, lack of understanding of addiction, over reliance on a medical model of treatment and disregard of therapy, cultural implications of being a member of the Punjabi and/or Sikh community and the addiction community, gender and generational differences and a lack of government commitment to alcohol support for BME communities with a lack of culturally specific services. Conclusion Despite the many barriers explored, the role of stigma remained a powerful theme throughout often underpinning other barriers. A key recommendation across many papers was the need for culturally sensitive support services. Several areas for future research were identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractBackgroundMethodsResultsConclusion\nHIGHLIGHTSA qualitative exploration into the views of alcohol service staff on transdermal alcohol sensors (TAS) within three alcohol services in South London, UK. This study aims to assess the acceptability and feasibility of TAS implementation in alcohol services to provide treatment in clinical settings and identify potential challenges and solutions from the perspective of service providers.Ten participants, in a patient-facing role with alcohol-related treatment, completed a semi-structured interview.Three core theoretical themes guided the analysis: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and attitudes toward use. Participants thought TAS could be useful as part of alcohol treatment in their service. They thought their service users may face some challenges using the TAS, (such as wearing the device; misplacing it, and/or remembering to remove and replace it for bathing). In general, participant attitudes toward TAS tended to be positive but there were some concerns about the cost and staff training. Participants believed their service users would be skeptical about wearing it, but that it could complement their treatment and motivate them toward their treatment goals.Results support the acceptability and feasibility of TAS within alcohol services. Participants suggested potential methods of implementing TAS within their treatment plans which could benefit both staff and users. Participants were agreeable and willing to learn more about TAS including the practicalities of implementing TAS. TAS were seen as a potentially useful treatment facilitator, if implemented correctly with sufficiently motivated service users and if specific challenges were addressed.The first paper to interview clinical staff from alcohol-treatment services about transdermal alcohol sensors (TAS).Staff were positive about the implementation of TAS as a potential adjunct to alcohol treatment.Staff were skeptical about applicability and engagement with technology amongst some service users.Several practical ways to use TAS were suggested.The first paper to interview clinical staff from alcohol-treatment services about transdermal alcohol sensors (TAS).Staff were positive about the implementation of TAS as a potential adjunct to alcohol treatment.Staff were skeptical about applicability and engagement with technology amongst some service users.Several practical ways to use TAS were suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The current paper examines the proportion of drinking occasions and total alcohol consumed that takes place at off‐premise locations. Comparisons are made between high‐income countries: Australia, New Zealand, England and Scotland, and across drinker‐types: high‐risk and lower‐risk. Methods: Data were taken from the International Alcohol Control study in Australia (N = 1789), New Zealand (N = 1979), England (N = 2844) and Scotland (N = 1864). The cross‐national survey measures location and beverage‐specific alcohol consumption. The number of drinking occasions and mean consumption across on‐ and off‐premise locations and the proportion of drinking occasions that high‐ and lower‐risk drinkers had at on‐ and off‐premise locations was estimated for each country. Results: The majority of drinking occasions among high‐risk drinkers occurred at off‐premise locations across all four countries; Australia 80.1%, New Zealand 72.0%, England 61.7% and Scotland 60.7%. High‐risk drinkers in Australia had significantly larger proportions of drinking occasions occurring at off‐premise locations compared to England and Scotland. Across all countries, high‐risk drinkers and lower‐risk drinkers consumed significantly larger quantities of alcohol per occasion at off‐premise locations compared to on‐premises locations. Finally, the majority of total alcohol consumed occurred at off‐premise locations across all countries for high‐ and lower‐risk drinkers. Discussion and Conclusions: As the accessibility to alcohol outside of licensed premises continues to increase, particularly with the expansion of home delivery services, it is important to be mindful of the high proportion of heavy drinking occasions that occur off‐premise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This technical note reviews the plethora of concentration units used to report blood‐alcohol concentration (BAC) and breath‐alcohol concentrations (BrAC) for legal purposes in different countries. The choice of units sometimes causes confusion when scientific papers originating from a certain country might be introduced into evidence via expert testimony, such as when alcohol‐related crimes are prosecuted. The concentration units are also important to consider when blood/breath ratios (BBRs) of alcohol are calculated and compared between countries. Statutory BAC limits for driving in most nations are reported in mass/volume (m/v) units, such as g/100 mL (g%) in the United States, mg/100 mL (mg%) in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, or g/L (mg/mL) in many EU nations. By contrast, Germany and the Nordic countries report BAC as mass/mass (m/m) units, hence g/kg or mg/g, which are ~5.5% lower than m/v units, because whole blood has an average density of 1.055 g/mL. There are historical reasons for reporting BAC in mass/mass units because the aliquots of blood analyzed were measured by weight rather than volume. The difference between m/m and m/v is also important in postmortem toxicology, such as when distribution ratios of ethanol between blood and other biological specimens, such as urine, vitreous humor, and cerebrospinal fluid, are reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This paper describes the design and implementation of an online survey experiment to investigate the effects of alcohol warning labels on alcohol‐related knowledge, risk perceptions and intentions. Method: The survey collected self‐reported data from 14 European countries through two waves of data collection with different recruitment strategies: dissemination via social media and public health agencies was followed by paid‐for Facebook ads. The latter strategy was adopted to achieve broader population representation. Post‐stratification weighting was used to match the sample to population demographics. Results: The survey received over 34,000 visits and resulted in a sample size of 19,601 participants with complete data on key sociodemographic characteristics. The responses in the first wave were over‐representing females and higher educated people, thus the dissemination was complemented by the paid‐for Facebook ads targeting more diverse populations but had higher attrition rate. Conclusion: Experiments can be integrated into general population surveys. Pan‐European results can be achieved with limited resources and a combination of sampling methods to compensate for different biases, and statistical adjustments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Alcohol is implicated in epileptogenesis and seizures attack. An increasing number of studies about alcohol and epilepsy have been published. We aimed to assess research trends and hot spots in the field of alcohol and epilepsy. Patients and Methods: Literature concerning alcohol and epilepsy was systemically searched through the Web of Science database. Collaborative maps were quantitatively analyzed by using the VOSviewer and CiteSpace tools. Results: A total of 1578 papers about the field of alcohol and epilepsy were taken into analysis, which was written by 6840 authors from 2153 institutions in 85 countries, published in 676 journals, and cited 79 667 references from 10 750 journals. The United States was the leading country and had close ties with others. The University of Toronto was the most productive institution. Alcoholism‐clinical and experimental research was the fastest‐growing journal. Richard J. Bodnar was the author contributing the most literature. Analysis of keywords showed epilepsy, alcohol, seizures, alcohol withdrawal, and management were common themes. Conclusion: The presented study conducted the first bibliometric analysis of the field of alcohol and epilepsy, which will provide insights into the latest progress, evolution paths, frontier research hot spots, and future research trends in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis paper examines self-reported rates of drinking and cannabis use and co-use among White and Hispanic adults randomly selected in four counties in California: Imperial on the border; and Kern, Tulare, and Madera in California’s Central Valley. Co-use was significantly higher among the U.S. born than among those born abroad, and in the Central Valley than on the border. Co-users were heavier drinkers, had higher rates of alcohol use disorder, other alcohol problems, and a positive history of illicit drug use than drinkers only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims Method Results Conclusion Population‐level alcohol use data are available from high‐income countries, but limited research has been conducted in sub‐Saharan Africa. This systematic review and meta‐analysis aimed to summarize population‐level alcohol use in sub‐Saharan Africa.Databases searched included PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO and AJOL, without language restrictions. Searches were also conducted in the Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx) and Google Scholar. Search terms encompassed ‘substance’ or ‘substance‐related disorders’ and ‘prevalence’ and ‘sub‐Saharan Africa’. We included general population studies on alcohol use (including any use, high‐risk alcohol use and alcohol use disorders) from 2018 onwards. Prevalence data for alcohol use among sub‐Saharan African adolescents (10–17) and adults (18+) were extracted. Analyses included life‐time and past 12‐ and 6‐month alcohol use.We included 141 papers. Among adolescents, the life‐time prevalence of alcohol use was 23.3% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 11.3–37.1%], 36.2% (CI = 18.4–56.1%) in the past year and 11.3% (CI = 4.5–20.4%) in the past 6 months. Among adolescents, 12‐month prevalence of alcohol use disorder and alcohol dependence were 7.7% (CI = 0.0–27.8%) and 4.1% (CI = 1.4–7.9%), respectively. Among adults, the life‐time prevalence of alcohol use was 34.9% (CI = 17.7–54.1%), 27.1% (CI = 5.0–56.4%) in the past year and 32.2% (CI = 19.8–46.0%) in the past 6 months. Among adults, the 12‐month prevalence of alcohol use disorder and alcohol dependence were 9.5% (CI = 0.0–30.4%) and 4.3% (CI = 0.8–9.8%), respectively. The highest weighted life‐time prevalence of alcohol use, 86.4%, was reported in Tanzania among adults. The highest weighted past 6‐month prevalence of alcohol use, 80.6%, was found in Zambia among adolescents.Alcohol use patterns vary across countries and subregions within sub‐Saharan Africa, and comprehensive population‐level data on alcohol use remain scarce in numerous sub‐Saharan African countries. The prevalence of alcohol use disorder is common among adolescents in sub‐Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: During the past two decades of cannabis legalization, the prevalence of medical cannabis (MC) use has increased and there has also been an upward trend in alcohol consumption. As less restricted cannabis laws generate more adult cannabis users, there is concern that more individuals may be simultaneously using medical cannabis with alcohol. A few studies have examined simultaneous use of medical cannabis with alcohol, but none of those studies also assessed patients' current or previous non-medical cannabis use. This paper explores simultaneous alcohol and medical cannabis use among medical cannabis patients with a specific focus on previous history of cannabis use and current non-medical cannabis use. Methods: A retrospective cohort study of MC patients (N = 319) from four dispensaries located in New York. Bivariate chi-square tests and multivariable logistic regression are used to estimate the extent to which sociodemographic and other factors were associated with simultaneous use. Results: Approximately 29% of the sample engaged in simultaneous use and a large share of these users report previous (44%) or current (66%) use of cannabis for non-medical purposes. MC patients who either previously or currently use cannabis non-medicinally, men, and patients using MC to treat a pain-related condition, were significantly more likely to report simultaneous alcohol/MC use. Conclusions: Findings indicate that there may be differential risks related to alcohol/MC use, which should be considered by cannabis regulatory policies and prevention/treatment programs. If patients are using cannabis and/or alcohol to manage pain, clinicians should screen for both alcohol and cannabis use risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Evidence shows that price is an important policy lever in reducing consumption of alcohol and tobacco. However, there is little evidence of the cross‐price effect between alcohol and tobacco. Methods: This paper uses an econometric model which estimates participation and consumption elasticities, on data from the UK Living Costs and Food Survey 2006–2017 and extends the literature by, for the first time, estimating joint price elasticities for disaggregated alcohol and tobacco products. This paper presents new price elasticities and compares them to the existing literature. Results: The own‐price elasticity estimates are all negative for both participation and consumption. There is no pattern to the estimates of cross‐price elasticities. The elasticity estimates, when used in the Sheffield Tobacco and Alcohol Policy Model, produce bigger changes in consumption for the same change in price compared to other elasticity estimates in the existing literature. Discussion and Conclusions: Consumption of alcohol and tobacco are affected by the prices of one another. Policymakers should bear this in mind when devising alcohol or tobacco pricing policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Substance use, that is of cigarettes, alcohol and chemical inhalants, is a major contributor to health‐compromising behaviors and the related consequences among adolescents around the world. The purpose of this paper is to examine trends in this phenomenon in South Korea among sexually active adolescents who reported sexual minority behaviors as compared to their heterosexual (HS) peers. Design and Methods: This study used data from the annual web‐based survey called Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 5‐year intervals: 2006, 2011, and 2016. From 2017, the questions regarding the gender of sex partners were excluded from the survey, thus no data is available for sexual minorities after 2016. Selected data (Unweighted n = 10,029) was used to assess whether substance use increased, decreased, or remained unchanged among adolescents who reported same‐sex (SS) behaviors and bisexual (BS) behaviors compared to their peers reporting HS behaviors. Demographic variables included age and assigned gender. Substances referred to are cigarettes, alcohol, and chemical inhalants. Logistic regression models were sex‐stratified according to assigned gender. Trend analyses were carried out to examine disparities in substance use among sexually active adolescents across the three survey years. Results: Across the three survey years, cigarette use, alcohol use, and problematic drinking declined among all sexually active youths, but there were some differences among the subgroups. In 2016, SS girls were more likely to use cigarettes than HS girls. The prevalence of alcohol use and problematic drinking among BS girls was relatively higher than among girls who exhibited either HS or SS behaviors. Inhalant use was very high among both boys and girls with SS and BS behaviors. Practice Implications: The findings of the study reveal disparities in substance use between sexual minority and heterosexual adolescents in South Korea. This creates an alarm for collecting data separately for sexually diverse youth in future Korean national surveys with a goal of reducing substance use among all adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive alcohol intake will aggravate the health risk between the liver and intestine and affect the multi-directional information exchange of metabolites between host cells and microbial communities. Because of the side effects of clinical drugs, people tend to explore the intervention value of natural drugs on diseases. As a flavor substance, spices have been proven to have medicinal value, but they are still rare in treating hepatointestinal diseases caused by alcohol. This paper summarized the metabolic transformation of alcohol in the liver and intestine and summarized the potential value of various perfume active substances in improving liver and intestine diseases caused by alcohol. It is also found that bioactive substances in spices can exert antioxidant activity in the liver and intestine environment and reduce the oxidative stress caused by diseases. These substances can interfere with fatty acid synthesis, promote sugar and lipid metabolism, and reduce liver injury caused by steatosis. They can effectively regulate the balance of intestinal flora, promote the production of SCFAs, and restore the intestinal microenvironment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

24/7 Sobriety programs largely focus on reducing alcohol consumption among justice-involved individuals whose alcohol use has led them to repeatedly threaten public safety. Participants are ordered to abstain from alcohol use and subject to frequent alcohol testing (e.g., twice daily breathalyzers, remote alcohol monitoring); those testing positive face an immediate sanction, typically a night or two in jail. Unlike drug courts and other forms of coerced substance use disorder treatment, 24/7 does not require participants to enter a treatment program or attend self-help group meetings; however, these approaches are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The empirical evidence suggests that participants largely abstain from heavy drinking while in the program and that 24/7 participation is associated with lower probability of criminal legal involvement and mortality. This evidence is largely based on research in the Great Plains states with large rural populations. Several questions remain about these programs (e.g., optimal program length, possible benefits of incorporating positive incentives, efficacy of different alcohol testing technologies), many of which can best be answered in an experimental setting. In addition to reviewing the existing research on 24/7, this paper highlights additional research questions and ideas for conducting randomized controlled trials with the program, especially in more urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a significant contributor to morbidity and mortality in the United States. It contributes to over 140,000 annual deaths, to over 200 related diseases and health conditions globally, and accounts for 5.1% of the global disease burden. Despite its substantial impact, AUD remains undertreated, marked by a scarcity of approved medications. This paper explores the current treatment landscape and novel strategies for both alcohol withdrawal syndrome and AUD. Promising results, including the use of psychedelics alongside psychotherapy, noninvasive neural-circuit-based interventions, phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitors, and GLP-1 receptor agonists, have emerged from recent studies. While these advancements show potential, further research is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of their effectiveness. The clear shortage of approved medications and other treatment modalities underscores the pressing need for ongoing research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there has been significant research on the relationship between alcohol consumption and demographic and psychological influences, this does not consider the effect of social influence among older drinkers and if these effects differ between men and women. One aspect of social influence is social capital. The aim of this paper is to examine whether relational and cognitive social capital are associated with higher or lower risk of alcohol use among adults aged 50 years or older and to assess the extent to which this relationship differs between men and women. To investigate this, data were collected from a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of adults over the age of 50 in the United Kingdom who were recruited from general practitioners. The sample consisted of 9,984 individuals whose mean age was 63.87 years. From these data, we developed proxy measures of social capital and associate these with the respondent's level of alcohol consumption as measured on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-10) scale. In the sample, just over 20 per cent reported an increasing risk or dependency on alcohol. Using two expressions of social capital – relational (social relationships) and cognitive (knowledge acquisition and understanding) – we found that greater levels of both are associated with a reduced risk of higher drinking risk. Being female had no significant effect when combined with relational capital but did have a significant effect when combined with cognitive capital. It is argued that interventions to enhance social relations among older people and education to help understand alcohol risks would be helpful to protect older people from the damaging effects of excessive alcohol consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This systematic review investigates the bidirectional relationship between alcohol consumption and disrupted circadian rhythms. The goal of this study was to identify (i) the types of circadian rhythm disruptors (i.e. social jet lag, extreme chronotypes, and night shift work) associated with altered alcohol use and (ii) whether sex differences in the consequences of circadian disruption exist. We conducted a search of PubMed, Embase, and PsycINFO exclusively on human research. We identified 177 articles that met the inclusion criteria. Our analyses revealed that social jet lag and the extreme chronotype referred to as eveningness were consistently associated with increased alcohol consumption. Relationships between night shift work and alcohol consumption were variable; half of articles reported no effect of night shift work on alcohol consumption. Both sexes were included as participants in the majority of the chronotype and social jet lag papers, with no sex difference apparent in alcohol consumption. The night shift research, however, contained fewer studies that included both sexes. Not all forms of circadian disruption are associated with comparable patterns of alcohol use. The most at-risk individuals for increased alcohol consumption are those with social jet lag or those of an eveningness chronotype. Direct testing of the associations in this review should be conducted to evaluate the relationships among circadian disruption, alcohol intake, and sex differences to provide insight into temporal risk factors associated with development of alcohol use disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A primary community prevention approach in Iceland was associated with strong reductions of substance use in adolescents. Two years into the implementation of this prevention model in Chile, the aim of this study was to assess changes in the prevalence of adolescent alcohol and cannabis use and to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the substance use outcomes. In 2018, six municipalities in Greater Santiago, Chile, implemented the Icelandic prevention model, including structured assessments of prevalence and risk factors of substance use in tenth grade high school students every 2 years. The survey allows municipalities and schools to work on prevention with prevalence data from their own community. The survey was modified from an on-site paper format in 2018 to an on-line digital format in a shortened version in 2020. Comparisons between the cross-sectional surveys in the years 2018 and 2020 were performed with multilevel logistic regressions. Totally, 7538 participants were surveyed in 2018 and 5528 in 2020, nested in 125 schools from the six municipalities. Lifetime alcohol use decreased from 79.8% in 2018 to 70.0% in 2020 (X2 = 139.3, p < 0.01), past-month alcohol use decreased from 45.5 to 33.4% (X2 = 171.2, p < 0.01), and lifetime cannabis use decrease from 27.9 to 18.8% (X2 = 127.4, p < 0.01). Several risk factors improved between 2018 and 2020: staying out of home after 10 p.m. (X2 = 105.6, p < 0.01), alcohol use in friends (X2 = 31.8, p < 0.01), drunkenness in friends (X2 = 251.4, p < 0.01), and cannabis use in friends (X2 = 217.7, p < 0.01). However, other factors deteriorated in 2020: perceived parenting (X2 = 63.8, p < 0.01), depression and anxiety symptoms (X2 = 23.5, p < 0.01), and low parental rejection of alcohol use (X2 = 24.9, p < 0.01). The interaction between alcohol use in friends and year was significant for lifetime alcohol use (β = 0.29, p < 0.01) and past-month alcohol use (β = 0.24, p < 0.01), and the interaction between depression and anxiety symptoms and year was significant for lifetime alcohol use (β = 0.34, p < 0.01), past-month alcohol use (β = 0.33, p < 0.01), and lifetime cannabis use (β = 0.26, p = 0.016). The decrease of substance use prevalence in adolescents was attributable at least in part to a reduction of alcohol use in friends. This could be related to social distancing policies, curfews, and homeschooling during the pandemic in Chile that implied less physical interactions between adolescents. The increase of depression and anxiety symptoms may also be related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The factors rather attributable to the prevention intervention did not show substantial changes (i.e., sports activities, parenting, and extracurricular activities). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol marketing influences drinking practices, and this helps shape how gender identities are constructed. This paper presents research exploring how women who are sober manage and negotiate their non-drinking and sober identities in neo-liberal contexts that market alcohol products and consumption as a defining feature of feminine identities. Semi-structured in-depth interviews (n = 15) and online content produced by sober women active in the positive sobriety community on the social media platform Instagram were analysed using thematic analysis. Women negotiated marketing messages within their everyday experiences of sobriety, with associations between drinking and motherhood, female friendship and empowerment, discussed as impacting their drinking, lived experience and sense of self. They negotiated such messages, and created alternative ways of 'doing femininity' as sober women, through distancing themselves from their previous drinking identities; rejecting, reworking and countering marketing that links alcohol use to femininity; and alternative consumption practices. Instagram allowed women to publicly critique and counter marketing messages in ways that unlinked alcohol use, but not consumption more generally, from femininity, in traditional and news ways. Marketing regulation should consider how those experiencing problematic alcohol use may be particularly vulnerable to marketing messages, in ways that are gendered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suicide remains a leading cause of death worldwide, with an estimated 700,000 suicide deaths per year. The World Health Organization identifies reducing alcohol use as one component of comprehensive approaches to suicide prevention. This paper conducted a rapid review of the evidence on alcohol-related suicide prevention interventions. PubMed, Embase and Web of Science were searched for articles related to alcohol, suicide, prevention, and policies, published between 1990 and 2020. 5293 articles were identified; after deduplication, 2567 studies were screened at the title and abstract level. 402 articles underwent full-text review. 69 articles were ultimately included and underwent data extraction. Interventions were categorized as policy interventions, community-based interventions, and clinical interventions. While there is evidence that policy interventions targeting alcohol may be associated with lower suicide rates, more evidence using stronger study designs is needed. The evidence for community interventions was mixed and supported the need for further research on these types of interventions. Pharmaceutical and therapy-based clinical interventions also showed some promise, with more research needed. Overall, despite evidence of alcohol's role in suicide attempts and deaths, few interventions have been developed with the purpose of addressing alcohol-related suicide. More research is needed to identify effective interventions to prevent alcohol-related suicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Low‐Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines (LRDGs) aim to reduce the harms caused by alcohol. However, considerable discrepancies exist in the 'low‐risk' thresholds employed by different countries. Argument/analysis: Drawing upon Canada's LRDGs update process, the current paper offers the following propositions for debate regarding the establishment of 'low‐risk' thresholds in national guidelines: (1) as an indicator of health loss, years of life lost (YLL) has several advantages that could make it more suitable for setting guidelines than deaths, premature deaths or disability adjusted years of life (DALYs) lost. (2) Presenting age‐specific guidelines may not be the most appropriate way of providing LRDGs. (3) Given past overemphasis on the so‐called protective effects of alcohol on health, presenting cause‐specific guidelines may not be appropriate compared with a 'whole health' effect derived from a weighted composite risk function comprising conditions that are causally related to alcohol consumption. (4) To help people reduce their alcohol use, presenting different risk zones associated with alcohol consumption instead of a single low risk threshold may be advantageous. Conclusions: National LRDGs should be based on years of life lost and should be neither age‐specific nor cause‐specific. We recommend using risk zones rather than a single drinking threshold to help people assess their own risk and encourage the adoption of behaviours with positive health impacts across the alcohol use spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Prison‐based drug and alcohol group treatment programs operate in all Australian jurisdictions. With more than two‐thirds of people in prison having a history of substance use prior to incarceration, such programs are needed. There have been few published papers on the impact of attending group treatment programs in Australian prisons, and the research published to date has been predominately quantitative. We aim to report the experiences of males in prison who completed and those who did not complete a group‐based drug and alcohol program, to gain insight into their strategies for reducing harm from drug and alcohol post‐release. Methods: Qualitative thematic analysis of in‐depth interviews with 12 males who completed or were about to complete and 10 males who discontinued a prison‐based group drug and alcohol treatment program. Results: Program completers were more likely to have well‐developed plans to reduce drug and alcohol harms and maintain abstinence upon return to the community, which included creating healthier social networks. They also showed stronger insights into the factors that led to offending. Those who did not complete the drug and alcohol program appeared to rely on self‐will as the main way to reduce drug and alcohol harms, with less awareness of options for support services to reduce or stop drug and alcohol use. Discussion and Conclusions: Prison‐based drug and alcohol program engagement imparted useful information for program completers. Controlled trials are needed to examine whether such differences equate to improved outcomes after release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on findings from the From Adversity to University project, a unique widening participation initiative developed by one university to support a diverse range of people into Higher Education through engagement with a 12-week bridging module. This small-scale case study presents an in-depth exploration of how learning space shaped students' experience of a bridging module during the COVID-19 pandemic. Space is conceptualised through a theory of embodied cognition which recognises the complexity of social, cultural, and cognitive inter-relations between space and students' learning experience. An interpretative narrative methodological approach was taken, drawing on the Listening Guide [LG]. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with five students who completed the bridging module during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. All had been affected by homelessness and most were in recovery from alcohol and/or drug addiction. For all participants, there was a complex and dynamic interconnectivity between learning spaces and their experience of the bridging module. The findings demonstrate for the five students how learning spaces (including the flexibility of the space) contributed to participants' sense of belonging, recovery from drugs and alcohol addiction, mental health and well-being. Implications of the study point towards the need for further research into the connection between learning space and the creation of a sense of belonging particularly for students from marginalised groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, ionic liquids as a new group of solvent have successfully showed high capacity for applications in chemical engineering industries because of their desirable properties so knowledge of their properties such refractive indices of the binary system of alcohols and ionic liquids have high importance. This paper presents predictive tool based Least Squares Support Vector Machine optimized by Particle swarm optimization to determined refractive index of this binary system. In order to prepare the mentioned algorithm, a comprehensive databank contains 688 experimental refractive indices of the binary system of different alcohols and ionic liquids is used. The developed method shows satisfying results based on statistical and graphical comparisons. Furthermore the effects of different inputs on refractive index term has been investigated by a novel sensitivity analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Small doses of alcohol may or may not benefit cardiovascular disease (CVD). • Alcohol industry actors have been involved in review-level evidence, generating concerns. • Industry funding is not a major determinant of co-authorship in alcohol and CVD. • Conflicting findings on alcohol and CVD may be due to industry funding bias. • Progress in this area has implications for alcohol public health science and policy. Alcohol's effects on cardiovascular disease (CVD) are controversial. Alcohol industry actors have shown particular interest in this subject, and been extensively involved through research funding, and in other ways, generating concerns about bias, particularly in reviews. We conducted a co-authorship network analysis of the primary studies included within a previous co-authorship study of 60 systematic reviews on the impact of alcohol on CVD. Additionally, we examined the relationships between declared alcohol industry funding and network structure. There were 713 unique primary studies with 2832 authors published between 1969 and 2019 located within 229 co-authorship subnetworks. There was industry funding across subnetworks and approximately 8% of all papers declared industry funding. The largest subnetwork dominated, comprising 43% of all authors, with sparse evidence of substantial industry funding. The second largest subnetwork contained approximately 4% of all authors, with largely different industry funders involved. Harvard affiliated authors who at the review level formed co-authorship subnetworks with industry funded authors were seen at the primary study level to belong to the largest epidemiological subnetwork. A small number of key authors make extensive alcohol industry funding declarations. There was no straightforward relationship between co-authorship network formation and alcohol industry funding of epidemiological studies on alcohol and CVD. More fine-grained attention to patterns of alcohol industry funding and to key nodes may shed further light on how far industry funding may be responsible for conflicting findings on alcohol and CVD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of adults suffering from alcohol use disorders (AUD) do not receive treatment. To address this gap in care, we must develop new models to increase identification, engagement and delivery of accessible and effective treatment. This paper describes the protocol for a randomized controlled trial (RCT) testing a novel telehealth treatment model for primary care patients with untreated AUD. We aim to recruit 300 adults across 2 healthcare systems for this two-arm RCT. Participants, initially identified for recruitment based on AUD-related indicators in their electronic health record (EHR), are RCT-eligible if they meet AUD criteria (mild, moderate, severe), report ≥ 3 drinking days/week in past 30 days, and have not received AUD psychotherapy in the past 90 days. Participants are randomized to an intervention or enhanced usual care control (EUC) condition, both individually-delivered. The intervention includes a telephone-delivered motivational interviewing (MI) engagement session and 8 sessions of MI-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MI-CBT). EUC involves AUD psychoeducation, advice to reduce drinking and seek treatment, and provision of community resources. Outcomes will be measured at 3-, 6-, and 12-months; primary outcomes include: AUD psychotherapy initiation and engagement (within the study and external community) and alcohol consumption (percent drinking days and heavy drinking days). This study addresses whether proactive patient identification and engagement and delivery of patient-centered telehealth psychotherapy to patients with untreated AUD is effective in increasing treatment use and improving alcohol outcomes. If effective, this could be a highly scalable model for reducing the public health impact of AUD. ClinicalTrials.gov # NCT05410561. University of Michigan HUM00204315. Ann Arbor VA IRB #1655886. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ice, the widely used low-temperature storage material, plays an important role in the short-time cold chain transportation. To avoid water leakage caused by ice melting, special encapsulation is needed, but inevitably leads to the single shape and the poor contact between ice and the cooled object. It is urgent to develop a new type of leakage-proof cold storage material. Accordingly, in this paper, by combing the technologies of molding foaming and freeze-thawing, a novel cold storage material containing poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) carrier foam and PVA gel was fabricated. PVA carrier foam mainly provided the strength foundation, while PVA gel locked the absorbed water. With the addition of 7.0 wt% PVA gel into PVA carrier foam, denser and uniform cells were formed, endowing the foam/gel composite with good shape retention. Even after 500 times' cyclic compression, the compression curve of the composite still coincided with the original one. The further introduction of 2.0 wt% NaCl into PVA gel enhanced the cold storage effect of the composite, i.e., the temperature in an incubation box could reach −2.5 °C and be maintained for 16 h. This novel PVA foam/gel composite was expected to be used as cold storage material for cold chain transport, and thus broadening the practical application of PVA. • Providing a novel foam/gel composite for short-time cold chain logistics. • Overcoming the shortcomings of the widely used cold storage materials such as ice. • The preparation technologies are simple, fast and clean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of prenatal substance exposure often rely on self-report, urine drug screens, and/or analyses of blood or meconium biomarkers. Accuracy of these measures is limited when assessing exposure over many weeks or months of gestation. Nails are increasingly being considered as a matrix from which to assess substance exposure. This systematic review synthesizes data on the validity of detecting alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, and opioid from nail clippings, with an emphasis on prenatal exposure assessment. The systematic review was conducted using PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Seven databases were searched with keywords relevant to the four substances of interest. Results were summarized grouping manuscripts by the exposure of interest with focus on accuracy and feasibility. Of 2384 papers initially identified, 35 manuscripts were included in our qualitative synthesis. Only a few studies specifically looked at pregnant individuals or mother-child dyads. Across the four substances, many studies demonstrated a dose-response relationship between exposure and concentration of analytes in nails. Nail assays appear to detect lower level of exposure compared to hair; however, sample insufficiency, especially for multi-substance assays, remains a limitation. Based on the reviewed studies, nail clippings are an acceptable and potentially preferable matrix for the evaluation of these four prenatal substances when sampling frequency and/or study design necessitates assessment of past exposures over an extended period. Nails have the advantage of infrequent sampling and minimal invasiveness to assess a broad exposure period. Future studies should examine validity of analytes in toenail versus fingernail clippings. • We performed a systematic review of substance exposures in nail clipping samples. • Exposures of interest were alcohol, nicotine, opioids and cannabinoids. • Many studies demonstrated a dose-response relationship. • Nails were an acceptable matrix for evaluating prenatal exposures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]