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Background : Colorado's age-adjusted fatal opioid overdose rate increased over 400% from 2000 to 2020. Public libraries are increasingly valuable community resources for accessing health-related information. We sought to evaluate the availability and types of opioid use disorder (OUD)-related resources offered through Colorado Public Library branches using secret shoppers to collect data. Methods : This was a cross sectional study of 197 Colorado Public Libraries in 2021. Anonymous auditors posed as library patrons asking a brief standardized script about availability of OUD-related resources over the phone. We conducted descriptive analyses of the libraries contacted, the response types of OUD resources provided, and information about naloxone availability. Outcomes were compared between urban/rural and libraries within/outside the Denver Public Library (DPL) system via means comparison tests. Results : Approximately 50% of libraries were classified as urban. Most (81%) of the libraries offered a valid OUD-resource, and over half (51%) provided a referral to a treatment center offering at least one medication for OUD. Over a third (36%) of librarians referenced the statewide naloxone standing order allowing patients to obtain naloxone from a pharmacy without prescription. One in ten libraries provided at least one invalid referral resource. Libraries within the DPL system referenced Colorado's naloxone standing order at higher rates than non-DPL libraries. Conclusions : Public libraries may benefit from the development of a standard for OUD-related resource training/education that can be distributed across the state to create a space for community members to obtain resources related to substance use.

Functionalization of the imidazolium (Im + ) cationic component of ionic liquids (ILs) with ether chains affords the possibility of tuning their properties through manipulation of the resulting interion and intramolecular interactions. Herein, we quantify these interactions at the molecular level through analysis of the vibrational spectra displayed by size-selected and cryogenically cooled ions. These spectra are obtained using the "tagging" approach carried out with photofragmentation tandem mass spectrometry. In the isolated cations, we find that the oxygen atom on the ether chain binds exclusively to the acidic C (2) H position on the Im + ring. Upon complexation with BF 4 - to form the ternary (ether-MIm + ) 2 (BF 4 - ) cation, however, the less acidic C (4,5) H groups also participate as contact points for the ionic assembly, in contrast to the behavior of the closely related (EMIm + ) 2 (BF 4 - ) system. These experimental results support the conclusions derived from earlier X-ray scattering and molecular dynamics results on bulk ILs regarding interactions with the ring CH groups and their implications on tuning the viscosities of this class of functionalized ILs.

Ionic liquids (ILs) with relatively low viscosities and broad windows of electrochemical stability are often constructed by pairing asymmetric cations with bisfluorosulfonylimide (FSI - ) or bistriflimide (NTf 2  - ) anions. In this work, we systematically studied the structures of ILs with these anions and related perfluorobis-sulfonylimide anions with asymmetry and/or longer chains: (fluorosulfonyl)(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (BSI 0,1 - ), bis(pentafluoroethylsulfonyl)imide (BETI - ), and (trifluoromethylsulfonyl) (nonafluorobutylsulfonyl)imide (BSI 1,4 - ) using high energy X-ray scattering and molecular dynamics simulation methods. 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium cations with shorter (ethyl, Im 2,1 + ) and longer (octyl, Im 1,8 + ) hydrocarbon chains were selected to examine how the sizes of nonpolar hydrocarbon and fluorous chains affect IL structures and properties. In comparison with these, we also computationally explored the structure of ionic liquids with anions having longer fluorinated tails.

Nilanjana Dasgupta's (this issue) stereotype inoculation model (SIM) helps explain why what feels like a free choice to pursue one life path over another "is often constrained by subtle cues in achievement environments that signal who naturally belongs there and is most likely to succeed and who else is a dubious fit" (p. 231). She posits that seeing others like themselves in successful roles inoculates women against negative stereotypes that impede their success and persistence in specific achievement contexts.As is true of classic theoretical positions (see Nagel, 1961), Dasgupta presents postulates from which she deduces a specific set of hypotheses, and she reviews the relevant empirical/observational data in support of them. It is precisely what this area of research has long needed-moving beyond demonstrations of identity threats to a theory about their underlying causes, conditions, and interventions. This proposal leads her to four broad predictions, the first of which is the primary focus of our comment.