Comparison of self-report and hair analysis in detecting cocaine use in a homeless/transient sample.

Detection of current (past 30 days) drug use by analysis of hair was examined along with self-reports of current use in a 1994 treatment needs assessment survey; the sample was 179 homeless/transient adults in New York state. Results of radioimmunoassay of hair (RIAH) were used to evaluate the veracity of self-reports of current cocaine use. Only 26% of those persons whose hair tested positive for cocaine (n=115) admitted to having used cocaine in the past 30 days. Subjects eligible for treatment, as indicated by a DSM-III-R diagnosis of cocaine dependency, were nearly four times as likely to admit current cocaine use than those who were not dependent. These results are consistent with other studies of populations at high risk for substance use.

Co-occurrence of alcohol and cigarette use among adolescents.

Concurrent use of alcohol and cigarettes among adolescents is a serious public health issue. Trends in concurrent use of alcohol and cigarettes were determined using data from three comparable large statewide samples of 7-12th-grade students in New York State, from surveys conducted in 1983, 1990, and 1994. The prevalence of use of alcohol and cigarettes decreased from 1983 (23%) to 1990 (19%), and increased by 1994 (22%). Logistic regression analysis showed that these trends are highly significant, and that the probability of use of alcohol and cigarettes is higher for females than males, increases with age, and is lower for most ethnic minorities than for Whites. In the 1990s, Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians increased in their probability of concurrent use more than did Whites. Users of both alcohol and cigarettes are at increased risk of personal and social problems, as well as increased risk of delinquency. Drinking and smoking show synergistic effects on illicit drug use and drug problems.

Trends in combinational use of alcohol and illicit drugs among minority adolescents, 1983-1994.

Combinational use of substances refers to taking two or more substances together so that they affect the person at the same time. This pattern of substance use presents unique health and safety risks. Trends in combinational use of alcohol and marijuana or alcohol and cocaine were determined using data from three large comparable samples of students in grades 7-12 in New York State, from surveys conducted in 1983, 1990, and 1994. Each of the three samples was demographically diverse, permitting detailed analysis of trends in various adolescent subgroups according to gender, grade level (age), and race/ethnicity. These two forms of adolescent combinational use of alcohol and illicit drugs dropped sharply from 1983 to 1990, but increased or remained stable from 1990 to 1994. Use of alcohol and marijuana together increased sharply from 1990 to 1994, much more for blacks and Hispanics than for whites, while use of alcohol and crack or cocaine together remained stable at a low level in the 1990s. Both forms of combinational use increased in the 1990s more among younger adolescents than among older ones. Analyses controlling for rates of use also suggest that these forms of combinational use are incidental to the use of the individual substances, rather than uniquely sought "highs." Prevention programs should include warnings about the dangers of combinational use, especially for younger adolescents.

Alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence in adults in New York State.

This objective of this study was to assess the differences by gender, age, race in the relationship between alcohol consumption and current alcohol dependence among adults in the general population. Logistic regression showed that, at levels of alcohol consumption below about six drinks per day, males have a higher probability of alcohol dependence than females, but that above about six drinks per day, females have a higher probability. Older adults are at less risk of dependence than younger drinkers; however, blacks and whites did not differ in their probability of dependence. Possible explanations for these results are discussed.

Trends in adolescent alcohol and other substance use: relationships to trends in peer, parent, and school influences.

The aim of this study is to improve understanding of trends in adolescent substance use by comparing them with trends in peer substance use, school problem behavior, parental disapproval of alcohol and drugs, and exposure to school prevention information. These trends were determined using data from three large comparable representative surveys of 7-12th grade students in New York State conducted in 1983, 1990, and 1994. Analysis of variance was used to test the significance of the trends and to identify meaningful differences in trends by demographic subgroups (gender, grace level, and ethnicity). Adolescent alcohol and substance use declined in the 1980s, then increased from 1990 to 1994. Trends in friend's substance use and school problem behavior paralleled the alcohol and other substance use trends, consistent with their being part of the same adolescent problem behavior syndrome. Parental disapproval also followed a trend consistent with the substance use trends, i.e., parental disapproval increased in the 1980s but then decreased in the 1990s. However, the trend in school prevention influences did not parallel these substance use trends: student exposure to school primary prevention programs continued to increase from 1990 to 1994. Use of alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and other illicit drugs from 1990 to 1994, increased fastest among the younger students, despite increased school prevention exposure. Other factors must be sought as possible explanations of the increasing alcohol and substance use among adolescents.

Gambling and alcohol use among youth: influences of demographic, socialization, and individual factors.

Gambling and alcohol use are both prevalent among youth and these behaviors may have common predictors within four domains: sociodemographic, individual/psychological, socialization (parental and peer), and other problem behavior. Data were from two household samples of youth in the Buffalo, NY area. Both studies included the same measures of alcohol consumption and gambling frequency, and comparable measures of variables in the four domains. Multivariate analyses of variance revealed that impulsivity, moral disengagement, and delinquency (adolescent or peer delinquency) predicted alcohol consumption and gambling in both studies, even after controlling for demographic factors. Parental monitoring, cigarette use, and illicit drug use predicted alcohol consumption in both studies, but did not predict gambling once the demographic and individual factors were taken into account.

Antibodies to C1q in systemic lupus erythematosus: characteristics and relation to Fc gamma RIIA alleles.

Autoantibodies to the collagen-like region of the first complement component (C1qAB) are found in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), particularly those with renal disease. In a cohort of 46 SLE patients with diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis, we found declining C1qAB titers in 77% of treatment responders and in only 38% of treatment non-responders (P < 0.03). To further characterize this autoantibody, we tested 240 SLE patients for the presence of C1qAB. Positive titers were found in 44% of patients with renal disease and 18% of patients without renal disease (chi2 P < 0.0003). Analysis of IgG subclass revealed IgG2 C1qAB alone in 34%, IgG1 C1qAB alone in 20%, and both IgG1 and IgG2 in 46% of patients. Fewer than 10% of patients had measurable titers of IgG3 or IgG4 C1qAB. The pathogenic role of these IgG2-skewed C1qAB may relate to impaired immune complex clearance by the mononuclear phagocyte system: IgG2 antibodies are efficiently recognized by only one IgG receptor, the H131 allele of Fc gamma RIIa (Fc gamma RIIa-H131). In contrast, Fc gamma RIIa-R131, which is characterized by minimal IgG2 binding, has recently been associated with lupus nephritis. In our C1qAB positive patients, the presence of Fc gamma RIIA-R131 was associated with an increased risk for renal disease. Autoantibodies to C1q may have pathogenic significance in SLE patients with genetic defects in the ability to clear IgG2 containing immune complexes.

Changes in alcohol use and alcohol-related problems among 7th to 12th grade students in New York State, 1983-1994.

Three comparable representative samples of 7th to 12th grade students in New York State were surveyed in 1983, 1990, and 1994 to determine changes in the patterns of alcohol use over the past decade. Each of the three samples was large (n = 27,335, 23,860, and 19,321, respectively), permitting detailed analysis of changes in alcohol use in various adolescent subgroups according to age, gender, and race/ethnicity. Previous research revealed that there were marked decreases in the prevalence of overall drinking, heavy drinking, and alcohol-related problems from 1983 to 1990, yet recent national reports indicate that since 1990 there has been an upsurge in substance use among adolescents. Whereas the proportion of drinkers did not significantly increase between 1990 and 1994, average consumption, heavy drinking, and alcohol-related problems all showed modest, but significant increases in the 1990s. Furthermore, between 1990 and 1994, the age distributions for alcohol use, heavy drinking, and alcohol problems changed, as evidenced by significant age by year of survey interactions. These findings indicate that adolescents are currently drinking, drinking heavily, and experiencing alcohol-related problems at younger ages that they were in past years. Prevention efforts should be targeted at delaying alcohol use in early adolescence.

Neonatal isolation enhances hippocampal dentate response to tetanization in freely moving juvenile male rats.

The impact of early neonatal isolation on measures of hippocampal neuronal plasticity was examined in freely moving male rats at 30 days of age. Beginning on Postnatal (PN) Day 2, one-half of pups from each experimental litter were individually isolated from the nest, dam, and siblings for a period of 1 h per day over PN Days 2-9, while their siblings remained in the nest. In addition, randomly selected litters served as unhandled controls. On PN Day 26 all pups were weaned and chronically implanted for recording of evoked field potentials and induction of hippocampal longterm potentiation. At 30 days of age, pups from the three treatment groups (isolated, nonisolated siblings, and unhandled controls) were tested for their ability to establish and maintain long-term potentiation across the perforant path/hippocampal dentate granule cell synapse. Changes in population EPSP slope and population spike amplitude (PSA) recorded following tetanization were used to assess the effects of neonatal isolation of hippocampal response measures. No significant between-group differences were obtained for input/output response curves constructed prior to tetanization. All three groups showed immediate and significant enhancement of the PSA measure at 15 min posttetanization. The level of PSA enhancement obtained from previously isolated pups was significantly greater than that obtained from both the nonisolated sibling and unhandled control groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Venus was wet: a measurement of the ratio of deuterium to hydrogen.

The deuterium-hydrogen abundance ratio in the Venus atmosphere was measured while the inlets to the Pioneer Venus large probe mass spectrometer were coated with sulfuric acid from Venus' clouds. The ratio is (1.6 +/- 0.2) x 10(-2). The hundredfold enrichment of deuterium means that at least 0.3 percent of a terrestrial ocean was outgassed on Venus, but is consistent with a much greater production.

Occurrence of an inducible glutaminase in Bacillus licheniformis.

We report the presence of l-glutamine aminohydrolase activity (EC 3.5.1.2) in extracts of B. licheniformis A5. The activity was induced by glutamine and repressed by glucose.

Composition and structure of the venus atmosphere: results from pioneer venus.

Results from the Pioneer Venus sounder probe neutral mass spectrometer indicate that there is no difference in the isotopic ratios of carbon and oxygen between Venus and Earth to within +/- 5 percent. The mixing ratio of nitrogen is 3.5(+3)(-2) percent with an isotopic ratio within 20 percent of that of Earth. The ratio of argon-36 to argon-40 is 85 percent, and the ratio of argon-38 to argon-36 is 20 percent. The mixing ratios of argon-36 and argon-40 are approximately 40 and 50 parts per million, respectively, with an error of about a factor of 2 (mainly toward a lesser amount) resulting from uncertainty in the response of the ion pump to rare gases. Hydrogen chloride cannot account for more than a few percent of the 36 mass peak, and therefore the large excess of primordial argon is a reasonable conclusion. The ratio of neon-20 to argon-36 of 0.5 +/- 0.3 is definitely terrestrial in character rather than solar. These results indicate that there is a large excess of all primordial noble gases on Venus relative to Earth. There appears to be a considerably higher abundance of sulfur compounds below 20 kilometers than in or above the main cloud layer. The 32 and 60 mass peaks show a sharp increase below 22 kilometers, indicating the possible production of sulfur and carbon oxysulfide (COS) at the expense of sulfur dioxide.

Venus lower atmospheric composition: preliminary results from pioneer venus.

Initial examination of data from the neutral mass spectrometer on the Pioneer Venus sounder probe indicates that the abundances of argon-36, argon-38, and neon-20 in the Venus atmosphere are much higher than those of the corresponding gases in Earth's atmosphere, although the abundance of radiogenic argon-40 is apparently similar for both planets. The lower atmosphere of Venus includes significant concentrations of various gaseous sulfur compounds. The inlet leak to the mass spectrometer was temporarily blocked by an apparently liquid component of the Venus clouds during passage through the dense cloud layer. Analysis of gases released during the evaporation of the droplets shows the presence of water vapor to some compound or compounds of sulfur.