Improving Policy Evaluations Of The Opioid Crisis.

With fatal opioid overdoses rising steadily between 1999 and 2022, researchers have tried to identify effective policy approaches that can stem the tide and mitigate associated harms. However, policy evaluations intended to inform policy choices may muddy the waters, particularly when they generate inconsistent findings. In this article, we discuss a unifying framework and language for presenting analyses using quasi-experimental methods evaluating opioid policies to facilitate greater understanding of similarities and differences across studies.

Geography And Fentanyl: Explaining The Disproportionate Rise In Opioid Overdose Deaths Among Black Americans.

This study investigated how geography helps explain the striking increase in opioid-related overdose deaths among Black Americans since the proliferation of fentanyl. Using mortality data from the period 1999-2020, we modeled annual overdose rates as a function of race and ethnicity and county of residence to identify the share of racial differences in overdose rate growth that could be attributed to location. Geographic incidence contributed little to racial and ethnic overdose disparities before 2013 but became an important factor during the fentanyl crisis.

The Current Landscape of Antibiotic Use and Antimicrobial Resistance in Japan: Focusing on Common Infections Including Uncomplicated Urinary Tract Infection and Gonorrhea.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has reached a critical situation globally, prompting urgent national responses to this escalating crisis, including the prioritization of novel antibiotic research. In 2016, Japan initiated a national AMR action plan that promoted appropriate antibiotic use in the country and encouraged a national environment conducive to mitigation measures. However, tackling AMR remains difficult.

Quantifying Use of Elevated Surfaces for Climbing Sichuan Takins (Budorcas taxicolor) in Human Care.

Sichuan takins (Budorcas taxicolor tibetana) are capable climbers whose movements in the wild appear to be driven by seasonal variations in resources. Ex situ habitats for takins frequently incorporate elevated features to encourage species-appropriate climbing. We opportunistically observed three takins at the Saint Louis Zoo, split across two adjacent habitats, to quantify their climbing behaviors for 8 months in 2023.

Restoration of Joint Line Obliquity May Not Influence Lower Extremity Peak Frontal Plane Moments During Stair Negotiation.

Approximately 15% of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients remain dissatisfied after surgery, with joint line obliquity (JLO) potentially affecting patient outcomes. This study investigated whether JLO restoration influenced lower extremity frontal plane joint moments during stair negotiation by TKA patients. Thirty unrestored and twenty-two restored JLO patients participated in this study and were asked to perform five trials on each limb for stair negotiation while three-dimensional kinematics and ground reaction forces were recorded.