Blogs / Discoblog

Cross-cultural comparisons of Irish and American adolescent drinking practices and beliefs.

“The drinking behavior and alcohol expectancies of 168 Irish adolescents aged 15-18 were compared with those of a group of American adolescents matched on age and sex. The Irish adolescents reported less frequent social drinking and less problematic drinking. However, unlike American adolescents, those Irish youth who did drink in a social, frequent manner also reported drinking-related problems. Irish adolescents expect less social benefit, less improvement of cognitive and motor functioning and less sexual enhancement, but greater increase in aggression as a consequence of drinking. (more…)

“Malaria and alcohol consumption both represent major public health problems. Alcohol consumption is rising in developing countries and, as efforts to manage malaria are expanded, understanding the links between malaria and alcohol consumption becomes crucial. Our aim was to ascertain the effect of beer consumption on human attractiveness to malaria mosquitoes in semi field conditions in Burkina Faso. (more…)

“BACKGROUND: In the United States, religious commitment, as measured by service attendance, has an inverse relationship with alcohol consumption, heavy use, and problem use. This association, however, has not been found consistently in Jewish Americans. The present study examined the relationship between religious variables and binge drinking in Jewish and non-Jewish white college students. In addition, the association among genetic, cultural, and religious variables and binge drinking was examined in the Jewish sample alone. (more…)

“The term ‘beer belly’ expresses the common belief that beer consumption is a major determinant of waist circumference (WC). We studied the gender-specific associations between beer consumption and WC (partially in relation to body weight and hip circumference (HC) change)… A positive association in men and no association in women were seen between beer consumption and WC at baseline. Men consuming 1000 ml/d beer were at 17% higher risk for WC gain compared with very light consumers. Significantly lower odds for WC gain (odds ratio=0.88; 95% confidence interval 0.81, 0.96) were found in beer-abstaining women than in very-light-drinking women… Decreasing beer consumption was related to higher relative odds for WC loss, although not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Beer consumption leads to WC gain, which is closely related to concurrent overall weight gain. This study does not support the common belief of a site-specific effect of beer on the abdomen, the beer belly.”

 Thanks to Jean-Michel for today’s ROFL!

And speaking of beer bellies, don’t forget the celebration tonight at 6pm (’til whenever we decide to leave) at Jupiter in Berkeley.  The first two people to buy us a round will get a free NCBI ROFL beer stein! Hope to see you there!

Chronic intake of fermented floral nectar by wild treeshrews.

Thanks to Daniel for today’s ROFL!

Beach week: a high school graduation rite of passage for sun, sand, suds, and sex.

“BACKGROUND: Every year, thousands of suburban high school graduates from mid Atlantic states flock to nearby coastal beaches for a long-anticipated rite of passage known as “beach week.” Sand, sun, and sea, and also smoking, binge drinking, drugs, and sex, are reported to be dominant themes. OBJECTIVE: To document risk-taking behaviors by girls during beach week. METHOD: Fifty-nine female suburban high school graduates who attended beach week in 1996 volunteered to fill out a confidential printed survey. Twenty-five girls (42%) completed the survey during a typical beach week party. Their activities were verified on site by a peer, recommended by her grade advisor for her integrity and popularity. Breath alcohol values were obtained at entry and departure from the party. The remaining 34 girls completed the supervised survey 2 to 3 months later. RESULTS: Daily cigarette smoking (54%), daily drunkenness (75%), and sex (46%) were the norm among respondents of our survey. Few reported first-time sex (n = 4) or drug use (n = 2). Abstinence from drugs (67%) and sex (55%) was not unusual but only 12% abstained from getting drunk. Sixteen girls (64%) reported that they drank 8 or more beers/wine during a typical beach week party. By departure from the party, 15 girls had breath alcohol values of 0.017 mmol/L or greater (reference range, <21.7 mmol/L), and 8 additional girls had breath alcohol values of 0.01 mmol/L to 0.015 mmol/L. Fifteen percent of the 59 reported injuries or illness were related to alcohol or drugs. CONCLUSION: Most respondents enjoyed beach week but a large percentage engaged in serious risk-taking behaviors."

“Beer bottles are often used in physical disputes. If the bottles break, they may give rise to sharp trauma. However, if the bottles remain intact, they may cause blunt injuries. In order to investigate whether full or empty standard half-litre beer bottles are sturdier and if the necessary breaking energy surpasses the minimum fracture-threshold of the human skull, we tested the fracture properties of such beer bottles in a drop-tower. Full bottles broke at 30 J impact energy, empty bottles at 40 J. These breaking energies surpass the minimum fracture-threshold of the human neurocranium. Beer bottles may therefore fracture the human skull and therefore serve as dangerous instruments in a physical dispute.”

Thanks to Pierre P. for today’s ROFL!

“Alcohol consumption alters consciousness in ways that make drinking both alluring and hazardous. Recent advances in the study of consciousness using a mind-wandering paradigm permit a rigorous examination of the effects of alcohol on experiential consciousness and metaconsciousness. Fifty-four male social drinkers consumed alcohol (0.82 g/kg) or a placebo beverage and then performed a mind-wandering reading task. This task indexed both self-caught and probe-caught zone-outs to distinguish between mind wandering inside and outside of awareness. Compared with participants who drank the placebo, those who drank alcohol were significantly more likely to report that they were zoning out when probed. After this increase in mind wandering was accounted for, alcohol also lowered the probability of catching oneself zoning out. The results suggest that alcohol increases mind wandering while simultaneously reducing the likelihood of noticing one’s mind wandering.”

Thanks to Lacie for today’s ROFL!

Endogenous ethanol ‘auto-brewery syndrome’ as a drunk-driving defence challenge.

“For various reasons, the reliability of the results of forensic alcohol analysis are often challenged by the defence. One such argument for acquittal concerns the notion that alcohol could be produced naturally in the body, hence the term ‘auto-brewery’ syndrome. Although yeasts such as Candida albicans readily produce ethanol in-vitro, whether this happens to any measurable extent in healthy ambulatory subjects is an open question. Over the years, many determinations of endogenous ethanol have been made, and in a few rare instances (Japanese subjects with very serious yeast infections) an abnormally high ethanol concentration (> 80 mg/dl) has been reported… …With reliable gas chromatographic methods of analysis, the concentrations of endogenous ethanol in peripheral venous blood of healthy individuals, as well as those suffering from various metabolic disorders (diabetes, hepatitis, cirrhosis) ranged from 0-0.08 mg/dl. These concentrations are far too low to have any forensic or medical significance. The notion that a motorist’s state of intoxication was caused by endogenously produced ethanol lacks merit.”