Browsing by Subject "Drugs"
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Item Bleeding Mexico : an analysis of cartels evolution and drug-related bloodshed(2012-08) Medel, Monica Cristina; Dietz, Henry A.Drug-related violence in Mexico has increased exponentially in the last five years, killing near 50,000 people. Even though the country has been a producer of marijuana and opium poppy for nearly a century, it was not until the beginning of the new millennium that drug violence skyrocketed. Up until now, academic studies and policy papers have focused primarily on the political changes Mexico underwent over the last decade and on ingrained corruption as the central factors in explaining the increased violence. But such a jump in homicides rates, as well as the sheer brutality of the violence involved, also reflects the evolution of the country's drug organizations -- which went from being merely feared and ruthless drug producers and smugglers to far-reaching criminal empires that now dominate all aspects of the illicit drug underworld in the Americas. Many have become so powerful that they have formed their own armies of hit men and foot soldiers that operate like full-fledged paramilitary groups protecting their territories and smuggling routes to American soil. Further feeding the cycle of murders in Mexico is an increasing diversification of drug gangs' businesses, which now range from drug production and smuggling to extortion, kidnapping and human trafficking. Through an historical, spatial and statistical analysis, this study sets out to deconstruct the current wave of Mexican drug violence, show how it is spreading and why, and how that reflects the evolution of Mexican drug organizations.Item Determination of precipitated primary non-adherence after step therapy intervention in 4 classes of therapy(2013-08) Sohl, David Jeremy; Lawson, Kenneth Allen, 1952-In light of drastically escalating costs for today’s medications, pharmacy benefit managers are seeking a constant balance of effectiveness and cost control. Step Therapy helps to address these concerns with a try medication “A” before medication “B” logic. Like all medical interventions, the possibility of unintended consequences exists. The purpose of this study was to determine if non-adherence results from application of Step Therapy for selected medication classes (antihyperlipidemics (specifically the HMG Co-A reductase inhibitors), angiotensin receptor blockers, uro-selective alpha-blockers, and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors) in the Department of Defense. Using a retrospective database analysis, this study examined the primary adherence rate of subjects after they have been denied coverage due to Step Therapy intervention. Additionally, this study examined the association of demographic and service-related factors with the likelihood that a patient will be non-adherent after encountering the intervention. Finally, the study measured the time to adherence after intervention for those who were persistent after a Step Therapy claim rejection. STATA version 10.0 was used to conduct logistic regression analyses to meet the study objectives. After examination of 279,508 claims for 27,202 subjects, the estimated primary non-adherence rate following the Step Therapy intervention for all medication classes combined was 15.1%. Additionally, there was inter-class variability in this rate ranging between 13.1% and 19.5%. A statistical and practical difference was also noted in non-adherence rates between subjects who received care at the retail point of service versus those who received care at the mail order point of service. Subjects who received care through retail were nearly twice as likely to be non-adherent as those who received care in the mail order segment. For those subjects who were persistent with therapy, the median time-to-fill was estimated at 7 days. The occurrence of non-adherence following a Step Therapy intervention was clearly demonstrated through this study. Although this study provides good framework for designing interventions after claim rejection, further research would help to determine the health impact of primary non-adherence as well as the economic consequences of the intervention.Item Drugs and oil flow through the Eagle Ford Shale(2014-05) Marks, Michael Perry; Todd, RussellThis report is a work of original reporting which investigates the proliferation of drug use and drug trafficking in the Eagle Ford Shale, a region of heavy oil and gas development in South Texas. Since 2008, the Eagle Ford Shale has seen an influx of people, money, and new infrastructure. This has created a "perfect storm" for drug traffickers. The region is historically poor and sparsely populated, and local law enforcement agencies find themselves unprepared to handle the growing drug problem in their communities.Item Electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometric techniques for the analysis of drug/DNA complexes(2007-05) Mazzitelli, Carolyn Leigh, 1979-; Brodbelt, Jennifer S.Many anticancer and antibacterial therapies are based on the interaction of small molecule drugs with DNA. Increasing interest in the development of DNA-interactive agents has fostered the need for sensitive and versatile analytical techniques that are capable of characterizing the DNA/ligand interactions and are compatible with librarybased screening methods. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) has emerged as a useful technique for the analysis of non-covalent complexes formed between DNA and small molecules due to its low sample consumption and fast analysis time. The work presented in this dissertation is aimed at exploring, optimizing, and validating ESI-MS methods for characterizing DNA-ligand interactions. ESI-MS is first used to assess the binding of threading bis-intercalators to duplexes containing different sequences to determine high affinity binding sites of the ligands. Preliminary DNAse footprinting experiments identified possible specific binding sites of the ligands and ESI-MS experiments revealed that the ligands bound to DNA duplexes containing the respective specific binding sequences. The metal-mediated binding of benzoxazole ligands with different side chains to duplex DNA is also examined. Cu²⁺ and Ni⁺ were found to promote the most dramatic increase in ligand binding, and ligands exhibiting the most dramatic metal-mediated or metal-enhanced binding were also determined to be the most cytotoxic. The quadruplex DNA binding selectivity of perylene diimides is evaluated by screening the binding of the ligands to quadruplex, duplex and single strand DNA by ESI-MS. Three ligands, one containing basic side chains, one containing anionic sidechains, and one benzannulated compound were determined to be the most-quadruplex selective. The ESI-MS results correlated well with spectroscopic experiments. The relative gas-phase stabilities of different quadruplex DNA structures were investigated using molecular dynamics simulations and ESI-MS. The stabilities from the E[subscript 1/2] values generally paralleled the RMSD and relative free energies of the quadruplexes based on MD energy analysis. Finally an ESI-MS technique employing the KMnO₄ reaction with DNA to determine conformational changes to the duplex structure upon ligand binding is detailed. Thymines in most intercalator/duplex complexes are more susceptible to oxidation by KMnO₄ than those in duplex DNA. CAD and IRMPD experiments are used to identify the site of oxidation.Item Friends with benefits : on documenting the struggle of a friend(2016-08) Onsando, Weslie; Garrison, Andrew; Spiro, Ellen; Straubhaar, JosephSelené is a 24-minute documentary film about a 24-year-old drug addict’s struggle to reconcile her addictions with her faith in God. The following report gives an account of the documentary’s conception and actualization. It also highlights the filmmaker’s intention and reflection throughout the creative process. Supplementary materials include the original proposal for the film as well as screenshots from the completed documentary.Item Parental influence on Hispanic adolescent substance use(Texas Tech University, 2008-12) Munk, Adam C.; Smith, Douglas B.; Harris, Steven M.; Reifman, Alan; Whiting, Jason B.The purpose of the present study was to add to the research geared toward meeting the needs of ethnic minority families. The rapidly increasing population of Hispanics has been met with a gap in research between the needs of the Hispanic community and the ability of mental health providers to provide culturally competent services. The lack of information on Hispanic families may contribute to less cultural competence and further discrimination. In many cases, there is not sufficient training of mental health professionals to prepare them for working with Hispanic families. Therefore, it is important to add to current knowledge of ethnic and otherwise diverse populations and promote cultural competence among marriage and family therapists. Specifically, the goal of the study was to identify parental risk or protective factors for substance use among Hispanic adolescents. The secondary analysis used data from portions of the larger Youth and Family Project data set. The research analyzed parental influence on Hispanic adolescent substance use. Structural Equation Modeling was the principle statistical procedure used for analyzing the data. The parenting protective factors focused on in the present study included Parent Limit Setting, Father’s and Mother’s Monitoring, Parent-Adolescent Relationship, Father’s and Mother’s Acceptance/Support, and Parental Involvement in Peer Relationships. The parenting risk factors focused on in the present study included Parent-Adolescent Conflict, Father’s and Mother’s Inconsistence Control, Father’s and Mother’s Harsh Discipline, and Father’s and Mother’s Laissez-Faire. The present study used a subsample comprised of Hispanic participants (N=840) drawn from the larger Youth and family Project sample of 2214 adolescents in 9-12th grades from west Texas area school districts. Respondents in the Hispanic subsample included 359 males and 480 females with one missing value. The sample was made up of 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders with a mean age of 16.1 years (SD = 1.1). The Final Model contained 13 parenting-related latent constructs and one standalone indicator representing adolescent substance use. The standalone indicator included alcohol use, marijuana use, hard drug use, and tobacco use. Goodness of fit tests suggested the final model to be a good fit. The results of this study suggested that the positive parenting factors of Parent Limit Setting and Mother’s Monitoring, as perceived by Hispanic adolescents, were significant protective factors against Hispanic adolescent substance use. Additionally, the negative parenting factors of Parental Laissez-Faire and Parent-Adolescent Conflict, as perceived by the Hispanic adolescents, were significant risk factors for Hispanic adolescent substance use. Furthermore, the reduction of these significant negative parenting factors may be facilitated by increasing the significant positive parenting factors. Moreover, some unexpected findings revealed that positive parenting factors seemed to have more of an impact on Hispanic adolescent substance use than did negative parenting factors, and mothers’ parenting factors seemed to have more of an impact on Hispanic adolescent substance use than did fathers’ parenting factors.