Mental health among northern New Hampshire young adults: depression and substance problems higher than nationwide

This brief uses data on depressive and substance abuse symptoms from two surveys administered in 2011—the Coös Youth Study and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health—to compare mental health patterns among young adults in Coös County, New Hampshire, to patterns among rural young adults nationwide. The analyses focus on 214 Coös young adults and 1,477 young adult respondents, ages 18 to 21, who were living in non-metropolitan areas in 2011 and who provided usable data on depressive and substance abuse symptoms. Author Karen Van Gundy reports that Coös County young adults are more likely than rural young adults nationwide to suffer from symptoms of depression and substance abuse, and these patterns vary by sex. Coös young women tend to experience more depressive symptoms than their national counterparts, and Coös young men tend to experience more substance abuse symptoms than their national counterparts. Van Gundy concludes that programs fostering community attachment could lessen adult substance abuse in Coös County and that combined or co-occurring symptoms of depression and substance abuse in Coös County require careful consideration

Comparing teen substance use in northern New Hampshire to rural use nationwide

Using data administered in 2011 from the Carsey Institute’s Coös Youth Study and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, this brief compares teen substance use patterns in New Hampshire’s most rural county to patterns among rural youth nationwide. Author Karen Van Gundy reports that about half of the teens in Coös County and in rural areas nationwide reported using any substance in the previous year. Alcohol use was reported most often, followed by tobacco or marijuana, and other illicit substances. Rural boys nationwide reported using tobacco at significantly higher rates than Coös boys and girls and rural girls nationwide, while Coös boys reported significantly higher rates of frequent use (that is, three or more times weekly) of marijuana or any substance than Coös girls and rural boys and girls nationwide. Previous research has shown that teens who use marijuana are more “stressed out,” and that such stress can increase their risk for other illicit drug abuse in young adulthood. Van Gundy suggests that substance abuse policies and practices that prevent, reduce, or buffer the stresses faced by Coös teens can also enhance their general well-being as they make the transition to adulthood

Substance abuse in rural and small town America

Alcohol abuse exceeds illicit drug abuse in rural America and is a serious problem among rural youth, as highlighted here. The report also confirms that the abuse of stimulants, including methamphetamine, is high among certain rural populations, particularly among the rural unemployed

Computations of unsteady multistage compressor flows in a workstation environment

High-end graphics workstations are becoming a necessary tool in the computational fluid dynamics environment. In addition to their graphic capabilities, workstations of the latest generation have powerful floating-point-operation capabilities. As workstations become common, they could provide valuable computing time for such applications as turbomachinery flow calculations. This report discusses the issues involved in implementing an unsteady, viscous multistage-turbomachinery code (STAGE-2) on workstations. It then describes work in which the workstation version of STAGE-2 was used to study the effects of axial-gap spacing on the time-averaged and unsteady flow within a 2 1/2-stage compressor. The results included time-averaged surface pressures, time-averaged pressure contours, standard deviation of pressure contours, pressure amplitudes, and force polar plots

Criminological Theories: Nontraditional Voices and Themes.

Book review of Criminological Theories: Nontraditional Voices and Themes.” by Imogene L. Moyer

Validation and Verification of LADEE Models and Software

The Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission will orbit the moon in order to measure the density, composition and time variability of the lunar dust environment. The ground-side and onboard flight software for the mission is being developed using a Model-Based Software methodology. In this technique, models of the spacecraft and flight software are developed in a graphical dynamics modeling package. Flight Software requirements are prototyped and refined using the simulated models. After the model is shown to work as desired in this simulation framework, C-code software is automatically generated from the models. The generated software is then tested in real time Processor-in-the-Loop and Hardware-in-the-Loop test beds. Travelling Road Show test beds were used for early integration tests with payloads and other subsystems. Traditional techniques for verifying computational sciences models are used to characterize the spacecraft simulation. A lightweight set of formal methods analysis, static analysis, formal inspection and code coverage analyses are utilized to further reduce defects in the onboard flight software artifacts. These techniques are applied early and often in the development process, iteratively increasing the capabilities of the software and the fidelity of the vehicle models and test beds

Substance Abuse in Rural and Small Town America

This report, Substance Abuse in Rural and Small Town America, shows that rural and urban places today have similar rates of substance use and abuse, and, for abuse of some substances, rural Americans are at an even higher risk than their urban counterparts. For instance, rural youth are particularly at risk for substance abuse, and stimulant use among the unemployed is higher in rural America. The report makes it clear that rural America is not immune to "city" problems, but that rural people and places face unique challenges. Despite some dire statistics, this report offers hope for rural communities struggling with an epidemic of drug and alcohol abuse that one person quoted in this report calls "an issue eating us alive." We offer recommendations for programs and policies that can make a real difference -- investments that work -- by drawing on the strengthsalready in place in rural areas. But the problem of substance abuse demands a multi-faceted approach

Northern New Hampshire Youth in a Changing Rural Economy: A Ten-Year Perspective

The Coös Youth Study was a ten-year research project about growing up in a rural county undergoing transformative economic and demographic changes. The study addressed how these changes affected youths’ well-being as well as their plans to stay in the region, pursue opportunities elsewhere, permanently relocate, or return to their home communities with new skills and new ideas. In this report, the authors describe their findings and point to specific areas for action to support and retain North Country youth. The study was sponsored by the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation as one component of the long-term research collaboration Tracking Change in the North Country