Background Adolescent substance use is often influenced by socioeconomic and geographical factors. While higher parental education is typically associated with lower substance use, these protective effects may be weaker for marginalized groups facing structural disadvantages that limit the utility and returns of their economic and social resources. Rural areas, characterized by fewer employment opportunities and limited recreational activities, may contribute to marginalization-related diminished returns (MDRs) of parental education on adolescent substance use, including inhalant use. Objectives This study applies the MDRs framework to examine whether the protective effect of higher parental education on current inhalant use (past 30 days) among 12th-grade American adolescents varies by geographic location. Specifically, we assess whether youth from highly educated families in rural areas are at a disproportionate risk of inhalant use compared to their urban and suburban peers. Methods Using data from the 2024 Monitoring the Future (MTF) study, a nationally representative survey of 12th-grade adolescents in the U.S., we tested main effects and statistical interactions between parental education and residence (rural vs. urban/suburban) in predicting the odds of inhalant use over the past 30 days. Logistic regression models, both with and without interaction terms, were applied to evaluate whether the protective effects of parental education varied by residence location, controlling for relevant demographic and socioeconomic factors. Results Findings indicate a significant interaction between parental education and rural residence. While higher parental education was associated with lower odds of inhalant use in urban and suburban areas, this protective effect was substantially weaker in rural settings. Adolescents from highly educated families in rural areas exhibited a higher-than-expected risk of inhalant use, suggesting that geographic marginalization attenuates the benefits of parental socioeconomic resources. Conclusions These results highlight the role of place-based marginalization in shaping adolescent substance use disparities, demonstrating that MDRs extend beyond race and ethnicity to location-based disadvantages. Rural youths from highly educated families may face unique structural and social challenges that counteract the protective effects of parental education. Public health efforts should consider place-based interventions that address the economic, recreational, and social limitations of rural environments to reduce substance use risk among high-SES adolescents residing in rural areas.Full article

Encryption is a method of encoding data so that only authorized parties can read or access that data. With the fast improvement of digital data exchange in electronic way, Information Security is becoming much more important in data storage and transmission. In this paper, the authors work on improving the security of data using a combination of Hill cipher and a Transposition cipher (G_p) , the plaintext will be encrypted using ordinary Hill cipher technique and encrypted again using G_p cipher there by producing a more complex ciphertext that will be very difficult for cryptanalyst to intrude, and the decryption process is done in two phases, the first decryption will return the ciphertext of the ordinary Hill cipher method and the second decryption will return the original plaintext.Full article

The price of grains like maize and sorghum is subject to significant fluctuations, which can have a significant impact on a country's economy and food security. The aim of the study is to model sorghum and maize price volatility in Nigeria. The data utilized in the study was extracted from World Bank Commodity Price Data (WBCPD), 2022. The data consists of monthly prices in nominal US dollars for maize and sorghum from January 1960 – August 2022. The Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (ARCH) and Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) models were utilized for capturing the two-grain price volatility. Two types of conditional heteroscedastic models exist, the first group uses exact functions to control the evolution of , while the second group describes with stochastic equations. It is inferred from the result that inherent uncertainties and fluctuations existed in the prices of maize and sorghum in Nigeria which implies that the price volatility is positive and statistically significant suggesting that historical information and past shocks play a crucial role in determining the volatility observed in the grains. It is recommended that the ARCH, GARCH, EGARCH, TGARCH, PARCH, CGARCH, and IGARCH models should be employed for modeling and managing the volatility of maize and sorghum prices in Nigeria. These models have shown effectiveness in capturing different aspects of volatility, including the impact of past shocks, conditional volatility, asymmetry, and other relevant factors.Full article

Background: Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) inducing hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) with multiple organ involvement is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The treatment has mostly been focused on kidney, respiratory and cardiovascular supports and not against the bacteria that cause STEC-HUS. The use of bactericidal therapy has been shown to be antibiotic dependent and certain antibiotics inhibit the production and release of Shiga toxin, eradicate STEC without harmful effects, and improve outcome. Methods: A previously healthy 18-months-old girl with STEC causing severe colitis, kidney failure and multi-organ dysfunction was treated with antibiotics that were known to inhibit the release of Shiga toxin as a supplement to supportive care. Results: The antibiotic regime stopped the pathophysiological process with prompt clinical improvement in association with the disappearance of the Shiga toxins. Conclusions: The present case report fortifies and recommends appropriate antibiotic treatment during STEC-HUS, suggesting clinicians to consider the use of these in severe STEC-HUS as early as possible.Full article

Addressing adolescent and sexual reproductive healthcare is essential to providing young patients with the resources they need to navigate and empower themselves with. However, there is limited data about how often this occurs. Several studies have previously indicated that there is a large gap in accessing this gap in low-income neighborhoods. Our study aims to identify the establishment of gynecologic care among adolescent cisgender women and elucidate potential reasons for seeking or not seeking out care. We approached women in the pediatric emergency room that matched the inclusion criteria set out. Qualitative surveys were conducted until thematic saturation was reached and a cross-section study design was employed. Interviews were analyzed through modified ground theory. The study was conducted at the pediatric emergency department at University Hospital located in Newark, NJ. In 2018 estimates, the Newark population consists of 47.0% Black and 39.2% Hispanic or Latinos. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 27 cisgendered, English-speaking females between ages 18 to 25 presenting to the pediatric emergency room who may or may not have previously established primary care with a gynecologist. Transcriptions were analyzed using modified grounded theory and themes were identified using inductive coding of patient interviews.Full article

Calabria is a floristic hotspot just at the center of Mediterranean Sea. Unfortunately, an increasing number of alien plant species threats this natural heritage, exactly while the crucial role of botany in secondary schools of Italy has been definitely dismantled. Calabrian Native Project is an environmental education project planned by Istituto Tecnico Agrario of Catanzaro that, reintroducing some key concepts of botany and biogeography, allowing pupils to experience a botanical excursion in the close-to-the-school Mediterranean Biodiversity Park, gives them the opportunity to become acquainted with both native and alien species. Pupils are asked to collect native plant propagules and to seed or cultivate the material in the school greenhouses, and to take care of these plants until their use. The prevalent outdoor and laboratory approach to the issue of bioinvasions, make the project very effective. This feature, with the low cost and reduced technology inputs, make the project highly replicable in other contexts, just focusing appropriate target species.Full article

The article's purpose is twofold. First, we wish to draw attention to the insufficiently known field of continuous-time difference equations. These equations are paradigmatic for modeling complexity and chaos. Even the simplest equation , easily leads to complex dynamics, its solutions are perfectly suited to simulate strong nonlinear phenomena such as large-to-small cascades of structures, intermixing, formation of fractals, etc. Second, in the main body of the article we present a small but very important part of the theory behind the above equation marked by . Just as the discrete-time analog of this equation induces the one-dimensional dynamical system on some interval , so the equation induces the infinite-dimensional dynamical system on the space of functions . In the latter case, not only are the long-term behaviours of solutions critically dependent on the limit behaviour of the sequence (as in the discrete case) but also on the internal structure of as . Assuming to be continuous, we consider the iterations of as the semigroup generated by on the space of continuous maps, and introduce the notion of a limit semigroup for in a wider map space in order to investigate asymptotic properties of . We construct a limit semigroup in the space of upper semicontinuous maps. This enables us to describe both of the aforementioned aspects of our interest around the iterations of.Full article