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In October 2019, cannabis edibles were legalized for sale in Canada for non-medical use. This move was intended to improve public safety by regulating contents (including a maximum 10 mg tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) per package) and packaging to prevent accidental ingestion or over consumption. This study aimed to explore consumer preferences for cannabis edibles to inform cannabis policy. We explored the relative importance and trade-offs consumers make for attributes of cannabis edibles using a discrete choice experiment. Attributes included type of edible, price, THC content, cannabis taste, package information, product consistency, product recommendations, and Health Canada regulation. Participants lived in Canada, were 19 years of age or older, and purchased a cannabis edible in the last 12 months. A multinomial logit (MNL) model was used for the base model, and latent class analysis to assess preference sub-groups. This study was approved by the institutional ethics committee. Among 684 participants, the MNL model showed that potency was the most relevant attribute, followed by edible type. A two-group latent class model revealed two very distinct preference patterns. Preferences for group 1 (~65% of sample) were driven primarily by edible type, while for group 2 (~35% of sample) were driven almost entirely by THC potency. This study found that consumer preferences for ~65% of consumers of cannabis edibles are being met through regulated channels. The remaining ~35% are driven by THC potency at levels that are not currently available on the licensed market. Attracting this market segment will require reviewing the risks and benefits of restricting THC package content.

Background Phase two of cannabis legalisation in Canada brought cannabis vaping products to the market. This decision was controversial due to an outbreak of vaping cannabis use-associated lung injury. This resulted in three provinces banning the sale of cannabis vaping products causing inequitable access. This study sought to explore consumer preferences for cannabis vaping products to inform cannabis policy. Methods We used a discrete choice experiment to explore consumer preferences for attributes of cannabis vaping products. Attributes included type of device, price, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) potency, vape liquid content, product recommendations and Health Canada regulation. Participants lived in Canada, were aged ≥ 19 years, and had purchased a cannabis vape in the last 12 months. A multinomial logit (MNL) model was used for the base model, and latent class analysis to assess preference sub-groups. Results In total, 384 participants completed the survey; the MNL model showed that price and potency were the most important attributes. A three-group latent class model showed that ~ 40% of the sample was driven primarily by Health Canada Regulation and were willing to pay $56 more for a product that was regulated compared to one that was not. About 33% of the sample was driven by price, and 26% was driven by type of device. Conclusion While regulated status by Health Canada was most important to some consumers (~ 40%), nearly 60% of the sample were willing to make trade-offs in regulated status for products with a lower price. Therefore, policymakers need to consider the broader public health implications of banning cannabis vapes in some regions.

This thesis is concerned with the theoretical development and numerical implementation of efficient constitutive models for the analysis of particulate media (specifically clays) in structures undergoing geometrically non-linear behaviour. The Mohr-Coulomb and modified Cam-clay constitutive models have both been examined and extended to provide greater realism. Findings from this thesis will interest engineers working in numerical methods in solid mechanics, along with those investigating continuum mechanics, inelastic constitutive modelling and large strain plasticity. Although focused on soil plasticity, this research has relevance to other areas, such as metal forming and bio-engineering. Initially the concepts of material and geometric non-linearity are reviewed. A general implicit backward Euler stress integration algorithm is detailed, including the derivation of the algorithmic consistent tangent. A framework for the analysis of anisotropic finite deformation elasto-plasticity is presented and a full incremental finite-element formulation provided. The first constitutive model developed in this thesis is a non-associated frictional perfect plasticity model based on a modified Reuleaux triangle. It is shown, through comparison with experimental data, that this model has advantages over the classical Mohr-Coulomb and Drucker-Prager models whilst still allowing for analytical implicit stress integration. An isotropic hyperplastic family of models which embraces the concept of a Critical State is then developed. This family is extended to include inelastic behaviour within the conventional yield surface and a Lode angle dependency on the anisotropic yield function which maintains convexity of both the surface and uniqueness of the Critical State cone. A calibration procedure is described and the integration and linearisation of the constitutive relations are detailed. All of the developed models are compared with established experimental data. Finally the models are verified for use within finite deformation finite-element analyses. The importance of deriving the algorithmic consistent tangent is demonstrated and the influence of varying levels of model sophistication assessed in terms of both global behaviour and simulation run-time.

Main streeet of Sussex Inlet blocked to traffic yesterday.The wreckage of Sussex Inlet after the fire.The fire bears down on Sussex Inlet.Pictures: ROHAN KELLYChildren evacuated from their homes sleep through a night of turmoil at the Sussex Inlet RSL Club. Picture: MARK GRAHAMBurned out truck and home of [Ray Lucan] and Rose Lucan.Locals watch the fire across the Inlet.Pictures: MARK GRAHAMChefs Simon Chee and Ten Choy Lee at work.Mother of three Bronwyn [Jack] sifts through the remains of her home in Lakehaven Drive, Sussex Inlet, yesterday after the night's firestorm.Picture: ROHAN KELLY; Photo: Photo

Among non-human animals, crows, octopuses and honeybees are well-known for their complex brains and cognitive abilities. Widening the lens from the idiosyncratic abilities of exemplars like these to those of animals across the phylogenetic spectrum begins to reveal the ancient evolutionary process by which complex brains and cognition first arose in different lineages. The distribution of 35 phenotypic traits in 17 metazoan lineages reveals that brain and cognitive complexity in only three lineages (vertebrates, cephalopod mollusks, and euarthropods) can be attributed to the pivotal role played by body, sensory, brain and motor traits in active visual sensing and visuomotor skills. Together, these pivotal traits enabled animals to transition from largely reactive to more proactive behaviors, and from slow and two-dimensional motion to more rapid and complex three-dimensional motion. Among pivotal traits, high-resolution eyes and laminated visual regions of the brain stand out because they increased the processing demands on and the computational power of the brain by several orders of magnitude. The independent acquisition of pivotal traits in cognitively complex (CC) lineages can be explained as the completion of several multi-trait transitions over the course of evolutionary history, each resulting in an increasing level of complexity that arises from a distinct combination of traits. Whereas combined pivotal traits represent the highest level of complexity in CC lineages, combined traits at lower levels characterize many non-CC lineages, suggesting that certain body, sensory and brain traits may have been linked (the trait-linkage hypothesis) during the evolution of both CC and non-CC lineages. Multicellular animals are integrated systems, consisting of multiple, interacting elements, including different internal (e.g., muscles, nerves and brains) and external (e.g., eyes and appendages) body parts. The distribution of 35 body, sensory, brain, motor and behavioral/cognitive traits across 17 major lineages reveals that three lineages known for their complex brains and cognitive abilities (vertebrates, cephalopod mollusks and euarthropods) are distinct from all others based on the possession of a small subset of pivotal traits, all involved in active visual sensing and visuomotor control of spatially complex actions. It is proposed that (1) narrowly distributed pivotal traits enabled essential cognitive abilities not previously present, making complex cognition possible, and that (2) lineages with brain and cognitive complexities followed very similar evolutionary paths, involving major transitions from lesser to greater levels of complexity, with different combinations of traits at each level.

Background. The Step Study tested whether an adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5)-vectored human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine could prevent HIV acquisition and/or reduce viral load set-point after infection. At the first interim analysis, nonefficacy criteria were met. Vaccinations were halted; participants were unblinded. In post hoc analyses, more HIV infections occurred in vaccinees vs placebo recipients in men who had Ad5-neutralizing antibodies and/or were uncircumcised. Follow-up was extended to assess relative risk of HIV acquisition in vaccinees vs placebo recipients over time. Methods. We used Cox proportional hazard models for analyses of vaccine effect on HIV acquisition and vaccine effect modifiers, and nonparametric and semiparametric methods for analysis of constancy of relative risk over time. Results. One hundred seventy-two of 1836 men were infected. The adjusted vaccinees vs placebo recipients hazard ratio (HR) for all follow-up time was 1.40 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03—1.92; P = .03). Vaccine effect differed by baseline Ad5 or circumcision status during first 18 months, but neither was significant for all follow-up time. The HR among uncircumcised and/or Ad5-seropositive men waned with time since vaccination. No significant vaccine-associated risk was seen among circumcised, Ad5-negative men (HR, 0.97; P = 1.0) over all follow-up time. Conclusions. The vaccine-associated risk seen in interim analysis was confirmed but waned with time from vaccination. Clinical Trials Registration. NCT00095576.