Background:  This study assessed the effects of heavy drinking with high or low congener beverages on next‐day neurocognitive performance, and the extent to which these effects were mediated by alcohol‐related sleep disturbance or alcoholic beverage congeners, and correlated with the intensity of hangover.Methods:  Healthy heavy drinkers age 21 to 33 (n = 95) participated in 2 drinking nights after an acclimatization night. They drank to a mean of 0.11 g% breath alcohol concentration on vodka or bourbon one night with matched placebo the other night, randomized for type and order. Polysomnography recordings were made overnight; self‐report and neurocognitive measures were assessed the next morning.Results:  After alcohol, people had more hangover and more decrements in tests requiring both sustained attention and speed. Hangover correlated with poorer performance on these measures. Alcohol decreased sleep efficiency and rapid eye movement sleep, and increased wake time and next‐day sleepiness. Alcohol effects on sleep correlated with hangover but did not mediate the effects on performance. No effect of beverage congeners was found except on hangover severity, with people feeling worse after bourbon. Virtually no sex differences appeared.Conclusions:  As drinking to this level affects complex cognitive abilities, safety could be affected, with implications for driving and for safety‐sensitive occupations. Congener content affects only how people feel the next day so does not increase risk. The sleep disrupting effects of alcohol did not account for the impaired performance so other mechanisms of effect need to be sought. As hangover symptoms correlate with impaired performance, these might be contributing to the impairment.

Aim  To assess the effects of binge drinking on students' next‐day academic test‐taking performance.Design  A placebo‐controlled cross‐over design with randomly assigned order of conditions. Participants were randomized to either alcoholic beverage [mean = 0.12 g% breath alcohol concentration (BrAC)] or placebo on the first night and then received the other beverage a week later. The next day, participants were assessed on test‐taking, neurocognitive performance and mood state.Participants  A total of 196 college students (≥21 years) recruited from greater Boston.Setting  The trial was conducted at the General Clinical Research Center at the Boston Medical Center.Measurements  The Graduate Record Examinations© (GREs) and a quiz on a lecture presented the previous day measured test‐taking performance; the Neurobehavioral Evaluation System (NES3) and the Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) measured neurocognitive performance; and the Profile of Mood States (POMS) measured mood.Findings  Test‐taking performance was not affected on the morning after alcohol administration, but mood state and attention/reaction‐time were affected.Conclusion  Drinking to a level of 0.12 g% BrAC does not affect next‐day test‐taking performance, but does affect some neurocognitive measures and mood state.

The pandemic necessitated teaching competencies that allow public health (PH) students to be immediately workforce ready. The shift to virtual learning provided an ideal time to consider pedagogies focused on applied learning opportunities, such as practice-based teaching (PBT). This multi-year, post-test evaluation of one PBT course explored differences in students’ competency achievement immediately post-course with different modalities of delivery: fall 2019 in-person (n = 16), summer 2020 virtual (n = 8), and fall 2020 hybrid (n = 15). Using a variety of methods to assess across semesters, the study found virtual and hybrid learning environments resulted in equally high levels of competency achievement as in-person delivery. Regardless of course delivery, students reported, with no difference across semesters, PBT directly contributed to their workforce readiness, helped with acquisition of essential workforce skills such as problem-solving, leadership, and teamwork, and led to skill and knowledge acquisition they would not have achieved in a non-PBT course. The increased emphasis on virtual learning changed the higher education landscape and the need for students to be workforce-ready with the technical and professional skills demanded by the field and offered opportunity to redesign courses with an emphasis on applied opportunities. Virtually delivered PBT is an effective, adaptable, and sustainable pedagogy worth the investment.

• Economic hardship (job status, money to buy food) is a determinant of food security. • Some demographics (education, household size) are determinants of food security. • Food access has been affected by COVID-19 and impacts food security. • COVID-19 has exacerbated determinants of food security (i.e., economic hardships) • Public health should use the social ecological model to address determinants of food security.