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Scanlan JL, Robin C, Mirth CK. Rethinking the ecdysteroid source during Drosophila pupal-adult development. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 2023; 152:103891. [PMID: 36481381 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2022.103891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2022] [Revised: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 12/04/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Ecdysteroids, typified by 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), are essential hormones for the development, reproduction and physiology of insects and other arthropods. For over half a century, the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster (Ephydroidea: Diptera) has been used as a model of ecdysteroid biology. Many aspects of the biosynthesis and regulation of ecdysteroids in this species are understood at the molecular level, particularly with respect to their secretion from the prothoracic gland (PG) cells of the ring gland, widely considered the dominant biosynthetic tissue during development. Discrete pulses of 20E orchestrate transitions during the D. melanogaster life cycle, the sources of which are generally well understood, apart from the large 20E pulse at the onset of pharate adult development, which has received little recent attention. As the source of this pharate adult pulse (PAP) is a curious blind spot in Drosophila endocrinology, we evaluate published biochemical and genetic data as they pertain to three hypotheses for the source of PAP 20E: the PG; an alternative biosynthetic tissue; or the recycling of stored 20E. Based on multiple lines of evidence, we contend the PAP cannot be derived from biosynthesis, with other data consistent with D. melanogaster able to recycle ecdysteroids before and during metamorphosis. Published data also suggest the PAP is conserved across Diptera, with evidence for pupal-adult ecdysteroid recycling occurring in other cyclorrhaphan flies. Further experimental work is required to test the ecdysteroid recycling hypothesis, which would establish fundamental knowledge of the function, regulation, and evolution of metamorphic hormones in dipterans and other insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jack L Scanlan
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia.
| | - Charles Robin
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia
| | - Christen K Mirth
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, 3800, Australia
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Hsu LM, Wiratama BS, Chen PL, Saleh W, Lin HA, Pai CW. Pediatric Traffic Injuries on Halloween in the United Kingdom: Prevalence and Injury Severity. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021; 18:ijerph18179093. [PMID: 34501686 PMCID: PMC8430693 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18179093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Revised: 08/19/2021] [Accepted: 08/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The study results serve as a reminder for parents, children, and drivers to be alert to the danger of traffic crashes on Halloween. The aim of this study was to examine whether Halloween is associated with a higher incidence of traffic injuries and whether traffic injuries sustained on Halloween are more severe than those sustained on other days. The U.K. STATS19 database, including the data of all road traffic crashes occurring from 1990 to 2017, was employed. A total of 73,587 pediatric traffic casualties (involving pedestrians, cyclists, and moped riders) were included. Between 17:00 and 19:00 (17:00~18:59) on Halloween, the number of casualties was higher than that on other public holidays and usual days. The logistic regression model revealed that, between 17:00 and 18:00 (17:00~17:59), the risk of being killed or seriously injured on Halloween was 34.2% higher (odds ratio = 1.342; 95% CI = 1.065–1.692) than that on other days. Pediatric crashes occurring on Halloween are associated with a higher number of injuries and increased injury severity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li-Min Hsu
- Graduate Institute of Injury Prevention and Control, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan; (L.-M.H.); (B.S.W.); (P.-L.C.); (H.-A.L.)
- Department of Surgery and Traumatology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei 100, Taiwan
| | - Bayu Satria Wiratama
- Graduate Institute of Injury Prevention and Control, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan; (L.-M.H.); (B.S.W.); (P.-L.C.); (H.-A.L.)
- Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Population Health, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta City 55281, Indonesia
| | - Ping-Ling Chen
- Graduate Institute of Injury Prevention and Control, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan; (L.-M.H.); (B.S.W.); (P.-L.C.); (H.-A.L.)
| | - Wafaa Saleh
- Transport Research Institute, Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland EH11 4DY, UK;
| | - Hui-An Lin
- Graduate Institute of Injury Prevention and Control, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan; (L.-M.H.); (B.S.W.); (P.-L.C.); (H.-A.L.)
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei 110, Taiwan
| | - Chih-Wei Pai
- Graduate Institute of Injury Prevention and Control, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan; (L.-M.H.); (B.S.W.); (P.-L.C.); (H.-A.L.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +886-2-2736-1661-6579
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to investigate the potential health risks associated with Halloween festivities. STUDY DESIGN This was a retrospective, population health study using insurance claims data between 2003-2014 representing more than 150 million unique Americans. METHODS We analyzed the entire spectrum of external cause of injuries and quantified the relative risk associated with Halloween celebrations by comparing the observed diagnosis rate during Halloween week with its statistical expectation. We further used the closest federal holiday in October, Columbus Day, as a comparison to further corroborate the effects of Halloween. RESULTS Our results indicate that no significant difference in relative risk for most conditions, like vehicle accidents, accidental poisoning and drowning, and adverse drug effects, during the Halloween season, when compared to the statistical expectation. However, we noticed a significant increase in the relative risk of accidental fall, self-inflicted injury, and injury inflicted by others, notably among young males. CONCLUSION Halloween is an exciting time of year for kids, families, and the entire community. A more vigilant approach toward celebration, including attempts to prevent fights and brawls, would help everyone have a safe and harmonious Halloween.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Zhang
- Committee on Genetics, Genomics and Systems Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA; Department of Medicine, Section of Computational Biomedicine and Biomedical Data Science, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA
| | - A Khan
- Department of Medicine, Section of Computational Biomedicine and Biomedical Data Science, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA.
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Salido RA, Morgan SC, Rojas MI, Magallanes CG, Marotz C, DeHoff P, Belda-Ferre P, Aigner S, Kado DM, Yeo GW, Gilbert JA, Laurent L, Rohwer F, Knight R. Handwashing and Detergent Treatment Greatly Reduce SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load on Halloween Candy Handled by COVID-19 Patients. mSystems 2020; 5:e01074-20. [PMID: 33127739 PMCID: PMC7743156 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.01074-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2020] [Accepted: 10/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and potential public health implications, we are publishing this peer-reviewed manuscript in its accepted form. The final, copyedited version of the paper will be available at a later date. Although SARS-CoV-2 is primarily transmitted by respiratory droplets and aerosols, transmission by fomites remains plausible. During Halloween, a major event for children in numerous countries, SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk via candy fomites worries many parents. To address this concern, we enrolled 10 recently diagnosed asymptomatic or mildly/moderately symptomatic COVID-19 patients to handle typical Halloween candy (pieces individually wrapped) under three conditions: normal handling with unwashed hands, deliberate coughing and extensive touching, and normal handling following handwashing. We then used a factorial design to subject the candies to two post-handling treatments: no washing (untreated) and household dishwashing detergent. We measured SARS-CoV-2 load by RT-qPCR and LAMP. From the candies not washed post-handling, we detected SARS-CoV-2 on 60% of candies that were deliberately coughed on, 60% of candies normally handled with unwashed hands, but only 10% of candies handled after hand washing. We found that treating candy with dishwashing detergent reduced SARS-CoV-2 load by 62.1% in comparison to untreated candy. Taken together, these results suggest that although the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by fomites is low even from known COVID-19 patients, viral RNA load can be reduced to near zero by the combination of handwashing by the infected patient and ≥1 minute detergent treatment after collection. We also found that the inexpensive and fast LAMP protocol was more than 80% concordant with RT-qPCR.IMPORTANCE The COVID-19 pandemic is leading to important tradeoffs between risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and mental health due to deprivation from normal activities, with these impacts being especially profound in children. Due to the ongoing pandemic, Halloween activities will be curtailed as a result of the concern that candy from strangers might act as fomites. Here we demonstrate that these risks can be mitigated by ensuring that prior to handling candy, the candy giver washes their hands, and by washing collected candy with household dishwashing detergent. Even in the most extreme case, with candy deliberately coughed on by known COVID-19 patients, viral load was reduced dramatically after washing with household detergent. We conclude that with reasonable precautions, even if followed only by either the candy giver or the candy recipient, the risk of viral transmission by this route is very low.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodolfo A. Salido
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Sydney C. Morgan
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Maria I. Rojas
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
- Viral Information Institute, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Celestine G. Magallanes
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Clarisse Marotz
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Peter DeHoff
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Pedro Belda-Ferre
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Stefan Aigner
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Stem Cell Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Institute for Genomic Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Deborah M. Kado
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Gene W. Yeo
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Stem Cell Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Institute for Genomic Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Jack A. Gilbert
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Louise Laurent
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Forest Rohwer
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
- Viral Information Institute, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Rob Knight
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
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Carini RM, Sinski J, Weber JD. Coat Color and Cat Outcomes in an Urban U.S. Shelter. Animals (Basel) 2020; 10:ani10101720. [PMID: 32977402 PMCID: PMC7597961 DOI: 10.3390/ani10101720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2020] [Revised: 09/17/2020] [Accepted: 09/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary There is continuing debate as to whether individuals prefer companion cats of varying coat colors, and if so, how color preferences may affect whether cats in shelters are euthanized, adopted, or transferred to another organization. This study analyzed outcomes for nearly 8000 cats admitted to an urban public shelter in Kentucky, USA from 2010 through 2011. While coat color overall was not an important predictor of cat outcomes, a tiered pattern among particular colors was detected. Specifically, black and white cats experienced the highest and lowest chances of euthanasia, respectively, while brown and gray cats experienced more middling chances. Orange cats’ relative chances of euthanasia were more difficult to gauge, but orange and white cats had similar euthanasia and adoption outcomes in the most nuanced model. In addition, there has been persistent speculation that the public’s interest in—and preference for—black cats might spike before Halloween due to cats’ associations with the holiday. However, the present study found that a subsample of more than 1200 entirely black cats did not experience improved chances of adoption or transfer to a rescue organization in October compared to other months. Overall, this study provides weak evidence for what has been termed “Black Cat Bias” by others, and hints that black cats in public shelters should receive extra consideration for rehoming. Abstract Some nonhuman animal shelters have developed rehoming programs for black cats to remedy what they believe are their higher rates of euthanasia and lower rates of adoption. This study reviews humans’ preferences/aversions to cats of various coat colors and uses contingency tables and multinomial logistic regression to test possible differences in outcomes (euthanasia, adoption, or transfer) for 7983 cats that entered an urban public shelter in Kentucky, USA from 2010 through 2011. While coat color overall was negligibly associated with cat outcomes in a contingency table, the pairwise difference between black and white cats was significant (p < 0.05) and nontrivial in strength. Specifically, black cats experienced the highest euthanasia and lowest adoption rates, while white cats had the lowest euthanasia and highest adoption rates. Brown, gray, and orange cats experienced similar outcomes, but middling between those of black and white cats. These patterns by color remained weak but significant after controlling for breed and stray status in regression analysis, with the exception of orange and white, which did not differ significantly. A subsample of 1219 entirely black cats was analyzed to assess whether they had different outcomes during the run-up to Halloween; their October percentages of adoption and transfer were comparable to or lower than all other months of the calendar year. Thus, this study did not find that outcomes improved for black cats during October. Overall, this study provides weak support for what has been termed “Black Cat Bias” by others, and hints that black cats in public shelters should receive extra consideration for rehoming, particularly if such efforts do not substantially redirect resources from other initiatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert M. Carini
- Department of Sociology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA;
- Correspondence:
| | - Jennifer Sinski
- Department of Sociology, Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY 40205, USA;
| | - Jonetta D. Weber
- Department of Sociology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA;
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Perez AL, Nembhard M, Monnot A, Bator D, Madonick E, Gaffney SH. Supplementary dataset for child and adult exposure and health risk evaluation following the use of metal- and metalloid-containing costume cosmetics sold in the United States. Data Brief 2017; 13:129-131. [PMID: 28603757 PMCID: PMC5451178 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2017.04.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2016] [Revised: 04/10/2017] [Accepted: 04/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled "Child and adult exposure and health risk evaluation following the use of metal- and metalloid-containing costume cosmetics sold in the United States" [1]. This article describes the concentration of metals and metalloids contained in various cosmetic products such as body paint, lipstick and eye shadow, the relative percent deviation of two analyses performed on the products and the physico-chemico properties of the metals and metalloids used in the SkinPerm model presented in the aforementioned article.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela L Perez
- Cardno ChemRisk, LLC, 101 2nd Street, Suite 700, San Francisco, CA 94105, United States
| | - Melanie Nembhard
- Cardno ChemRisk, LLC, 101 2nd Street, Suite 700, San Francisco, CA 94105, United States
| | - Andrew Monnot
- Cardno ChemRisk, LLC, 101 2nd Street, Suite 700, San Francisco, CA 94105, United States
| | - Daniel Bator
- Dept. of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, United States
| | | | - Shannon H Gaffney
- Cardno ChemRisk, LLC, 101 2nd Street, Suite 700, San Francisco, CA 94105, United States
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