Die another day
Ontology highlight
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PROVIDER: S-EPMC556179 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:The severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection demonstrates a highly variable and unpredictable course. Several reports have claimed a smoker's paradox in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), in line with previous suggestions that smoking is associated with better survival after acute myocardial infarction and appears protective in preeclampsia. Several plausible physiological explanations exist accounting for the paradoxical observation of smoking engendering protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this review, we delineate novel mechanisms whereby smoking habits and smokers' genetic polymorphism status affecting various nitric oxide (NO) pathways (endothelial NO synthase, cytochrome P450 (CYP450), erythropoietin receptor (EPOR); β-common receptor (βcR)), along with tobacco smoke modulation of microRNA-155 and aryl-hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) effects, may be important determinators of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 course. While transient NO bioavailability increase and beneficial immunoregulatory modulations through the above-mentioned pathways using exogenous, endogenous, genetic and/or therapeutic modalities may have direct and specific, viricidal SARS-CoV-2 effects, employing tobacco smoke inhalation to achieve protection equals self-harm. Tobacco smoking remains the leading cause of death, illness, and impoverishment.
| S-EPMC9983545 | biostudies-literature
Project description:: Influenza A virus (IAV) is a major concern to human health due to the ongoing global threat of a pandemic. Inflammatory and cell death signalling pathways play important roles in host defence against IAV infection. However, severe IAV infections in humans are characterised by excessive inflammation and tissue damage, often leading to fatal disease. While the molecular mechanisms involved in the induction of inflammation during IAV infection have been well studied, the pathways involved in IAV-induced cell death and their impact on immunopathology have not been fully elucidated. There is increasing evidence of significant crosstalk between cell death and inflammatory pathways and a greater understanding of their role in host defence and disease may facilitate the design of new treatments for IAV infection.
| S-EPMC7232208 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Regeneration is critical for survivorship after injury, sublethal predation, and asexual reproduction; it allows individuals to recover, potentially enabling populations of bait species to overcome the effects of bait collection through incidental asexual reproduction. Opportunities for regeneration are created when worms break during collection (which happens more often than not) and are thrown back into the estuary. Additionally, the trade and movement of bait could result in the range expansion of invasive species. This study investigated bait collection habits of local fishermen and the in situ incidence of regeneration in the estuarine moonshine worm, Diopatra aciculata. The evidence shows that this species is capable of anterior and posterior regeneration. The disproportionately small percentage of worms that seem to be recovering from the degree of damage that may be inflicted during bait collection suggests that regeneration may not help worms to withstand the effects of bait collection. However, the continuous movement and discarding of even small numbers of bait in other estuaries can lead to range expansion through incremental build-up, forming new populations, if these fragments are large enough to regenerate.
| S-EPMC10045322 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundOf 7461 actively practicing United States American Board of Plastic Surgery certified plastic surgeons, only 17% are women. In relation to this small number, gender inequities within the field have been the source of national discussions. Our study assessed the status of the gender-based wage-gap in plastic surgery and sought to identify possible causes.MethodsAn anonymous 43-question survey was distributed to 2981 members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons in 2021. Male and female responses were compared; an analysis also considering board-certification year was performed. Chi-square and Fisher exact tests were used for bivariate analysis. Continuous variables were compared with two-sample t tests and Wilcoxon rank sum tests.ResultsTen percent of contacted American Society of Plastic Surgeons members responded to our survey. Of the 288 respondents, 111 (38.5%) were women, and 177 (61.5%) were men. Men were more likely to have salaries over $400K USD per year (P < 0.0001). Earlier certification year was associated with pay greater than $400K per year (P = 0.0235) but was insignificant once stratified by gender (women: P = 0.2392, men: P = 0.7268). Earlier certification year was associated with production-based and self-determined wages (P = 0.0097), whereas later board-certification year was associated with nonnegotiable salaries (P < 0.0001).ConclusionsWomen are significantly less likely to make salaries comparable to those of male plastic surgeons, related to shorter careers on average. An increase in female representation and career duration within the field is needed to improve the current wage-gap.
| S-EPMC10427058 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC8691789 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Three consecutive dry winters (2015-2017) in southwestern South Africa (SSA) resulted in the Cape Town "Day Zero" drought in early 2018. The contribution of anthropogenic global warming to this prolonged rainfall deficit has previously been evaluated through observations and climate models. However, model adequacy and insufficient horizontal resolution make it difficult to precisely quantify the changing likelihood of extreme droughts, given the small regional scale. Here, we use a high-resolution large ensemble to estimate the contribution of anthropogenic climate change to the probability of occurrence of multiyear SSA rainfall deficits in past and future decades. We find that anthropogenic climate change increased the likelihood of the 2015-2017 rainfall deficit by a factor of five to six. The probability of such an event will increase from 0.7 to 25% by the year 2100 under an intermediate-emission scenario (Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 2-4.5 [SSP2-4.5]) and to 80% under a high-emission scenario (SSP5-8.5). These results highlight the strong sensitivity of the drought risk in SSA to future anthropogenic emissions.
| S-EPMC7703628 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The breakdown of antibiotics by β-lactamases may be cooperative, since resistant cells can detoxify their environment and facilitate the growth of susceptible neighbours. However, previous studies of this phenomenon have used artificial bacterial vectors or engineered bacteria to increase the secretion of β-lactamases from cells. Here, we investigated whether a broad-spectrum β-lactamase gene carried by a naturally occurring plasmid (pCT) is cooperative under a range of conditions. In ordinary batch culture on solid media, there was little or no evidence that resistant bacteria could protect susceptible cells from ampicillin, although resistant colonies could locally detoxify this growth medium. However, when susceptible cells were inoculated at high densities, late-appearing phenotypically susceptible bacteria grew in the vicinity of resistant colonies. We infer that persisters, cells that have survived antibiotics by undergoing a period of dormancy, founded these satellite colonies. The number of persister colonies was positively correlated with the density of resistant colonies and increased as antibiotic concentrations decreased. We argue that detoxification can be cooperative under a limited range of conditions: if the toxins are bacteriostatic rather than bacteridical; or if susceptible cells invade communities after resistant bacteria; or if dormancy allows susceptible cells to avoid bactericides. Resistance and tolerance were previously thought to be independent solutions for surviving antibiotics. Here, we show that these are interacting strategies: the presence of bacteria adopting one solution can have substantial effects on the fitness of their neighbours.
| S-EPMC4817691 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC7121143 | biostudies-literature
Project description:COVID-19 struck the world and stretched the healthcare system and professionals. Medical students engaged in the pandemic effort, making personal and professional sacrifices. However, the impact of these sacrifices on students` professional development is still unknown. We applied constructivist grounded theory to individual audio diaries (total time = 5h38 min) and interviews (total time = 11h57min) performed with 18 last-year medical students during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. The perspective of making sacrifices caused initial emotional distress in medical students, followed by a negotiation process revolving around three themes: predisposition to sacrifice, sense of competence, and sense of belonging. This negotiation process led to three response patterns: Pattern A: "No sense of duty"-the sacrifice was perceived as meaningless, and students showed intense anger and a desire to flee; Pattern B: "Sense of duty with hesitation to act"-the sacrifice was acknowledged as legitime, but students felt unprepared to contribute, leading to feelings of frustration and shame; and, Pattern C: "Sense of duty with readiness to act"-the engagement with the sacrifice was perceived as an opportunity to grow as a doctor, leading to fulfillment and proudness. Students ready to engage with the COVID-19 effort experienced identity consonance, reinforcing their professional identities. Students who felt incompetent or found the sacrifice meaningless experienced identity dissonance, which led to emotional suffering and the consideration of abandoning the course. Monitoring students' emotional reactions when facing professional challenges creates opportunities to problematize the role of sacrifice in the medical profession and scaffold professional identity development.
| S-EPMC9744057 | biostudies-literature