New insights and changing paradigms in the regulation of vitamin A metabolism in development

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Shannon, S. R., Moise, A. R., & Trainor, P. A. (2017). New insights and changing paradigms in the regulation of vitamin A metabolism in development. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Developmental Biology, 6(3), 10.1002/wdev.264, which has been published in final form at http://doi.org/10.1002/wdev.264 This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.Vitamin A and its active metabolite retinoic acid are essential for embryonic development and adult homeostasis. Surprisingly, excess or deficiency of vitamin A and retinoic acid can cause similar developmental defects. Therefore, strict feedback and other mechanisms exist to regulate the levels of retinoic acid within a narrow physiological range. The oxidation of vitamin A to retinal has recently been established as a critical nodal point in the synthesis of retinoic acid, and over the past decade, RDH10 and DHRS3 have emerged as the predominant enzymes that regulate this reversible reaction. Together they form a codependent complex that facilitates negative feedback maintenance of retinoic acid levels and thus guard against the effects of dysregulated vitamin A metabolism and retinoic acid synthesis. This review focuses on advances in our understanding of the roles of Rdh10 and Dhrs3 and their impact on development and disease

Doxycycline for Malaria Chemoprophylaxis and Treatment: Report from the CDC Expert Meeting on Malaria Chemoprophylaxis

Doxycycline, a synthetically derived tetracycline, is a partially efficacious causal prophylactic (liver stage of Plasmodium) drug and a slow acting blood schizontocidal agent highly effective for the prevention of malaria. When used in conjunction with a fast acting schizontocidal agent, it is also highly effective for malaria treatment. Doxycycline is especially useful as a prophylaxis in areas with chloroquine and multidrug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Although not recommended for pregnant women and children < 8 years of age, severe adverse events are rarely reported for doxycycline. This report examines the evidence behind current recommendations for the use of doxycycline for malaria and summarizes the available literature on its safety and tolerability

Do Industry and Size Matter? Impact of Media M&A Announcements on Acquirer Shareholder Returns in the United States (1996-2020)

Since the passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which broke down barriers between emerging and traditional media industries, media companies in the United States have engaged in unprecedented levels of mergers and acquisitions. From 2000 to 2018, media companies - which include the Printing & Publishing, Communications, and Movie Production industries - accounted for over 10% of total domestic M&A deals and over 15% of total domestic deal value. This paper takes an event study approach to analyzing the short-term impact of media M&A announcements on the shareholder value of acquiring media companies since the landmark cross-industry deregulation of March 1996. After analyzing 2,235 unique acquisitions, I observe that both the size of the transaction, and industry of the target and acquirer have a significant impact on cumulative abnormal returns surrounding an M&A announcement. The results suggest that both larger media deals, and those that involve a target and acquirer in the same media sub-sector, are associated with more positive short-term market reactions to the announcement of the deal. Specifically, transactions ranging from $25 million to$1 billion in value seemed to perform best, while those less than $5 million realized the lowest returns