Development of Gene Expression Markers of Acute Heat-Light Stress in Reef-Building Corals of the Genus Porites

Coral reefs are declining worldwide due to increased incidence of climate-induced coral bleaching, which will have widespread biodiversity and economic impacts. A simple method to measure the sub-bleaching level of heat-light stress experienced by corals would greatly inform reef management practices by making it possible to assess the distribution of bleaching risks among individual reef sites. Gene expression analysis based on quantitative PCR (qPCR) can be used as a diagnostic tool to determine coral condition in situ. We evaluated the expression of 13 candidate genes during heat-light stress in a common Caribbean coral Porites astreoides, and observed strong and consistent changes in gene expression in two independent experiments. Furthermore, we found that the apparent return to baseline expression levels during a recovery phase was rapid, despite visible signs of colony bleaching. We show that the response to acute heat-light stress in P. astreoides can be monitored by measuring the difference in expression of only two genes: Hsp16 and actin. We demonstrate that this assay discriminates between corals sampled from two field sites experiencing different temperatures. We also show that the assay is applicable to an Indo-Pacific congener, P. lobata, and therefore could potentially be used to diagnose acute heat-light stress on coral reefs worldwide

The stigma turbine:A theoretical framework for conceptualizing and contextualizing marketplace stigma

Stigmas, or discredited personal attributes, emanate from social perceptions of physical characteristics, aspects of character, and “tribal” associations (e.g., race; Goffman 1963). Extant research emphasizes the perspective of the stigma target, with some scholars exploring how social institutions shape stigma. Yet the ways stakeholders within the socio-commercial sphere create, perpetuate, or resist stigma remain overlooked. We introduce and define marketplace stigma as the labeling, stereotyping, and devaluation by and of commercial stakeholders (consumers, companies and their employees, stockholders, institutions) and their offerings (products, services, experiences). We offer the Stigma Turbine (ST) as a unifying conceptual framework that locates marketplace stigma within the broader sociocultural context, and illuminates its relationship to forces that exacerbate or blunt stigma. In unpacking the ST, we reveal the critical role market stakeholders can play in (de)stigmatization, explore implications for marketing practice and public policy, and offer a research agenda to further our understanding of marketplace stigma and stakeholder welfare

Effects of state opioid prescribing cap laws on opioid prescribing after surgery

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effects of state opioid prescribing cap laws on opioid prescribing after surgery.Data SourcesOptumLabs Data Warehouse administrative claims data covering all 50 states from July 2012 through June 2019.Study DesignWe included individuals from 20 states that had implemented prescribing cap laws without exemptions for postsurgical pain by June 2019 and individuals from 16 control states plus the District of Columbia. We used a difference‐in‐differences approach accounting for differential timing in law implementation across states to estimate the effects of state prescribing cap laws on postsurgical prescribing of opioids. Outcome measures included filling an opioid prescription within 30 days after surgery; filling opioid prescriptions of specific doses or durations; and the number, days’ supply, daily dose, and pill quantity of opioid prescriptions. To assess the validity of the parallel counterfactual trends assumption, we examined differences in outcome trends between law‐implementing and control states in the years preceding law implementation using an equivalence testing framework.Data Collection/Extraction MethodsWe included the first surgery in the study period for opioid‐naïve individuals undergoing one of eight common surgical procedures.Principal FindingsState prescribing cap laws were associated with 0.109 lower days’ supply of postsurgical opioids on the log scale (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: −0.139, −0.080) but were not associated with the number (Average treatment effect on the treated [ATT]: −0.011; 95% CI: −0.043, 0.021) or daily dose of postsurgical opioid prescriptions (ATT: −0.013; 95% CI: −0.030, 0.005). The negative association observed between prescribing cap laws and the probability of filling a postsurgical opioid prescription (ATT: −0.041; 95% CI: −0.054, −0.028) was likely spurious, given differences between law‐implementing and control states in the pre‐law period.ConclusionsPrescribing cap laws appear to have minimal effects on postsurgical opioid prescribing.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/174807/1/hesr14023.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/174807/2/hesr14023_am.pd

Development of gene expression markers of acute heat-light stress in reef-building corals of the genus porites

Coral reefs are declining worldwide due to increased incidence of climate-induced coral bleaching, which will have widespread biodiversity and economic impacts. A simple method to measure the sub-bleaching level of heat-light stress experienced by corals would greatly inform reef management practices by making it possible to assess the distribution of bleaching risks among individual reef sites. Gene expression analysis based on quantitative PCR (qPCR) can be used as a diagnostic tool to determine coral condition in situ. We evaluated the expression of 13 candidate genes during heat-light stress in a common Caribbean coral Porites astreoides, and observed strong and consistent changes in gene expression in two independent experiments. Furthermore, we found that the apparent return to baseline expression levels during a recovery phase was rapid, despite visible signs of colony bleaching. We show that the response to acute heat-light stress in P. astreoides can be monitored by measuring the difference in expression of only two genes: Hsp16 and actin. We demonstrate that this assay discriminates between corals sampled from two field sites experiencing different temperatures. We also show that the assay is applicable to an Indo-Pacific congener, P. lobata, and therefore could potentially be used to diagnose acute heat-light stress on coral reefs worldwide.National Science Foundation grant DEB-1054766 to MVM; Title V-Graduate programs/ELITE Graduate program: Event Travel Request program to LBS and JAH; Environmental Protection Agency Greater Research Opportunity Graduate Fellowship to KAK (MA-91697601); WIOMSA MARG III to PHM and RB; Aharon Katzir-Katchalsky Student Travel Fellowships and Anat Krauskopf Fund Travel Award to AA; NSF IOS-0747205 and funding from the University of Mississippi ORSP to TLG; Grants from both the National Science Council and Academia Sinica, Taiwan to KS; NSF GRF to RNS; Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) studentship to CVP. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript