Hollywood at Home: Applying Federal Child Labor Laws to Traditional and Modern Child Performers

In the past few years there has been a rise in online influencers who gain money and fame from their online content, and in many cases these influencers are children. Although this can be seen as a “job,” federal child labor laws exempt all child performers from protections. This means traditional child actors and children who create online content must rely on state laws regarding child labor. While some states have protections for child performers, several states have no such laws in place. In addition, the current protections are not available to children who take part in online content. Without such protection, children could be exploited by the adults around them for monetary gain and face the psychological harms that can result from fame and prolonged access to social media. While parents have a right to raise their children, when they are effectively acting as their child’s employer there should be safeguards put in place to ensure the safety of the child. This Note examines the laws currently in place for child performers and the harms that can befall children in the entertainment industry. As a solution, this Note proposes a model of new federal legislation that could be enacted to protect all children in the entertainment industry, balancing the rights of parents with the state interest in the wellbeing of the children involved

Prostate cancer screening with prostate-specific antigen: A guide to the guidelines

AbstractBackgroundProstate cancer remains the most common non-skin cancer malignancy in men. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is recognized as a biomarker for the diagnosis, monitoring, and risk prediction of prostate cancer. Its use in the setting of prostate cancer screening has been controversial due to the risk of over diagnosis and over treatment.ObjectiveWithin Australia, there are inconsistent recommendations surrounding the use of PSA screening in clinical practice. In light of the 2016 PSA-screening guidelines by the major Australian health authorities, the current review aims to highlight the controversies and objectively outline the current recommendations within Australia.DiscussionHealth-care authorities across Australia have issued conflicting guidelines for prostate cancer screening culminating in confusion amongst health care practitioners and members of the public alike. A general consensus is held by other countries across the globe but differences amongst the specific details in how to best employ a PSA screening program still exist

Diagnosis of a Chiari Malformation After a Concussion in a Junior College Football Player With a History of Chronic Headaches: A Case Report

The purpose of this report is to present the case of a National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association football player diagnosed with Chiari malformation postconcussion. A Chiari malformation is characterized by the cerebellum presenting below the level of the foramen. The uniqueness of this case stems from the patient’s health history, length of symptoms, and diagnosis. The effectiveness of treatment options, and the primary means to reduce the risk of catastrophic head injury in those with Chiari malformations are debatable. Clinicians should be familiar with the potential for the presence of a Chiari malformation with persistent symptoms postconcussion

The Development of a Pain Medication Management Protocol

Implementation of an organization-wide pain management policy incorporates a multifaceted team approach that could lead to improved patient outcomes. The absence of a standardized opioid prescribing policy within a healthcare organization has led to individual departments adopting their own guidelines. Management of an individual patient’s pain medication is often met with reluctance from providers when a patient is transferred from another department leaving the patient with inadequate care

Semaphorin 3A Contributes to Distal Pulmonary Epithelial Cell Differentiation and Lung Morphogenesis

altered distal lung structure.) littermate controls. mice that survived the immediate perinatal period. Furthermore, Sema3A deletion was linked with enhanced postnatal alveolar septal cell death.These data suggest that Sema3A modulates distal pulmonary epithelial cell development and alveolar septation. Defining how Sema3A influences structural plasticity of the developing lung is a critical first step for determining if this pathway can be exploited to develop innovative strategies for repair after acute or chronic lung injury

Genome Wide Association Mapping of Grain Arsenic, Copper, Molybdenum and Zinc in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Grown at Four International Field Sites

The mineral concentrations in cereals are important for human health, especially for individuals who consume a cereal subsistence diet. A number of elements, such as zinc, are required within the diet, while some elements are toxic to humans, for example arsenic. In this study we carry out genome-wide association (GWA) mapping of grain concentrations of arsenic, copper, molybdenum and zinc in brown rice using an established rice diversity panel of ~300 accessions and 36.9 k single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The study was performed across five environments: one field site in Bangladesh, one in China and two in the US, with one of the US sites repeated over two years. GWA mapping on the whole dataset and on separate subpopulations of rice revealed a large number of loci significantly associated with variation in grain arsenic, copper, molybdenum and zinc. Seventeen of these loci were detected in data obtained from grain cultivated in more than one field location, and six co-localise with previously identified quantitative trait loci. Additionally, a number of candidate genes for the uptake or transport of these elements were located near significantly associated SNPs (within 200 kb, the estimated global linkage disequilibrium previously employed in this rice panel). This analysis highlights a number of genomic regions and candidate genes for further analysis as well as the challenges faced when mapping environmentally- variable traits in a highly genetically structured diversity panel

Facial asymmetry tracks genetic diversity among Gorilla subspecies

Mountain gorillas are particularly inbred compared to other gorillas and even the most inbred human populations. As mountain gorilla skeletal material accumulated during the 1970s, researchers noted their pronounced facial asymmetry and hypothesized that it reflects a population-wide chewing side preference. However, asymmetry has also been linked to environmental and genetic stress in experimental models. Here, we examine facial asymmetry in 114 crania from three Gorilla subspecies using 3D geometric morphometrics. We measure fluctuating asymmetry (FA), defined as random deviations from perfect symmetry, and population-specific patterns of directional asymmetry (DA). Mountain gorillas, with a current population size of about 1000 individuals, have the highest degree of facial FA (explaining 17% of total facial shape variation), followed by Grauer gorillas (9%) and western lowland gorillas (6%), despite the latter experiencing the greatest ecological and dietary variability. DA, while significant in all three taxa, explains relatively less shape variation than FA does. Facial asymmetry correlates neither with tooth wear asymmetry nor increases with age in a mountain gorilla subsample, undermining the hypothesis that facial asymmetry is driven by chewing side preference. An examination of temporal trends shows that stress-induced developmental instability has increased over the last 100 years in these endangered apes

3D enamel profilometry reveals faster growth but similar stress severity in Neanderthal versus Homo sapiens teeth

Early life stress disrupts growth and creates horizontal grooves on the tooth surface in humans and other mammals, yet there is no consensus for their quantitative analysis. Linear defects are considered to be nonspecific stress indicators, but evidence suggests that intermittent, severe stressors create deeper defects than chronic, low-level stressors. However, species-specific growth patterns also influence defect morphology, with faster-growing teeth having shallower defects at the population level. Here we describe a method to measure the depth of linear enamel defects and normal growth increments (i.e., perikymata) from high-resolution 3D topographies using confocal profilometry and apply it to a diverse sample of Homo neanderthalensis and H. sapiens anterior teeth. Debate surrounds whether Neanderthals exhibited modern human-like growth patterns in their teeth and other systems, with some researchers suggesting that they experienced more severe childhood stress. Our results suggest that Neanderthals have shallower features than H. sapiens from the Upper Paleolithic, Neolithic, and medieval eras, mirroring the faster growth rates in Neanderthal anterior teeth. However, when defect depth is scaled by perikymata depth to assess their severity, Neolithic humans have less severe defects, while Neanderthals and the other H. sapiens groups show evidence of more severe early life growth disruptions

Nonclinical cardiovascular safety of pitolisant: comparing International Conference on Harmonization S7B and Comprehensive in vitro Pro-arrhythmia Assay initiative studies

Background and purpose: We evaluated the concordance of results from two sets of nonclinical cardiovascular safety studies on pitolisant. Experimental approach: Nonclinical studies envisaged both in the ICH S7B guideline and Comprehensive in vitro Proarrhythmia Assay (CiPA) initiative were undertaken. CiPA-initiative studies included in vitro ion channels and stem cell-derived human ventricular myocyte studies as well as in silico modelling of results to simulate human ventricular electrophysiology. ICH S7B-recommended studies included in vitro hERG studies, in vivo dog study with follow-up investigations in rabbit Purkinje fibres and in vivo studies in the Carlsson rabbit proarrhythmia model. Key results: Both sets of nonclinical studies consistently excluded pitolisant from having clinically relevant QT-liability or proarrhythmic potential. CiPA studies revealed pitolisant to have modest calcium channel blocking and late I Na reducing activities at high concentrations, which resulted in reduction of dofetilide-induced early after-depolarisations (EADs) by pitolisantin ICH S7B studies. Studies in stem cell-derived human cardiomyocytes with dofetilide or E-4031 given alone and in combination with pitolisant confirmed these properties. In silico modelling confirmed that the measured ion channel effects are consistent with results from both the stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte and rabbit Purkinje fibre studies and categorised pitolisant as a drug with low torsadogenic potential. The results from the two sets of nonclinical studies correlated well with two clinical QT studies. Conclusions and implications: Our experience supports the CiPA initiative but suggests that sponsors should consider investigating drug effects on EADs and the use of proarrhythmia models when the results from CiPA studies are ambiguous

Genome wide association mapping of grain arsenic, copper, molybdenum and zinc in rice (Oryza sativa L.) grown at four international field sites

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