Triploid Pacific oysters exhibit stress response dysregulation and elevated mortality following heatwaves.

Polyploidy has been suggested to negatively impact environmental stress tolerance, resulting in increased susceptibility to extreme climate events. In this study, we compared the genomic and physiological response of diploid (2n) and triploid (3n) Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) to conditions present during an atmospheric heatwave that impacted the Pacific Northwestern region of the United States in the summer of 2021. Climate stressors were applied either singly (single stressor; elevated seawater temperature, 30°C) or in succession (multiple stressor; elevated seawater temperature followed by aerial emersion at 44°C), replicating conditions present within the intertidal over a tidal cycle during the event. Oyster mortality rate was elevated within stress treatments with respect to the control and was significantly higher in triploids than diploids following multiple stress exposure (36.4% vs. 14.8%). Triploids within the multiple stressor treatment exhibited signs of energetic limitation, including metabolic depression, a significant reduction in ctenidium Na+ /K+ ATPase activity, and the dysregulated expression of genes associated with stress response, innate immunity, glucose metabolism, and mitochondrial function. Functional enrichment analysis of ploidy-specific gene sets identified that biological processes associated with metabolism, stress tolerance, and immune function were overrepresented within triploids across stress treatments. Our results suggest that triploidy impacts the transcriptional regulation of key processes that underly the stress response of Pacific oysters, resulting in downstream shifts in physiological tolerance limits that may increase susceptibility to extreme climate events that present multiple environmental stressors. The impact of chromosome set manipulation on the climate resilience of marine organisms has important implications for domestic food security within future climate scenarios, especially as triploidy induction becomes an increasingly popular tool to elicit reproductive control across a wide range of species used within marine aquaculture.

Health Care Burden and Expenditure Associated with Adverse Childhood Experiences in Tennessee and Virginia.

To estimate attributable burden and costs of conditions associated with exposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in Tennessee (TN) and Virginia (VA) during 2017. This is a cross-sectional study of individuals aged 18+ having exposure to ACEs using Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data. Eight chronic diseases (asthma, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), depression, cardiovascular disease, and arthritis) and two risk factors (smoking and drinking) associated with ACEs were analyzed. Pearson's chi-square tests analyzed the association between ACEs, risk factors and chronic diseases. The population attributable risks (PAR) were estimated for the ACEs related diseases and risk factors and combined with health care expenses and Disability Adjusted-Life-Years (DALYs). Among those who experienced at least 1 ACE in TN, 10% had COPD, 17% had diabetes, 36% had obesity, and 30% had depression. Individuals who experienced at least 1 ACE in VA had higher percentages for COPD, obesity and depression diseases compared to those who had no ACE (p< .0001). ACEs' exposure resulted in a burden of about 115,000 years and 127,000 years in terms of DALYs in TN and VA, respectively. The total health spending associated with ACEs based on PARs was about $647 million ($165 per adult) and $942 million ($292 per adult) in TN and VA respectively. The total costs associated with ACEs was about $15.5 billion ($3948) per person) and $20.2 billion ($6288 per person) in TN and VA, respectively. This study emphasizes the need to reduce ACEs due to high health and financial costs.

Safe Medication Disposal.

Safe disposal of expired or unused medications is essential for individual and environmental safety, yet many patients report not having received education on proper medication disposal. Unused medications in homes and improper medication disposal create various risks including intentional or accidental misuse, overdose, addiction in humans, as well as toxic effects in pets. As part of their community health clinical experience, senior nursing students from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing visited patients of a large home care and hospice agency in a Philadelphia suburb throughout the semester. A survey conducted with a small number (N = 15) of home care patients suggested the majority of patients had inadequate knowledge about safe medication disposal. The nursing students created and presented a tip sheet on safe medication disposal and a list of local prescription medication disposal sites to home care patients. They also obtained and provided medication disposal bags for patients and caregivers who were unable to get to medication disposal sites.