A Content Analysis of Indoor Tanning Twitter Chatter During COVID-19 Shutdowns: Cross-Sectional Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND: Indoor tanning is a preventable risk factor for skin cancer. Statewide shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in temporary closures of tanning businesses. Little is known about how tanners reacted to losing access to tanning businesses. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze Twitter (subsequently rebranded as X) chatter about indoor tanning during the statewide pandemic shutdowns. METHODS: We collected tweets from March 15 to April 30, 2020, and performed a directed content analysis of a random sample of 20% (1165/5811) of tweets from each week. The 2 coders independently rated themes (κ=0.67-1.0; 94%-100% agreement). RESULTS: About half (589/1165, 50.6%) of tweets were by people unlikely to indoor tan, and most of these mocked tanners or the act of tanning (562/589, 94.9%). A total of 34% (402/1165) of tweets were posted by users likely to indoor tan, and most of these (260/402, 64.7%) mentioned missing tanning beds, often citing appearance- or mood-related reasons or withdrawal. Some tweets by tanners expressed a desire to purchase or use home tanning beds (90/402, 22%), while only 3.9% (16/402) mentioned tanning alternatives (eg, self-tanner). Very few tweets (29/1165, 2.5%) were public health messages about the dangers of indoor tanning. CONCLUSIONS: Findings revealed that during statewide shutdowns, half of the tweets about indoor tanning were mocking tanning bed users and the tanned look, while about one-third were indoor tanners reacting to their inability to access tanning beds. Future work is needed to understand emerging trends in tanning post pandemic.

Nature and evaluation of dyspnea in speaking and swallowing.

Dyspnea (breathing discomfort) is a serious and pervasive problem that can have a profound impact on quality of life. It can manifest in different qualities (air hunger, physical exertion, chest/lung tightness, and mental concentration, among others) and intensities (barely noticeable to intolerable) and can influence a person's emotional state (causing anxiety, fear, and frustration, among others). Dyspnea can make it difficult to perform daily activities, including speaking and swallowing. In fact, dyspnea can cause people to change the way they speak and swallow in their attempts to relieve their breathing discomfort; in extreme cases, it can even cause people to avoid speaking and eating/drinking. This article provides an overview of dyspnea in general, describes the effects of dyspnea on speaking and swallowing, includes data from two survey studies of speaking-related dyspnea and swallowing-related dyspnea, and outlines suggested protocols for evaluating dyspnea during speaking and swallowing.

A germline clone screen for meiotic mutants in Drosophila melanogaster.

Using an FLP/FRT-based method to create germline clones, we screened Drosophila chromosome arms 2L and 3R for new female meiotic mutants. The screen was designed to recover mutants with severe effects on meiotic exchange and/or segregation. This screen yielded 11 new mutants, including six alleles of previously known meiotic genes (c(2)M and ald/mps1). The remaining five mutants appear to define at least four new genes whose ablation results in severe meiotic defects. Three of the novel meiotic mutants were identified at the molecular level. Two of these, mcm5(A7) and trem(F9), define roles in meiotic recombination, while a third, cona(A12), is important for synaptonemal complex assembly. Surprisingly, five of the nine mutants for which the lesion has been identified at the molecular level are not the result of mutations characteristic of EMS mutagenesis, but rather due to the insertion of the transposable element Doc. This study demonstrates the utility of germline clone-based screens for the discovery of strong meiotic mutants, including mutations in essential genes, and the use of molecular genetic techniques to map the loci.