Soft tissue-related injuries sustained following volcanic eruptions: An integrative review.

BACKGROUND: The contribution of various volcanic phenomena to immediate soft tissue injury types has received limited attention challenging emergency management planning. This integrative review sought to investigate the immediate types of soft tissue-related injury sustained following volcanic eruptions. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted in January 2020 across EMBASE, PubMed, and Scopus databases. 718 articles were retrieved, and 15 studies met the final inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Injuries acquired, and health impacts were categorized by onset-direct/indirect or immediate/delayed. Health concerns following an eruption were categorised: (1) respiratory; (2) ocular; and (3) skin, including deep tissues. Respiratory concerns were attributed to ashfall, volcanic gases and pyroclastic density currents; most ocular injuries to ashfall; and skin/deep tissues to pyroclastic density currents and mudflows. CONCLUSIONS: Volcanic eruptions simultaneously present multiple hazards with immediate/short term health consequences across three major levels (i.e., respiratory, ocular, and skin, including deep tissues). Hazard(s) differ by time of onset and associated mostly with the eruptive phenomena. Understanding local volcanic phenomenon is essential to assisting health personnel provide informed and timely care.

Short versus long double-stranded RNA activation of a post-transcriptional gene knockdown pathway.

RNA interference (RNAi) utilizes a conserved cellular autoimmune defense mechanism involving the internalization of dsRNA into cells and the activation of a set of RNAi related genes. Using RNAi, complete sex reversal is achievable in males of the prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii by knocking down the transcript level of an insulin-like androgenic gland hormone (Mr-IAG) through injections of dsRNA of the entire Mr-IAG ORF sequence (dsMr-IAG - 518bp). Interestingly, in-vivo knockdown success and dsMr-IAG lengths seemed to correlate, with long dsRNA being the most effective and short dsRNA fragments showing no effect. However, little is known about the RNAi machinery in M. rosenbergii. We discovered the Mr-Dicer and Mr-Argonaute gene families, associated with the major knockdown pathways, in our M. rosenbergii transcriptomic library. In response to dsMr-IAG administration, only post-transcriptional pathway-related gene transcript levels were upregulated. In addition, a passive dsRNA channel (a SID1 gene ortholog) that allows external dsRNA to enter cells was found. Its function was validated by observing Mr-SID1 specific upregulation dependent on dsRNA lengths, while attempted loss-of-function experiments were lethal. Our results, which suggest differential systemic responses to dsRNA lengths, provide evidence that the above RNAi-based manipulation occurs via the post-transcriptional pathway. The temporal nature of the latter pathway supports the safety of using such RNAi-based biotechnologies in aquaculture and environmental applications. Unlike reports of RNAi driven by the administration of small dsRNA fragments in-vitro, the case presented here demonstrates length dependency in-vivo, suggesting further complexity in the context of the entire organism.