Primary care physician and resident perceptions of gun safety counseling.

A significant public health burden exists related to firearm-related injuries in the United States. Primary care physicians (PCPs) find themselves on the frontline to address it. This study aimed to determine if PCPs feel prepared and responsible for providing firearm safety counseling. Data were gathered via a direct 23-question survey of family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatric physicians and residents in North and Central Texas between May 2019 and January 2020. The survey was delivered to 518 outpatient providers, with a 24% response rate. Associations were assessed by chi-square/Fisher's exact test. A total of 62% agreed that preventable firearm death is an important health issue and PCPs can have a positive effect; 10% felt their residency provided or provides opportunities to learn about firearm safety and how to counsel patients; 55% agreed that a standardized tool to question and counsel patients on firearm safety such as a template in the electronic health record would be useful; and 68% stated they would use a standardized template in their practice if proven to reduce firearm-related injuries. Physicians who had received training in residency felt their knowledge was adequate to be able to provide meaningful counseling to patients (P < 0.001). In conclusion, PCPs are pivotal in addressing firearm safety. A formal curriculum across primary care specialties' graduate education programs should be developed to improve physicians' competency in addressing firearm safety. Further investigation into standardized tools that could be implemented into an electronic health record may help bridge the gap from awareness to implementation of interventions.

An Engineered orco Mutation Produces Aberrant Social Behavior and Defective Neural Development in Ants.

Ants exhibit cooperative behaviors and advanced forms of sociality that depend on pheromone-mediated communication. Odorant receptor neurons (ORNs) express specific odorant receptors (ORs) encoded by a dramatically expanded gene family in ants. In most eusocial insects, only the queen can transmit genetic information, restricting genetic studies. In contrast, workers in Harpegnathos saltator ants can be converted into gamergates (pseudoqueens) that can found entire colonies. This feature facilitated CRISPR-Cas9 generation of germline mutations in orco, the gene that encodes the obligate co-receptor of all ORs. orco mutations should significantly impact olfaction. We demonstrate striking functions of Orco in odorant perception, reproductive physiology, and social behavior plasticity. Surprisingly, unlike in other insects, loss of OR functionality also dramatically impairs development of the antennal lobe to which ORNs project. Therefore, the development of genetics in Harpegnathos establishes this ant species as a model organism to study the complexity of eusociality.

Molecular logic behind the three-way stochastic choices that expand butterfly colour vision.

Butterflies rely extensively on colour vision to adapt to the natural world. Most species express a broad range of colour-sensitive Rhodopsin proteins in three types of ommatidia (unit eyes), which are distributed stochastically across the retina. The retinas of Drosophila melanogaster use just two main types, in which fate is controlled by the binary stochastic decision to express the transcription factor Spineless in R7 photoreceptors. We investigated how butterflies instead generate three stochastically distributed ommatidial types, resulting in a more diverse retinal mosaic that provides the basis for additional colour comparisons and an expanded range of colour vision. We show that the Japanese yellow swallowtail (Papilio xuthus, Papilionidae) and the painted lady (Vanessa cardui, Nymphalidae) butterflies have a second R7-like photoreceptor in each ommatidium. Independent stochastic expression of Spineless in each R7-like cell results in expression of a blue-sensitive (Spineless(ON)) or an ultraviolet (UV)-sensitive (Spineless(OFF)) Rhodopsin. In P. xuthus these choices of blue/blue, blue/UV or UV/UV sensitivity in the two R7 cells are coordinated with expression of additional Rhodopsin proteins in the remaining photoreceptors, and together define the three types of ommatidia. Knocking out spineless using CRISPR/Cas9 (refs 5, 6) leads to the loss of the blue-sensitive fate in R7-like cells and transforms retinas into homogeneous fields of UV/UV-type ommatidia, with corresponding changes in other coordinated features of ommatidial type. Hence, the three possible outcomes of Spineless expression define the three ommatidial types in butterflies. This developmental strategy allowed the deployment of an additional red-sensitive Rhodopsin in P. xuthus, allowing for the evolution of expanded colour vision with a greater variety of receptors. This surprisingly simple mechanism that makes use of two binary stochastic decisions coupled with local coordination may prove to be a general means of generating an increased diversity of developmental outcomes.