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Background Pregnant women with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are at increased risk for severe illness compared with nonpregnant women. Data to assess risk factors for illness severity among pregnant women with COVID-19 are limited. This study aimed to determine risk factors associated with COVID-19 illness severity among pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods Pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by molecular testing were reported during March 29, 2020–March 5, 2021 through the Surveillance for Emerging Threats to Mothers and Babies Network (SET-NET). Criteria for illness severity (asymptomatic, mild, moderate-to-severe, or critical) were adapted from National Institutes of Health and World Health Organization criteria. Crude and adjusted risk ratios for moderate-to-severe or critical COVID-19 illness were calculated for selected demographic and clinical characteristics. Results Among 7,950 pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection, moderate-to-severe or critical COVID-19 illness was associated with age 25 years and older, healthcare occupation, pre-pregnancy obesity, chronic lung disease, chronic hypertension, and pregestational diabetes mellitus. Risk of moderate-to-severe or critical illness increased with the number of underlying medical or pregnancy-related conditions. Conclusions Older age and having underlying medical conditions were associated with increased risk of moderate-to-severe or critical COVID-19 illness among pregnant women. This information might help pregnant women understand their risk for moderate-to-severe or critical COVID-19 illness and inform targeted public health messaging.

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Temperature‐response information for use in evaluating thermal discharges is often over 30 years old and in the nonpeer‐reviewed literature, especially for Round Whitefish Prosopium cylindraceum and Lake Whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis exposed to nonlethal, elevated, and variable temperatures. Egg incubation experiments on Round Whitefish collected in Lake Ontario and Lake Whitefish collected in Lake Huron were carried out from December 13, 2011, to April 7, 2012. Experimental treatments included ambient baseline control conditions as well as fixed and fluctuating (variable) temperature increases of 1, 2, 3, and 5°C above ambient baseline conditions. For both species, the window for hatching for all experimental temperature treatments was variable (range, 10–38 d for Round Whitefish and 11–44 d for Lake Whitefish), and the hatching windows tended to be greater as temperatures increased. Our results indicated that both fixed and variable incremental increases in temperature above ambient baseline conditions have a statistically significant effect on 50% hatch, and hatch occurs earlier with higher incremental temperature increases. The ecological significance of advanced hatch, such as indirect mortality and food source availability, was evaluated. Received February 19, 2013; accepted July 8, 2013

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Temperature is critical in regulating virtually all biological functions in fish. Low temperature stress (cold shock/stress) is an often-overlooked challenge that many fish face as a result of both natural events and anthropogenic activities. In this study, we present an updated review of the cold shock literature based on a comprehensive literature search, following an initial review on the subject by M.R. Donaldson and colleagues, published in a 2008 volume of this journal. We focus on how knowledge on cold shock and fish has evolved over the past decade, describing advances in the understanding of the generalized stress response in fish under cold stress, what metrics may be used to quantify cold stress and what knowledge gaps remain to be addressed in future research. We also describe the relevance of cold shock as it pertains to environmental managers, policymakers and industry professionals, including practical applications of cold shock. Although substantial progress has been made in addressing some of the knowledge gaps identified a decade ago, other topics (e.g., population-level effects and interactions between primary, secondary and tertiary stress responses) have received little or no attention despite their significance to fish biology and thermal stress. Approaches using combinations of primary, secondary and tertiary stress responses are crucial as a research priority to better understand the mechanisms underlying cold shock responses, from short-term physiological changes to individual-and population-level effects, thereby providing researchers with better means of quantifying cold shock in laboratory and field settings.

We tested Chinook smolt response to combinations of spectra and strobing frequencies emitted from an underwater LED light, designed to guide fish near water diversion infrastructure. Whilst strobing did not alter fish behaviour when compared to constant light, the red light had a repulsive effect during the day, but not at night.

Freshwater ecosystems are threatened by a wide range of anthropogenic infrastructure related to hydropower, irrigation, municipal withdrawals, and industrial cooling. Technology can be used to mitigate the loss of fish associated with such infrastructure by exploiting the sensory physiology of a species through stimuli designed to manipulate their natural behaviors (e.g., to attract or repel). Technologies used for behavioral guidance often incorporate light; however, previous studies investigating light devices have focused on mercury vapor bulbs and thus have been limited in their exploration of the broader light spectra. Innovations in light‐emitting diode (LED) technology provide opportunities for manipulating light spectra (i.e., color) as well as light‐pulse frequency. We tested the behavioral response of Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides under 16 different LED color and light‐pulse frequency combinations as well as in a control in which no light was emitted. Red, orange, yellow, and green were considered with four light‐pulse frequencies (0, 120, 300, and 600 pulses/min). Using a large shallow arena, lateral fish movement in response to the light treatments was examined. Regardless of color or light‐pulse frequency, fish were repelled by the light source. In contrast, when there was no light emitted, fish were evenly distributed throughout the arena. This work suggests that colored light accompanied with light‐pulse frequencies produced by LEDs can induce an avoidance response in Largemouth Bass. Received May 7, 2015; accepted January 5, 2016 Published online August 24, 2016