Summary
Pheromones play important roles in female and male behaviour in the filamentous ascomycete fungi. To begin to explore the role of pheromones in mating, we have identified the genes encoding the sex pheromones of the heterothallic species Neurospora crassa. One gene, expressed exclusively in mat A strains, encodes a polypeptide containing multiple repeats of a putative pheromone sequence bordered by Kex2 processing sites. Strains of the opposite mating type, mat a, express a pheromone precursor gene whose polypeptide contains a C‐terminal CAAX motif predicted to produce a mature pheromone with a C‐terminal carboxy‐methyl isoprenylated cysteine. The predicted sequences of the pheromones are remarkably similar to those encoded by other filamentous ascomycetes. The expression of the pheromone precursor genes is mating type specific and is under the control of the mating type locus. Furthermore, the genes are highly expressed in conidia and under conditions that favour sexual development. Both pheromone precursor genes are also regulated by the endogenous circadian clock in a time‐of‐day‐specific fashion, supporting a role for the clock in mating.
Preventing youth smoking initiation is a priority for tobacco control programs, because most adult tobacco smokers become addicted during adolescence. Interventions that restrict the affordability, accessibility, and marketing of cigarettes have been effective in reducing youth cigarette smoking. However, increasing numbers of youth are smoking tobacco using hookahs. Predictors of smoking tobacco with hookahs are the same as those for smoking cigarettes. Established interventions that curb youth cigarette smoking should therefore be effective in reducing hookah use. Potential policy interventions include equalizing tobacco tax rates for all tobacco types, requiring warning labels on hookah tobacco and accurate labeling of product contents, extending the cigarette flavoring ban to hookah tobacco, enacting smoke-free air laws and removing exemptions for hookah lounges, and expanding shipping restrictions on tobacco products.
Many states have implemented smoke-free workplace laws to protect employees and customers from exposure to secondhand smoke. However, exemptions in these laws have allowed indoor tobacco smoking in hookah lounges to proliferate in recent years. To describe the amount of secondhand smoke in hookah lounges, we measured the indoor air quality of 10 hookah lounges in Oregon. Air quality measurements ranged from "unhealthy" to "hazardous" according to Environmental Protection Agency standards, indicating a potential health risk for patrons and employees.
Data from a national sample of 595 American adults were analyzed in an effort to evaluate simultaneously the potential effects of social bonds and childhood characteristics on smoking and alcohol use. Religious belief and belief in the importance of conformity with shared moral principles had significant negative effects on smoking, alcohol use, and alcohol abuse; commitment (satisfaction with one's socioeconomic status) inhibited smoking; and attachment (strong emotional bonds to family and friends) deterred alcohol abuse. Childhood trauma promoted both smoking and alcohol abuse.
This study analyzes data from a national sample of 595 adults to simultaneously evaluate the potential effects of social bonds and childhood trauma on tobacco smoking. Although both control factors and childhood experiences were found to affect smoking, religious belief and belief in the importance of conforming to moral and social norms had more important and robust negative relationships to smoking than commitment, attachment, or involvement social bonds. But, whereas childhood trauma appeared to promote smoking among both college educated and less educated persons, control factors significantly inhibited smoking only among the less educated. Implications for future drug research as well as anti-smoking campaigns and other anti-drug programs are discussed.
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