New Methods in Tissue Engineering: Improved Models for Viral Infection

New insights in the study of virus and host biology in the context of viral infection are made possible by the development of model systems that faithfully recapitulate the in vivo viral life cycle. Standard tissue culture models lack critical emergent properties driven by cellular organization and in vivo–like function, whereas animal models suffer from limited susceptibility to relevant human viruses and make it difficult to perform detailed molecular manipulation and analysis. Tissue engineering techniques may enable virologists to create infection models that combine the facile manipulation and readouts of tissue culture with the virus-relevant complexity of animal models. Here, we review the state of the art in tissue engineering and describe how tissue engineering techniques may alleviate some common shortcomings of existing models of viral infection, with a particular emphasis on hepatotropic viruses. We then discuss possible future applications of tissue engineering to virology, including current challenges and potential solutions.Hertz Foundation (Fellowship)National Science Foundation (U.S.). Graduate Research FellowshipNational Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (U.S.) (Grant DK085713)Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Grant 022423-003

Desperate housewives: An analysis of the characterisations of female gamblers portrayed in gambling movies in Hong Kong

This article examines portrayals of female gamblers in recent Hong Kong movies. The authors report that the depiction of female gamblers is very different from that of male gamblers in the movies made in the same period. Whereas the male gamblers are pitching a lonely and desperate battle against the evil opponent, the female gamblers portrayed in the movies are housewives or small-time players who gamble only for their personal gain. A general negative overtone in portrayals of female gamblers was interpreted as a reflection of the traditional view that discourages women from gambling. The shift of gambling themes in the Hong Kong movies has been identified to reflect the most salient concerns among Hong Kong residents. Such changes are attributed to particular social and cultural changes in the community

Laughing at lunacy: othering and comic ambiguity in popular humour about mental distress

Jokes and humour about mental distress are said by anti-stigma campaigners to be no laughing matter. The article takes issue with this viewpoint arguing that this is clearly not the case since popular culture past and present has laughed at the antics of those perceived as ‘mad’. Drawing on past and present examples of the othering of insanity in jokes and humour the article incorporates a historical perspective on continuity and change in humour about madness/mental distress, which enables us to recognise that psychiatry is a funny-peculiar enterprise and its therapeutic practices in past times are deserving of funny ha-ha mockery and mirth in the present. By doing so, the article also argues that humour and mental distress illuminate how psychiatric definitions and popular representations conflict and that some psychiatric service users employ comic ambiguity to reflexively puncture their public image as ‘nuts’

Intervención educativa sobre VIH/SIDA en una escuela de nivel secundario

Introducción: el síndrome de inmunodeficiencia adquirida constituye una amenaza para el desarrollo y como tal debe ser visto. Objetivo: modificar el nivel de conocimiento y actuación sobre virus de inmunodeficiencia humana y el síndrome de inmunodeficiencia adquirida. Métodos: se realizó un estudio cuasi experimental de tipo de intervención educativa, la muestra estuvo constituida por 74 estudiantes, el instrumento de trabajo se aplicó una encuesta estructurada. Las preguntas midieron: medidas de prevención, factores de riesgo, conducta a seguir y vías de obtención del conocimiento. Para conocer la posible significación estadística con la aplicación de X2. El desarrollo de la investigación se basó en tres etapas: diagnóstico, intervención y evaluación.Resultados: se encontró un predominio del sexo femenino y color de piel blanca, comprobándose que había desconocimiento sobre las vías de transmisión del virus de inmunodeficiencia humana y el síndrome de inmunodeficiencia adquirida, como evitarlo y brindar apoyo. Se realizó un programa educativo; durante la intervención se realizó la investigación-acción con la aplicación de palestra, debates, demostraciones, pancartas, observándose incremento en los conocimientos por lo que se consideró de utilidad que se comprobó durante la evaluación Se halló relación favorable estadísticamente significativa entre el antes y después de la intervención. Conclusiones: hubo un predominio del sexo femenino. Conocieron que las relaciones sexuales, el uso de sangre infectada, los tatuajes, compartir jeringuillas y el tránsito de madre a hijo como las formas más frecuentes de transmisión de la enfermedad además que la principal forma de evitarlo es el uso del condón y la actitud que debe tener es de apoyar a las personas con el virus de inmunodeficiencia humana y el síndrome de inmunodeficiencia adquirida

Intervención capacitante sobre vih/sida en terry marryshow community college st george, Granada

Se realizó un estudio experimental, de tipo antes y después con vistas a determinar la influencia de una intervención capacitante en estudiantes del Terry Marryshow Community College St George, Granada durante el año 2006. Se aplicó un muestreo probabilístico con arranque aleatorio al universo integrado por 990 estudiantes de segundo año resultando el tamaño de la muestra 247. La estrategia consistió en la presentación posterior a un calentamiento en un panel de un material educativo. Se evaluaron los conocimientos mediante encuestas. Predominó el sexo femenino con 68.4%, la actitud de alejamiento y ayuda se modifican de forma favorable .Se eleva de forma significativa el conocimiento de factores de riesgo como las ITS y la vía de transmisión por relaciones sexuales fue de 61 %, transfusional 91.9%, inyecciones 25.1%. Predominó la modificación del conocimiento de la medida usar condón con 98% siendo altamente significativo , al igual que la pareja estable .Se eleva significativamente la respuesta de la mortalidad que ocasiona el VIH, y la posibilidad que tiene el estudiante de enfermar. Se emitieron las conclusiones acerca de estos resultados y se recomendó valorar el impacto de este estudio y proponer estrategias similares en Centros Educaciones en Cuba, y el Caribe

Religious transformations in the Middle Ages: towards a new archaeological agenda

The study of religious change in Europe between the collapse of the Roman Empire and the Reformation forms one of the cornerstones of medieval archaeology but has been riven by period, denominational and geographical divisions. This paper lays the groundwork for a fundamental rethink of archaeological approaches to medieval religions, by adopting a holistic framework that places Christian, pagan, Islamic and Jewish case studies of religious transformation in a long-term, comparative perspective. Focused around the analytical themes of ‘hybridity and resilience’ and ‘tempo and trajectories’, our approach shifts attention away from the singularities of national narratives of religious conversion towards a deeper understanding of how religious beliefs, practices and identity were renegotiated by medieval people in their daily lives

Mead-halls of the Oiscingas: a new Kentish perspective on the Anglo-Saxon great hall complex phenomenon

Widely cited as a metaphor for the emergence of kingship in early medieval England, the great hall complex represents one of the most distinctive and evocative expressions of the Anglo-Saxon settlement record, yet interpretation of these sites remains underdeveloped and heavily weighted towards Yeavering. Inspired by the results of recent excavations at Lyminge, this paper undertakes a detailed comparative interrogation of three great hall complexes in Kent and exploits this new regional perspective to advance understanding of the agency and embodied meanings of these settlements as ‘theatres of power’. Explored through the thematic prisms of place, social memory and monumental hybridity, this examination leads to a new appreciation of the involvement of great hall sites in the genealogical strategies of 7th-century royal dynasties and a fresh perspective on how this remarkable yet short-lived monumental idiom was adapted to harness the symbolic capital of Romanitas

The cellular redox environment alters antigen presentation

Cysteine-containing peptides represent an important class of T cell epitopes, yet their prevalence remains underestimated. We have established and interrogated a database of around 70,000 naturally processed MHC-bound peptides and demonstrate that cysteine-containing peptides are presented on the surface of cells in an MHC allomorph-dependent manner and comprise on average 5-10% of the immunopeptidome. A significant proportion of these peptides are oxidatively modified, most commonly through covalent linkage with the antioxidant glutathione. Unlike some of the previously reported cysteine-based modifications, this represents a true physiological alteration of cysteine residues. Furthermore, our results suggest that alterations in the cellular redox state induced by viral infection are communicated to the immune system through the presentation of S-glutathionylated viral peptides, resulting in altered T cell recognition. Our data provide a structural basis for how the glutathione modification alters recognition by virus-specific T cells. Collectively, these results suggest that oxidative stress represents a mechanism for modulating the virus-specific T cell response.This work was supported, in whole or in part, by National Institutes of Health Grant R01 NS036592. This work was also supported by an infrastructure grant (Grant LE100100036) from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and a project grant from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (17-2012-134)

Cardiac myxoma and its growth over 5 years in a patient with a history of multiple cerebrovascular events: a case report

Cardiac tumors frequently present significant clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic challenges. In many cases, a cardiac mass is detected incidentally and can represent benign or malignant processes, primary or secondary. Over 90% of primary cardiac tumors are benign (in adults, myxomas are most common, while in children, rhabdomyomas are more frequent). These tumors can be further classified as simple or complex based on the necessary treatment and may affect different chambers of the heart and the pericardium. Secondary or metastatic cardiac tumors are 30 times more common than primary neoplasms, with an incidence in autopsies ranging from 1.4% to 14%. Myxomas constitute approximately 50% of all benign cardiac tumors in adults. Most myxomas (over 80%) are located in the left atrium, with decreasing frequency in the right atrium, right ventricle, and left ventricle. We present the case of a 76-year-old woman who was found to have a left atrial mass identified on echocardiogram in 2019 as part of a cerebrovascular disease evaluation protocol. However, the patient did not attend follow-up. In December 2024, she was hospitalized for a lower respiratory tract infection, and during her admission, a new echocardiographic study showed tumor growth over 5 years