105 research outputs found
Auto-antibodies targeting brain antigens in Plasmodium falciparum infected patients as biomarkers of Cerebral Malaria
International audiencen.
The viral aetiology of cervical cancer: Psychosocial issues
This work stems from the discovery that certain sexually transmitted types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are the main causal agents in cervical carcinogenesis. The thesis sets out to explore the psychosocial issues that arise from linking a sexually transmitted infection with cervical cancer. Four studies were carried out. Study 1 was a survey of women attending a well-woman clinic (n=1032) and assessed awareness and knowledge about HPV. Study 2 used a population representative sample of men and women (n=1937) to assess beliefs about the risk factors for cervical cancer. Study 3 used in-depth interviews to explore the beliefs and experiences of 74 women who had taken part in HPV testing. Study 4 was a continuation of Study 3, in which 30 women were interviewed following participation in their second HPV test, a year after the first. Awareness of HPV and its link with cervical cancer was found to be low. Although there was higher awareness of sexual activity as a risk factor for cervical cancer, this was far from universal. Women testing positive for HPV who understood that it was sexually transmitted frequently reported negative emotional and social responses, different from those that have been found among women with abnormal smear test results. Leventhal's Common Sense Model of self-regulation in health and illness provided a useful framework within which to conceptualise the relationship between women's cognitive representations of HPV and their responses to the infection. It seemed that women were also engaged in the self-regulation of their relationships and were motivated to develop representations of HPV that did not impugn their current partners. Diagnosis with persistent HPV infection was associated with higher levels of anxiety about health and with the desire for immediate further investigation by colposcopy, rather than continued surveillance. The introduction of HPV testing and vaccination should be accompanied by widespread public education. If information provision is not handled in a sensitive way, it could cause confusion and stigmatise cervical cancer. More research is needed to develop ways to communicate information about HPV effectively
A História da Alimentação: balizas historiogråficas
Os M. pretenderam traçar um quadro da HistĂłria da Alimentação, nĂŁo como um novo ramo epistemolĂłgico da disciplina, mas como um campo em desenvolvimento de prĂĄticas e atividades especializadas, incluindo pesquisa, formação, publicaçÔes, associaçÔes, encontros acadĂȘmicos, etc. Um breve relato das condiçÔes em que tal campo se assentou faz-se preceder de um panorama dos estudos de alimentação e temas correia tos, em geral, segundo cinco abardagens Ia biolĂłgica, a econĂŽmica, a social, a cultural e a filosĂłfica!, assim como da identificação das contribuiçÔes mais relevantes da Antropologia, Arqueologia, Sociologia e Geografia. A fim de comentar a multiforme e volumosa bibliografia histĂłrica, foi ela organizada segundo critĂ©rios morfolĂłgicos. A seguir, alguns tĂłpicos importantes mereceram tratamento Ă parte: a fome, o alimento e o domĂnio religioso, as descobertas europĂ©ias e a difusĂŁo mundial de alimentos, gosto e gastronomia. O artigo se encerra com um rĂĄpido balanço crĂtico da historiografia brasileira sobre o tema
One cause for the apparent inability of human T cell clones to function as professional superantigen-presenting cells is autoactivation
Human T cell clones (TCC) are antigen-presenting cells (APC) able to present peptides and superantigens (SAg) and to process and present intact proteins. TCC express major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II antigens and molecules involved in the accessory signal delivery, such as B7.1 and B7.2/B70. Notwithstanding these observations, the role of professional APC has been often denied to T cells because anergy of responder T cells rather than proliferation has been observed following the TCC presentation in the absence of added professional APC. Here, we show that upon stimulation with free SAg. TCC undergo proliferative responses followed, after a 1-week culture, by an SAg-dependent unresponsiveness to T cell receptor (TCR)-mediated stimuli, but not to interleukin-2. The anergy induced by the SAg can not be prevented by the addition of autologous Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-transformed B cells, indicating that the induction of anergy occurs also in the presence of conventional APC. Conversely, if the TCC are stimulated by SAg-prepulsed irradiated APC, either EBV and TCC, the induction of anergy is not observed. After a 1-week culture. in fact, TCC stimulated with APC-bound SAg responded to TCR-mediated stimuli, irrespective of the APC (EBV or TCC) used for the SAg presentation. Stimulation of TCC with free SAg in a semisolid medium that prevents T-T cell contacts resulted in an activation followed by a state of anergy, suggesting that anergy is the consequence of SAg recognition at the single T cell level. These data indicate that the anergy observed in TCC upon a 1-week culture in the presence of soluble SAg is not the result of an inherent inability of TCC to act as professional APC. Rather the phenomenon depends on the presence of soluble SAg, leading to T cell autostimulation
Assay for apoptosis using the mitochondrial probes, Rhodamine123 and 10-N-nonyl acridine orange
Novel jatrophane diterpenes from Euphorbia cyparissias with cytotoxic activity on ovarian cancer cell lines
Looking at drug resistance mechanisms for microtubule interacting drugs: Does TUBB3 work?
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