Predicting Attitudes Towards Transactional Sex: The Interactive Relationship Between Gender and Attitudes on Sexual Behaviour

Introduction: This article explores explanations for attitudes towards the acceptability of transactional sex. The sparse research investigating attitudes towards transactional sex uncovers a link between gender equality, or feminism, and a lack of support for the trade in sex. However, there are no research agendas that attempt to explain variance in attitudes towards transactional sex where support for gender equality is widespread throughout a population. Methods: We estimate regression models utilizing the 2017 Danish Values Survey (Den Danske Værdiundersøgelse) in order to predict views on the acceptability of transactional sex. Results: While the trade in sex is legal in Denmark, we find that a majority of respondents hold negative attitudes towards transactional sex, which conveys a lack of congruence between public opinion and policy. Further, gender is a powerful predictor of attitudes towards transactional sex, with women finding it less acceptable. In addition, the analysis uncovers that general attitudes towards sexual behaviour are the largest predictor of views on the acceptability of transactional sex. That being said, we find that men’s views on the acceptability of transactional sex are more of a function of their general attitudes towards sexual behaviour than they are for women. Conclusions: The findings indicate that, unlike men, women appear to differentiate between their attitudes towards general sexual behaviour and their views on sexual behaviour that they may associate with negative societal implications

Diabetes mellitus and heart failure : registry based studies on risk factors, prognosis and impact of treatment

Heart failure and diabetes is a common combination. In the presence of diabetes heart failure prognosis becomes very serious, but the exact reasons are not understood. A limitation while interpreting existing data is that they usually derive from heart failure populations in whom patients with diabetes are selected, in small proportions and their characteristics are less well explored. This explains why it still is uncertain which factors are prognostically most important. Moreover, whether diabetes impacts prognosis differently in heart failure with preserved (HFpEF), mid-range (HFmrEF) and reduced (HFrEF) ejection fraction has not been fully investigated. In these respects analyses of nationwide registry based heart failure populations may provide valuable information. Aims: To study the combination of diabetes and heart failure in a contemporary, unselected heart failure population by analysing 1. Demographic characteristics and long-term prognosis 2. Whether there are differences between women and men in this respect 3. The impact of diabetes in ischaemic versus non-ischaemic heart failure and the role of revascularization 4. The inflence of diabetes in different types of heart failure. Diabetes and heart failure: Of 36 274 patients with clinician judged heart failure registered in the Swedish Heart Failure Registry (SwedeHF) from specialist care between 2003-2011, 24% had reported diabetes. The patients were followed for mortality until September 2011. Diabetes was an independent predictor of mortality particularly in the age group ≤65 years (OR 1.61; 95% CI 1.36-1.92) compared to patients >80 years (OR 1.46; 95% CI 1.31-1.62). This pattern was apparent despite a more extensive pharmacological treatment in patients with diabetes and although a similar left ventricular and renal function in patients with and without diabetes. Influence of diabetes in women and men with heart failure: Women represented 39% of the SwedeHF population irrespective of diabetes state. In the presence of diabetes the mortality risk increased by 70% in women (OR 1.72; 95% CI 1.53-1.94) and by 40% in men (OR 1.47; 95% CI 1.34-1.61), but age-adjusted survival did not differ between women and men with diabetes (log-rank p=0.18). In contrast women without diabetes had a better prognosis than their male counterparts (log-rank p<0.0001). Women with diabetes and heart failure, in particular those ≤65 years, had a risk factor profie resembling that of men with a high prevalence of ischaemic heart disease and hypertension. Ischaemic versus non-ischaemic heart failure and the role of previous revascularization in diabetes: The impact of diabetes in ischaemic versus non-ischaemic heart failure was studied in 35 163 patients in SwedeHF. A particularly high proportion of diabetes was reported in patients with ischaemic compared with non-ischaemic heart failure (31% versus 18%). As many as 90% of patients with diabetes had at least one preventable comorbidity of which ischaemic heart disease and hypertension were most frequent. Diabetes had a negative impact on survival irrespective of whether the aetiology was ischaemic or non-ischaemic. The highest mortality was, however, seen in those with ischaemic aetiology (adjusted HR 1.41; 95% CI 1.33-1.50 versus 1.30; 1.20-1.41). A history of coronary revascularization was associated with better survival after propensity score adjustment. Still revascularisation had only been performed in half the diabetes patients. Impact of diabetes in heart failure with different left ventricular function: Among 30 696 patients in SwedeHF followed until December 2014, 22% had HFpEF, 21% HFmrEF and 57% HFrEF. The prevalence of diabetes was similar across the groups (24-25%). In the presence of diabetes the clinical characteristics of patients with HFmrEF resembled those in the HFrEF group. Diabetes had a negative impact on mortality with the highest risk increase in patients with HFmrEF (HR 1.51; 95% CI 1.39-1.65) and HFrEF (HR 1.46; 95% CI 1.39-1.54). A similar impact although slightly less apparent was seen in patients with HFpEF (HR 1.32; 95% CI 1.22-1.43). Conclusion: From these analyses in a nationwide, contemporary heart failure population it can be concluded that diabetes is present in 24% to 31% of the patients. The combination of heart failure and diabetes compromises survival irrespective of sex, heart failure aetiology or heart failure entity. The increased mortality risk varies between 30-70% depending on age, sex and aetiology. Systolic dysfunction and ischaemic heart disease are associated with the worst prognosis. Although associated with an improved longevity coronary revascularization seems to be underused. The worse prognosis associated with diabetes may partly be explained by a heavier comorbidity burden but the existence of a diabetes cardiomyopathy cannot be ruled out. In the future improved attention of these patients are needed and studies searching for a better understanding of underlying mechanisms opening for novel treatment modalities

A snapshot of forest buffers near streams, ditches, and lakes on forest land in Sweden – lessons learned

Forest buffers beside surface water can mitigate negative effects of logging. To gain more information on buffer implementation in operational forestry, forest buffers were inventoried during 2018 on 174 harvested and site-prepared compartments traversed by or bordering streams, ditches and lakes in three regions across Sweden 2–4 years after clearcutting. Most of the inventoried stream and ditch reaches were ≤5 m wide. The water reaches were categorized as lakes (n = 16), natural streams (n = 50), modified streams (n = 21) or ditches (n = 87). Forest buffers with 100% shoreline coverage were present along all lake reaches and 55% and 10% of the natural or modified stream and ditch reaches, respectively. Buffers were absent beside 14% of the natural or modified stream reaches and 61% of the ditch reaches. Lake reaches had significantly wider buffers on average than ditch reaches and natural or modified stream reaches. The mean (SE) buffer widths beside lakes, natural or modified stream reaches and ditch reaches across all three regions and shoreline coverage classes were 12 (1.1), 6.6 (0.6) and 1.5 (0.5) m, respectively. The character of the local stream networks (natural or modified streams or ditches) containing each inventoried reach, were assessed using map information and the reaches´ field classifications. This illustrated the difficulty of judging a streams´ character based solely on field inspections of individual reaches on forest land where historic drainage activities have been performed. We recommend that also upstream and downstream conditions should be considered when planning environmental measures to protect surface water bodies

The dimer contact area of sorghum NADP-malate dehydrogenase: role of aspartate 101 in dimer stability and catalytic activity

AbstractDuring thioredoxin-mediated activation of chloroplastic NADP-malate dehydrogenase, a homodimeric enzyme, the interaction between subunits is known to be loosened but maintained. A modeling of the 3D structure of the protein identified Asp-101 as being potentially involved in the association between subunits through an electrostatic interaction. Indeed, upon site-directed substitution of Asp-101 by an asparagine, the mutated enzyme behaved mainly as a monomer. The mutation strongly affected the catalytical efficiency of the enzyme. The now available 3D structure of the enzyme shows that Asp-101 is protruding at the dimer interface, interacting with Arg-268 of the neighbouring subunit

Asking About “Prostitution”, “Sex Work” and “Transactional Sex”: Question Wording and Attitudes Toward Trading Sexual Services

This study explored the impact of question wording on attitudes toward trading sexual services. There are no previous research agendas investigating how views on the trade in sex are susceptible to question word choice. We utilized an original survey to assess how three different concepts used to represent the exchange of sexual services impact on the reported level of acceptability among respondents. The concepts we selected were “prostitution,” “sex work”, and “transactional sex.” We also explored the contrasting effects of predictor variables based on question wording, such as general sexual attitudes and positive and negative associations with trading sex. We found that attitudes toward the trading of sex is partially a function of question wording. Respondents were more likely to translate negative associations with the exchange of sexual services into unacceptability when assigned a question using the term prostitution. The results indicated that prostitution is a stigmatized word, resonating more negatively with respondents as compared to sex work or transactional sex. When asked about transactional sex, respondents were less likely to translate an attitude into an assessment on acceptability, indicating that the term is vague. Sex work elicited more neutral responses on acceptability. The results suggest that sex work would be the most useful term to use in dialogue and debate regarding the trade in sexual services. Sex work does not appear to be imbued with the same sense of negativity as prostitution and the meaning of sex work seems clearer than transactional sex.</p

Development and characterization of a human monoclonal antibody for prevention of HCV recurrence in liver transplant patients

More than 170 million people worldwide are chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and are at risk of developing liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Liver transplantation is the only option for patients with HCV-induced end-stage liver diseases. Nevertheless, infection of the newly grafted liver occurs immediately and universally after transplantation. Despite the recent progress in HCV therapy, a prophylactic vaccine is still not available. The role of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in protection from different viral infections including HCV, HIV and Ebola has been reported. In the last few years, several mAbs with neutralizing activity have been described but only few mAbs have been evaluated in vivo. In the present study, we describe the development of a mAb, designated 2A5, isolated from HCV genotype 1b chronic patient. ELISA results indicated high affinity of mAb 2A5 towards HCV envelope glycoprotein (E1E2). The binding activity was completely lost against denatured E1E2 protein indicating that it targets a conformational epitope within the envelope region. Epitope mapping using alanine mutants of E1E2 proteins defined critical binding residues within the regions 419-447 and 612-617. Results of pseudoparticles (HCVpp) and cell culture produced virus (HCVcc) neutralization showed broad neutralizing activity of mAb 2A5 against all HCV genotypes. The efficacy study of mAb 2A5 in immune-deficient mice of which the liver is repopulated with human hepatocytes (humanized mice) showed complete protection from HCV challenge for genotypes 1a and 4a, while partial protection was achieved for genotypes 1b and 6a. Sequence analysis of E1E2 protein from non-protected mice did not revealed resistance mutations at interaction residues of mAb 2A5. In conclusion, mAb 2A5 shows potent anti-HCV neutralizing activity both in vitro and in vivo and could hence provide an effective strategy to prevent HCV recurrence in chronically infected HCV liver transplant patients. In addition, the broad neutralizing activity of this mAb presents a valuable epitope for the design of HCV vaccine with cross-protection activity

Regulation of B family DNA polymerase fidelity by a conserved active site residue: characterization of M644W, M644L and M644F mutants of yeast DNA polymerase ε

To better understand the functions and fidelity of DNA polymerase ε (Pol ε), we report here on the fidelity of yeast Pol ε mutants with leucine, tryptophan or phenylalanine replacing Met644. The Met644 side chain interacts with an invariant tyrosine that contacts the sugar of the incoming dNTP. M644W and M644L Pol ε synthesize DNA with high fidelity, but M644F Pol ε has reduced fidelity resulting from strongly increased misinsertion rates. When Msh6-dependent repair of replication errors is defective, the mutation rate of a pol2-M644F strain is 16-fold higher than that of a strain with wild-type Pol ε. In conjunction with earlier studies of low-fidelity mutants with replacements for the homologous amino acid in yeast Pol α (L868M/F) and Pol δ (L612M), these data indicate that the active site location occupied by Met644 in Pol ε is a key determinant of replication fidelity by all three B family replicative polymerases. Interestingly, error specificity of M644F Pol ε is distinct from that of L868M/F Pol α or L612M Pol δ, implying that each polymerase has different active site geometry, and suggesting that these polymerase alleles may generate distinctive mutational signatures for probing functions in vivo

The eukaryotic leading and lagging strand DNA polymerases are loaded onto primer-ends via separate mechanisms but have comparable processivity in the presence of PCNA

Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA polymerase δ (Pol δ) and DNA polymerase ε (Pol ε) are replicative DNA polymerases at the replication fork. Both enzymes are stimulated by PCNA, although to different levels. To understand why and to explore the interaction with PCNA, we compared Pol δ and Pol ε in physical interactions with PCNA and nucleic acids (with or without RPA), and in functional assays measuring activity and processivity. Using surface plasmon resonance technique, we show that Pol ε has a high affinity for DNA, but a low affinity for PCNA. In contrast, Pol δ has a low affinity for DNA and a high affinity for PCNA. The true processivity of Pol δ and Pol ε was measured for the first time in the presence of RPA, PCNA and RFC on single-stranded DNA. Remarkably, in the presence of PCNA, the processivity of Pol δ and Pol ε on RPA-coated DNA is comparable. Finally, more PCNA molecules were found on the template after it was replicated by Pol ε when compared to Pol δ. We conclude that Pol ε and Pol δ exhibit comparable processivity, but are loaded on the primer-end via different mechanisms

Real-Time PCR for Diagnosis of Oculoglandular Tularemia

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