Social representations of HIV/AIDS in five Central European and Eastern European countries: A multidimensional analysis

Cognitive processing models of risky sexual behaviour have proliferated in the two decades since the first reporting of HIV/AIDS, but far less attention has been paid to individual and group representations of the epidemic and the relationship between these representations and reported sexual behaviours. In this study, 494 business people and medics from Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Poland and Russia sorted free associations around HIV/AIDS in a matrix completion task. Exploratory factor and multidimensional scaling analyses revealed two main dimensions (labelled ‘Sex’ and ‘Deadly disease’), with significant cultural and gender variations along both dimension scores. Possible explanations for these results are discussed in the light of growing concerns over the spread of the epidemic in this region

A Mouse Model of Pulmonary Metastasis from Spontaneous Osteosarcoma Monitored In Vivo by Luciferase Imaging

BACKGROUND: Osteosarcoma (OSA) is lethal when metastatic after chemotherapy and/or surgical treatment. Thus animal models are necessary to study the OSA metastatic spread and to validate novel therapies able to control the systemic disease. We report the development of a syngeneic (Balb/c) murine OSA model, using a cell line derived from a spontaneous murine tumor. METHODOLOGY: The tumorigenic and metastatic ability of OSA cell lines were assayed after orthotopic injection in mice distal femur. Expression profiling was carried out to characterize the parental and metastatic cell lines. Cells from metastases were propagated and engineered to express Luciferase, in order to follow metastases in vivo. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Luciferase bioluminescence allowed to monitor the primary tumor growth and revealed the appearance of spontaneous pulmonary metastases. In vivo assays showed that metastasis is a stable property of metastatic OSA cell lines after both propagation in culture and luciferase trasduction. When compared to parental cell line, both unmodified and genetically marked metastatic cells, showed comparable and stable differential expression of the enpp4, pfn2 and prkcd genes, already associated to the metastatic phenotype in human cancer. CONCLUSIONS: This OSA animal model faithfully recapitulates some of the most important features of the human malignancy, such as lung metastatization. Moreover, the non-invasive imaging allows monitoring the tumor progression in living mice. A great asset of this model is the metastatic phenotype, which is a stable property, not modifiable after genetic manipulation

Stem cell‐derived enteroid cultures as a tool for dissecting host‐parasite interactions in the small intestinal epithelium.

Toxoplasma gondii and Cryptosporidium spp. can cause devastating pathological effects in humans and livestock, and in particular to young or immunocompromised individuals. The current treatment plans for these enteric parasites are limited due to long drug courses, severe side effects, or simply a lack of efficacy. The study of the early interactions between the parasites and the site of infection in the small intestinal epithelium has been thwarted by the lack of accessible, physiologically relevant, and species-specific models. Increasingly, 3D stem cell-derived enteroid models are being refined and developed into sophisticated models of infectious disease. In this review we shall illustrate the use of enteroids to spearhead research into enteric parasitic infections, bridging the gap between cell line cultures and in vivo experiments

The Main Belt Comets and ice in the Solar System

We review the evidence for buried ice in the asteroid belt; specifically the questions around the so-called Main Belt Comets (MBCs). We summarise the evidence for water throughout the Solar System, and describe the various methods for detecting it, including remote sensing from ultraviolet to radio wavelengths. We review progress in the first decade of study of MBCs, including observations, modelling of ice survival, and discussion on their origins. We then look at which methods will likely be most effective for further progress, including the key challenge of direct detection of (escaping) water in these bodies

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy study of 4-ATP on gold nanoparticles for basal cell carcinoma fingerprint detection

The surface-enhanced Raman signals of 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) attached to the surface of colloidal gold nanoparticles with size distribution of 2 to 5 nm were used as a labeling agent to detect basal cell carcinoma (BCC) of the skin. The enhanced Raman band at 1075 cm-1 corresponding to the C-S stretching vibration in 4-ATP was observed during attachment to the surface of the gold nanoparticles. The frequency and intensity of this band did not change when the colloids were conjugated with BerEP4 antibody, which specifically binds to BCC. We show the feasibility of imaging BCC by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, scanning the 1075 cm-1 band to detect the distribution of 4ATP-coated gold nanoparticles attached to skin tissue ex vivo

Revealing the Functional Neuroanatomy of Intrinsic Alertness Using fMRI: Methodological Peculiarities

Clinical observations and neuroimaging data revealed a right-hemisphere fronto-parietal-thalamic-brainstem network for intrinsic alertness, and additional left fronto-parietal activity during phasic alertness. The primary objective of this fMRI study was to map the functional neuroanatomy of intrinsic alertness as precisely as possible in healthy participants, using a novel assessment paradigm already employed in clinical settings. Both the paradigm and the experimental design were optimized to specifically assess intrinsic alertness, while at the same time controlling for sensory-motor processing. The present results suggest that the processing of intrinsic alertness is accompanied by increased activity within the brainstem, thalamus, anterior cingulate gyrus, right insula, and right parietal cortex. Additionally, we found increased activation in the left hemisphere around the middle frontal gyrus (BA 9), the insula, the supplementary motor area, and the cerebellum. Our results further suggest that rather minute aspects of the experimental design may induce aspects of phasic alertness, which in turn might lead to additional brain activation in left-frontal areas not normally involved in intrinsic alertness. Accordingly, left BA 9 activation may be related to co-activation of the phasic alertness network due to the switch between rest and task conditions functioning as an external warning cue triggering the phasic alertness network. Furthermore, activation of the intrinsic alertness network during fixation blocks due to enhanced expectancy shortly before the switch to the task block might, when subtracted from the task block, lead to diminished activation in the typical right hemisphere intrinsic alertness network. Thus, we cautiously suggest that – as a methodological artifact – left frontal activations might show up due to phasic alertness involvement and intrinsic alertness activations might be weakened due to contrasting with fixation blocks, when assessing the functional neuroanatomy of intrinsic alertness with a block design in fMRI studies

Association of IFNGR2 gene polymorphisms with pulmonary tuberculosis among the Vietnamese

Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) is a key molecule of T helper 1 (Th1)-immune response against tuberculosis (TB), and rare genetic defects of IFN-γ receptors cause disseminated mycobacterial infection. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether genetic polymorphisms found in the Th1-immune response genes play a role in TB. In our study, DNA samples were collected from two series of cases including 832 patients with new smear-positive TB and 506 unrelated individuals with no history of TB in the general population of Hanoi, Vietnam. Alleles of eight microsatellite markers located around Th1-immune response-related genes and single nucleotide polymorphisms near the promising microsatellites were genotyped. A set of polymorphisms within the interferon gamma receptor 2 gene (IFNGR2) showed a significant association with protection against TB (P = 0.00054). Resistant alleles tend to be less frequently found in younger age at diagnosis (P = 0.011). Luciferase assays revealed high transcriptional activity of the promoter segment in linkage disequilibrium with resistant alleles. We conclude that the polymorphisms of IFNGR2 may confer resistance to the TB development of newly infected individuals. Contribution of the genetic factors to TB appeared to be different depending on age at diagnosis

Beta-carotene affects gene expression in lungs of male and female Bcmo1−/− mice in opposite directions

Molecular mechanisms triggered by high dietary beta-carotene (BC) intake in lung are largely unknown. We performed microarray gene expression analysis on lung tissue of BC supplemented beta-carotene 15,15′-monooxygenase 1 knockout (Bcmo1−/−) mice, which are—like humans—able to accumulate BC. Our main observation was that the genes were regulated in an opposite direction in male and female Bcmo1−/− mice by BC. The steroid biosynthetic pathway was overrepresented in BC-supplemented male Bcmo1−/− mice. Testosterone levels were higher after BC supplementation only in Bcmo1−/− mice, which had, unlike wild-type (Bcmo1+/+) mice, large variations. We hypothesize that BC possibly affects hormone synthesis or metabolism. Since sex hormones influence lung cancer risk, these data might contribute to an explanation for the previously found increased lung cancer risk after BC supplementation (ATBC and CARET studies). Moreover, effects of BC may depend on the presence of frequent human BCMO1 polymorphisms, since these effects were not found in wild-type mice

New evidence for habitat specific selection in Wadden Sea Zostera marina populations revealed by genome scanning using SNP and microsatellite markers

Eelgrass Zostera marina is an ecosystem-engineering species of outstanding importance for coastal soft sediment habitats that lives in widely diverging habitats. Our first goal was to detect divergent selection and habitat adaptation at the molecular genetic level; hence, we compared three pairs of permanently submerged versus intertidal populations using genome scans, a genetic marker-based approach. Three different statistical approaches for outlier identification revealed divergent selection at 6 loci among 46 markers (6 SNPs, 29 EST microsatellites and 11 anonymous microsatellites). These outlier loci were repeatedly detected in parallel habitat comparisons, suggesting the influence of habitat-specific selection. A second goal was to test the consistency of the general genome scan approach by doubling the number of gene-linked microsatellites and adding single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci, a novel marker type for seagrasses, compared to a previous study. Reassuringly, results with respect to selection were consistent among most marker loci. Functionally interesting marker loci were linked to genes involved in osmoregulation and water balance, suggesting different osmotic stress, and reproductive processes (seed maturation), pointing to different life history strategies. The identified outlier loci are valuable candidates for further investigation into the genetic basis of natural selection