PREFERENCE HETEROGENEITY AMONG GERMAN CONSUMERS REGARDING GM RAPESEED-OIL

Paper prepared for presentation at the Fourth International Conference on Coexistence between Genetically Modified (GM) and non-GM based Agricultural Supply Chains (GMCC) Melbourne (Australia), 10th to 12th November 2009Genetic engineering, Consumer behaviour, Germany, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, M39, R20,

PERSONAL VALUES OF DIFFERENT USER SEGMENTS OF ETHICAL FOOD PRODUCTS

Consumer/Household Economics,

Evolution of the envelope proteins E1 and E2 and of specific humoral immune response to these proteins in a group of patients infected by HCV in a single-source outbreak

The current study deals with several important aspects of HCV research, including evolution of the envelope proteins and dynamic of the humoral immune response during the long term virus persistence. The essential feature of the project was the use of a special group of patients - women infected with the same HCV strain (AD78) by a contaminated anti-D globulin in a single-source outbreak. This unique cohort of patients infected with the same virus strain allowed the minimization of factors, including route of transmission, size of inoculum, duration of infection, age and sex of infected individuals, playing a significant role in evolution of the virus during the chronic infection. Nevertheless, even under these dramatic reduction of factors affecting intrapatient viral evolution, the established parameters, such as a rate of selective pressure, as well as a pattern of mutations in the E1/E2 region, differed markedly between AD-patients. Analysis of the rate and character of nucleotide and amino acid substitutions in the E1/E2 region revealed no evidence for a strong positive selection, while a high frequency of reverse mutations to a consensus HCV 1b sequence was observed, indicating a critical role of functional/structural constrains in evolution of envelope proteins. The obtained data allowed to formulate an unequivocal conclusion that HCV envelope proteins evolution is a patient-specific phenomenon, and that purifying (negative) selection is the major force acting on HCV populations in chronic infection. Analysis of the character and localization of a.a. substitutions in envelope sequences of AD78 isolates obtained from AD-patients at different time points of chronic infection have shown that a significant part of mutations occurred in the HVRI, suggesting a possibilty of emergence of HCV variants escaping neutralization mediated by anti-HVRI antibodies. A significant number of mutations was also localized in known human mAbs targeted sites and, especially often, in CD-81-binding sites or, in other words, in the functionally relevant domains of the protein. These data indicated that in most AD-patients the whole ectodomain of E2 protein and not only the HVRI remains under evident selective pressure during the long term chronic infection. The other aim of the current study was the analysis of the dynamic of the HCV-specific humoral immune response in long term chronic patients. Application of the HCVpp system allowed detecting relatively high titres of cross-reacting and cross-neutralizing antibodies in sera of AD-patients; however, no evidence of immune escape during HCV persistence was registered. These experiments provided no evidence that humoral immune response lags behind the changes in envelope sequences of the virus circulating in the host at a given time point. In other words, our data indicated that the postulated mechanism of escape from antibody-mediated neutralization is not operative in all chronic patients. The results of the current study suggested, however, that the absence of escape from neutralization of virions transmitted via cell-free route does not mean that another mechanism of immune escape, namely, the escape from anti-HVRI antibodies, which very efficiently neutralize a virus transmitted by a cell-to-cell route, is not operative and does not contribute to HCV persistence. Finally, a new interesting structural feature of envelope sequences of some HCV strains belonging to different subtypes and genotypes - presence of additional 1 to 4 a.a. residues at the N-terminus of the E2 protein - was studied using a set of hymeric E1/E2 plasmids, in which the additional a.a. residues were swapped with a number of natural or artificial a.a. stretches. These experiments have demonstrated that the presence of additional a.a. track may result in a significant increase of pseudoparticles infectivity suggesting that the viruses bearing E2 proteins with modified N-terminus might also posess unique biological properties in vivo

Reabilitação, integração e inclusão: proposta de um Centro Especializado em Blumenau SC

TCC (graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro Tecnológico. ArquiteturaTCC sem resumo

A new setup for giant soap films characterization

Artists, using an empirical knowledge, manage to generate and play with giant soap films and bubbles. Until now, scientific studies of soap films generated at a controlled velocity and without any feeding from the top, studied films of a few square centimeters. The present work aims to present a new setup to generate and characterize giant soap films (2~m $\times$ 0.7~m). Our setup is enclosed in a humidity-controlled box of 2.2~m high, 1~m long and 0.75~m large. Soap films are entrained by a fishing line withdrawn out of a bubbling solution at various velocities. We measure the maximum height of the generated soap films, as well as their lifetime, thanks to an automatic detection. This is allowed by light-sensitive resistors collecting the light reflected on the soap films and ensures robust statistical measurements. In the meantime, thickness measurements are performed with a UV-VIS-spectrometer, allowing us to map the soap films thickness over time

Is Antiretroviral Therapy Causing Long-Term Liver Damage? A Comparative Analysis of HIV-Mono-Infected and HIV/Hepatitis C Co-Infected Cohorts

The effects of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on progression of hepatic fibrosis in HIV-hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection are not well understood. Deaths from liver diseases have risen in the post-HAART era, yet some cross-sectional studies have suggested that HAART use is associated with improved fibrosis rates. In a retrospective cohort of 533 HIV mono-infected and 127 HIV/HCV co-infected patients, followed between January 1991 and July 2005 at a university-based HIV clinic, we investigated the relationship between cumulative HAART exposure and hepatic fibrosis, as measured by the aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI). We used a novel methodological approach to estimate the dose-response relationship of the effect of HAART exposure on APRI. HAART was associated with increasing APRI over time in HIV/HCV co-infected patients suggesting that they may be experiencing cumulative hepatotoxicity from antiretrovirals. The estimated median change (95% confidence interval) in APRI per one year of HAART intake was of −0.46% (−1.61% to 0.71%) in HIV mono-infected compared to 2.54% (−1.77% to 7.03%) in HIV/HCV co-infected patients. Similar results were found when the direct effect of HAART intake since the last visit was estimated on the change in APRI. HAART use associated is with increased APRI in patients with HIV/HCV co-infection. Therefore treatment for HCV infection may be required to slow the growing epidemic of end-stage liver disease in this population

Is Antiretroviral Therapy Causing Long-Term Liver Damage? A Comparative Analysis of HIV-Mono-Infected and HIV/Hepatitis C Co-Infected Cohorts

The effects of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on progression of hepatic fibrosis in HIV-hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection are not well understood. Deaths from liver diseases have risen in the post-HAART era, yet some cross-sectional studies have suggested that HAART use is associated with improved fibrosis rates. In a retrospective cohort of 533 HIV mono-infected and 127 HIV/HCV co-infected patients, followed between January 1991 and July 2005 at a university-based HIV clinic, we investigated the relationship between cumulative HAART exposure and hepatic fibrosis, as measured by the aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI). We used a novel methodological approach to estimate the dose-response relationship of the effect of HAART exposure on APRI. HAART was associated with increasing APRI over time in HIV/HCV co-infected patients suggesting that they may be experiencing cumulative hepatotoxicity from antiretrovirals. The estimated median change (95% confidence interval) in APRI per one year of HAART intake was of −0.46% (−1.61% to 0.71%) in HIV mono-infected compared to 2.54% (−1.77% to 7.03%) in HIV/HCV co-infected patients. Similar results were found when the direct effect of HAART intake since the last visit was estimated on the change in APRI. HAART use associated is with increased APRI in patients with HIV/HCV co-infection. Therefore treatment for HCV infection may be required to slow the growing epidemic of end-stage liver disease in this population

Relationship between intact HIV-1 proviruses in circulating CD4+ T cells and rebound viruses emerging during treatment interruption.

Combination antiretroviral therapy controls but does not cure HIV-1 infection because a small fraction of cells harbor latent viruses that can produce rebound viremia when therapy is interrupted. The circulating latent virus reservoir has been documented by a variety of methods, most prominently by viral outgrowth assays (VOAs) in which CD4+ T cells are activated to produce virus in vitro, or more recently by amplifying proviral near full-length (NFL) sequences from DNA. Analysis of samples obtained in clinical studies in which individuals underwent analytical treatment interruption (ATI), showed little if any overlap between circulating latent viruses obtained from outgrowth cultures and rebound viruses from plasma. To determine whether intact proviruses amplified from DNA are more closely related to rebound viruses than those obtained from VOAs, we assayed 12 individuals who underwent ATI after infusion of a combination of two monoclonal anti-HIV-1 antibodies. A total of 435 intact proviruses obtained by NFL sequencing were compared with 650 latent viruses from VOAs and 246 plasma rebound viruses. Although, intact NFL and outgrowth culture sequences showed similar levels of stability and diversity with 39% overlap, the size of the reservoir estimated from NFL sequencing was larger than and did not correlate with VOAs. Finally, intact proviruses documented by NFL sequencing showed no sequence overlap with rebound viruses; however, they appear to contribute to recombinant viruses found in plasma during rebound