Barriers to Cervical Cancer Screening by Sexual Orientation Among Low-Income Women in North Carolina

We sought to examine cervical cancer screening barriers by sexual orientation among low-income women in North Carolina. The MyBodyMyTest-3 Trial recruited low-income women (< 250% of federal poverty level) aged 25–64 years who were 1+ year overdue for cervical cancer screening. We compared perceptions of cervical cancer screening among those who self-identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer (LGBQ; n = 70) to straight/heterosexual women (n = 683). For both LGBQ and straight respondents, the greatest barriers to screening were lack of health insurance (63% and 66%) and cost (49% and 50%). LGBQ respondents were more likely than straight respondents to report forgetting to screen (16% vs. 8%, p = .05), transportation barriers (10% vs. 2%, p = .001), and competing mental or physical health problems (39% vs. 27%, p = .10). Addressing access remains important for improving cervical cancer screening among those under-screened. For LGBQ women, additional attention may be needed for reminders, co-occurring health needs, and transportation barriers

Minimalism in Radiation Synthesis of Biomedical Functional Nanogels

A scalable, single-step, synthetic approach for the manufacture of biocompatible, functionalized micro- and nanogels is presented. In particular, poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone)-grafted-(aminopropyl)methacrylamide microgels and nanogels were generated through e-beam irradiation of PVP aqueous solutions in the presence of a primary amino-group-carrying monomer. Particles with different hydrodynamic diameters and surface charge densities were obtained at the variance of the irradiation conditions. Chemical structure was investigated by different spectroscopic techniques. Fluorescent variants were generated through fluorescein isothiocyanate attachment to the primary amino groups grafted to PVP, to both quantify the available functional groups for bioconjugation and follow nanogels localization in cell cultures. Finally, a model protein, bovine serum albumin, was conjugated to the nanogels to demonstrate the attachment of biologically relevant molecules for targeting purposes in drug delivery. The described approach provides a novel strategy to fabricate biohybrid nanogels with a very promising potential in nanomedicine

Comparative genetic analysis: the utility of mouse genetic systems for studying human monogenic disease

One of the long-term goals of mutagenesis programs in the mouse has been to generate mutant lines to facilitate the functional study of every mammalian gene. With a combination of complementary genetic approaches and advances in technology, this aim is slowly becoming a reality. One of the most important features of this strategy is the ability to identify and compare a number of mutations in the same gene, an allelic series. With the advent of gene-driven screening of mutant archives, the search for a specific series of interest is now a practical option. This review focuses on the analysis of multiple mutations from chemical mutagenesis projects in a wide variety of genes and the valuable functional information that has been obtained from these studies. Although gene knockouts and transgenics will continue to be an important resource to ascertain gene function, with a significant proportion of human diseases caused by point mutations, identifying an allelic series is becoming an equally efficient route to generating clinically relevant and functionally important mouse models

Triosephosphate isomerase activity-deficient mice show haemolytic anaemia in homozygous condition.

A triosephosphate isomerase (TPI) mutant, Tpil(a-m6Neu) with approximately 57% residual enzyme activity in blood compared with wild-type was detected among offspring of triethylenemelamine-treated male mice. Homozygous mutants with about 13% residual enzyme activity were recovered in progeny of inter se matings of heterozygotes. The loss of TPI activity was evident both in blood and in other tissue extracts. Values for haematocrit, haemoglobin, number of red blood cells (RBC), mean corpuscular volume of RBC, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration and spleen weight show significant differences between wild-type animals and homozygous mutants. Sequence analysis revealed a Substitution (c.A 149G) in the Tpil gene. This mutation results in an Asp to Gly substitution at codon 49 in exon 2 at a highly conserved position located in the functional domain of the TPI protein which is responsible for the correct dimerization of the subunits. As a potential animal model, Tpil(a-m6Neu) represents the only available TPI-deficient homozygous viable mouse mutation