Whitefly Transmission and Efficient ssDNA Accumulation of Bean Golden Mosaic Geminivirus Require Functional Coat Protein

Bean golden mosaic geminivirus (BGMV) has a bipartite genome composed of two circular ssDNA components (DNA-A and DNA-B) and is transmitted by the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci. DNA-A encodes the viral replication proteins and the coat protein. To determine the role of BGMV coat protein systemic infection and whitefly transmission, two deletions and a restriction fragment inversion were introduced into the BGMV coat protein gene. All three coat protein mutants produced systemic infections when coinoculated with DNA-B onto Phaseolus vulgaris using electric discharge particle acceleration "particle gun." However, they were not sap transmissible and coat protein was not detected in mutant-infected plants. In addition, none of the mutants were transmitted by whiteflies. With all three mutants, ssDNA accumulation of DNA-A and DNA-B was reduced 25- to 50-fold and 3- to 10-fold, respectively, as compared to that of wild-type DNA. No effect on dsDNA-A accumulation was detected and there was 2- to 5-fold increase in dsDNA-B accumulation. Recombinants between the mutated DNA-A and DNA-B forms were identified when the inoculated coat protein mutant was linearized in the common region.

Further evidence for linkage of Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) susceptibility loci on chromosomes 2p11, 8q22 and 11q23-24 in South African Afrikaners

Utilizing DNA samples from 91 Afrikaner nuclear families with one or more affected children, five genomic regions on chromosomes 2p, 8q, 11q, 20q, and 21q that gave evidence for association with GTS in previous case-control association studies were investigated for linkage and association with GTS. Highly polymorphic markers with mean heterozygosity of 0.77 were typed and resulting genotypes evaluated using single marker transmission disequilibrium (TDT), single marker haplotype relative risk (HRR), and multi-marker "extended" TDT and HRR methods. Single marker TDT analysis showed evidence for linkage or association, with p-values near 0.05, for markers D2S139, GATA28F12, and D11S1377 on chromosomes 2p11, 8q22 and 11q23-24, respectively. Extended, two-locus TDT and HRR analysis provided further evidence for linkage or association on chromosome 2 with p-values of 0.007 and 0.025, and chromosome 8 with p-values of 0.059 and 0.013, respectively. These results provide important additional evidence for the location of GTS susceptibility loci.

Correlación entre la personalidad y los factores de la Teoría del Comportamiento Planeado (TCP) en adolescentes escolarizados de 11-19 años del Caribe Colombiano

The increasing rate of pregnancies in teenagers and the high incident of the infections of sexual transmission (HIV/ AIDS, for example), these are health related issues (and especially the sexual and reproductive health), which have received great attention on the part of investigators and of the public opinion in general. Recently, there has been evidenced that teenagers carry out very easily risk sexual behaviors, and those who have not presented the above mentioned behaviors also show high levels of intention to carry out them. There is the hypothesis that besides cognitive variables such as attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and intention, the personality of the young persons is an aspect that plays an important paper in their sexual and reproductive health. Significant correlations were found between the variales of the TPB and the personality traits; the results suggest that the direction of these correlations is associated with the specific type of behavior or situation that is assessed. Keywords: personality, theory of planned behavior, adolescents, reproductive sexuality.

An investigation of contact transmission of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus

Hand hygiene is critical in the healthcare setting and it is believed that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), for example, is transmitted from patient to patient largely via the hands of health professionals. A study has been carried out at a large teaching hospital to estimate how often the gloves of a healthcare worker are contaminated with MRSA after contact with a colonized patient. The effectiveness of handwashing procedures to decontaminate the health professionals' hands was also investigated, together with how well different healthcare professional groups complied with handwashing procedures. The study showed that about 17% (9–25%) of contacts between a healthcare worker and a MRSA-colonized patient results in transmission of MRSA from a patient to the gloves of a healthcare worker. Different health professional groups have different rates of compliance with infection control procedures. Non-contact staff (cleaners, food services) had the shortest handwashing times. In this study, glove use compliance rates were 75% or above in all healthcare worker groups except doctors whose compliance was only 27%.