Evaluation of GBV-C / HVG viremia in HIV-infected women

The present study aimed at standardizing a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay to evaluate the presence of GBV-C/HGV RNA. A "TaqMan" assay using primers and probe derived from the 5¢ NCR region was developed and validated. Two hundred and fifty-three plasma samples from HIV-infected women were tested for GBV-C viremia and antibody against the envelope protein 2. GBV-C RNA was detected in 22.5% of the patients whereas the antibody was identified in 25.3% of the cohort. Detection of viral RNA and of antibodies was mutually exclusive. Viral loads showed a mean of 1,777 arbitrary units / mL, being 1.1 and 13,625 arbitrary units / mL respectively the lowest and highest values measured. We conclude that the real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction method developed is appropriate for the investigation of GBV-C RNA since it was shown to be highly specific and sensitive, as well as requiring few steps, preventing contamination and providing additional information as to the relative viremia of carriers, a parameter that must be included in studies evaluating the co-factors influencing the clinical outcome of HIV/AIDS.

Antifungal activity of lectins against yeast of vaginal secretion

Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins of non-imune origin. This group of proteins is distributed widely in nature and they have been found in viruses, microorganisms, plants and animals. Lectins of plants have been isolated and characterized according to their chemical, physical-chemical, structural and biological properties. Among their biological activities, we can stress its fungicidal action. It has been previously described the effect of the lectins Dviol, DRL, ConBr and LSL obtained from the seeds of leguminous plants on the growth of yeasts isolated from vaginal secretions. In the present work the experiments were carried out in microtiter plates and the results interpreted by both methods: visual observations and a microplate reader at 530nm. The lectin concentrations varied from 0.5 to 256µg/mL, and the inoculum was established between 65-70% of trammitance. All yeast samples isolated from vaginal secretion were evaluated taxonomically, where were observed macroscopic and microscopic characteristics to each species. The LSL lectin did not demonstrate any antifungal activity to any isolate studied. The other lectins DRL, ConBr and DvioL, showed antifungal potential against yeast isolated from vaginal secretion. These findings offering offer a promising field of investigation to develop new therapeutic strategies against vaginal yeast infections, collaborating to improve women's health.

Preclinical development of anti-cancer strategies against human HER-2

HER-2 is a 185 kDa transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase that belongs to the EGFR family. HER-2 is overexpressed in nearly 25% of human breast cancers and women with this subtype of breast cancer have a worse prognosis and frequently develop metastases. The progressive high number of HER-2-positive breast cancer patients with metastatic spread in the brain (up to half of women) has been attributed to the reduction in mortality, the effectiveness of Trastuzumab in killing metastatic cells in other organs and to its incapability to cross the blood-brain barrier. Apart from full-length-HER-2, a splice variant of HER-2 lacking exon 16 (here referred to as D16) was identified in human HER-2-positive breast cancers. Here, the contribution of HER-2 and D16 to mammary carcinogenesis was investigated in a model transgenic for both genes (F1 model). A dominant role of D16, especially in early stages of tumorigenesis, was suggested and the coexistence of heterogeneous levels of HER-2 and D16 in F1 tumors revealed the undeniable value of F1 strain as preclinical model of HER-2-positive breast cancer, closer resembling the human situation in respect to previous models. The therapeutical efficacy of anti-HER-2 agents, targeting HER-2 receptor (Trastuzumab, Lapatinib, R-LM249) or signaling effectors (Dasatinib, UO126, NVP-BKM120), was investigated in models of local or advanced HER-2-positive breast cancer. In contrast with early studies, data herein collected suggested that the presence of D16 can predict a better response to Trastuzumab and other agents targeting HER-2 receptor or Src activity. Using a multiorgan HER-2-positive metastatic model, the efficacy of NVP-BKM120 (PI3K inhibitor) in blocking the growth of brain metastases and the oncolytic ability of R-LM249 (HER-2-retargeted HSV) to reach and destroy metastatic HER-2-positive cancer cells were shown. Finally, exploiting the definition of “oncoantigen” given to HER-2, the immunopreventive activity of two vaccines on HER-2-positive mammary tumorigenesis was demonstrated.

Cost-effective intervention thresholds against osteoporotic fractures based on FRAX® in Switzerland

FRAX-based cost-effective intervention thresholds in the Swiss setting were determined. Assuming a willingness to pay at 2× Gross Domestic Product per capita, an intervention aimed at reducing fracture risk in women and men with a 10-year probability for a major osteoporotic fracture at or above 15% is cost-effective.

The Nightmare of Actual Identity": Franco-Algerian Literature after Liberation"

In this thesis I examine the issues of postcolonial Algerian identity expressed in literature, and the difficulty of defining an Algerian identity independent of French influence. I analyze and contextualize three novels (Le Polygone etoile by Kateb Yacine,L'Amour, la fantasia by Assia Djebar, and Le Village de l'allemand ou le journal des freres Schiller) representative of their respective periods. I explore the evolution of expressions of identity through post-liberation Algeria. The years immediately following decolonization are marked by the effort to return to aprecolonial blank slate, an effort that Yacine cautions against. The 1980s and 1990s are most concerned with re-inserting Algeria into the Western historical discourse, and the most recent literature moves beyond decolonization to discuss the current Islamistchallenge and immigration. Among the pertinent issues are language, oral vs. written traditions, the often blatant absence of Algerians and women from the accounts in the French colonial archives, and, of course, the Self/Other binary. I have found that theserepresentative authors and texts use asynchronic time, fragmented narrative, re-written history, and expressions of violence in an attempt to cope with the colonial period and decolonization. I show that these authors provide a commentary on those who have triedto erase their French side, but with little success. Ultimately, though in different ways, each author writes that Algerians much accept their French past and move beyond it,rather than fighting their collective history.

Women And The Epistemologies Of Pleasure: An Analysis Of Female Sexual Appetites And Practices At Bucknell University

Using an epistemological and feminist lens, this thesis analyzes the political and social forces that actively construct both knowledge and ignorance around female sexual pleasure. It draws from interviews and a focus group, all conducted at Bucknell Unviersity to explore the journeys that women take to gain knowledge about sexual pleasure, and how the sources and cultural mores that women in the twenty-first century rely on or go up against in order to gain such knowledge are often limited, unauthorized or phallocentric. This aids in the construction and perpetuation of ignorance. This thesis looks at how women feel shame or enact self-censorship, regardless of their assertion of knowledge concerning their sexual appetites, which results in consequential ambivalence. For this reason, it concludes that more informed and educational conversations between peers, parents and partners need to take place. These conversations will help to ignite change and to raise awareness about the knowledge and ignorance surrounding female sexual pleasure, which would allow for more pleasurable experiences to take place generally and with a brief over view on Bucknell's campus specifically.

Casualty, Causality and Chivalry: the Myth of Chivalry and Racial Violence in Southern Literature

This honors thesis project uses history and literature to analyze the role of the myth of chivalry in mystifying racial violence and oppression in the American South. The central claim is that the myth of chivalry¿ and particularly the exaltation of the white woman¿ is a myth system used to justify racial violence, oppress white womanhood, and allow white patriarchy to maintain political, social and economic dominance. This project traces the role of literature, especially Sir Walter Scott¿s historical romance, in developing the foundational myths of a southern society based in violence, racial hierarchy and gender inequality. It then follows the role of white womanhood in this myth¿ the restrictions on miscegenation, the exaltation of pure white femininity, and the violent actions performed in the name of southern women. With this historical baseline established, this study then explores three works of historical fiction that attempt to subvert this mythology by critiquing and demystifying the myth of chivalry, while also offering counter-narratives to popularized history. These works are Charles Chesnutt¿s 1901 novel The Marrow of Tradition¬, which analyzes the 1898 Wilmington N.C. race riot, Gwendolyn Brooks¿ 1960 poem ¿A Bronzeville Mother Loiters in Mississippi. Meanwhile, a Mississippi Mother Burns Bacon¿ and Lewis Nordan¿s 1993 novel Wolf Whistle, two works about Emmett Till¿s tragic murder in 1955. This study, then, illuminates the intersection of literature and mythology, revealing how literature is useful for both creating and subverting myth¿and revealing how authors undertake this task.

Racism, Youth Violence and the New Right: A Comparative Study of the Political Transformation of Extremism in Hungary and Romania

This research focused on the re-emerging of national and minority identities and the concomitant hostilities emerging from them in Hungary and in Romania. In particular the findings indicate that extremist incidents against members of minority groups on the local level seem to follow patterns in publicised media events. Violent attacks by skinheads against Gypsies in Hungary are often isolated incidents but are also inadvertently supported by biased media coverage, hostile majority attitudes and stereotyped behaviour reproduced in the media. The research also indicates that extremism both in Hungary against Gypsies and in Romania against Hungarians is of three kinds: organised within the framework of extremist groups, state-supported violence (both real and symbolic), and isolated, local instances with a few perpetrators committing atrocities. However, and this is a positive development, with rising interethnic tensions and extremist attacks prevalent in Hungary and Romania, there is also a parallel emergence of a more sophisticated human and minority rights campaign to combat them.

Evaluation of 41calcium as a new approach to assess changes in bone metabolism: effect of a bisphosphonate intervention in postmenopausal women with low bone mass

A new technique was evaluated to identify changes in bone metabolism directly at high sensitivity through isotopic labeling of bone Ca. Six women with low BMD were labeled with 41Ca up to 700 days and treated for 6 mo with risedronate. Effect of treatment on bone could be identified using 41Ca after 4-8 wk in each individual. INTRODUCTION: Isotopic labeling of bone using 41Ca, a long-living radiotracer, has been proposed as an alternative approach for measuring changes in bone metabolism to overcome current limitations of available techniques. After isotopic labeling of bone, changes in urinary 41Ca excretion reflect changes in bone Ca balance. The aim of this study was to validate this new technique against established measures. Changes in bone Ca balance were induced by giving a bisphosphonate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six postmenopausal women with diagnosed osteopenia/osteoporosis received a single oral dose of 100 nCi 41Ca for skeleton labeling. Urinary 41Ca/40Ca isotope ratios were monitored by accelerator mass spectrometry up to 700 days after the labeling process. Subjects received 35 mg risedronate per week for 6 mo. Effect of treatment was monitored using the 41Ca signal in urine and parallel measurements of BMD by DXA and biochemical markers of bone metabolism in urine and blood. RESULTS: Positive response to treatment was confirmed by BMD measurements, which increased for spine by +3.0% (p = 0.01) but not for hip. Bone formation markers decreased by -36% for bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP; p = 0.002) and -59% for procollagen type I propeptides (PINP; p = 0.001). Urinary deoxypyridinoline (DPD) and pyridinoline (PYD) were reduced by -21% (p = 0.019) and -23% (p = 0.009), respectively, whereas serum and urinary carboxy-terminal teleopeptides (CTXs) were reduced by -60% (p = 0.001) and -57.0% (p = 0.001), respectively. Changes in urinary 41Ca excretion paralleled findings for conventional techniques. The urinary 41Ca/40Ca isotope ratio was shifted by -47 +/- 10% by the intervention. Population pharmacokinetic analysis (NONMEM) of the 41Ca data using a linear three-compartment model showed that bisphosphonate treatment reduced Ca transfer rates between the slowly exchanging compartment (bone) and the intermediate fast exchanging compartment by 56% (95% CI: 45-58%). CONCLUSIONS: Isotopic labeling of bone using 41Ca can facilitate human trials in bone research by shortening of intervention periods, lowering subject numbers, and having easier conduct of cross-over studies compared with conventional techniques.

Motive Structures and Violence among Young Globalization Critics. A Statistical Typology of the Motives for Protest at the 2007 G8 Summit

The results of a questionnaire survey of 3,578 young protesters aged 15 to 24 were used to create a typology of the motive structures of the young globalization critics who participated in protests against the G8 summit in Heiligendamm in June 2007. Eight groups with different motive structures identified using cluster analysis reveal the spectrum of motives of the young demonstrators, ranging from social and political idealism to hedonistic fun-seeking and nationalist motives. Despite the diversity of motives, two cross-cluster motives can be identified: the results clearly show that the majority of respondents were motivated by political idealism and rejected violence. Two overlapping minorities were found: one where political idealism was largely lacking, and another where violence was a prominent motive.

Depressed type 1 cytokine synthesis by superantigen-activated CD4+ T cells of women with human papillomavirus-related high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions.

Carcinoma of the cervix is causally related to infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV), and T cells play a pivotal role in the immune response of the host to rid itself of HPV infection. Therefore, we assessed the T-cell function of women with HPV-related cervical neoplasia against a superantigen, Staphylococcus enterotoxin B (SEB). Each woman provided a cervical brush specimen for HPV DNA testing and Papanicolaou (Pap) smears for the staging of cervical lesions. They also provided a blood specimen for determination of the ability of CD4(+) T and CD8(+) T cells to synthesize Th1 (interleukin-2 [IL-2], gamma interferon [IFN-gamma], and tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-alpha]) and Th2 (IL-10) cytokines in response to activation with SEB. Compared with control subjects with self-attested negative Pap smears, women with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) had significantly lower percentages of activated CD4(+) T cells that produced IL-2 (P = 0.045), IFN-gamma (P = 0.040), and TNF-alpha (P = 0.015) and a significantly lower percentage of activated CD8(+) T cells that produced IL-2 (P < 0.01). These data indicate that women with HPV-related cervical HSIL show a decrease in Th1 cytokine production by activated CD4(+) T cells and suggested that compromised T-helper functions may negatively impact the function of cytotoxic CD8(+) T cells.

Mind the gap: Do proportional electoral systems foster a more equal representation of women and men, poor and rich?

Female gender and low income are two markers for groups that have been historically disadvantaged within most societies. The study explores two research questions related to their political representation: (1) ‘Are parties biased towards the ideological preferences of male and rich citizens?’; and (2) ‘Does the proportionality of the electoral system moderate the degree of under-representation of women and poor citizens in the party system?’ A multilevel analysis of survey data from 24 parliamentary democracies indicates that there is some bias against those with low income and, at a much smaller rate, women. This has systemic consequences for the quality of representation, as the preferences of the complementary groups differ. The proportionality of the electoral system influences the degree of under-representation: specifically, larger district magnitudes help in closing the considerable gap between rich and poor.

Violence-related PTSD and neural activation when seeing emotionally charged male-female interactions.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disorder that involves impaired regulation of the fear response to traumatic reminders. This study tested how women with male-perpetrated interpersonal violence-related PTSD (IPV-PTSD) differed in their brain activation from healthy controls (HC) when exposed to scenes of male-female interaction of differing emotional content. Sixteen women with symptoms of IPV-PTSD and 19 HC participated in this study. During magnetic resonance imaging, participants watched a stimulus protocol of 23 different 20 s silent epochs of male-female interactions taken from feature films, which were neutral, menacing or prosocial. IPV-PTSD participants compared with HC showed (i) greater dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) activation in response to menacing vs prosocial scenes and (ii) greater anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), right hippocampus activation and lower ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) activty in response to emotional vs neutral scenes. The fact that IPV-PTSD participants compared with HC showed lower activity of the ventral ACC during emotionally charged scenes regardless of the valence of the scenes suggests that impaired social perception among IPV-PTSD patients transcends menacing contexts and generalizes to a wider variety of emotionally charged male-female interactions.

The influence of striking object characteristics on the impact energy.

A common form of violence investigated in legal medicine is blunt trauma caused by striking with different objects. The injuries and medical consequences have been widely examined, whereas the forces and especially the energies acting on impact have rarely been analyzed. This study focuses on how the impact energy of different striking objects depends on their characteristics. A total of 1170 measurements of horizontal strikes against a static and relatively heavy pendulum have been acquired with 13 volunteers. The main focus was laid on how the weight, the length, and the center of mass of the different striking objects influenced the striking energy. The results show average impact energies in the range of 67.3 up to 311.5 J for men with an optimum weight of about 1.3 kg with its center of mass in the far end quarter for a 1-m-long striking object. The average values for women range from 30 to 202.6 J, with an optimum weight between 1.65 and 2.2 kg and similar settings for the center of mass as the men. Also, the impact energies are getting higher with shorter object lengths and reach a maximum at a length of about 0.3 to 0.4 m. The male volunteers' impact energy was on average by 84.2 % higher than the values of the female volunteers, where the impact masses were very similar and the impact velocities played the key role.

Measurement and correlates of physical activity behavior among older minority women

Research has shown that physical activity serves a preventive function against the development of several major chronic diseases. However, studying physical activity and its health benefits is difficult due to the complexity of measuring physical activity. The overall aim of this research is to contribute to the knowledge of both correlates and measurement of physical activity. Data from the Women On The Move study were used for this study (n = 260), and the results are presented in three papers. The first paper focuses on the measurement of physical activity and compares an alternate coding method with the standard coding method for calculating energy expenditure from a 7-day activity diary. Results indicate that the alternative coding scheme could produce similar results to the standard coding in terms of total activity expenditure. Even though agreement could not be achieved by dimension, the study lays the groundwork for a coding system that saves considerable amount of time in coding activity and has the ability to estimate expenditure more accurately for activities that can be performed at varying intensity levels. The second paper investigates intra-day variability in physical activity by estimating the variation in energy expenditure for workers and non-workers and identifying the number of days of diary self-report necessary to reliably estimate activity. The results indicate that 8 days of activity are needed to reliably estimate total activity for individuals who don't work and 12 days of activity are needed to reliably estimate total activity for those who work. Days of diary self-report required by dimension for those who don't work range from 6 to 16 and for those who work from 6 to 113. The final paper presents findings on the relationship between daily living activity and Type A behavior pattern. Significant findings are observed for total activity and leisure activity with the Temperament Scale summary score. Significant findings are also observed for total activity, household chores, work, leisure activity, exercise, and inactivity with one or more of the individual items on the Temperament Scale. However, even though some significant findings were observed, the overall models did not reveal meaningful associations. ^