Presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC) and sentinel node.

Objective: To investigate the presence of HPV in VSCC and sentinel nodes (SN) in patients in Sweden and the possible influence of HPV on prognosis.

Patients And Materials: Primary tumors from 75 VSCC patients undergoing the SN procedure and SNs from 69 patients were tested for HPV DNA. Analyses were performed by PCR using general (GP5+/6+ and CPI/IIG) type-specific primers, and sequencing in paraffin-embedded VSCC and SN.

Sympatry of 2 hantavirus strains, paraguay, 2003-2007.

To explore geographic and host-taxonomic patterns of hantaviruses in Paraguay, we established sampling sites in the Mbaracayu Biosphere Reserve. We detected Jabora virus and Itapua37/Juquitiba-related virus in locations approximately 20 m apart in different years, which suggested sympatry of 2 distinct hantaviruses.

Attachment of L-glutamate to rutile (alpha-TiO(2)): a potentiometric, adsorption, and surface complexation study.

Interactions between aqueous amino acids and mineral surfaces influence the bioavailability of amino acids in the environment, the viability of Ti implants in humans, and the role of mineral surfaces in the origin of life on Earth. We studied the adsorption of l-glutamate on the surface of rutile (alpha-TiO(2), pH(PPZC) = 5.4) in NaCl solutions using potentiometric titrations and batch adsorption experiments over a wide range of pH values, ligand-to-solid ratios, and ionic strengths.

Assessing the safety of Pseudomonas putida introduction in the environment: an overview of ecotoxicological tests.

Risk assessment guidelines for the environmental release of microbial agents are performed in a tiered sequence which includes evaluation of exposure effects on non-target organisms. However, it becomes important to verify whether environmental risk assessment from temperate studies is applicable to tropical countries, as Brazil. Pseudomonas putida is a bacteria showing potential to be used for environmental applications as bioremediation and plant disease control.

Effect of copper on the activation of the acid phosphatase from the green algae Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata.

The presence of copper in water environment may have detrimental effects on aquatic organisms, including algae, where different enzymatic systems can be affected. Algae acid phosphatase plays important roles in metabolic processes such as decomposition of organic phosphate, autophagic digestive process, recycling cellular materials and zygote formation during reproduction. This work describes an in vitro activation effect of copper on the acid phosphatase of the green algae Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata (formely Selenastrum capricornutum) under preincubation condition.

Glyphosate complexation to aluminium(III). An equilibrium and structural study in solution using potentiometry, multinuclear NMR, ATR-FTIR, ESI-MS and DFT calculations.

The stoichiometries and stability constants of a series of Al(3+)-N-phosponomethyl glycine (PMG/H(3)L) complexes have been determined in acidic aqueous solution using a combination of precise potentiometric titration data, quantitative (27)Al and (31)P NMR spectra, ATR-FTIR spectrum and ESI-MS measurements (0.6M NaCl, 25 degrees C). Besides the mononuclear AlH(2)L(2+), Al(H(2)L)(HL), Al(HL)(2)(-) and Al(HL)L(2-), dimeric Al(2)(HL)L(+) and trinuclear Al(3)H(5)L(4)(2+) complexes have been postulated.

Reduced sensitizing capacity of epoxy resin systems: a structure-activity relationship study.

Epoxy resins can be prepared from numerous chemical compositions. Until recently, alternatives to epoxy resins based on diglycidyl ethers of bisphenol A (DGEBA) or bisphenol F (DGEBF) monomers have not received commercial interest, but are presently doing so, as epoxy resins with various properties are desired. Epoxy resin systems are known to cause allergic contact dermatitis because of contents of uncured monomers, reactive diluents, and hardeners.

Accumulation of FITC near stratum corneum-visualizing epidermal distribution of a strong sensitizer using two-photon microscopy.

Background: The allergenic potency of a hapten is related to its skin penetration properties, but little is known about the distribution of haptens in the skin following topical application.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the diffusion and epidermal distribution using two-photon microscopy (TPM) of two fluorescent compounds.

Methods: Sensitizing capacities of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and fluorescein were investigated using the local lymph node assay.

Social differentiation and embodied dispositions: a qualitative study of maternal care-seeking behaviour for near-miss morbidity in Bolivia.

Background: Use of maternal health care in low-income countries has been associated with several socioeconomic and demographic factors, although contextual analyses of the latter have been few. A previous study showed that 75% of women with severe obstetric morbidity (near-miss) identified at hospitals in La Paz, Bolivia were in critical conditions upon arrival, underscoring the significance of pre-hospital barriers also in this setting with free and accessible maternal health care. The present study explores how health care-seeking behaviour for near-miss morbidity is conditioned in La Paz, Bolivia.

A habitat-based model for the spread of hantavirus between reservoir and spillover species.

New habitat-based models for spread of hantavirus are developed which account for interspecies interaction. Existing habitat-based models do not consider interspecies pathogen transmission, a primary route for emergence of new infectious diseases and reservoirs in wildlife and man. The modeling of interspecies transmission has the potential to provide more accurate predictions of disease persistence and emergence dynamics.

S. macrurus myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs) induce mammalian skeletal muscle differentiation; evidence for functional conservation of MRFs.

The current-producing cells of the electric organ, i.e., electrocytes, in Sternopygus macrurus derive from skeletal muscle fibers.

Pentoxifylline and vitamin E treatment for prevention of radiation-induced side-effects in women with breast cancer: a phase two, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomised clinical trial (Ptx-5).

Background: A previous study has shown that pentoxifylline in combination with vitamin E can reverse radiation-induced fibrosis. The aim of the present study is to investigate if the same drugs could prevent radiation-induced side-effects in women with breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: A randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel group trial was performed.

Synthesis and anti-Hantaan virus activity of N(1)-3-fluorophenyl-inosine.

As part of an ongoing effort to develop new antiviral nucleoside analogs, our interest was drawn to N(1)-aryl purines as a novel structural class and potential scaffold for drug discovery. Herein, we describe the synthesis of N(1)-3-fluorophenyl-inosine (FPI) and N(1)-3-fluorophenyl-hypoxanthine (FP-Hx) and their antiviral activity against hantaviruses. The EC(50) for FPI and FP-Hx were 94 and 234microM, respectively, against Hantaan virus.

Microhabitat characteristics of Akodon montensis, a reservoir for hantavirus, and hantaviral seroprevalence in an Atlantic forest site in eastern Paraguay.

Hantaviruses may cause serious disease when transmitted to humans by their rodent hosts. Since their emergence in the Americas in 1993, there have been extensive efforts to understand the role of environmental factors on the presence of these viruses in their host rodent populations. HPS outbreaks have been linked to precipitation, but climatic factors alone have not been sufficient to predict the spatial-temporal dynamics of the environment-reservoir-virus system.

Bayou virus detected in non-oryzomyine rodent hosts: an assessment of habitat composition, reservoir community structure, and marsh rice rat social dynamics.

In the United States, Bayou virus (BAYV) ranks second only to Sin Nombre virus (SNV) in terms of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) incidents, having been confirmed in cases from Texas and Louisiana since its discovery in 1994. This study on BAYV infection among sympatric, non-oryzomyine rodents ("spillover") in Freeport, TX, is the first to link patterns of hantavirus interspecific spillover with the spatiotemporal ecology of the primary host (marsh rice rat, Oryzomys palustris). Mark-recapture and/or harvest methods were employed from March 2002 through May 2004 in two macrohabitat types.

Metals and linear alkylbenzene sulphonate as inhibitors of the algae Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata acid phosphatase activity.

Sewage sludge applied to soils as a fertilizer often contains metals and linear alkylbenzene sulphonate (LAS) as contaminants. These pollutants can be transported to the aquatic environment where they can alter the phosphatase activity in living organisms. The acid phosphatase of algae plays important roles in metabolism such as decomposing organic phosphate into free phosphate and autophagic digestive processes.

Pole walking for patients with breast cancer-related arm lymphedema.

Arm lymphedema is a well-known side effect of breast cancer treatment. Studies of the effect of physical exercise on arm lymphedema are very rare. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of pole walking on breast cancer-related arm lymphedema when using a compression sleeve.

Limonene hydroperoxide analogues differ in allergenic activity.

Background: The fragrance terpene R-limonene is a very weak sensitizer but forms allergenic oxidation products upon contact with air. Oxidized (ox.) limonene is a frequent cause of contact allergy in clinical testing.

Self-assembled and self-sorted array of chemically active beads for analytical and biochemical screening.

A technique for generating a general screening platform consisting of dots of immobilized beads on silicon has been developed via self-sorting and -assembly of different kinds of beads. The dots are defined by a teflon-like film, which due to its hydrophobic characteristics also prevents cross-contamination of liquid from different dots. To enable functionalization of individual dots with different target molecules simultaneously a new way of microcontact printing has been explored where different target solutions are printed in parallel using one stamp.

High-throughput screening of a 100,000-compound library for inhibitors of influenza A virus (H3N2).

Using a highly reproducible and robust cell-based high-throughput screening (HTS) assay, the authors screened a 100,000-compound library at 14- and 114-microM compound concentration against influenza strain A/Udorn/72 (H3N2). The "hit" rates (>50% inhibition of the viral cytopathic effect) from the 14- and 114-microM screens were 0.022% and 0.

Glutamate surface speciation on amorphous titanium dioxide and hydrous ferric oxide.

Hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) and titanium dioxide exhibit similar strong attachment of many adsorbates including biomolecules. Using surface complexation modeling, we have integrated published adsorption data for glutamate on HFO over a range of pH and surface coverage with published in situ ATR-FTIR studies of glutamate speciation on amorphous titanium dioxide. The results indicate that glutamate adsorbs on HFO as a deprotonated divalent anion at pH 3-5 and 0.

Adsorption of glyphosate on goethite (alpha-FeOOH): surface complexation modeling combining spectroscopic and adsorption data.

N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine (glyphosate, PMG) is the most widely used herbicide, and its adsorption onto soil minerals plays a significant role in its mobility and rate of degradation. In this work, we present the results of the first serious effort to find a realistic surface complexation modelthatfits both adsorption and total proton concentration data for PMG on the common soil mineral, goethite. Special attention was focused on making sure that the final model was in good semiquantitative agreement with previously reported X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopic measurements.

Women's experience of physical activity following breast cancer treatment.

Physical activity is of great benefit to women treated for breast cancer and can even be vital. The aim of this qualitative study was to describe how women treated for breast cancer experience physical activity after surgery. Twelve women, strategically selected according to hospital, age and length of time since surgery, took part in a semi-structured interview.