The gap between knowledge on HIV/AIDS and sexual behavior: a study of teenagers in Vespasiano, Minas Gerais State, Brazil.

The aim of this study was to investigate gaps between knowledge on HIV/AIDS and sexual behavior among teenagers. The study used a cross-sectional design with a representative random sample of 1,158 teenagers (14 to 19 years of age) enrolled in nine public secondary schools and who answered validated questionnaires. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and tests of hypotheses (chi-square, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis, Kendall, and Fisher's exact test).

Proteomic analysis of the ventral disc of Giardia lamblia.

Background: Giardia lamblia is a multiflagellated protozoan that inhabits the small intestine of vertebrates, causing giardiasis. To colonize the small intestine, the trophozoites form of the parasite remains attached to intestinal epithelial cells by means of cytoskeletal elements that form a structure known as the ventral disc. Previous studies have shown that the ventral disc is made of tubulin and giardins.

Bothrops insularis venomics: a proteomic analysis supported by transcriptomic-generated sequence data.

A joint transcriptomic and proteomic approach employing two-dimensional electrophoresis, liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry was carried out to identify peptides and proteins expressed by the venom gland of the snake Bothrops insularis, an endemic species of Queimada Grande Island, Brazil. Four protein families were mainly represented in processed spots, namely metalloproteinase, serine proteinase, phospholipase A(2) and lectin. Other represented families were growth factors, the developmental protein G10, a disintegrin and putative novel bradykinin-potentiating peptides.

Identification and characterization of a new member of snake venom thrombin inhibitors from Bothrops insularis using a proteomic approach.

Snake venom C-type lectin-like proteins (CLPs) are ubiquitously found in Viperidae snake venoms and differ from the C-type lectins as they display different biological activities but no carbohydrate-binding activity. Previous analysis of the transcriptome obtained from the Bothrops insularis venom gland showed the presence of two clusters homologous to bothrojaracin (BJC) chains alpha and beta. In an effort to identify a new BJC-like molecule, we used an approach associated with proteomic technologies to identify the presence of the expressed protein and then to purify and characterize a new thrombin inhibitor from B.