With drug-resistant HIV-1 present in at least 10%-20% of new infections in Western countries and in >60% of patients failing antiretroviral therapy (ART), monitoring HIV-1 drug resistance is becoming increasingly important for assessing its impact on therapeutic measures of virus control and for guiding treatment. The sensitivity limitations of conventional bulk genotyping often lead to an unde...

The nonstructural protein 3 (NS3) from the hepatitis C virus processes the non-structural region of the viral precursor polyprotein in infected hepatic cells. The NS3 protease activity has been considered a target for drug development since its identification two decades ago. Although specific inhibitors have been approved for clinical therapy very recently, resistance-associated mutations have...

The influence of humidity and low temperature on the αamylase activity and isoenzyme composition of grains of different wheat varieties have been studied. The identified samples of varieties have significant difference in the level of enzyme induction under the impact of high humidity and low temperature. It is proposed to use this methodological approach for testing genotypes and wheat breedin...

Low-frequency HIV variants possessing resistance mutations against non‑nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI), especially at HIV reverse transcriptase (RT) amino acid (aa) positions K103 and Y181, have been shown to adversely affect treatment response. Therapeutic failure correlates with both the mutant viral variant frequency and the mutational load. We determined the prevalence o...

Herbicide rate cutting is an example of poor use of agrochemicals that can have potential adverse implications due to rapid herbicide resistance evolution. Recent laboratory-level studies have revealed that herbicides at lower-than-recommended rates can result in rapid herbicide resistance evolution in rigid ryegrass populations. However, crop-field-level studies have until now been lacking. In...

A range of novel carboxamide fungicides, inhibitors of the succinate dehydrogenase enzyme (SDH, EC 1.3.5.1) is currently being introduced to the crop protection market. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of structurally distinct carboxamides on target site resistance development and to assess possible impact on fitness. We used a UV mutagenesis approach in Mycosphaerella graminicol...

We investigate defects in CMOS domino gates and derive the test conditions for them. Very-Low-Voltage Testing can improve the defect coverage, which we define as the maximum detectable resistance, of intra-gate and inter-gate resistive shorts. We also propose a new keeper design for CMOS domino circuits. The new keeper design has low performance impact and is best useful for small CMOS domino g...

Between 2001 and 2003 the London Health Commission undertook health impact assessments (HIAs) on a series of strategies developed by the Greater London Authority and the Mayor of London. The HIAs were rapid, each involving a literature review and a participant workshop. In all cases the reports made a series of recommendations that were given to the Mayor. The HIAs led to changes and ensured th...

Trait-based approaches provide a mechanistic framework to understand and predict the structure and functioning of microbial communities. Resource utilization traits and trade-offs are among key microbial traits that describe population dynamics and competition among microbes. Several important trade-offs have been identified for prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial taxa that define contrasting ...

This paper presents a critical analysis of health impact assessment (HIA) in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) in the context of institutional policy and practice. It begins with a brief background to the origins and aims of HIA. Core developments in health and environmental sectors pertaining to HIA in the ROI are then considered. A series of significant developments have taken place in these sect...