Proteins of the Bcl-2 family have been implicated in control of apoptotic pathways modulating neuronal cell death, including noise-induced hearing loss. In this study, we assessed the expressions of anti- and proapoptotic Bcl-2 genes, represented by Bcl-xL and Bak following noise exposures, which yielded temporary threshold shift (TTS) or permanent threshold shift (PTS). Auditory brainstem resp...

Ascertainment of lifetime occupational exposures in an epidemiological study of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is important in order to investigate its effect on the disease and develop prevention strategies. The aim of our paper is to describe and evaluate a methodology used to assign lifetime occupational exposure to participants in a case-control study of COPD where lifetime oc...

BACKGROUND Scarce data are available to assess sexual behaviour of individuals using antiretroviral pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention. Increased sexual risk taking by individuals using effective HIV prevention strategies, like pre-exposure prophylaxis, could offset the benefits of HIV prevention. We studied whether the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis in HIV-uninfected men and women in...

Introduction: Public concern about the potential effects of electromagnetic field (EMF) on human health is increased by progressive usage of electrical devices in modern life. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of prolonged exposure to low frequency EMF on the mechanical activity of isolated thoracic aorta strips in rats. Methods: Fourteen male rats were randomly allocated into...