BACKGROUND The HIV epidemic is increasing in Equatorial Guinea (GQ), West Central Africa, but few studies have reported its HIV molecular epidemiology. We aimed to describe the HIV-1 group M (HIV-1M) variants and drug-resistance mutations in GQ using sequences sampled in this country and in Spain, a frequent destination of Equatoguinean migrants. METHODS We collected 195 HIV-1M pol sequences ...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the levels of testosterone, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in prostate cancer patients before and after the switch from degarelix to leuprolide treatments. METHODS We enrolled 40 treatment-naïve prostate cancer patients who were treated initially with degarelix and were later switched to leuprolide. T...

UNLABELLED BACKGROUND The metals bioavailability in soils is commonly assessed by chemical extractions; however a generally accepted method is not yet established. In this study, the effectiveness of Diffusive Gradients in Thin-films (DGT) technique and single extractions in the assessment of metals bioaccumulation in vegetables, and the influence of soil parameters on phytoavailability were...

Catalytically grown carbon nanofibers (CNF) are a newly developed type of material produced from the decomposition of selected carbon-containing gases over metal particles. These materials consist of nano-sized graphite platelets separated a distance of at least 0.335 nm and stacked in various orientations with respect to the fiber axis. Such an arrangement results in a unique structure that is...

OBJECTIVE Prenatal alcohol exposure can result in neurological changes in affected individuals and may result in the emergence of a broad spectrum of neurobehavioral abnormalities termed fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). The effects of ethanol exposure during development are both time and dose dependent. Although many animal models of FASD use more chronic ethanol exposure, acute develop...

Our objective was to evaluate life-cycle performance of flocks of two Egyptian breeds, Rahmani (R) and Ossimi (O), and their crosses with Finnish Landrace (F) in two management systems. Management systems were one mating season per year (1M) and three mating seasons per 2 yr (3M). Breeds and crosses studied included purebred R and O, F1 crosses 1/2F-1/2R (FR) and 1/2F-1/2O (FO), and inter se ma...

Abstract. With climate change, Arctic hillslopes above ice-rich permafrost are vulnerable to enhanced mass wasting and organic carbon mobilization. In this study we use TanDEM-X-derived (TerraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurement; synthetic-aperture radar) digital elevation models document an approximately 43-fold increase in thaw slumping concomitant 28-fold mobilization on the northe...

As one of the major pathogens, bovine viral diarrhea virus caused a significant economic loss to the livestock industry worldwide. Although BVDV infections have increasingly been reported in China in recent years, the molecular aspects of those BVDV strains were barely characterized. In this study, we reported the identification and characterization of a novel BVDV isolate designated as SD-15 f...