Although persistent infection with hepatitis B virus and woodchuck hepatitis virus has been associated with development of hepatocellular carcinoma in the host, little has been known of such an association with ground squirrel hepatitis virus (GSHV), which is closely related to the woodchuck virus. Colonies of GSHV-infected and -uninfected Beechey ground squirrels were observed for tumors for a...

In this paper, we study the effect of peer influence in the diffusion of the iPhone 3G across a number of communities sampled from a large dataset provided by a major European Mobile carrier in one country. We identify tight communities of users in which peer influence may play a role and use instrumental variables to control for potential correlation between unobserved subscriber heterogeneity...

The carrier rate of HBsAg is about 6% in Bhutan and 1% in Nepal. Since outbreaks of viral hepatitis are also known, its high prevalence in a migrated community, if any, maybe a potential threat to the local people. The present study was conducted in Beldangi 2 Extension Camp, a Bhutanese refugee camp located in eastern Nepal to know the HBsAg carrier rate among the refugees. With the help of se...

In neonatal or congenital lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) virus carrier mice, low numbers of T lymphocytes were always infected, but attempts to infect resting or stimulated T lymphocytes in previously uninfected adult mice have consistently failed. Only T cells in newborn mice were susceptible to LCM virus and their infection persisted when the animals grew older. Infectibility declined wit...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis C virus (HCV) cross-contamination from inanimate surfaces or objects has been implicated in transmission of HCV in health-care settings and among injection drug users. We established HCV-based carrier and drug transmission assays that simulate practical conditions to study inactivation and survival of HCV on inanimate surfaces. METHODS Studies were performed with authenti...

objective(s): although viral vectors are considered efficient gene transfer agents, their board application has been limited by toxicity, immunogenicity, mutagenicity and small gene carrying capacity. non-viral vectors are safe but they suffer from low transfection efficiency. in the present study, polyallylamine (paa) in two molecular weights (15 and 65 kda) was modified by alkane derivatives ...

chitosan-graft-polyethylenimine (chi-g-pei) copolymer has been used for theimprovement of low transfection efficiency of chitosan. the present study aims to test thepulmonary toxicity and efficiency of chi-g-pei as an aerosol gene carrier. mice were exposedto aerosol containing green-fluorescent protein (gfp)-polyethylenimine (pei) or gfp-chig-pei complexes for 30 min during the development of ...

hemophilia b is factor ix deficiency and is inherited as x-linked recessive disorder. the subject of carrier detection in hemophilias has received new impetus in the last several years. analysis of factor ix gene polymorphisms is considered the best approach for prenatal diagnosis and hemophilia b carrier detection, if the identification of the gene mutation is possible. allele frequencies of t...

In this paper, a HTLV-I infection model with CTL response is considered. To account for a series of events in infection process, we incorporate a intracellular time delay in the model. We prove that the global dynamics are determined by two threshold parameters R0 and R1, basic reproduction numbers for viral infection and for CTL response, respectively. If R0 < 1, the infection-free equilibrium...

PREFACE 3 Preface It is indeed a pleasure to present our report of research activities 2003-2004. We thank you for your interest and your support during the last two years. We hope that this information is of use to you and look forward to continuing what has become excellent cooperation. Non viral delivery of BMP-2 plasmids with a new copolymer protected gene vector (Coprog) incorporated in a ...