Implications of ideological bias in social psychology on clinical practice

Ideological bias is a worsening but often neglected concern for social and psychological sciences, affecting a range of professional activities and relationships, from self‐reported willingness to discriminate to the promotion of ideologically saturated and scientifically questionable research constructs. Though clinical psychologists co‐produce and apply social psychological research, little is known about its impact on the profession of clinical psychology. Following a brief review of relevant topics, such as “concept creep” and the significance of the psychotherapeutic relationship, the relevance of ideological bias to clinical psychology, counterarguments and a rebuttal, clinical applications, and potential solutions are presented. For providing empathic and multiculturally competent clinical services, in accordance with professional ethics, psychologists would benefit from treating ideological diversity as another professionally recognized diversity area.     

Isolates of the Enterobacter cloacae complex induce apoptosis of human intestinal epithelial cells

Strains of the Enterobacter cloacae complex are becoming increasingly important human pathogen. The aim of the study was to identify, by sequencing the hsp60 gene, the species of clinical isolates phenotypically identified as E. cloacae and to examine them for virulence-associated properties: the ability of adhesion, invasion to HEp-2 cells and the induced apoptosis of infected epithelial cells. The majority of the strains were identified as Enterobacter hormaechei with E. hormaechei subsp. steigerwaltii being the most frequent subspecies. Other strains belonged to E. hormaechei subsp. oharae, E. cloacae cluster III, and E. cloacae cluster IV. The strains were examined for virulence-associated properties: the ability to adhesion and invasion to HEp-2 cells and the apoptosis induction of infected epithelial cells. All strains revealed adherence ability and most of them (71%) were invasive to epithelial cells. Analyses of cellular morphology and DNA fragmentation in the HEp-2 cells exhibited typical features of cells undergoing apoptosis. We observed morphological changes, including condensation of nuclear chromatin, formation of apoptotic bodies and blebbing of cell membrane. The lowest apoptotic index did not exceed 6%, whereas the highest reached 49% at 24 h and 98% at 48 h after infection. Forty strains (73%) induced fragmentation of nuclear DNA and characteristic intranucleosomal pattern with the size of about 180–200 bp in DNA extracted from infected cells at 48 h after infection. The results indicated that the bacteria of the E. cloacae complex may adhere to and penetrate into epithelial cells and induce apoptosis, which could be an important mechanism contributing to the development diseases.     

Correlation Analyses Reveal a Substantial Influence of Allelic Gaps on the Investigation of Genetic Diversity of Modern Human Populations with Microsatellites

High intra-population genetic diversity and multiple measures of genetic variability at STR loci are useful in inferring past evolutionary history. However, STRs, categorized by their repeat motif size, differ in a number of aspects, requiring separate analyses. We analyzed 783 STRs in 36 worldwide populations to examine marker suitability as well as correlations between various measurements, to evaluate the extent of genomic diversity present in modern human populations. The loci were grouped by type and analyzed separately for each population group. Genetic variation defined by gene diversity and allele size variance, shows different trends of variation across four types of STRs. Additionally, there is little variation of genetic diversity, but there is decreased allelic size variance with increasing repeat motifs. A poor correlation between genetic diversity and allelic size variance across loci in all groups for Di-STRs is probably caused by the presence of allelic size gaps. In contrast, allelic size variance, genetic diversity, and number of alleles are strongly correlated with both tri- and tetra-STRs. The positive correlation of allelic size variance and presence of gaps within the range of allelic sizes in Di-STRs alone explains these observations. An unexpected high imbalance index (β) at Di-STRs due to high allelic size variance also supports this assertion.     

Genetic diversity of noroviruses and sapoviruses in children with acute sporadic gastroenteritis in New Delhi, India

BACKGROUND: Human caliciviruses (HuCVs) cause gastroenteritis throughout the world. Limited information is available on molecular epidemiology of caliciviruses from developing countries including India. OBJECTIVES: Standardization and evaluation of a two-step multiplex RT-PCR assay for HuCVs and characterization of strains. STUDY DESIGN: Two hundred and twenty-six stool samples were collected from children with acute gastroenteritis (AGE) over a one and half year to study the prevalence and diversity of HuCVs in children with AGE in New Delhi, India. A multiplex two-step RT-PCR using 3 sets of external and 4 sets of internal primers from the RdRp gene was standardized for detection of NoVs and SaVs. Molecular characterization of some HuCV strains was done by sequencing followed by phylogenetic analysis. RESULTS: Fifty-nine HuCVs strains were detected in 54 (24%) of the samples; 5 samples had mixed infections. Of these 59 HuCVs, 36 (61%) were norovirus (34 were GGII; 2 were GGI) and 23 (39%) were sapovirus (22 were GGI; 1 was GGII). Phylogenetic analysis of partial RdRp gene of 12 HuCV strains identified three genotypes (GGI/4, GGII/3 and a newly identified GIIb/Hilversum cluster) in NoVs and one genotype (GGI/1) in SaVs. CONCLUSION: This is one of the few reports from India on detection and characterization of HuCVs by multiplex RT-PCR assay. This assay can be a useful tool for epidemiological studies of HuCV infections.     

多样性人源天然噬菌体抗体库的构建及初步应用

目的:构建多样性良好的人源天然噬菌体抗体库。方法:从正常人外周血中分离淋巴细胞,以RT-PCR和半巢式PCR扩增重链可变区VH基因和轻链可变区VL基因,以重叠延伸PCR将VH、VL组装成scFv基因,并将其克隆入噬菌粒载体pCANTAB-5E中。以pCANTAB-5E电转化大肠杆菌TG1,构建人源天然噬菌体抗体库,测序分析抗体基因的家族信息和多样性,并用多种抗原对其进行筛选。结果:获得了库容为2×108的人源天然噬菌体抗体库。分别用5种抗原对其进行筛选,均可获得特异性噬菌体抗体的富集。结论:成功地构建了一个多样性良好的人源天然噬菌体抗体库,可用于制备具有应用前景的人源抗体。     

Trends in drug resistance mutations in antiretroviral-naïve intravenous drug users of Rio de Janeiro

DNA sequencing of a pol gene fragment from drug-naive injecting drug users samples obtained at two time points of the Brazilian AIDS epidemic (Pre-HAART era: 1994 to early 1997, n = 27; post-HAART era: 1999-2001, n = 38) was undertaken to assess HIV-1 antiretroviral drug resistance mutations and subtyping profiles. Genotypic analysis revealed the presence of PR primary L90M, D30N, M46I, and V82A mutations in 7.9% of the post-HAART group, and a high frequency of secondary mutations (84.2%). Nucleoside RT-associated mutations were observed in 13.2%. In the pre-HAART group, a higher frequency of RT mutations was observed (22.2%) and no PR primary mutations were found, in agreement with the introduction of protease inhibitors (PIs) in therapy during the same period. The identification of 7.9% of drug-naive injecting drug users already bearing RT/PR primary resistance mutations in the post-HAART era group constitutes a major concern in terms of dissemination of drug resistant viruses. The resistance mutations profile of the individuals may reflect the context of antiretroviral treatment in Brazil at the sample collection periods (1994-1997 and 1999-2001). In spite of the differences observed in the drug resistance profiles, similar frequencies of subtype B (63.0 vs. 73.7%), F (22.2 vs. 10.5%), and recombinant B/F (14.8 vs. 15.8%) viruses were found, respectively, in the pre- and post-HAART groups.     

Extense variant gene family repertoire overlap in Western Amazon Plasmodium falciparum isolates

In order to find a molecular basis for observations of relatively fast developing immunity to malarial infections in the Western Amazon region, the partial var, stevor and rif gene repertoires of nine different Plasmodium falciparum isolates collected in 1985 and 2000–2004 were evaluated. In contrast to previous results from South East Asia, the variant gene repertoire in Brazilian isolates is rather small and redundant. While the individual var repertoire sizes of Brazilian strains did not differ from Southeast Asian/African isolates, we found an over three times higher overlap of var sequence repertoires in Amazonian strains which was also conserved over time, suggesting the ongoing circulation of a similar var gene repertoire. Coincidently, almost 40% of the sequences identified herein showed the highest degree of similarity to var genes from either Brazilian or Venezuelan isolates, indicating a limited var repertoire of P. falciparum in the Amazon Basin as a whole. The intrastrain similarities of var genes were slightly but significantly lower than in Southeast Asian/African samples suggesting a higher selective pressure for diversification in Amazonian isolates. Despite of higher copy numbers per genome, rif genes also showed a significant repertoire overlap. stevor genes, which share the same predominant subtelomeric localization as var and rif genes, showed a still higher repertoire overlap and were highly similar to 3D7 stevor genes, indicating stronger functional conservation than var and rif genes. This is the first study that reveals that P. falciparum variant gene repertoires of certain areas can be limited. This has important implications for the strain-specific immunity against variant antigens occurring in these areas.     

Genetic variation of NSP1 and NSP4 genes among serotype G9 rotaviruses causing hospitalization of children in Melbourne, Australia, 1997-2002

Serotype G9 rotaviruses have emerged as one of the leading causes of gastroenteritis in children worldwide. We examined 29 representative G9 rotavirus isolates from a 6-year collection (1997-2002) and determined the level of variation in genes encoding non-structural proteins, NSP1 and NSP4. Northern hybridization analysis with a whole genome probe derived from the prototype G9 strain, F45, revealed that the NSP1 gene (gene 5) of two isolates (R1 and R14) did not exhibit significant homology. Complementary DNA probes of R1 and R14 genes 5 were used in Northern blot hybridization and indicated the presence of at least two gene 5 alleles among Melbourne G9 rotaviruses. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that isolates carrying the R14 gene 5 shared 94-98% sequence identities with one another, while sequence identity to R1 was 78%. Surprisingly, R1 displayed 96% nucleotide identity with the prototype serotype G1 strain, Wa. The detection of different alleles of NSP1 genes prompted us to investigate the level of variation in another non-structural protein, NSP4, a multifunctional protein and the first viral-encoded enterotoxin. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that while all isolates clustered into one group containing the Wa NSP4 allele (genotype 1), isolate R1 was most closely related to Wa. This study reveals new information about the diversity of non-structural proteins of G9 rotaviruses.     

变性梯度凝胶电泳分析川芎可培养内生细菌种群的多样性

目的 了解川芎可培养内生细菌的种群多样性信息.方法 实验采用富集培养法培养内生细菌,从菌液中直接提取总DNA,并扩增细菌16S rDNA V3片段,应用DGGE分析16S rDNA V3片段的多态性.结果 DGGE图谱显示:不同川芎样品的16S RDNA V3片段产物出现的带型及数量有一定差异,不同样品的强度高条带数量及其在泳道中的迁移率各不相同,体现优势种群的种类与数量的区别.结论 川芎根茎的可培养内生细菌具有较丰富的种群多样性,地域因素(产地)可能是影响土壤细菌群落结构的重要因素,其次是品种.     

抗人白细胞间素-2多克隆及单克隆抗体的生物学特征

利用人工合成的白细胞间素2(IL-2)多肽片段,用中和试验、竞争ELISA和染色IL-2分泌细胞的碱性磷酸酶抗碱性磷酸酶桥联酶标技术,对己制备的抗人IL-2多克隆抗体及单克隆抗体(McAb)的表位特异性、中和活性、亲和常数及杭天然IL-2的反应性进行了全面鉴定。结果表明:利用多种免疫方案、融合前强化加强免疫及多个脾脏混合融合制备策略所获得的McAb,在生物学特征上表现出多样化,即这些McAb的表位特异性、中和活性、亲和力及抗天然IL-2活性各不相同。其中抗IL-2 C末端的McAb为首次报道。这组McAb适用于对IL-2研究的不同目的。