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HIV Transmission In Europe Occurs Primarily In Vacation Destinations, Study Finds
HIV in Europe is transmitted primarily in vacation destinations, according to a study published recently in the journal Retrovirology, the PA/Google.com reports. For the study, researchers led by Dimitrios Paraskevis of the University of Athens analyzed samples of HIV-1 subtype B virus, the most prevalent form of HIV in Europe, from 16 European countries and Israel (PA/Google.com, 5/20). The researchers created a family tree of the virus and examined its genetic characteristics to determine how it has evolved.The study found that tourists are more likely to contract HIV in Greece, Portugal, Serbia and Spain, which are popular vacation destinations. Meanwhile, HIV-positive people in Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Luxembourg are more likely to have contracted the virus outside of these countries. The study also found that HIV-positive people in Israel, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom contract the virus both within these countries and in other countries. In addition, the study found that in Poland the virus spread mainly among residents through injection drug use. "Viruses move around with travelers -- thus health programs within countries should not only target the national populations, prevention efforts must also be aimed at migrants, travelers and tourists -- who are both major s and targets of HIV," Paraskevis said (BBC News, 5/20). Lisa Power, head of policy at the Terrence Higgins Trust, said that the findings are not a "surprise," adding, "We"ve known for some time with high levels of mobility in the world these days that it"s very easy for viruses to move around. What it tells us is that you can"t limit HIV prevention and support just to permanent residents" (PA/Google.com, 5/20).
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Doctors And Patients Welcome Older People Health Debate By Local Politicians, Northern Ireland
The British Medical Association in Northern Ireland (BMA(NI)) and members of its Patient Liaison Group welcomed the Northern Ireland Assembly debate on "Health Provision for Older People", which had previously been postponed.
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Impact Of Young Londoners' Alcohol Misuse Revealed, England
The capital"s 11-15 year olds now drink the equivalent of 180,000 bottles of lager every week - and the amount they drink is on the rise, a new report from the London Assembly today warns.
Mental Health

Larvae Shun The Light

Drosophila larvae avoid light during the foraging stage of their development. Research published in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience shows that both 5-HT (serotonergic) and corazonergic neurons have a role in regulating this behavior. To identify which neurons modulate the larvae"s photobehavior, VerÃönica G. Rodriguez Moncalvo and Ana Regina Campos from McMaster University, Ontario, Canada analysed Drosophila larvae which had been genetically engineered to achieve suppressed synaptic transmission in candidate neurons. Muted synaptic transmission can be achieved by targeted expression of tetanus toxin light chain (TNT), as when made in neurons TNT suppresses evoked and spontaneous neurotransmitter release. The authors looked first at larvae in which dopaminergic, serotonergic and corazonergic neurons had been silenced by using the DOPA decarboxylase (Ddc) promoter to drive TNT expression, and subsequently at larvae expressing constructs with more specific promoters, in which different subsets of Ddc neurons were muted. Larvae with and without the function of these neurons were put through their paces in light and dark conditions. The results show that inactivation of Ddc neurons increases the aversion to light, both during the foraging phase, when larvae are characteristically photophobic, and the later stages of development, when larvae are usually photoneutral. Both 5-HT neurons and corazonergic neurons, but not dopaminergic neurons, contribute to light-controlled larval locomotion, and this is modulated at least partly by 5-HT neurons located in the brain hemispheres. However, this modulation does not appear to occur at the photoreceptor level and may be mediated by 5-HT1ADro receptors. These findings may provide clues to help identify the target neurons of the serotonin signalling, which the authors believe could be critical for light-controlled movement. "These findings provide new insights into the function of 5-HT neurons in Drosophila larval behavior, as well as into the mechanisms underlying regulation of larval response to light," says Campos. Notes> 1. Role of serotonergic neurons in the Drosophila larval response to light Veronica G Rodriguez Moncalvo and Ana REGINA Campos BMC Neuroscience (in press) Article available at journal website. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central"s open access policy. 2. BMC Neuroscience is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research articles in all aspects of cellular, tissue-level, organismal, functional and developmental aspects of the nervous system. BMC Neuroscience (ISSN 1471-2202) is indexed/tracked/covered by PubMed, MEDLINE, BIOSIS, CAS, Scopus, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Thomson Reuters (ISI) and Google Scholar. Charlotte Webber BioMed Central


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