By fitting a mathematical model, we estimated the first acute escape rate as 0.36 day(-1) within escape-prone epitopes, RM9 and SL8, and the chronic escape rate as 0.014 day(-1) within the CM9 epitope. Our estimate of SIV acute escape rates was found to be comparable to very early HIV-1 escape rates. The timing of the first escape was more highly correlated with the timing of the peak CD8-TL response than with the magnitude of the CD8-TL response. The transmitted epitope decayed more than 400 times faster during the acute viral decline stage than predicted by a neutral evolution model. However,

the founder epitope persisted as a minor population even at the viral set point; in contrast, the majority of acute escape epitopes c-Met inhibitor LXH254 were completely cleared. Our results suggest that a reservoir of SIV infection is preferentially formed by virus with the transmitted epitope.”
“In Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus), the expression of reproductive behavior requires the perception and discrimination of sexual odors. The behavioral response to these odors is mediated by a network of ventral forebrain nuclei, including the medial preoptic area (MPOA). The role of MPOA in male copulatory behavior

has been well-studied, but less is known about the role of MPOA in appetitive aspects of male reproductive behavior. Furthermore, many previous studies that examined the role of MPOA in reproductive behavior have used large lesions that damaged other nuclei near MPOA or fibers of passage within MPOA, making it difficult to attribute post-lesion deficits in reproductive behavior to MPOA specifically. Thus, the current study used discrete, excitotoxic lesions of MPOA to test the role of this nucleus in opposite-sex odor preference and copulatory behavior in both sexually-naive and sexually-experienced males. Lesions of MPOA eliminated preference for volatile, opposite-sex odors MM-102 mouse in sexually-naive, but not sexually-experienced, males. When males were allowed to contact the sexual odors, however, preference for female odors remained intact. Surprisingly,

lesions of MPOA caused severe copulatory deficits only in sexually-naive males, suggesting previous reports of copulatory deficits following MPOA lesions in sexually-experienced males were not due to damage to MPOA itself. Together, these results demonstrate that the role of MPOA in appetitive and consummatory aspects of reproductive behavior varies with the volatility of the sexual odors and the sexual experience of the male. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of IBRO.”
“In spring 2006, highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) of subtype H5N1 was detected in Austria in 119 dead wild birds. The hemagglutinin cleavage site showed that the amino acid sequence motif was identical to that of the Qinghai lineage.