TASK DEFINITION: Given a passage, construct a question on the basis of the information present in the passage. Construct the question in such a way that (i) it is unambiguous, (ii) it is answerable from the passage, (iii) its answer is unique (iv) it answer uses text phrases from the passage. Avoid creating questions that (i) can't be answered correctly without actually understanding the passage and (ii) uses the same words or phrases given in the passage.
PROBLEM: The scope of this work was to study synergism between human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and tobacco in vitro, both known to be independent risk factors for oral cancer.', 'HPV-positive and HPV-negative oral keratinocytes and oral HPV-negative fibroblasts were exposed to smokeless tobacco extract (STE) prepared from the Scandinavian (STE1) and US-type (STE2) snuff. Cell cycle profiles were determined with flow cytometry, and HPV E6/E7 mRNA expression in HPV-positive cells was assayed using RT-qPCR.', 'The exposure of HPV-positive keratinocytes with STE2 increased the number of aneuploid cells from 27% to 80% of which 44% were in S-phase, while none of the diploid cells were in S-phase. The changes after STE1 exposure were less than seen after STE2: from 27% to 31% of which 34% were in S-phase. STE had no effect on HPV16 E6/E7 expression in HPV-positive keratinocytes. In oral spontaneously transformed, HPV-negative keratinocytes, the number of aneuploid cells at G2-M stage increased after STE1 and STE2 exposure from 3% to 9% and 7%, respectively. In HPV-negative oral fibroblasts, the number of cells at G2-M phase increased from 11% to 21% after STE1 and 29% after STE2 exposure.

SOLUTION: Does smokeless tobacco increase aneuploidy in oral HPV16 E6/E7-transformed keratinocytes in vitro?

PROBLEM: Suboptimal adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a strong predictor of virologic failure (VF) among people with HIV. Various methods such as patient self-report, pill counts and pharmacy refills have been utilized to monitor adherence. However, there are limited data on the accuracy of combining methods to better predict VF in routine clinical settings. We examined various methods to assess adherence including pill count, medication possession ratio (MPR), and self-reported adherence in order to determine which was most highly associated with VF after > 6 months on ART.', 'We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a case-control study. At enrollment, pharmacy refill data were collected retrospectively from the medical chart, pill counts were completed to derive a pill count adherence ratio (PCAR) and a self-report questionnaire was administered to all participants. Parametric smooth splines and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analyses were carried out to assess the accuracy of the adherence methods.', '458 patients were enrolled from October 2010 to June 2012. Of these, 158 (34.50%) experienced VF (cases) and 300 (65.50%) were controls. The median (IQR) PCAR was 1.10 (0.99-1.14) for cases and 1.13 (1.08-1.18) for controls (p < 0.0001). The median MPR was 1.00 (0.97-1.07) for cases and 1.03 (0.96-1.07) for controls (p = 0.83). Combination of PCAR and self-reported questions was highly associated with VF.

SOLUTION: Is the combination of pill count and self-reported adherence a strong predictor of first-line ART failure for adults in South Africa?

PROBLEM: To identify the gene responsible for autosomal dominant lamellar pulverulent cataract in a four-generation British family and characterise the functional and cellular consequences of the mutation.', 'Linkage analysis was used to identify the disease locus. The GJA8 gene was sequenced directly. Functional behaviour and cellular trafficking of connexins were examined by expression in Xenopus oocytes and HeLa cells.', 'A 262C>A transition that resulted in the replacement of proline by glutamine (P88Q) in the coding region of connexin50 (Cx50) was identified. hCx50P88Q did not induce intercellular conductance and significantly inhibited gap junctional activity of co-expressed wild type hCx50 RNA in paired Xenopus oocytes. In transfected cells, immunoreactive hCx50P88Q was confined to the cytoplasm but showed a temperature sensitive localisation at gap junctional plaques.

SOLUTION:
Is a novel GJA8 mutation associated with autosomal dominant lamellar pulverulent cataract : further evidence for gap junction dysfunction in human cataract?