Effect of IL-4 and IL-13 on IFN-γ-induced production of nitric oxide in mouse macrophages infected with herpes simplex virus type 2

AbstractInterleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 share a wide range of activities. Prominent among these is the ability to antagonize many interferon (IFN)-γ-induced activities. Here we demonstrate that IL-4 and IL-13 totally abrogate IFN-γ-induced nitric oxide (NO) production and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA and protein synthesis in a murine macrophage cell line. IFN-γ-treated cells infected with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) or costimulated with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α showed an enhanced reactivity, which was only partially reduced by IL-4/13. The results indicate that IL-4 and IL-13 function by intervening with a step prior to iNOS transcription by antagonizing IFN-γ-induced signal(s) without counteracting synergistic virus- or TNF-α-induced signals. The beneficial effect of a sustained NO production in foci of virus infection is suggested

Effect of temperature and water activity on the production of fumonisins by Aspergillus niger and different Fusarium species

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fumonisins are economically important mycotoxins which until recently were considered to originate from only a few <it>Fusarium </it>species. However recently a putative fumonisin gene cluster was discovered in two different <it>Aspergillus niger </it>strains followed by detection of an actual fumonisin B₂(FB₂) production in four strains of this biotechnologically important workhorse.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the present study, a screening of 5 <it>A. niger </it>strains and 25 assumed fumonisin producing <it>Fusarium </it>strains from 6 species, showed that all 5 <it>A. niger </it>strains produced FB₂and 23 of 25 <it>Fusarium </it>produced fumonisin B₁and other isoforms (fumonisin B₂and B₃). Five <it>A. niger </it>and five <it>Fusarium </it>spp. were incubated at six different temperatures from 15-42°C on Czapek Yeast Agar +5% salt or Potato Dextrose Agar. <it>A. niger </it>had the highest production of FB₂at 25-30°C whereas <it>Fusarium </it>spp. had the maximal production of FB₁and FB₂at 20-25°C. Addition of 2.5-5% NaCl, or 10-20% sucrose increased the FB₂production of <it>A. niger</it>, whereas addition of glycerol reduced FB₂production. All three water activity lowering solutes reduced the fumonisin production of the <it>Fusarium </it>species.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The present study shows that the regulation of fumonisin production is very different in <it>A. niger </it>and <it>Fusarium</it>, and that food and feeds preserved by addition of sugar or salts may be good substrates for fumonisin B₂production by <it>A. niger</it>.</p

Detecting Determinacy in Prolog Programs: 22nd International Conference, ICLP 2006, Seattle, WA, USA, August 17-20, 2006. Proceedings

In program development it is useful to know that a call to a Prolog program will not inadvertently leave a choice-point on the stack. Determinacy inference has been proposed for solving this problem yet the analysis was found to be wanting in that it could not infer determinacy conditions for programs that contained cuts or applied certain tests to select a clause. This paper shows how to remedy these serious deficiencies. It also addresses the problem of identifying those predicates which can be rewritten in a more deterministic fashion. To this end, a radically new form of determinacy inference is introduced, which is founded on ideas in ccp, that is capable of reasoning about the way bindings imposed by a rightmost goal can make a leftmost goal deterministic

Return to the workforce following first hospitalization for heart failure: a Danish nationwide cohort study

Background: Return to work is important financially, as a marker of functional status and for self-esteem in patients developing chronic illness. We examined return to work after first heart failure (HF) hospitalization. Methods: By individual-level linkage of nationwide Danish registries, we identified 21455 patients of working age (18-60 years) with a first HF hospitalization in the period of 1997-2012. Of these 11880 (55%) were in the workforce prior to HF hospitalization and comprised the study population. We applied logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (OR) for associations between age, sex, length of hospital stay, level of education, income, comorbidity and return to work. Results: One year after first HF hospitalization, 8040 (67.7%) returned to the workforce, 2981 (25.1%) did not, 805 (6.7%) died and 54 (0.5%) emigrated. Predictors of return to work included younger age (18-30 vs. 51-60 years, OR 3.12; 95% CI 2.42-4.03), male sex (OR 1.22 [1.18-1.34]) and level of education (long-higher vs. basic school OR 2.06 [1.63-2.60]). Conversely, hospital stay &gt;7 days (OR 0.56 [0.51-0.62]) and comorbidity including history of stroke (OR 0.55 [0.45-0.69]), chronic kidney disease (OR 0.46 [0.36-0.59]), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR 0.62 [0.52-0.75]), diabetes (OR 0.76 [0.68-0.85]) and cancer (OR 0.49 [0.40-0.61]) were all significantly associated with lower chance of return to work. Conclusions: Patients in the workforce prior to HF hospitalization had low mortality but high risk of detachment from the workforce one year later. Young age, male sex, and higher level of education were predictors of return to work

Clinical and echocardiographic characteristics and cardiovascular outcomes according to diabetes status in patients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction. A report from the Irbesartan in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction Trial (I-Preserve)

Background—In patients with HF and preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), little is known about the characteristics of and outcomes in those with and without diabetes. Methods—We examined clinical and echocardiographic characteristics and outcomes in the Irbesartan in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction trial (I-Preserve), according to history of diabetes. Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for cardiovascular outcomes adjusted for known predictors, including age, sex, natriuretic peptides, and comorbidity. Echocardiographic data were available in 745 patients and were additionally adjusted for in supplementary analyses. Results—Overall, 1134 of 4128 patients (27%) had diabetes. Compared to those without diabetes, they were more likely to have a history of myocardial infarction (28% vs. 22%), higher BMI (31kg/m2 vs. 29kg/m2), worse Minnesota living with HF score (48 vs. 40), higher median NT-proBNP concentration (403 vs 320 pg/ml; all p&lt;0.01), more signs of congestion but no significant difference in LVEF. Patients with diabetes had a greater left ventricular (LV) mass and left atrial area than patients without diabetes. Doppler E wave velocity (86 vs 76 cm/sec, p&lt;0.0001) and the ratio of E/e' (11.7 vs 10.4, p=0.010) were higher in patients with diabetes. Over a median follow-up of 4.1 years, cardiovascular death or HF hospitalization occurred in 34% of patients with diabetes vs. 22% of those without diabetes; adjusted HR 1.75 (95% CI 1.49-2.05) and 28% vs. 19% of patients with and without diabetes died; adjusted HR 1.59 (1.33-1.91). Conclusions—In HFpEF, patients with diabetes have more signs of congestion, worse quality of life, higher NT-proBNP levels, and a poorer prognosis. They also display greater structural and functional echocardiographic abnormalities. Further investigation is needed to determine the mediators of the adverse impact of diabetes on outcomes in HFPEF, and whether they are modifiable