Investigation of Chlamydophila spp. in dairy cows with reproductive disorders

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Reports worldwide indicate high prevalence of <it>Chlamydophila </it>spp. infection in cattle. To assess the prevalence in Sweden, 525 cows in 70 dairy herds with reproductive disorders was investigated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To detect antibodies two commercially available kits were used. Moreover, 107 specimens, including vaginal swabs, organ tissues and milk were analysed by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two (0.4%) cows were seropositive in the Pourquier <it>Cp. abortus </it>ELISA. The seroprevalence with the Chekit ELISA was 28% with no difference between cases and controls. Five specimens were positive in real-time PCR and further analysed by nested PCR. <it>Cp. pecorum </it>was confirmed by partial <it>omp1 </it>DNA sequencing of the nested PCR product of vaginal swabs from control cows.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results suggest that <it>Cp. abortus </it>infection is absent or rare in Swedish cows whereas <it>Cp. pecorum </it>is probably more spread. They also suggest that <it>Chlamydophila </it>spp. are not related to reproduction disorders in Swedish cattle.</p

The effect of Chlamydophila pneumoniae Major Outer Membrane Protein (MOMP) on macrophage and T cell-mediated immune responses

The Major Outer Membrane Protein (MOMP) belongs to the membrane complex of cysteine-rich proteins of Chlamydophila pneumoniae. Although MOMP can elicit strong immune responses it fails to confer long-term protection against infection in animal models. This effect has been attributed, at least in part, to an inadequate induction of protective Th1-mediated immune responses. In an effort to understand the cellular mechanisms associated to the immunomodulatory properties of MOMP we studied the effect of this protein on mouse macrophages and naïve T-lymphocytes. We found that incubation of mouse macrophages with recombinant MOMP (rMOMP) results in an increased secretion of MMP-9 and a down-regulation of MHC class II, CD86 and CD40. This was accompanied by an increase in IL-10 and IFNgamma but not in IL-12 secretion. rMOMP induced a down-regulation of the expression of CD69 and CD154 markers by activated CD4(+) T cells, and enhanced the secretion of IL-2 and IL-10 by these cells. Conversely, rMOMP-treated macrophages up-regulated the expression of CD69 but not CD154, inhibited the synthesis of IL-10 and up-regulated the production of IFNgamma by activated CD8(+) T cells. Immunization of mice with MOMP induced the synthesis only of MOMP-specific IgG1 but no differences in cytokine profile were observed compared to controls. Our results provide new evidence on the role of MOMP in modulating T cell-mediated immune responses

Overview and State-of-the-Art of Uncertainty Visualization

International audienceThe goal of visualization is to effectively and accurately communicate data. Visualization research has often overlooked the errors and uncertainty which accompany the scientific process and describe key characteristics used to fully understand the data. The lack of these representations can be attributed, in part, to the inherent difficulty in defining, characterizing, and controlling this uncertainty, and in part, to the difficulty in including additional visual metaphors in a well designed, potent display. However, the exclusion of this information cripples the use of visualization as a decision making tool due to the fact that the display is no longer a true representation of the data. This systematic omission of uncertainty commands fundamental research within the visualization community to address, integrate, and expect uncertainty information. In this chapter, we outline sources and models of uncertainty, give an overview of the state-of-the-art, provide general guidelines, outline small exemplary applications, and finally, discuss open problems in uncertainty visualization