Effects of Prenatal Social Stress and Maternal Dietary Fatty Acid Ratio on Infant Temperament: Does Race Matter?

Background: Infant temperament predicts a range of developmental and behavioral outcomes throughout childhood. Both maternal fatty acid intake and psychosocial stress exposures during pregnancy may influence infant temperament. Furthermore, maternal race may modify prenatal diet and stress effects. The goals of this study are to examine the joint effects of prenatal diet and stress and the modifying effects of race on infant behavior. Methods: Analyses included N=255 mother-infant dyads, primarily minorities (21% Blacks; 42% Hispanics), enrolled in an urban pregnancy cohort. Maternal prenatal stress was indexed by a negative life events (NLEs) score on the Crisis in Family Systems-Revised survey. Prenatal total daily intakes of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) (n3, n6) were estimated from a food frequency questionnaire; n3:n6 ratios were calculated. Mothers completed the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised (IBQ-R), a measure of infant temperament, when the children were 6 months old. Three commonly used dimensions were derived: Orienting & Regulation, Extraversion, and Negative Affectivity. Associations among prenatal stress, maternal n3:n6 ratio, and race/ethnicity on infant temperament, controlling for maternal education and age and child sex, were examined. Results: Among Blacks, prenatal stress effects on infant Orienting & Regulation scores were modified by maternal n3:n6 ratios (p=0.03): As NLEs increased, lower n3:n6 ratios predicted lower infant Orienting & Regulation scores, whereas higher n3:n6 ratios attenuated the effect of prenatal stress. There were no main or interaction effects predicting Extraversion or Negative Affectivity. Conclusions: An optimal PUFA ratio may protect the fetus from stress effects on infant behavior, particularly among Blacks. These findings may have implications for later neurodevelopment and social functioning predicted by early temperamental characteristics

P19-26. Directing macaque immune responses with an anti-dendritic cell HIV Gag p24 fusion protein vaccine

International audiencen.

Physiological and genetic control of transpiration efficiency in African rice, Oryza glaberrima Steud

Improving crop water use efficiency, the amount of carbon assimilated as biomass per unit of water used by a plant, is of major importance as water for agriculture becomes scarcer. In rice, the genetic bases of transpiration efficiency, the derivation of water use efficiency at the whole-plant scale, and its putative component trait transpiration restriction under high evaporative demand remain unknown. These traits were measured in 2019 in a panel of 147 African rice (Oryza glaberrima) genotypes known to be potential sources of tolerance genes to biotic and abiotic stresses. Our results reveal that higher transpiration efficiency is associated with transpiration restriction in African rice. Detailed measurements in a subset of highly contrasted genotypes in terms of biomass accumulation and transpiration confirmed these associations and suggested that root to shoot ratio played an important role in transpiration restriction. Genome wide association studies identified marker-trait associations for transpiration response to evaporative demand, transpiration efficiency, and its residuals, with links to genes involved in water transport and cell wall patterning. Our data suggest that root-shoot partitioning is an important component of transpiration restriction that has a positive effect on transpiration efficiency in African rice. Both traits are heritable and define targets for breeding rice with improved water use strategies.This work was supported by the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, the CGIAR Research Program (CRP) on rice-agrifood systems (RICE, 2017-2022) and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (grant ANR-17-MPGA-0011 to VV). Financial support by the Access to Research Infrastructures activity in the Horizon 2020 Programme of the EU (EPPN2020 Grant Agreement 731013) is gratefully acknowledged. PA was supported by a doctoral fellowship from the French Ministry of Higher Education. BEE was supported by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique of Gabon. The authors acknowledge the IRD iTrop HPC (South Green Platform) at IRD Montpellier for providing HPC resources (https://bioinfo.ird.fr, http://www.southgreen.fr)

Summary of the Standards, Options and Recommendations for the use of positron emission tomography with 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDP-PET scanning) in oncology (2002)

GuidelinePractice GuidelineResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Increased percentage of T cells with the expression of CD127 and CD132 in hypertrophic adenoid in children with otitis media with effusion

The hypertrophic adenoid may promote chronic suppurative otitis media in children as it fulfills its immune function. The number of lymphocytes in the adenoid and their cooperation in the immune response depend of on their proliferation and migration to the effector sites. Interleukin 7 (IL-7) is essential for the normal development and function lymphocytes. IL-7 plays pivotal role for activation and proliferation of T and B cells. The heterodimeric interleukin-7 receptor (IL-7R) is composed of the IL-7Rα (127) and the common cytokine receptor γc (CD132). The aim of this study was to evaluate the percentage of lymphocytes T (CD4+ and CD8+) with IL-7R (CD127 and CD132) expression in hypertrophic adenoid in children suffering with otitis media with effusion for a duration of 3 months. Adenoid excised due to hypertrophy with or without chronic otitis media with effusion was used as study material. CD4+ CD127+, CD4+132+, CD8+CD127+ and CD8+CD132+ cell subpopulations were identified using monoclonal antibodies and flow cytometry. The percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells with CD127 receptor expression in hypertrophic adenoid of children with otitis media with effusion was statistically significantly higher than in hypertrophic adenoid group. The percentage of CD4+ T cells with CD132 expression in the study group was statistically significantly higher than in the reference group. The percentage of CD8+ T cells with CD132+ expression was not statistically different in both groups. The increased percentage of T lymphocytes with IL-7R expression (CD127 and CD132) in hypertrophic adenoid seems to influence the quantity of lymphocytes and upset the immunological function of tonsils which can influence the course of otitis media with effusion

Carbon stable isotope analysis of cereal remains as a way to reconstruct water availability: preliminary results

Reconstructing past water availability, both as rainfall and irrigation, is important to answer questions about the way society reacts to climate and its changes and the role of irrigation in the development of social complexity. Carbon stable isotope analysis of archaeobotanical remains is a potentially valuable method for reconstructing water availability. To further define the relationship between water availability and plant carbon isotope composition and to set up baseline values for the Southern Levant, grains of experimentally grown barley and sorghum were studied. The cereal crops were grown at three stations under five different irrigation regimes in Jordan. Results indicate that a positive but weak relationship exists between irrigation regime and total water input of barley grains, but no relationship was found for sorghum. The relationship for barley is site-specific and inter-annual variation was present at Deir ‘Alla, but not at Ramtha and Khirbet as-Samra

Immunogenicity of stabilized HIV-1 Env trimers delivered by self-amplifying mRNA

Self-amplifying mRNA (saRNA) represents a promising platform for nucleic acid delivery of vaccine immunogens. Unlike plasmid DNA, saRNA does not require entry into the nucleus of target cells for expression having the capacity to drive higher protein expression compared to mRNA as it replicates within the cytoplasm. In this study, we examined the potential of stabilized native-like HIV-1 Envelope glycoprotein (Env) trimers to elicit immune responses when delivered by saRNA polyplexes (PLX), assembled with linear polyethylenimine. We showed that Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) saRNA induces a stronger humoral immune response to the encoded transgene compared to Semliki Forest virus saRNA. Moreover, we characterized the immunogenicity of the soluble and membrane-bound ConSOSL.UFO Env design in mice and showed a faster humoral kinetic and an IgG2a skew using a membrane-bound design. The immune response generated by PLX VEEV saRNA encoding the membrane-bound Env was then evaluated in larger animal models including macaques in which low doses induced high IgG responses. Our data demonstrated that the VEEV saRNA PLX nanoparticle formulation represents a suitable platform for the delivery of stabilized HIV-1 Env and has the potential to be used in a variety of vaccine regimens

Is lymphadenectomy a prognostic marker in endometrioid adenocarcinoma of the human endometrium?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>During surgery for endometrial cancer, a pelvic lymphadenectomy with or without para-aortic lymphadenectomy is performed at least in patients with risk factors (stage I, grading 2 and/or histological subtypes with higher risk of lymphatic spread), and is hence recommended by the International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FIGO). Although lymph node metastases are important prognostic parameters, it has been contentious whether a pelvic lymph node dissection itself has a prognostic impact in the treatment of endometrial cancer, especially in endometrioid adenocarcinoma. Therefore, this study evaluated whether lymphadenectomy has a prognostic impact in patients with endometrioid adenocarcinoma.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The benefits of lymphadenectomy were examined in 214 patients with a histological diagnosis of endometrial adenocarcinoma. Tumour characteristics were analysed with respect to the surgical and pathological stage.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 214 patients with endometrial adenocarcinoma, 171 (79.9%) were classified as FIGO stage I, 15 (7.0%) FIGO stage II, 21 (9.8%) FIGO stage III and 7 (3.3%) FIGO stage IV. One hundred and thirty four (62.6%) of the patients had a histological grade 1 tumour, while 56 (26.2%) and 24 (11.2%) had a histological grade 2 or grade 3 tumour, respectively. Lymphadenectomy was performed in 151 (70.6%) patients. Only 11 (5.1%) patients showed metastatic disease in the lymph nodes. The performance of a lymphadenectomy resulted in significantly increased cause-specific and overall survival, while progression-free survival was not affected by this operative procedure.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The performance of an operative lymphadenectomy resulted in better survival of patients with endometrioid adenocarcinoma. This increase was significant for cause-specific and overall survival, while there was a tendency only towards increased progression-free survival. Therefore, even in endometrioid adenocarcinoma, a pelvic and/or para-aortic lymphadenectomy should be performed.</p