Hyperosmotic priming of arabidopsis seedlings establishes a long-term somatic memory accompanied by specific changes of the epigenome

<p>Background: In arid and semi-arid environments, drought and soil salinity usually occur at the beginning and end of a plant's life cycle, offering a natural opportunity for the priming of young plants to enhance stress tolerance in mature plants. Chromatin marks, such as histone modifications, provide a potential molecular mechanism for priming plants to environmental stresses, but whether transient exposure of seedlings to hyperosmotic stress leads to chromatin changes that are maintained throughout vegetative growth remains unclear.</p> <p>Results: We have established an effective protocol for hyperosmotic priming in the model plant Arabidopsis, which includes a transient mild salt treatment of seedlings followed by an extensive period of growth in control conditions. Primed plants are identical to non-primed plants in growth and development, yet they display reduced salt uptake and enhanced drought tolerance after a second stress exposure. ChIP-seq analysis of four histone modifications revealed that the priming treatment altered the epigenomic landscape; the changes were small but they were specific for the treated tissue, varied in number and direction depending on the modification, and preferentially targeted transcription factors. Notably, priming leads to shortening and fractionation of H3K27me3 islands. This effect fades over time, but is still apparent after a ten day growth period in control conditions. Several genes with priming-induced differences in H3K27me3 showed altered transcriptional responsiveness to the second stress treatment.</p> <p>Conclusion: Experience of transient hyperosmotic stress by young plants is stored in a long-term somatic memory comprising differences of chromatin status, transcriptional responsiveness and whole plant physiology.</p&gt

Fosamprenavir treatment in a highly active antiretroviral therapy schedule induces a HCV-RNA decrease and a Th1 network boost in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients

AbstractHIV/HCV co-infected naïve patients (four females and six males) were evaluated for their response to the following treatment schedule: [(AZT 300 mg + 3TC 300 mg twice daily) + (fosamprenavir 700 mg twice daily) + (RTV 100 mg)]. CD3+/CD4+ T cells, interferon-γ (INF-γ) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) HCV-specific response, viral loads and transaminase levels were evaluated at time 0, and after 1, 3 and 6 months of therapy (T0, T1, T3, and T6 respectively). HIV-RNA, HCV-RNA and transaminases decreased at T1 and T3 compared with T0 (Mann–Whitney p <0.001, p <0.01 and p <0.01, respectively). At all time points, CD4+ and HCV-specific INF-γ responses were higher (p <0.001; p <0.001), and IL-4 lower (p <0.01) after treatment. At T6, HCV-RNA was only negative in four out of ten patients whereas all had normal transaminase levels. These findings indicate that HAART treatment including fosamprenavir is able to activate a Th1 network in HIV/HCV co-infected patients. Moreover, these results, to be confirmed by larger cohort follow-up studies, suggest that this protease inhibitor could have potential implications for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C in HIV–positive patients

clinical presentation and prevalence of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis and features of metabolic syndrome

BACKGROUND:Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) may progress to cirrhosis. The prevalence and clinical relevance that spontaneous bacterial peritonitis may have in complicating ascites due to NASH-related cirrhosis have yet to be defined.METHODS:Among 611 cases of cirrhosis-associated ascites, 45 patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis were retrospectively identified. Of these, 36 patients and a control group of subjects with viral-associated ascites were followed up and compared in a case control study. Information on the onset of ascites, with or without spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, history of risk factors for multimetabolic syndrome, and serological and ascitic laboratory data were compared between groups.RESULTS:Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis occurred significantly more often in patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis than in equally symptomatic viral controls. The prevalence of obesity, diabetes and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis was significantly higher in patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis. Although liver function was similar in both groups, cryptogenic cirrhosis patients had lower aminotransferase levels. Multivariate analysis identified diabetes, juvenile obesity and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis as independent factors associated with ascites due to cryptogenic cirrhosis.CONCLUSIONS:Features suggestive of NASH are more frequently observed in patients with ascites and cryptogenic cirrhosis than in age- and sex-matched ascitic patients with well-defined viral etiology. Ascites may be a presenting symptom of NASH-related cirrhosis, and affected patients have a twofold greater risk of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis

Tunneling spectroscopy studies of aluminum oxide tunnel barrier layers

We report scanning tunneling microscopy and ballistic electron emission microscopy studies of the electronic states of the uncovered and chemisorbed-oxygen covered surface of AlOx tunnel barrier layers. These states change when chemisorbed oxygen ions are moved into the oxide by either flood gun electron bombardment or by thermal annealing. The former, if sufficiently energetic, results in locally well defined conduction band onsets at ~1 V, while the latter results in a progressively higher local conduction band onset, exceeding 2.3 V for 500 and 600 C thermal anneals

The Histone Deacetylase Complex (HDC) 1 protein of Arabidopsis thaliana has the capacity to interact with multiple proteins including histone 3-binding proteins and histone 1 variants

Intrinsically disordered proteins can adopt multiple conformations thereby enabling interaction with a wide variety of partners. They often serve as hubs in protein interaction networks. We have previously shown that the Histone Deacetylase Complex (HDC) 1 protein from Arabidopsis thaliana interacts with histone deacetylases and quantitatively determines histone acetylation levels, transcriptional activity and several phenotypes, including ABA-sensitivity during germination, vegetative growth rate and flowering time. HDC1-type proteins are ubiquitous in plants but they contain no known structural or functional domains. Here we explored the protein interaction spectrum of HDC1. In addition to binding histone deacetylases, HDC1 directly interacted with core histone H3-binding proteins and co-repressor associated proteins, but not with H3 or the co-repressors themselves. Surprisingly, HDC1 was also able to interact with variants of the linker histone H1. Truncation of HDC1 to the ancestral core sequence narrowed the spectrum of interactions and of phenotypic outputs but maintained binding to a H3-binding protein and to H1. The results indicate a potential link between H1 and histone modifying complexes

The impact of dispensing fees on compliance with opioid substitution therapy: a mixed methods study

Background: Opioid substitution therapy (OST) programs involve the dispensing of OST medicines to patients to address their dependence on heroin and/or other opioid substances. OST medicines are subsidised by the Australian government but patients need to pay the dispensing fees. This study explored opinions from OST patients and stakeholders about the potential impact of dispensing fees on compliance and OST program retention. Current and past experiences and the potential impact of OST dispensing fees were evaluated. Methods: Mixed methodology was used to obtain data from OST patients and stakeholders. This involved 1) interviews with OST stakeholders, 2) a focus group of OST patients and 3) surveys of OST patients in Perth, Australia, between June and August 2013.Results: The majority of the eight stakeholders declared cost as the factor mostly impacting on OST compliance. Almost all of the stakeholders commented that there was a positive correlation between time on the OST program and success in terms of relapse. Most stakeholders advocated for OST fees to contribute towards the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Safety Net, and for fee subsidy. Focus group themes supported stakeholder interview findings. A total of 138 surveys were completed. Survey analysis illustrated a strong correlation between patient debt and impacted lifestyle: 82.4% (p < 0.001, Chi-square test) of the 138 survey participants stated that dispensing fees impacted significantly on patients’ finances and lifestyle, specifically those patients with major debt. The cost of dispensing fees was identified by 46.3% (64/138) of survey participants as the biggest impacting factor on patient success. Logistic regression models showed that the cost of dispensing fees was also found to significantly influence both the occurrence of debt (57.7%, p < 0.0001) and lifestyle difficulties (80.0%, p = 0.0004). Conclusion: Findings provided insight into OST patients’ financial difficulties with data suggesting that dispensing fees are likely to have a negative impact on OST patients’ compliance with therapy, retention in the OST program and lifestyle. Government sponsorship of the OST dispensing fees should be considered as sponsorship would potentially increase the retention rates of income-poor OST program recipients

An Exploratory Study of Adult Baby-Diaper Lovers’ Characteristics in an Italian Online Sample

Background: Knowledge of the Adult Baby-Diaper Lovers (ABDL) phenomena is quite recent and there are, of yet, few studies on this phenomenon. Aim: This study was conceived to investigate the functions of ABDL behaviours and the characteristics of ABDL in an online Italian community sample. We hypothesized that ABDL phenomena were associated with general psychological maladjustment and with an experience of parental rejection during childhood. It was also assumed that there would be differences in ABDL profiles based on the age of appearance of their first Adult Baby-Diaper Lover (ABDL) fantasies. Method: An internet-based study was conducted and it involved 38 adults aged between 18 and 74 years (M = 34.95; SD = 12.25). Participants were first given an ad hoc questionnaire, which was devised to obtain information about the anamnestic variables related to ABDL. Then, the participants filled out the Cognitive Behaviour Assessment 2.0 battery to obtain anamnestic information regarding their psychological, medical, and personal history and to evaluate primary psychological dimensions in clinical practice. Finally, they filled out the Adult Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire, to evaluate their recollections of parental perceived rejection, and the Personality Assessment Questionnaire, to evaluate the primary psychological aspects related to parental rejection. Results: The data indicated that adults with ABDL showed the presence of anxious traits and recollections of parental rejection during childhood. Moreover, associations were observed between current or previous ABDL phenomena enuresis and negative mood states. Conclusion: Specific kinds of parental modes, anxiety traits, and enuresis seem to be the source of ABDL interests. Moreover, ADBL behaviours seem to assume different functions and meanings

Breastfeeding and maternal perceptions of infant sleep, settle and cry patterns in the first 9 months

This study evaluated relationships between maternal perceptions of infant sleep, settling and crying patterns and breastfeeding. A prospective observational study of 91 mothers of healthy, term infants was conducted with follow ups over 9 months after discharge from a Western Australian maternity hospital. Feeding information, sleep, settle and cry behaviours, maternal bother at infant behaviours and confidence were measured using the Sleep and Settle Questionnaire. Breastfeeding confidence was measured using the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale—Short Form. Questionnaires were administered at 2 and 6 weeks, 3, 6 and 9 months. Linear mixed models were used to assess associations between maternal bother, feeding method and infant characteristics. The feeding method was not associated with maternal bother, and cessation of breastfeeding did not result in a change in bother scores (p = 0.34). Duration of infant crying in the day, evening and night, frequency of night waking and duration of settling to sleep in the day were associated with increased bother scores. Higher breastfeeding self-efficacy and maternal confidence were associated with lower bother scores (both p < 0.01). Maternal bother is associated with infant behaviours that require parental input, but not breastfeeding status. Resources that address parental expectations regarding infant sleep while providing strategies to support maternal wellbeing and breastfeeding are needed

Stress Relaxation Behavior of Additively Manufactured Polylactic Acid (PLA)

In this work, the stress relaxation behavior of 3D printed PLA was experimentally investigated and analytically modeled. First, a quasi-static tensile characterization of additively manufactured samples was conducted by considering the effect of printing parameters like the material infill orientation and the outer wall presence. The effect of two thermal conditioning treatments on the material tensile properties was also investigated. Successively, stress relaxation tests were conducted, on both treated and unconditioned specimens, undergoing three different strains levels. Analytical predictive models of the viscous behavior of additive manufactured material were compared, highlighting and discussing the effects of considered printing parameters