Helminth infection reactivates latent γ-herpesvirus via cytokine competition at a viral promoter

Mammals are coinfected by multiple pathogens that interact through unknown mechanisms. We found that helminth infection, characterized by the induction of the cytokine interleukin-4 (IL-4) and the activation of the transcription factor Stat6, reactivated murine γ-herpesvirus infection in vivo. IL-4 promoted viral replication and blocked the antiviral effects of interferon-γ (IFNγ) by inducing Stat6 binding to the promoter for an important viral transcriptional transactivator. IL-4 also reactivated human Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus from latency in cultured cells. Exogenous IL-4 plus blockade of IFNγ reactivated latent murine γ-herpesvirus infection in vivo, suggesting a "two-signal" model for viral reactivation. Thus, chronic herpesvirus infection, a component of the mammalian virome, is regulated by the counterpoised actions of multiple cytokines on viral promoters that have evolved to sense host immune status

Maternal plasma folate impacts differential DNA methylation in an epigenome-wide meta-analysis of newborns

Folate is vital for fetal development. Periconceptional folic acid supplementation and food fortification are recommended to prevent neural tube defects. Mechanisms whereby periconceptional folate influences normal development and disease are poorly understood: epigenetics may be involved. We examine the association between maternal plasma folate during pregnancy and epigenome-wide DNA methylation using Illumina" s HumanMethyl450 Beadchip in 1,988 newborns from two European cohorts. Here we report the combined covariate-adjusted results using meta-analysis and employ pathway and gene expression analyses. Four-hundred forty-three CpGs (320 genes) are significantly associated with maternal plasma folate levels during pregnancy (false discovery rate 5%); 48 are significant after Bonferroni correction. Most genes are not known for folate biology, including APC2, GRM8, SLC16A12, OPCML, PRPH, LHX1, KLK4 and PRSS21. Some relate to birth defects other than neural tube defects, neurological functions or varied aspects of embryonic development. These findings may inform how maternal folate impacts the developing epigenome and health outcomes in offspring

Using behavior-analytic implicit tests to assess sexual interests among normal and sex-offender populations

The development of implicit tests for measuring biases and behavioral predispositions is a recent development within psychology. While such tests are usually researched within a social-cognitive paradigm, behavioral researchers have also begun to view these tests as potential tests of conditioning histories, including in the sexual domain. The objective of this paper is to illustrate the utility of a behavioral approach to implicit testing and means by which implicit tests can be built to the standards of behavioral psychologists. Research findings illustrating the short history of implicit testing within the experimental analysis of behavior are reviewed. Relevant parallel and overlapping research findings from the field of social cognition and on the Implicit Association Test are also outlined. New preliminary data obtained with both normal and sex offender populations are described in order to illustrate how behavior-analytically conceived implicit tests may have potential as investigative tools for assessing histories of sexual arousal conditioning and derived stimulus associations. It is concluded that popular implicit tests are likely sensitive to conditioned and derived stimulus associations in the history of the test-taker rather than 'unconscious cognitions', per se

Associations between 'valentine' heart shape, atrial enlargement and cardiomyopathy in cats

Valentine' heart shape is a common qualifier used in veterinary radiology to describe a cardiac silhouette with focal enlargement at the level of the base of the heart in feline patients. Anecdotally, this sign has been thought to be related to biatrial enlargement and also to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). However, to our knowledge, there has been no study performed to assess the association between cardiac chamber enlargement and cardiac disease with the valentine'-shaped heart. The aim of this study was to verify the association between the valentine' heart shape observed in ventrodorsal thoracic radiographs and the presence of singular or combined cardiac chamber enlargement, and also the presence and type of cardiomyopathy (CM) in cats. A search of the database of the Small Animal Veterinary Hospital of the University of Florida for cats with a radiology report of thoracic radiographs that contained the words valentine' and biatrial', and echocardiography performed within 1 week, was undertaken; 41 cases met the inclusion criteria. Eighty-two percent of the cats of the study sample had some form of CM. The valentine' heart shape was associated with biatrial enlargement in 41% of the patients in our study sample that had some form of CM and just 8% of cases diagnosed with HCM, suggesting that the valentine' heart shape has a low association with HCM or biatrial enlargement; however, it should be considered a sign of feline CM

Laboruntersuchungen von Oxidationsreaktionen durch Radikalanionen und Datenaufbereitung fuer Modellrechnungen zur Chemie der waessrigen Phase der Troposphaere Abschlussbericht

SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: F96B2071+a / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekBundesministerium fuer Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

Bildung und Reaktionen von Oxidantien in fluessiger Phase Abschlussbericht

In the course of the project numerous kinetic, spectroscopic and photochemical parameters for formation processes and reactions of oxidants in aqueous solution have been determined in laboratory investigations. By means of a newly developed laser-photolysis/long-path-laser-absorption experiment kinetic parameters for reactions of the nitrate radical in aqueous solution have been determined. It was found that not only temperature, but also pH and ionic strength strongly influence the rate of degradation of common cloudwater constituents. This finding is of importance because tropospheric cloud droplets undergo multible condensation-evaporation cycles during their lifetime leading to strong variations with regards to acidity as well as to ionic strength. Absolute quantum yields for the formation of OH radicals in the photolysis of aqueous solutions of NO_3"-, NO_2"- and H_2O_2 were determined at 308 and 351 nm as a function of pH and temperature. OH quantum yields were determined by a radical scavenger technique using the fast reaction between OH and SCN"- leading to the formation of (SCN)_2"- which was analysed by time-resolved visible absorption measurements. In the course of this project partial photolytic lifetimes for nitrate, nitrite and hydrogen peroxide were determined based on the measured quantum yields, the absorption coefficients of the precursors and the actinic flux within cloud droplets. An excimer laser photolysis-broadband-diode array absorption experiment was developed and extensive tests and experiments were performed on the photochemical generation and spectroscopic characterization of OH in aqueous solution. The experimental apparatus developed is a new and versatile instrument for the time- and spectrally- resolved study of aqueous phase reactions of transient species. The apparatus was applied for detailed studies of the UV-Vis absorption spectra of SO_x"-(x = 3,4,5), Cl_2"- and CO_3"-. Furthermore, numerous kinetic parameters for reactions of the fore-mentioned radical anions were derived. (orig.)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: F95B792+a / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekBundesministerium fuer Forschung und Technologie (BMFT), Bonn (Germany)DEGerman