Neotyphodium coenophialum, an endophytic fungus associated with tall fescue grass, enhances host fitness and imparts pest resistance. This symbiotum is implicated in the reduction of stresses, ...including plant-parasitic nematodes. To substantiate this implication, toxicological effects of root extracts, polyphenolic fraction, ergot, and loline alkaloids from endophyte-infected tall fescue were investigated using Pratylenchus scribneri, a nematode pest of tall fescue. In vitro bioassays and greenhouse studies were used as tests for effects of root fractions and compounds on motility and mortality of this lesion nematode. Greenhouse studies revealed that endophyte-infected tall fescue grasses are essentially nonhosts to P. scribneri, with root populations averaging 3 to 17 nematodes/pot, compared with 4,866 and 8,450 nematodes/pot for noninfected grasses. The in vitro assay indicated that root extracts from infected tall fescues were nematistatic. Polyphenols identified in extracts included chlorogenic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acids, caffeic acid, and two unidentified compounds, but these were not correlated with endophyte status, qualitatively or quantitatively. Tests of several ergot alkaloids revealed that ergovaline and α-ergocryptine were nematicidal at 5 and 50 μg/ml, respectively, while ergocornine and ergonovine were nematistatic at most concentrations. Loline (N-formylloline), the pyrrolizidine alkaloid tested, was nematicidal (50 to 200 μg/ml). The ecological benefits of the metabolites tested here should assist in defining their role in deterring this nematode species while offering some probable mechanisms of action against plant-parasitic nematodes in general.
Production of fusaric acid by Fusarium species Bacon, C.W. (USDA, ARS, Russell Research Center, Athens, GA.); Porter, J.K; Norred, W.P ...
Applied and Environmental Microbiology,
11/1996, Letnik:
62, Številka:
11
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Fusaric acid is a mycotoxin with low to moderate toxicity, which is of concern since it might be synergistic with other concurring mycotoxins. Fusaric acid is widespread on corn and corn-based food ...and feeds and is frequently found in grain, where Fusarium spp. are also isolated. We surveyed 78 strains of Fusarium moniliforme, F. crookwellense, F. subglutinans, F. sambucinum, F. napiforme, F. heterosporum, F. oxysporum, F. solani, and F. proliferatum for their ability to produce fusaric acid. Strains in Fusarium section Liseola also were assigned to mating population of the Gibberella fujikuroi species complex. The fungi could be divided into three classes, low ( 100 microgram/g), moderate (100 to 500 microgram/g), and high ( 500 microgram/g), based on the amounts of this mycotoxin produced in culture on autoclaved corn. Strains of mating populations C from rice consistently produced moderate to high concentrations of fusaric acid. Two isolates, one each from mating populations C and D, produced fusaric acid in excess of 1,000 microgram/g of corn. No isolates of any of the Fusarium species examined were negative for the production of fusaric acid on autoclaved corn
The Icelandic crust is a product of its unique tectonic setting, where the interaction of an ascending mantle plume and the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge has caused elevated mantle melting, with the melt ...accreted and cooled in the crust to form an oceanic plateau. We investigate the strength and orientation of seismic anisotropy in the upper crust of the Northern Volcanic Zone using local earthquake shear‐wave splitting, with a view to understanding how the contemporary stress field may influence sub‐wavelength structure and processes. This is achieved using a data set comprising > $ > $50,000 earthquakes located in the top 10 km of the crust, recorded by up to 70 stations over a 9 year period. We find that anisotropy is largely confined to the top 3–4 km of the crust, with an average delay time of 0.10 ± 0.05 s, and an average orientation of the fast axis of anisotropy of N014°E ± 27°, which is perpendicular to the spreading direction of the Eurasian and North American plates (N106°E). These results are consistent with the presence of rift‐parallel cracks that gradually close with depth, the preferential opening of which is controlled by the regional stress field. Lateral variations in the strength of shear wave anisotropy (SWA) reveal that regions with the highest concentrations of earthquakes have the highest SWA values (∼10%), which reflects the presence of significant brittle deformation. Disruption of the orientation of the fast axis of anisotropy around Askja volcano can be related to local stress changes caused by underlying magmatic processes.
Plain Language Summary
Iceland is well known for its earthquakes and volcanoes, which have helped to produce an awe‐inspiring primordial landscape over the last 20 million years or so. The emergence of Iceland in the North Atlantic Ocean can be attributed to the interaction of the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge, where new oceanic crust forms by rifting between the North American and Eurasian plates, and a rising conduit of hot mantle from deep in the Earth, known as a mantle plume. The confluence of these two phenomena has produced excessive melting of mantle rocks, with the resultant melt accreted and cooled to form the Icelandic crust. We investigate how extensional stresses related to the divergence of the two tectonic plates have influenced the upper 3–4 km of the crust around Askja volcano, in the deep interior of Iceland. To do so, we exploit information contained in recordings of earthquakes from the neighborhood of Askja, which suggests that cracks formed parallel to the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge, which permeate the upper crust, gradually close with depth. This relationship between the regional stress field associated with rifting and brittle deformation in the uppermost crust breaks down around Askja itself, where magmatic processes likely cause local changes in the stress field.
Key Points
Anisotropy is caused by fracturing of brittle crust to a depth of 3–4 km
Orientation of the fast axis of anisotropy is rift parallel, and hence controlled by regional stresses
Disruption of anisotropy pattern around Askja volcano likely is caused by magmatic intrusion and solidification
Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of HIV care and treatment programs is impacted by losses to follow-up (LTFU) in the patient population. The severity of this effect is undeniable but its extent ...unknown. Tracing all lost patients addresses this but census methods are not feasible in programs involving rapid scale-up of HIV treatment in the developing world. Sampling-based approaches and statistical adjustment are the only scaleable methods permitting accurate estimation of M&E indices.
In a large antiretroviral therapy (ART) program in western Kenya, we assessed the impact of LTFU on estimating patient mortality among 8,977 adult clients of whom, 3,624 were LTFU. Overall, dropouts were more likely male (36.8% versus 33.7%; p = 0.003), and younger than non-dropouts (35.3 versus 35.7 years old; p = 0.020), with lower median CD4 count at enrollment (160 versus 189 cells/ml; p<0.001) and WHO stage 3-4 disease (47.5% versus 41.1%; p<0.001). Urban clinic clients were 75.0% of non-dropouts but 70.3% of dropouts (p<0.001). Of the 3,624 dropouts, 1,143 were sought and 621 had their vital status ascertained. Statistical techniques were used to adjust mortality estimates based on information obtained from located LTFU patients. Observed mortality estimates one year after enrollment were 1.7% (95% CI 1.3%-2.0%), revised to 2.8% (2.3%-3.1%) when deaths discovered through outreach were added and adjusted to 9.2% (7.8%-10.6%) and 9.9% (8.4%-11.5%) through statistical modeling depending on the method used. The estimates 12 months after ART initiation were 1.7% (1.3%-2.2%), 3.4% (2.9%-4.0%), 10.5% (8.7%-12.3%) and 10.7% (8.9%-12.6%) respectively. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE ABSTRACT: Assessment of the impact of LTFU is critical in program M&E as estimated mortality based on passive monitoring may underestimate true mortality by up to 80%. This bias can be ameliorated by tracing a sample of dropouts and statistically adjust the mortality estimates to properly evaluate and guide large HIV care and treatment programs.
Monitoring BCR-ABL1 transcript levels in patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL) is a widely adopted method to assess response to therapy. However, a ...small minority of Ph+ ALL patients express variant BCR-ABL1 transcript types, usually due to splicing of alternative BCR or ABL1 exons. Whether patients expressing these rare, variant BCR-ABL1 transcripts have a distinct phenotype or response to therapy is not known due to the limited number of reported cases. Here, we report the presenting features of Ph+ ALL in a young adult with a variant e13a3 BCR-ABL1 fusion. Molecular monitoring reflected the disease response from diagnosis through allogeneic stem cell transplantation which resulted in undetectable e13a3 BCR-ABL1 transcripts. This case highlights the value of molecular monitoring in Ph+ ALL patients with variant BCR-ABL1 transcripts and the requirement for standardization of such assays.
Whether HIV infection is associated with risk of death due to COVID-19 is unclear. We aimed to investigate this association in a large-scale population-based study in England.
We did a retrospective ...cohort study. Working on behalf of NHS England, we used the OpenSAFELY platform to analyse routinely collected electronic primary care data linked to national death registrations. We included all adults (aged ≥18 years) alive and in follow-up on Feb 1, 2020, and with at least 1 year of continuous registration with a general practitioner before this date. People with a primary care record for HIV infection were compared with people without HIV. The outcome was COVID-19 death, defined as the presence of International Classification of Diseases 10 codes U07.1 or U07.2 anywhere on the death certificate. Cox regression models were used to estimate the association between HIV infection and COVID-19 death; they were initially adjusted for age and sex, then we added adjustment for index of multiple deprivation and ethnicity, and then for a broad range of comorbidities. Interaction terms were added to assess effect modification by age, sex, ethnicity, comorbidities, and calendar time.
17 282 905 adults were included, of whom 27 480 (0·16%) had HIV recorded. People living with HIV were more likely to be male, of Black ethnicity, and from a more deprived geographical area than the general population. 14 882 COVID-19 deaths occurred during the study period, with 25 among people with HIV. People living with HIV had higher risk of COVID-19 death than those without HIV after adjusting for age and sex: hazard ratio (HR) 2·90 (95% CI 1·96–4·30; p<0·0001). The association was attenuated, but risk remained high, after adjustment for deprivation, ethnicity, smoking and obesity: adjusted HR 2·59 (95% CI 1·74–3·84; p<0·0001). There was some evidence that the association was larger among people of Black ethnicity: HR 4·31 (95% CI 2·42–7·65) versus 1·84 (1·03–3·26) in non-Black individuals (p-interaction=0·044).
People with HIV in the UK seem to be at increased risk of COVID-19 mortality. Targeted policies should be considered to address this raised risk as the pandemic response evolves.
Wellcome, Royal Society, National Institute for Health Research, National Institute for Health Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, UK Medical Research Council, Health Data Research UK.
To compare the effectiveness of sotrovimab (a neutralising monoclonal antibody) with molnupiravir (an antiviral) in preventing severe outcomes of covid-19 in adult patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 ...in the community and at high risk of severe outcomes from covid-19.
Observational cohort study with the OpenSAFELY platform.
With the approval of NHS England, a real world cohort study was conducted with the OpenSAFELY-TPP platform (a secure, transparent, open source software platform for analysis of NHS electronic health records), and patient level electronic health record data were obtained from 24 million people registered with a general practice in England that uses TPP software. The primary care data were securely linked with data on SARS-CoV-2 infection and treatments, hospital admission, and death, over a period when both drug treatments were frequently prescribed in community settings.
Adult patients with covid-19 in the community at high risk of severe outcomes from covid-19, treated with sotrovimab or molnupiravir from 16 December 2021.
Sotrovimab or molnupiravir given in the community by covid-19 medicine delivery units.
Admission to hospital with covid-19 (ie, with covid-19 as the primary diagnosis) or death from covid-19 (ie, with covid-19 as the underlying or contributing cause of death) within 28 days of the start of treatment.
Between 16 December 2021 and 10 February 2022, 3331 and 2689 patients were treated with sotrovimab and molnupiravir, respectively, with no substantial differences in baseline characteristics. Mean age of all 6020 patients was 52 (standard deviation 16) years; 59% were women, 89% were white, and 88% had received three or more covid-19 vaccinations. Within 28 days of the start of treatment, 87 (1.4%) patients were admitted to hospital or died of infection from SARS-CoV-2 (32 treated with sotrovimab and 55 with molnupiravir). Cox proportional hazards models stratified by area showed that after adjusting for demographic information, high risk cohort categories, vaccination status, calendar time, body mass index, and other comorbidities, treatment with sotrovimab was associated with a substantially lower risk than treatment with molnupiravir (hazard ratio 0.54, 95% confidence interval 0.33 to 0.88, P=0.01). Consistent results were found from propensity score weighted Cox models (0.50, 0.31 to 0.81, P=0.005) and when restricted to people who were fully vaccinated (0.53, 0.31 to 0.90, P=0.02). No substantial effect modifications by other characteristics were detected (all P values for interaction >0.10). The findings were similar in an exploratory analysis of patients treated between 16 February and 1 May 2022 when omicron BA.2 was the predominant variant in England.
In routine care of adult patients in England with covid-19 in the community, at high risk of severe outcomes from covid-19, those who received sotrovimab were at lower risk of severe outcomes of covid-19 than those treated with molnupiravir.
Breathing retraining and manual therapy (MT), delivered independently or together, influence autonomic activity, and improve symptoms in patients with chronic conditions. This study evaluated the ...effects of breathing retraining and osteopathic MT on cardiac autonomic measures and breathing symptoms during spontaneous breathing in healthy active adults.
Participants (n = 18) received breathing retraining and four, weekly manual therapy sessions, randomised to start immediately, or after 6-week delay. Heart-rate (HR) variability was assessed as a 7-day average of waking 6-min electrocardiograms, using time (logarithm of root-mean-square of successive differences; LnRMSSD) and frequency domain (logarithm of high-frequency; LnHF) measures. Recordings were taken before, one week following intervention or delay, and then following the later intervention for those with delayed starts. Changes were compared between those who received and had yet to receive the intervention, and before and after treatment for the whole cohort.
Following the intervention, HR-variability measures increased 4% overall (Effect Sizes: 1.0–1.1) for the whole cohort. Between-group analyses showed that the immediate-start group increased more than the delayed start group: LnRMSSD 0.27 (0.02–0.52; 95%CI) ln.ms, and LnHF 0.41 (−0.01–0.84) ln.ms2 for immediate start; compared with LnRMSSD −0.09 (−0.29–0.11) ln.ms, and LnHF −0.19 (−0.59–0.22) ln.ms2 (P = 0.02–0.03 for interaction) for delayed start. Resting HR decreased following intervention in the whole cohort (Effect Size −0.8; P = 0.02).
A 6-week osteopathic treatment consisting of breathing retraining and MT is beneficial in raising HR-variability compared to no treatment, and may induce favourable (parasympathetic over sympathetic) autonomic modulation.
ACTRN12614001119684.
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