Search results for "BLI"

Mediterranean Diet Improves High-Density Lipoprotein Function in High-Cardiovascular-Risk Individuals: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

2017

Background: The biological functions of high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) contribute to explaining the cardioprotective role of the lipoprotein beyond quantitative HDL cholesterol levels. A few small-scale interventions with a single antioxidant have improved some HDL functions. However, to date, no long-term, large-scale, randomized controlled trial has been conducted to assess the effects of an antioxidant-rich dietary pattern (such as a traditional Mediterranean diet [TMD]) on HDL function in humans. Methods: This study was performed in a random subsample of volunteers from the PREDIMED Study (Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea; n=296) after a 1-year intervention. We compared the effects …

First Report of Diaporthe eres Associated with Cane Blight of Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) in Italy

2016

In March 2014, in a ‘Trebbiano’ vineyard in the province of Florence (Tuscany, Italy), 15% of the grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.) showed 1-year old canes with bleached areas, sometimes surrounded by dark margins, irregular dark blotches, and several dead buds. Canes were covered by black pycnidia, and occasionally cracks on the cortex were evident. Woody tissues under the bark were necrotic and canes broke easily. Fifteen symptomatic canes were collected from different vines and cane segments of 20 cm length were placed in a moist chamber and incubated at 25°C. After 72 h, a cream-white cirri mass of conidia was observed from pycnidia and it was plated onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates.…

Decentralised trust-management inspired by ant pheromones

2017

Computational trust is increasingly utilised to select interaction partners in open technical systems consisting of heterogeneous, autonomous agents. Current approaches rely on centralised elements for managing trust ratings (i.e. control and provide access to aggregated ratings). Consider a grid computing application as illustrating example: agents share their computing resources and cooperate in terms of processing computing jobs. These agents are free to join and leave, and they decide on their own with whom to interact. The impact of malicious or uncooperative agents can be countered by only cooperating with agents that have shown to be benevolent: trust relationships are established. T…

Chemical messages from an ancient buried bottle: Metabolomics for wine archeochemistry.

2017

Restoration works in the old Clunisian Saint-Vivant monastery in Burgundy revealed an unidentified wine bottle (SV1) dating between 1772 and 1860. Chemical evidence for SV1 origin and nature are presented here using non-targeted Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance analyses. The SV1 chemical diversity was compared to red wines (Pinot Noir) from the Romanée Saint Vivant appellation and from six different vintages spanning from 1915 to 2009. The close metabolomic signature between SV1 and Romanée Saint Vivant wines spoke in favor of a filiation between these wines, in particular considering the Pinot noir grape variety. A further statistic…

Virological response and retention in care according to time of starting ART in Italy: data from the Icona Foundation Study cohort

2020

Abstract Objectives To describe: (i) factors associated with rapid and delayed ART initiation; (ii) rates of 12 week virological response; and (iii) virologically controlled retention in care by 1 year from ART initiation according to timing of start in a real-life setting. Methods All individuals in the Icona cohort diagnosed with HIV in 2016–17 who initiated ART were grouped according to the time between HIV diagnosis and ART initiation: Group 1, ≤7 days; Group 2, 8–14 days; Group 3, 15–30 days; Group 4, 31–120 days; and Group 5, >120 days. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with: (i) the probability of rapid (Group 1) and very delayed…

Seasonal Changes in the Endosymbiotic Consortia of Aphids from the Genus <i>Cinara</i>

2016

Buchnera aphidicola is the primary endosymbiont of aphids with which it maintains an obligate mutualistic symbiotic relationship. Insects also maintain facultative symbiotic relationships with secondary symbionts, and Serratia symbiotica is the most common in aphids. The presence of both symbionts in aphids of the subfamily Lachninae has been widely studied by our group. We examined two closely related aphids, Cinara tujafilina and C. cedri in the present study. Even though both B. aphidicola strains have similar genome sizes and gene contents, the genomes of the two S. symbiotica strains were markedly different. The SCc strain has the smallest genome known for this species, while SCt posse…

2016

One of the key immunological characteristics of active visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a profound immunosuppression and impaired production of Interferon-γ (IFN-γ). However, recent studies from Bihar in India showed using a whole blood assay, that whole blood cells have maintained the capacity to produce IFN-γ. Here we tested the hypothesis that a population of low-density granulocytes (LDG) might contribute to T cell responses hyporesponsiveness via the release of arginase. Our results show that this population is affected by the anticoagulant used to collect blood: the frequency of LDGs is significantly lower when the blood is collected with heparin as compared to EDTA; however, the antico…

Optimized production and purification of Coxsackievirus B1 vaccine and its preclinical evaluation in a mouse model.

2017

Coxsackie B viruses are among the most common enteroviruses, causing a wide range of diseases. Recent studies have also suggested that they may contribute to the development of type 1 diabetes. Vaccination would provide an effective way to prevent CVB infections, and the objective of this study was to develop an efficient vaccine production protocol for the generation of novel CVB vaccines. Various steps in the production of a formalin-inactivated Coxsackievirus B1 (CVB1) vaccine were optimized including the Multiplicity Of Infection (MOI) used for virus amplification, virus cultivation time, type of cell growth medium, virus purification method and formulation of the purified virus. Safety…

Tracking zoonotic pathogens using blood-sucking flies as 'flying syringes'

2017

About 60% of emerging infectious diseases in humans are of zoonotic origin. Their increasing number requires the development of new methods for early detection and monitoring of infectious agents in wildlife. Here, we investigated whether blood meals from hematophagous flies could be used to identify the infectious agents circulating in wild vertebrates. To this aim, 1230 blood-engorged flies were caught in the forests of Gabon. Identified blood meals (30%) were from 20 vertebrate species including mammals, birds and reptiles. Among them, 9% were infected by different extant malaria parasites among which some belonged to known parasite species, others to new parasite species or to parasite …

Phosphorylated immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs and integrin cytoplasmic domains activate spleen tyrosine kinase via distinct mechanis…

2018

Spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) is involved in cellular adhesion and also in the activation and development of hematopoietic cells. Syk activation induced by genomic rearrangement has been linked to certain T-cell lymphomas, and Syk inhibitors have been shown to prolong survival of patients with B-cell lineage malignancies. Syk is activated either by its interaction with a double-phosphorylated immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (pITAM), which induces rearrangements in the Syk structure, or by the phosphorylation of specific tyrosine residues. In addition to its immunoreceptor function, Syk is activated downstream of integrin pathways, and integrins bind to the same region in Syk a…