Crusted scabies is associated with increased IL-17 secretion by skin T cells

Scabies is an ectoparasitic infestation by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei. Although commonly self-limiting, a fraction of patients develop severely debilitating crusted scabies. The immune mechanisms underlying the development of crusted scabies are unclear, and undertaking longitudinal infection studies in humans is difficult. We utilized a porcine model to compare cellular immune responses in peripheral blood and skin of pigs with different clinical manifestations of scabies (n = 12), and in uninfected controls (n = 6). Although clinical symptoms were not evident until at least 4 weeks post-infestation, the numbers of peripheral IFNγ-secreting CD4+ T cells and γδ T cells increased in infected pigs from week 1 post-infestation. γδ T cells remained increased in the blood at week 15 post-infestation. At week 15, skin cell infiltrates from pigs with crusted scabies had significantly higher CD8+ T cell, γδ T cell and IL-17+ cell numbers than those with ordinary scabies. Peripheral IL-17 levels were not increased, suggesting that localized skin IL-17-secreting T cells may play a critical role in the pathogenesis of crusted scabies development. Given the potential of anti-IL-17 immunotherapy demonstrated for other inflammatory skin diseases, this study may provide a novel therapeutic avenue for patients with recurrent crusted scabies.

Cytorhabdovirus phosphoprotein shows RNA silencing suppressor activity in plants, but not in insect cells

RNA silencing in plants and insects provides an antiviral defense and as a countermeasure most viruses encode RNA silencing suppressors (RSS). For the family Rhabdoviridae, no detailed functional RSS studies have been reported in plant hosts and insect vectors. In agroinfiltrated Nicotiana benthamiana leaves we show for the first time for a cytorhabdovirus, lettuce necrotic yellows virus (LNYV), that one of the nucleocapsid core proteins, phosphoprotein (P) has relatively weak local RSS activity and delays systemic silencing of a GFP reporter. Analysis of GFP small RNAs indicated that the P protein did not prevent siRNA accumulation. To explore RSS activity in insects, we used a Flock House virus replicon system in Drosophila S2 cells. In contrast to the plant host, LNYV P protein did not exhibit RSS activity in the insect cells. Taken together our results suggest that P protein may target plant-specific components of RNA silencing post siRNA biogenesis.

Polyphenolic contents and the effects of methanol extracts from mango varieties on breast cancer cells

Bioactivities of peel and flesh extracts of 3 genetically diverse mango (Mangifera indica L.) varieties were studied. Nam Doc Mai peel extracts, containing the largest amounts of polyphenols, were associated with an effect on MCF-7 viable cell numbers with an IC50 (dose required for 50% inhibition of cell viability) of 56 μg/mL and significantly (p<0.01) induced cell death in MDA-MB-231 cells, compared with other varieties. Hydrophilic fractions of Nam Doc Mai peel extracts had the highest bioactivity values against both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. Soluble polyphenols were present in the largest amounts in most hydrophilic fractions. The Nam Doc Mai mango variety contains high levels of fruit peel bioactivity, which appears to be related to the nature of the polyphenol composition.

Silica Vesicle Nanovaccine Formulations Stimulate Long-Term Immune Responses to the Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus E2 Protein

Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus (BVDV) is one of the most serious pathogen, which causes tremendous economic loss to the cattle industry worldwide, meriting the development of improved subunit vaccines. Structural glycoprotein E2 is reported to be a major immunogenic determinant of BVDV virion. We have developed a novel hollow silica vesicles (SV) based platform to administer BVDV-1 Escherichia coli-expressed optimised E2 (oE2) antigen as a nanovaccine formulation. The SV-140 vesicles (diameter 50 nm, wall thickness 6 nm, perforated by pores of entrance size 16 nm and total pore volume of 0.934 cm(3)g(-1)) have proven to be ideal candidates to load oE2 antigen and generate immune response. The current study for the first time demonstrates the ability of freeze-dried (FD) as well as non-FD oE2/SV140 nanovaccine formulation to induce long-term balanced antibody and cell mediated memory responses for at least 6 months with a shortened dosing regimen of two doses in small animal model. The in vivo ability of oE2 (100 mu g)/SV-140 (500 mu g) and FD oE2 (100 mu g)/SV-140 (500 mu g) to induce long-term immunity was compared to immunisation with oE2 (100 mu g) together with the conventional adjuvant Quil-A from the Quillaja saponira (10 mu g) in mice. The oE2/SV-140 as well as the FD oE2/SV-140 nanovaccine generated oE2-specific antibody and cell mediated responses for up to six months post the final second immunisation. Significantly, the cell-mediated responses were consistently high in mice immunised with oE2/SV-140 (1,500 SFU/million cells) at the six-month time point. Histopathology studies showed no morphological changes at the site of injection or in the different organs harvested from the mice immunised with 500 mu g SV-140 nanovaccine compared to the unimmunised control. The platform has the potential for developing single dose vaccines without the requirement of cold chain storage for veterinary and human applications.

Macromolecular synthesis in mycobacteriophage I3 infected cells

DNA-, RNA- and protein synthesis have been studied inMycobacterium smegmatis cells infected with phage 13. The macromolecular synthesis continued until the end of latent period. Early RNA and protein synthesis were necessary prior to the commencement of DNA replication. The infecting phage DNA sedimented as larger than unit length of genome, after initiation of DNA synthesis. Although the host DNA was not degraded, 90 percent of the RNA synthesized after phage infection hybridized to phage DNA.

Multistage monostable multivibrator using load-coupled regenerative feedback

A monostable multivibrator configuration using a new technique of regenerative feedback is discussed. This circuit provides an elegant alternative in situations wherein several monostable multivibrators have to be connected in tandem.

Comparison of the impact of six heat-load management strategies on thermal responses and milk production of feed-pad and pasture fed dairy cows in a subtropical environment

Exposure to hot environments affects milk yield (MY) and milk composition of pasture and feed-pad fed dairy cows in subtropical regions. This study was undertaken during summer to compare MY and physiology of cows exposed to six heat-load management treatments. Seventy-eight Holstein-Friesian cows were blocked by season of calving, parity, milk yield, BW, and milk protein (%) and milk fat (%) measured in 2 weeks prior to the start of the study. Within blocks, cows were randomly allocated to one of the following treatments: open-sided iron roofed day pen adjacent to dairy (CID) + sprinklers (SP); CID only; non-shaded pen adjacent to dairy + SP (NSD + SP); open-sided shade cloth roofed day pen adjacent to dairy (SCD); NSD + sprinkler (sprinkler on for 45 min at 1100 h if mean respiration rate >80 breaths per minute (NSD + WSP)); open-sided shade cloth roofed structure over feed bunk in paddock + 1 km walk to and from the dairy (SCP + WLK). Sprinklers for CID + SP and NSD + SP cycled 2 min on, 12 min off when ambient temperature >26°C. The highest milk yields were in the CID + SP and CID treatments (23.9 L cow−1 day−1), intermediate for NSD + SP, SCD and SCP + WLK (22.4 L cow−1 day−1), and lowest for NSD + WSP (21.3 L cow−1 day−1) (P < 0.05). The highest (P < 0.05) feed intakes occurred in the CID + SP and CID treatments while intake was lowest (P < 0.05) for NSD + WSP and SCP + WLK. Weather data were collected on site at 10-min intervals, and from these, THI was calculated. Nonlinear regression modelling of MY × THI and heat-load management treatment demonstrated that cows in CID + SP showed no decline in MY out to a THI break point value of 83.2, whereas the pooled MY of the other treatments declined when THI >80.7. A combination of iron roof shade plus water sprinkling throughout the day provided the most effective control of heat load.

Combined effect of double antireflection coating and reversible molecular doping on performance of few-layer graphene/n-silicon Schottky barrier solar cells

Few-layer graphene films were grown by chemical vapor deposition and transferred onto n-type crystalline silicon wafers to fabricate graphene/n-silicon Schottky barrier solar cells. In order to increase the power conversion efficiency of such cells the graphene films were doped with nitric acid vapor and an antireflection treatment was implemented to reduce the sunlight reflection on the top of the device. The doping process increased the work function of the graphene film and had a beneficial effect on its conductivity. The deposition of a double antireflection coating led to an external quantum efficiency up to 90% across the visible and near infrared region, the highest ever reported for this type of devices. The combined effect of graphene doping and antireflection treatment allowed to reach a power conversion efficiency of 8.5% exceeding the pristine (undoped and uncoated) device performance by a factor of 4. The optical properties of the antireflection coating were found to be not affected by the exposure to nitric acid vapor and to remain stable over time.

CXCL10, CXCL11, HLA-A and IL-1β are induced in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from women withChlamydia trachomatisrelated infertility

Chlamydia trachomatis infections can result in the development of serious sequelae such as pelvic inflammatory disease and tubal infertility. In this study, peripheral blood mononuclear cells from women who were undergoing or had recently undergone IVF treatment were cultured ex vivo with C. trachomatis to identify the immune responses associated with women who had serological evidence of a history of Chlamydia infection. Cytokines secreted into the supernatant from the cultures were measured using ELISA, and the level of IL-1β was found to be significantly higher in Chlamydia positive women than Chlamydia negative women. qRT-PCR analysis of the expression of 88 immune-related genes showed trends towards an upregulation of CXCL10, CXCL11 and HLA-A in Chlamydia positive women compared with Chlamydia negative women. These findings support that some women launch a more marked proinflammatory response upon infection with C. trachomatis and this may be associated with why C. trachomatis induces infertility in some infected women.

Numerical study on the surface depression of the concrete runway pavement under impact load

Airport runway pavement always subjected to huge impact loading due to the hard landing of aircraft on the pavement surface. Therefore runway pavements should have sufficient impact resistance capability to avoid damage causing by hard impact like surface deflection in downward or penetration since the repair works is cumbersome within the operating condition of airport and also increases the service life cost of the pavement structure. Several research works have been carried out on airport runway pavement to measure the present condition of pavement and also to predict future performance of it. However, most of the works are confined by pavement response under moving aircraft loading. Nevertheless, no comprehensive research work is yet conducted to identify the controlling factors which might have significant effect in changing the common pavements damage like surface penetration depth under impact of aircraft. Therefore, a 3D FE study is conducted to determine some effective factors in controlling the top surface penetration depth of runway pavement. Among the exterior factors, mass of the impactor, velocity of the impactor, impact angle and boundary conditions are selected and as interior factors, thickness of the runway pavement, compressive strength and density of materials used in the runway pavement are selected.

Stress analysis of a thick plate having a circular hole under axisymmetric radial load

In this paper a solution for the determination of stresses and displacements in a thick plate having a cylindrical hole subjected to localised hydrostatic loading has been given. Detail numerical results have been presented and compared with the results of an infinite hole subjected to localised hydrostatic load and a semiinfinite hole subjected to localised end load. It has been shown that for certain ratio of thickness of the pate to the radius of the hole and loading, the results could be obtained by using the solution of infinite or semiinfinite hole subjected to the same hydrostatic loading.

Mode of Action of a Purified Antitumor Protein from the Proteinaceous Crystal of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. thuringiensis on Yoshida Ascites Sarcoma Cells

A purified antitumor protein from the proteinaceous crystal of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. thuringiensis inhibits the growth of Yoshida ascites sarcoma both in vivo and in vitro. Exogenous respiration of the tumor cells was unaffected by the protein at a concentration as high as 500 µg/ml. The antitumor protein inhibits the uptake and incorporation of labeled precursors into macromolecules. However, the ratio of incorporation over uptake is not affected by the protein. Further, the protein brings about the leakage of 260-nm-absorbing material, proteins, and 32P-labeled cellular constituents from the Yoshida ascites sarcoma cells. The results show that the action of the antitumor protein appears to alter the cellular permeability of the tumor cells.

In vivo assessment of inflammatory cells in contact lens wearers

Dissatisfaction with, and discontinuation from, contact lens wear is a source of major frustration and inconvenience to users, and a problem that is thought to cost the contact lens industry hundreds of millions of dollars each year. By directly and non-invasively monitoring inflammatory cells in the tissues at the front of the eye in symptomatic and asymptomatic lens wearers, the candidate has been able to demonstrate an inflammatory basis for contact lens discomfort. This finding may pave the way towards the development of strategies to make contact lenses more safe and afford greater levels of comfort.