1,720,962 research outputs found
Augmentation of GG2EE macrophage cell line-mediated anti-Candida activity by gamma interferon, tumor necrosis factor, and interleukin-1.
The expression of anti-Candida activity in the GG2EE macrophage cell line, generated by immortalization of fresh bone marrow with v-raf and v-myc oncogenes, was studied. GG2EE cells spontaneously inhibited the growth of an agerminative mutant of Candida albicans in vitro. The anti-Candida activity was maximal after 8 h of coculture and was proportional to the effector-to-target ratio. Gamma interferon (IFN-gamma), interleukin-1 (IL-1), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) all significantly enhanced the anti-Candida activity of GG2EE cells. In contrast, IL-3, IL-4, and colony-stimulating factor 1 were ineffective. The augmentation of anti-Candida activity was not always concomitant with enhancement of phagocytosis, since IFN-gamma and colony-stimulating factor 1, but not IL-1 or TNF, augmented the phagocytic ability of GG2EE cells. Furthermore, the augmentation of anti-Candida activity in GG2EE cells did not correlate with the acquisition of antitumor activity. In fact, none of the cytokines alone were able to induce antitumor activity in GG2EE cells, which, however, could be activated to a tumoricidal stage by IFN-gamma plus heat-killed Listeria monocytogenes. These findings demonstrate that GG2EE cells exhibit spontaneous anti-Candida activity and that such activity is enhanced by TNF, IL-1, and IFN-gamma
Further studies on the relative contributions of chemotherapeutic and immunostimulant activity of amphotericin B to its efficacy as an antifungal agent.
Calcium ionophore A-23187 inhibits the secretion of β-hexosaminidase from the GG2EE mouse macrophage cell line
Secretion of the lysosomal enzyme β-N-acetylhexosaminidase is inhibited by calcium ionophore A-23187 in the GG2EE macrophage cell line. Such inhibition is time and dose dependent. Calcium ionophore A-23187 treatment causes a change in the pattern of hexosaminidase isoenzymes detectable in the cell extract, as assessed by DEAE-cellulose chromatography. In particular, control cells show two hexosaminidase isoenzymes corresponding to hexosaminidase A and B, whereas cells treated with calcium ionophore A-23187 express a third isoenzyme form with properties similar to hexosaminidase S
Determinanti microbici e biochimici di colonizzazione genitale da Mycoplasma hominis e Ureaplasma urealyticum in una popolazione di pazienti di sesso femminile
Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum are associated with chorioamnionitis, preterm delivery and pelvic inflammatory disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible risk factors of co-colonization by M. hominis in patients already colonized by U. urealyticum and compare demographic parameters, vaginal pH and microbiota of women colonized by U. urealyticum or M. hominis. A total of 452 patients positive for U. urealyticum or M. hominis were analysed, 421 (93.1%) of whom were positive for U. urealyticum and 31 (6.9%) for M. hominis. Patients positive for M. hominis compared to patients positive for U. urealyticum were more frequently colonized by Gardnerella vaginalis (71% vs 18.5%; p 0.0001), less frequently by lactobacilli (16.1% vs 61.5%; p 0.0001), and more frequently had a pH value higher than 4.5 (96.8% vs 57%; p 0.0001), all conditions associated to bacterial vaginosis (BV). Logistic regression analysis showed that only G. vaginalis colonization and pH higher than 4.5 were independently related to M. hominis colonization (respectively p 0.0001 and p 0.016). Thus, in women colonized by U. urealyticum, BV is an independent risk factor for M. hominis co-colonization
Association of pregnancy and Candida vaginal colonization in women with or without symptoms of vulvovaginitis.
A case of Capnocytophaga canimorsus sepsis and suspected myocardial injury following a dog bite
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis in a population of Italian and immigrant outpatients.
Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis are associated with non-gonococcal urethritis, increased risk of recurrent miscarriage, infertility and pelvic inflammatory disease. Migration flows from other countries change the local epidemiological profile of infectious diseases of patients treated by general practitioners and hospital doctors. Few studies have evaluated this ever-changing issue in the Italian population. The aim of this study was to assess possible differences in prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of U. urealyticum and M. hominis in a population of 433 Italian and immigrant outpatients by means of the commercially available MYCOFAST Screening EvolutioN 3 Kit. Prevalence of positive samples was 44.5% in Italian patients and 53.4% in immigrants. Samples positive for U. urealyticum and total isolates were more frequent in African patients: U. urealyticum, 51.5% vs 33.3%; Yates-corrected chi-square=3.98; p=0.046; total isolates, 54.5% vs 34.3%; Yates-corrected chi-square=4.45; p=0.035. Among samples positive for U. urealyticum, 66.4% were resistant to ciprofloxacin, whereas 27.6% to ofloxacin. In M. hominis isolates, 66.7% were resistant to both azythromycin and roxythromycin. Our study showed how prevalence of genital mycoplasmas and antibiotic resistance profiles change in relation to the country of origin. Therefore, surveillance is critical for the early cure and prevention of the occurrence of resistant strains
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