Unsung heroes. Relishing the independence. Interview by Kathy Stodart.
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BACKGROUND: In many animals, survival during infection depends on the ability to coordinate interactions between the host immune system and gut microbiota. These tripartite interactions, in turn, potentially shape pathogen virulence evolution. A key regulator of the immune system and, hence, bipartite interactions in insects is the immune deficiency (Imd) pathway, which modulates gut microbiota and pathogens by synthesizing antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) through the NF-κB transcription factor Relish. However, whether Imd-dependent AMPs mediate indirect interactions between gut microbiota and pathogens in a tripartite context remains unclear. Using RNAi-mediated knockdown of Tenebrio molitor Relish (TmRelish), we hypothesized that Imd-dependent AMPs influence indirect interaction between Providencia burhodogranariea_B (P. b_B) infection and the gut microbiota. RESULTS: TmRelish knockdown altered bipartite interactions by disrupting gut microbiota load and composition, increasing pathogen load, and ultimately leading to higher host mortality during infection. However, we did not find support for our tripartite hypothesis that Imd-dependent AMPs mediate indirect interactions between the gut microbiota and P. b_B infection, suggesting the involvement of alternative regulatory pathways or Imd-independent mechanisms. Nevertheless, our investigations of tripartite interactions showed a positive effect of P. b_B infection on gut microbiota load, which in turn stimulated the expression of a subset of AMPs. However, this upregulation of AMPs did not result in reduced P. b_B load. Notably, the gut microbiota did not affect pathogen load but promoted host survival during P. b_B infection, indicating a role in increasing host tolerance rather than resistance. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that while Imd-dependent AMPs may not mediate tripartite interactions in our system, microbiota-host interactions, such as microbiota-mediated immune priming and changes in microbiota load, can shape infection outcomes. These effects on infection outcomes almost certainly exert important selective pressures on the evolution of bacterial virulence.
To defend against microbes, animals regulate a complex immune response. The Drosophila innate immune system deploys a large transcriptional induction of signaling proteins, antimicrobial effectors, and other critical immune factors. This transcriptional response is encoded in enhancers, cis-regulatory sequences that modulate gene expression by binding transcription factors (TFs). While enhancers and transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) have been identified for several immune responsive genes in Drosophila, most enhancers that regulate immune-induced genes are unknown. By identifying enhancers, we can understand how their composition controls expression and contributes to infection outcome. We employed STARR-seq (Self Transcribing Active Regulatory-Region sequencing) in a hemocyte-like cell line to identify immune-specific enhancers across the D. melanogaster genome and performed ATAC-seq in hemocytes extracted from adult flies to assess the chromatin state of these enhancers before and after immune stimulus. We identified thousands of enhancers responsive to IMD stimulation, one of the two primary immune signaling pathways in Drosophila. As expected, immune enhancers are enriched for motifs of Relish, an NF-κB factor, and Kay/Jra, a bZip heterodimer pair, involved in the Imd and JNK pathways respectively, compared to enhancers active in unstimulated cells. However, when grouping enhancers by their target gene's expression timing or functional role or by the enhancers' chromatin accessibility pre- or post-stimulus, different groups of TFBS motifs are enriched, suggesting distinct regulatory logic for different parts of the immune response. Identification and characterization of the diverse array of enhancers that regulate the innate immune response expands our understanding of how animals fight infections.
This paper is divided into four parts. In the first part, some general ideas about Picasso are set forth including: his association with multiple artistic innovations; his use of many different media; his notions of beauty and the relationship between art and nature; his ideas about the placement of body parts, symmetry, and color; and his relish in producing paintings with shock value. Emphasis is placed on the relationship between art and science and on Picasso's role as a researcher and experimentalist. In the second part, works of art during the cubist and postcubist years are discussed with emphasis on the development of simultaneity--the coexistence of different views of an object in the same picture. Topics included are: facial grafting; facial accommodation; multifacialism; profile insertion; snout formation, elevation, and rotation; concurrent faces; and more comprehensive simultaneity. In the third part, other influences on Picasso are presented including: the effects of action, motion, and activity; Surrealism and sexual symbolism; and Picasso's artistic treatment of women. In the fourth part, a comparison is made between Picasso's experiments and nature's experiments.
A rising incidence and mortality rate from cancer of the colon and rectum has been observed in some Chilean regions. An estimated 1.350 hospital admissions and 650 deaths occurred in the last decade. Cumulative risk for developing these lesions is estimated at 0.75% under 60 and 1.52% under 75 years of age. Mean age at presentation was 65 years for colon cancer and 63 for cancer of the rectum. Both sexes were equally affected. Valid survival studies are not available in Chilean literature. The relation of number of deaths and admissions per year was 78.5% for colon cancer and 28.9% for the rectum. From 1965 to 1985 an 83% increase in the prevalence of rectum cancer and 7% for colon cancer was observed. This trend was most marked in the Magallanes region. A family history appears as a significant risk factor (1.4 to 49.1 odds ratio). Borderline significance as risk factors was observed for obesity and meat and relish consumption. No effect of smoking, alcohol intake, history of lithiasis or exposure to asbestus or ionizing radiation was observed.
A survey on food consumption was undertaken in 32 out of 260 households of a rural Tanzanian community (Kikwawila village, Morogoro Region) during the lean season (February) and the post-harvest season (August) in 1983. The survey revealed that the staples maize, rice and cassava are equally important food items of the diet during the lean season. In August, the post-harvest season, rice dominated the food pattern and often replaced the porridge made from maize or cassava. Green vegetables, especially cassava leaves, were the main relish dish for the majority of households in February. Fish became a daily item of the diet of most families in August. Concentrated energy sources such as fats, oil and sugar were scarce in both survey periods. The diets of all age groups of the population surveyed were highly deficient in energy (mean adequacy 58%) and protein (50%) in February. The FAO/WHO-recommended standards (Passmore et al., 1974) were met for protein in August but energy deficiency was still observed (mean adequacy 65%). The variations in energy intake were not only seasonal, but were also age and sex dependent. Young males (10 to 16 years) followed by the infants (6 months to 3 years) and old females (greater than 60 years) were the groups with lowest adequacy (less than 50%) in February. Males (10 to 60 years) had the greatest energy deficits in August. Iron requirements were generally met in most age groups during both seasons. However, children under 3 years as well as adolescent and adult females (mean adequacy 54-65% in August) were at risk for anaemia. The seasonal pattern of the diet did significantly influence the vitamin A intake. While the requirements were fully met in February, a deficiency was noted in August. The low adequacy (40%) for vitamin A during the post-harvest season could be related to the scarcity of leafy vegetables in the diets. The data are discussed and related to the health problems observed in the community during the post-harvest season for three consecutive years.
With all its faults, this study, begun in 1983, is the first attempt to reach a nationwide representation of lesbian elders in order to gather information about their background, their relationship with their families of origin, and, for those married to men, with their husbands, children, and grandchildren. It explores their sexual behavior, both their physical and psychological health, and how aging has affected them. With the relatively meagre data available, it tries to make some comparison between lesbians and gay men over 60. All of this is just a beginning, an effort, it is hoped, that will encourage researchers to investigate further this hidden population that is another fascinating component of our diverse society. Through our research, we established that gay women of advanced age, as we have long surmised, are everywhere. Like their younger cohorts, they live in all regions of America, rural as well as urban. They come in all colors and are from all occupations: professional, business, clerical, trades, domestic work, and land management, to name a few. Many of them are now retired. Their formal education ranges from high school diplomas to doctorate degrees. A few are financially well off, while another few live below the poverty line. The rest enjoy reasonable comfort in their own homes, on modest incomes. In both political and religious affiliation, they tend to be liberal. Their sexual history runs the gamut from exclusively homosexual, through equally homosexual and heterosexual, to asexual. As they age and sex becomes a less significant part of their relationships, companionship grows more important. They prefer to associate with other lesbians within 10 years of their own age, whom they meet in community social groups, through friends, or at work--but not in bars. They do not relish the thought of ending their lives in any institution for the aged, but would consider a gay/lesbian intergenerational retirement community acceptable. Their most serious problems, even with the advantaged group surveyed, are those that affect many women of advanced age in our society: loneliness and economic worries. Although the feminization of poverty has been a topic under public scrutiny for some time, because it involves women of all ages, less attention has been paid to it in relation to the elderly. The equally disabling condition brought on by their isolation and loneliness has also been disregarded.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
By improving the flavour of an elementary diet rich in aminoacids it was possible to treat 33 patients with inflammatory bowel diseases over longer periods compared to the duration of treatment with Vivasorb elementary diet. This was accomplished by addition of certain fruit juices, several kinds of teas, soups and relishes. Difficulties by taste of BSD could largely be overcome.