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In higher plants, Zn nutritional imbalance can affect growth, physiology and response to stress, with effect variable depending on host–pathogen interaction. Mechanisms through which Zn operates are not yet well known. The hormone salicylic acid (SA) can affect plant ion uptake, transport and defence responses. Thus, in this study the impact of Zn imbalance and SA co‐supply on severity of infection with the necrotrophic fungal pathogen B. cinerea or the biotroph G. cichoracearum was assessed in A. thaliana Col‐0.Spectrophotometric assays for pigments and malondialdehyde (MDA) content as a marker of lipid peroxidation, plant defensin 1.2 gene expression by semi‐quantitative PCR, callose visualization by fluorescence microscopy and diseases evaluation by macro‐ and microscopic observations were carried out.Zinc plant concentration varied with the supplied dose. In comparison with the control, Zn‐deficit or Zn‐excess led to reduced chlorophyll content and PDF 1.2 transcripts induction. In Zn‐deficient plants, where MDA increased, also the susceptibility to B. cinerea increased, whereas MDA decreased in G. cichoracearum. Zinc excess increased susceptibility to both pathogens. Co‐administration of SA positively affected MDA level, callose deposition, PDF 1.2 transcripts and plant response to the two pathogens.The increased susceptibility to B. cinerea in both Zn‐deficient and Zn‐excess plants could be related to lack of induction of PDF 1.2 transcripts; oxidative stress could explain higher susceptibility to the necrotroph and lower susceptibility to the biotroph in Zn‐deficient plants. This research shows that an appropriate evaluation of Zn supply according to the prevalent stress factor is desirable for plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common reed Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. is one of the most widely distributed angiosperms with important ecological functions. In recent decades, it has been affected by a severe decline known as reed die-back syndrome (RDBS), the causal factors of which are still under investigation. Among the biotic factors that influence the dynamic of the reed population, the role of microorganisms is still poorly understood. During surveys carried out on P. australis populations in Central Italy, Claviceps-like sclerotia were detected: is Claviceps infection related to P. australis sexual reproduction and seed production? Could Claviceps infection be involved in the RDBS? These are the questions that we address. We characterized the sclerotia at the morphological, molecular, and chemical level and we demonstrated that they belong to Claviceps arundinis Pažoutová & M. Kolařík. To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. arundinis on P. australis in Italy. Furthermore, the association of C. arundinis with RDBS was evaluated considering a set of macromorphological traits generally related to RDBS, such as P. australis clumping habit, culm height and diameter. No correlation was seen between the occurrence of C. arundinis and the declining status of reed populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is known and Objective Tacrolimus has a narrow therapeutic index and shows large interindividual variations in pharmacokinetics, which may be partly explained by genetic variability in metabolic enzymes of the cytochrome P450 (mainly CYP3A4 and CYP3A5) and transport P-glycoprotein (encoded by the ABCB1 gene). Genetic variability in the expression of biotransformation enzymes and drug transporters may also predispose individuals to tacrolimus-induced nephrotoxicity. Case Summary We report a case of severe biopsy-proven Tacrolimus ( TAC) nephrotoxicity that occurred 1 month after renal transplantation despite persistently low TAC levels. The donor genotype was CYP3A5*3/*3 (loss-of-function genotype), whereas that of the recipient was CYP3A5*1/*3. The donor and recipient genotypes did not differ with respect to either CYP3A4 rs35599367C>T (both were CC homozygotes) or ABCB1 gene polymorphisms (both TT homozygotes for the 1236C>T polymorphism and CT heterozygotes for the 3435C>T polymorphism). What is new and Conclusion This case study suggests that donor/recipient genetic mismatch in metabolic enzymes may have an important role in modulating tacrolimus nephrotoxicity. It provides a possible explanation for the intriguing observation that for a subset of patients, cumulative TAC doses appear to correlate better with nephrotoxicity than trough levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which investigates the association of anti-IFI16 antibodies and diseases characteristics in systemic lupus erythematosus. It states that the anti-IFI16 antibodies in the sera of 168 SLE patients were measured using an enzyme-linked-immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The result of the study shows that the renal inflammation in SLE was not contributed by anti-IFI16 antibodies.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different clinical covariates on tacrolimus dose requirements in adult kidney transplant patients with a specific focus on drug interactions. Patients: Tacrolimus dosing requirement, normalized by drug levels and expressed as the concentration/dose (C/D) ratio as a surrogate index of tacrolimus bioavailability, was employed to identify four categories of tacrolimus dosing requirement, namely, very high, high, small, and very-small, in very fast, fast, slow, and very slow metabolizers, respectively. Steroid weight-based doses were analyzed instead of fixed doses, and genetic analysis of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A5*1/*3 and multi-drug resistance 1 ( MDR1) C3435T and C1236T polymorphisms were performed Results: Multivariate analysis on 450 adult transplant patients identified six risk factors for being slow metabolizers and therefore requiring small tacrolimus doses: male sex (OR 1.615, p = 0.020); age >60 years (OR 2.456, p = 0.0005); body mass index ≥25 (OR 1.546, p = 0.046), hepatitis C virus positivity (OR 2.800, p = 0.0004); low steroid dose <0.06 mg/kg (OR 3.101, p < 0.0001). Patients with a small tacrolimus requirement were at increased risk for multiple infections (OR 1.533, p = 0.0008) and higher systolic blood pressure (OR 1.385, p = 0.022) and showed a significant association with the CYP3A5*3/*3 genotype adjusted by MDR1 polymorphisms C3435T and C1236T (OR 8.104, p = 0.0001). Conclusions: Our results demonstrate the importance of the interaction among genetic and clinical factors in conditioning tacrolimus disposition, with corticosteroid weight-based dose being the only modifiable risk factor for tacrolimus requirement. As the tacrolimus dosing requirement increases with increasing tacrolimus clearance through concomitant steroid use, undesirable changes in tacrolimus levels may occur when steroid doses are tapered, predominantly in slow metabolizers. This often neglected drug interaction has to be monitored to optimize tacrolimus exposure in kidney transplant patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Treatment of idiopathic membranous nephropathy is based on a 'symptomatic' therapy that includes ACE inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor antagonists, and on an 'aetiological' therapy aimed at modulating underlying immunological mechanisms. The role of the latter is still debated given the usually indolent course of disease; furthermore, traditional immunosuppressants would not have an impact on patient and renal survival according to a systematic review of literature. However, up to 40% of untreated patients eventually develop end-stage renal disease and remission of nephrotic syndrome protects patients from related life-threatening complications and is the strongest positive prognostic factor for long-term kidney function. Therefore, immunosuppressive therapy seems to be rational in high-risk patients with nephrotic syndrome or deteriorating renal function. This article outlines a possible role for each 'aetiological' therapy on the basis of available evidence in order to provide some practical recommendations. The first-line therapy is based on a 6-month regimen of alternating corticosteroids and an alkylating agent ('Ponticelli' regimen), whereas oral ciclosporin and intramuscular corticotrophin (adrenocorticotrophic hormone) are alternatives that provide comparable results in terms of remission of proteinuria, with a different adverse effect profile. New drugs are emerging as potential treatments, such as mycophenolate mofetil, tacrolimus, intravenous immunoglobulins and rituximab. Specific settings, such as chronic renal failure or elderly age, require a careful balance between benefits and toxicity of immunosuppression. The tailor-made use of this repertoire of drugs can provide a tool to achieve remission of proteinuria and modify the natural course of idiopathic membranous nephropathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Although renal biopsy is largely employed, even in old patients with systemic diseases, few clinical studies have addressed its risk management. We aimed to obtain a comprehensive assessment of safety/utility ratio of percutaneous renal biopsy. Patients and methods Retrospective review of all the 1387 patients who consecutively underwent renal biopsy in a single centre over three decades (1973–2002) was made, with calculation of complications, multivariate logistical analyses to evaluate risk factors of complications, and rate of alteration of clinical hypotheses by pathological diagnosis. Results There were no deaths and five major complications, (0·36%). One nephrectomy (0·07%), two surgical revisions (0·1%) and two arterial-venous fistulae (0·1%). There were also 337 minor bleeding complications (24·2%) (16·4% gross haematuria and 7·8% clinically relevant haematomas needing at least prolonged bed rest). Multivariate analyses demonstrated that the risk for complications was significantly increased by systemic autoimmune diseases with odds ratio (OR) 2·06, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1·40–3·01, end-stage kidney/acute-tubular necrosis (OR 2·96, 95% CI = 1·19–7·30), and prolonged bleeding time test (BTT) (OR 1·87, 95% CI = 1·17–2·83). Among the 1288 cases in which a clinical hypothesis before renal biopsy was recorded, renal pathology changed previous diagnoses in 423/1,288 (32·8%) of cases. Conclusions Risk assessment demonstrates that renal biopsy is a useful procedure with a low incidence of serious complications. Platelet function is the only modifiable factor significantly related to bleeding complications, suggesting the need for a more standardized alternative to the BTT. Platelet function should be evaluated to select low-risk patients for renal biopsy as ‘a day case procedure’, in order to build adequate risk management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In France a harm-reduction policy was implemented in the late 1980s with the aim of reducing the prevalence of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among drug users. The ANRS-Coquelicot survey was designed to measure the prevalence of HIV and HCV infection among drug users and to examine determinants of at-risk behaviors. In 2002, information was collected from 166 drug users recruited in all types of services specializing in drug use intervention and harm reduction in Marseille, France. Self-reported HIV and HCV serostatus was compared with the results of serological tests done on capillary blood collected on filter paper. The self-reported and biologically documented prevalence rates of HIV infection were identical (22%). In contrast, the self-reported prevalence of HCV infection was 52%, whereas the biologically documented prevalence was 73%. Overall, 30% of HCV-infected drug users were unaware of their status. Forty-four percent of drug users under 30 years of age were HCV seropositive, suggesting that they had been infected early during drug use. The harm-reduction policy seems to have had a marked impact on HIV transmission among drug users but a much more limited impact on HCV transmission. The limitations and implications of the study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present here analytic expressions for the generalised Lindhard function, also referred to as Fermi gas polarisation propagator, in a relativistic kinematic framework and in the presence of various resonances and vertices. Particular attention is payed to its real part, since it gives rise to substantial difficulties in the definition of the currents entering the dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We address the problem of two pairs of fermions living on an arbitrary number of single-particle levels of a potential well (mean field) and interacting through a pairing force in the framework of the Richardson equations. The associated solutions are classified in terms of a number vl, which reduces to the seniorityvin the limit of a large pairing strengthGand yields the number of pairs not developing a collective behaviour, their energy remaining finite in theG?8 limit. We express analytically, through the moments of the single-particle levels distribution, the collective mode energy and the two critical valuesGcr+ andGcr- of the coupling which can exist on a single-particle level with no pair degeneracy. NotablyGcr+ andGcr-, when the number of single particle levels goes to infinity, merge into the critical coupling of a one-pair systemGcr (when it exists), which is not envisioned by the Richardson theory. In correspondence ofGcr, the system undergoes a transition from a mean-field- to a pairing-dominated regime. We finally explore the behaviour of the excitation energies, wave functions and pair transfer amplitudesversusGfinding out that the former, forG>Gcr-, come close to the BCS predictions, whereas the latter display a divergence atGcr, signaling the onset of a long-range off-diagonal order in the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isoscalar monopole and dipole resonances in [sup 90]Zr, [sup 116]Sn, [sup 144]Sm, and [sup 208]Pb are studied within the framework of self-consistent HF-RPA or HF-BCS plus quasiparticle RPA. A comparison with recent experimental data obtained at Texas A&M University, as well as the problems related to the determination of the nuclear incompressibility K[sub ∞], is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we apply Nuclear Field Theory techniques to describe the 123Te K-electron capture, whose half-life is reported to be the longest one ever measured in a single β decay. The theoretical half-life we obtain varies in the range (6.0 × 1019 − 8.9 × 1019)yr, which overestimates by a factor 3–4 the experimental one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Il Nuovo Cimento della Societa Italiana di Fisica: D is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Il Nuovo Cimento della Societa Italiana di Fisica: D is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

An abstract of the article "Realtime PCR Assay Based on RPB2 Gene for Identification of Botrytis Cinerea From Pelargonium Zonale" by C. Moretti, M. Quaglia, D. E. Nicosia and R. Buonaurio is presented.

Fusarium corm rot, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. gladioli (fogl), is the most important disease of saffron, causing severe yield losses in Italy. Sixty-two isolates of fogl collected from saffron corms in central Italy (Abruzzo and Umbria) and five isolates obtained from Spain were characterized by rep-PCR, using the primers BOX and REP. Isolates of F. oxysporum ff.sp. cyclaminis, lactucae, lycopersici, melongenae, melonis and radicis-lycopersici and isolates of F. avenaceum, F. equiseti, F. graminearum, F. proliferatum, F. sporotriochioides, F. semitectum and F. solani were included in the analyses for comparison. Primers REP discriminated fogl, from the other species or formae speciales better than BOX. Cluster analysis, performed with the Dice's coefficient, revealed a big cluster which includes 50 fogl (75%) and one F. solani isolates. Within this cluster, Spanish isolates were clearly separated in a sub-cluster. Our results confirm the suit ability of rep-PCR for Fusarium species and formae speciales characterization. The primers E-F and A-B described by de Haan et al. (2000) for the race 1 of fogl are not suitable for a real-time PCR-based assay we intend to develop for detecting fogl isolates in saffron corms and in soils. All saffron fogl isolates and other Fusarium spp. generated a DNA band with a different mass respect to that expected. RAPD analysis is in progress to find specific sequences for developing the real-time PCR-based assay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented about the lupus erythematosus after influenza vaccination.

An abstract of the article "Extracts of Vegetation Waste Water from Olive Milling Against Pomegranate Postharvest Pathogens" by M. Quaglia and colleagues is presented.

An abstract of the article "The Arabidopsis Sepal Functions as Defense Barrier of the Developing Flower Against the Biotrophic Pathogen Golovinomyces cichorace arum" by M. Quaglia and colleagues is presented.

An abstract on the study relating to the effect of pathogen-induced volatile organic compound on powdery mildew infection, aphid infection, and gene induction in tobacco is presented.

Annually, about 10 million tons of olives, mostly used for oil production, are collected in the Mediterranean basin. An average of 10 million m³3 of waste, mainly as vegetation waters, result from the oil extraction processes. The olive mill wastewaters (OMW) have disposal problems due to their high content in organic matter and in phenols. These last compounds also confer antimicrobial activity to OMW and to OMW-derived products, suggesting their possible use in pest management. Here, a phenolic concentrate, obtained from OMW (CEOMW) through a membrane filtration process, was characterized by HPLC-DAD. The effect of CEOMW, used at different doses expressed as mg ml-1 of phenols, was tested in vitro against phytopathogenic oomycetes and fungi. Compared to the untreated controls, CEOMW significantly reduced the number of Penicillium expansum colonies at the doses from 0.25 to 4 mg ml-1, the mycelial growth of Phytophthora infestans (2 and 4 mg ml-1) and of Alternaria sp., Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici and Monilia sp. (4 mg ml-1). Instead, at the lowest doses (from 0.125 to 2 mg ml-1), CEOMW significantly increased the mycelial growth of the last three fungi. The mycelial growth of Botrytis cinerea was not affected by CEOMW at all the tested doses (from 0.125 to 4 mg ml-1). On apple fruits, CEOMW (4 mg ml-1) was not able to contain P. expansum infection, both when used for its antimicrobial activity and when used as resistance inducer. The inability to induce resistance has been also verified through analysis of PR-1a gene transcripts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]