Burden of rotavirus disease and cost-effectiveness of universal vaccination in the Province of Genoa (Northern Italy).

Rotavirus is acknowledged to be a major cause of acute gastroenteritis in infants and young children. As gastroenteritis due to rotavirus is a public health problem and two new vaccines are currently available, we investigated the rotavirus burden and developed a cost-effectiveness analysis, using data collected in the Province of Genoa (Italy), to evaluate the benefits of new borns vaccination. The cost-effectiveness of a rotavirus vaccination programme in the Province of Genoa was performed, in comparison with no vaccination, for both the regional healthcare system (RHS) and society (S). In 2006, admissions to the paediatric emergency department for gastroenteritis numbered 2338 (about 11% of total admissions); of these 33% were hospitalised. In 28% of cases, the children tested positive for rotavirus. During epidemics, paediatricians receive from 3 to 5 calls per day for gastroenteritis, carry out 1 or 2 ambulatory examinations and for children with a severe case history, make house visits. A rotavirus immunisation programme would have a great impact on disease burden, in that 90% coverage would reduce the number of severe cases by more than 85%. From the perspective of both the RHS and S, vaccination proved to be highly cost-effective.

Signal interactions between nitric oxide and reactive oxygen intermediates in the plant hypersensitive disease resistance response.

Nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen intermediates (ROIs) play key roles in the activation of disease resistance mechanisms both in animals and plants. In animals NO cooperates with ROIs to kill tumor cells and for macrophage killing of bacteria. Such cytotoxic events occur because unregulated NO levels drive a diffusion-limited reaction with O(2)(-) to generate peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)), a mediator of cellular injury in many biological systems. Here we show that in soybean cells unregulated NO production at the onset of a pathogen-induced hypersensitive response (HR) is not sufficient to activate hypersensitive cell death. The HR is triggered only by balanced production of NO and ROIs. Moreover, hypersensitive cell death is activated after interaction of NO not with O(2)- but with H(2)O(2) generated from O(2)(-) by superoxide dismutase. Increasing the level of O(2)(-) reduces NO-mediated toxicity, and ONOO(-) is not a mediator of hypersensitive cell death. During the HR, superoxide dismutase accelerates O(2)(-) dismutation to H(2)O(2) to minimize the loss of NO by reaction with O(2)(-) and to trigger hypersensitive cell death through NO/H(2)O(2) cooperation. However, O(2)(-) rather than H(2)O(2) is the primary ROI signal for pathogen induction of glutathione S-transferase, and the rates of production and dismutation of O(2)(-) generated during the oxidative burst play a crucial role in the modulation and integration of NO/H(2)O(2) signaling in the HR. Thus although plants and animals use a similar repertoire of signals in disease resistance, ROIs and NO are deployed in strikingly different ways to trigger host cell death.

Three high-lysine mutations control the level of ATP-binding HSP70-like proteins in the maize endosperm.

The synthesis and deposition of seed storage proteins in maize are affected by several dominant and recessive mutants. The effect of three independent mutations, floury-2 (fl2), Defective endosperm-B30 (De-B30), and Mucronate (Mc), that reduce zein level in the endosperm were investigated. These mutations also control the level of b-70, a polypeptide bound to protein bodies, which is separable into the two isoforms b-70I and b-70II by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Both isoforms are overexpressed 10-fold in fl2; however, only b-70I is present in De-B30 and Mc, which contain an amount of total b-70 isoforms fivefold higher than in the wild type. Both b-70I and b-70II resemble heat shock protein (HSP70) in that they bind ATP, cross-react with anti-HSP antibodies, and have N-terminal sequence homology to HSP70. All maize protein body-located b-70 characteristics are typical of those of chaperone-like HSPs. A third protein, b-70III, similar in size to but slightly more acidic than b-70I and b-70II, also binds ATP and reacts with the same antibody, providing evidence for the presence in endosperm extracts of a cytosolic chaperone-like protein. The level of b-70III was not altered by the mutations studied. The results suggested that the repression effect of the three mutations on zein accumulation may be mediated by the alteration of a zein transport or zein assembly process involving b-70I and b-70II.

Fungal infections: correlation with previous treatment and use of antimycogram.

From July 1987 to November 1988, 427 strains of mycetes (2.3% out of all microbiological samples) were isolated; 280 of these strains (146 from 84 in-patients, 134 from out-patients) were clinically relevant, and the cause of serious or systemic infections in 47 in-patients. Candida sp. (albicans and non-albicans) were the most frequently isolated (62% in-patients, 72% out-patients): Torulopsis sp., more frequent among in-patients (28% against 16%), were responsible for a limited hospital epidemic. 108 antimycograms were done; 7 patients had antimycotic treatment. In our hands antimycograms were useful in tracing hospital fungal infections. Before mycoses were detected, 78% of in-patients were on antibiotic treatment: 54 on 3rd generation cephalosporins, which seem to foster the outburst of fungi. The authors discuss the phenomenon and suggest some interpretation.

Multiple genes are transcribed in Hordeum vulgare and Zea mays that carry the DNA binding domain of the myb oncoproteins.

cDNA clones were isolated from tissue specific cDNA libraries of barley and maize using as a probe the cDNA of the maize gene C1, a regulator of anthocyanin gene expression. C1-related homology for all of the four cDNAs characterized by sequence analysis is restricted to the N-terminal 120 amino acids of the putative proteins. This region shows striking homology to the N-proximal domain of the myb oncoproteins from vertebrates and invertebrates. Within the myb proto-oncogene family this part of the respective gene products functions as a DNA binding domain. Acidic domains are present in the C-proximal protein segments. Conservation of these sequences, together with the genetically defined regulator function of the C1 gene product, suggest that myb-related plant genes code for trans-acting factors which regulate gene expression in a given biosynthetic pathway.

Effect of a somatostatin analog on insulin requirement and hormone levels in 6 insulin-dependent juvenile-onset diabetics subjected to artificial pancreas.

This study was performed in order to investigate the effect of a 12-h infusion of the somatostatin selective analog D-Trp8, D-Cys14 Serono, (SRIF-A), on insuli requirement and C-peptide (CP), growth hormone (GH) and glucagon (IRG) levels in 6 insulin-dependent diabetics submitted to 60-h artificial pancreas (Biostator Miles) metabolic control from 2000 of the first day to 0800 of the fourth day. Meals were given at 1200 and 1700 of the second and third day. Before meals and 1-2 h after meals, plasma levels of CP, GH and IRG were measured. The two 12-h periods (midday-midnight) with and without continuous SRIF-A 12-h infusion (40 microgram/h) were considered. The SRIF-A infusion caused a 20% reduction in insulin requirement (p < 0.05) and a slight but significant reduction of GH levels (p < 0.05). CP and IRG were unaffected.