Effect of Brown Rust on Yield of Sugarcane in Louisiana.

Brown rust, caused by Puccinia melanocephala, can cause severe epidemics in susceptible sugarcane cultivars during spring and early summer in Louisiana. The effect of the disease on yield was evaluated in field experiments conducted during three growing seasons. A mixture of three fungicides-azoxystrobin, propiconazole, and tebuconazole-applied biweekly during the spring epidemic period kept brown rust severity low (<5%), and plants protected by fungicide applications throughout the epidemic provided an estimate of attainable yield for comparison with plants naturally infected with rust.

Efficacy and safety of darunavir/ritonavir in treatment-experienced HIV type-1 patients in the POWER 1, 2 and 3 trials at week 96.

Background: Long-term (96-week) efficacy and safety of the protease inhibitor (PI) darunavir coadministered with low-dose ritonavir (DRV/r) was evaluated in HIV type-1 (HIV-1)-infected patients with extensive prior treatment experience in the POWER 1, 2 and 3 trials.

Methods: Patients with HIV-1 RNA>or=1,000 copies/ml and >or=1 primary PI mutation were randomized to receive either DRV/r 600/100 mg twice daily plus an optimized background regimen (OBR), or an investigator-selected control PI (CPI) plus OBR (POWER 3 was a DRV/r 600/100 mg twice daily single-arm study). The proportion of patients with HIV-1 RNA<50 copies/ml at week 96 was assessed (intent-to-treat [ITT], time-to-loss of virological response algorithm).

SynCAM1 recruits NMDA receptors via protein 4.1B.

Cell adhesion molecules have been implicated as key organizers of synaptic structures, but there is still a need to determine how these molecules facilitate neurotransmitter receptor recruitment to developing synapses. Here, we identify erythrocyte protein band 4.1-like 3 (protein 4.

Computational and experimental analyses converge to reveal a coherent yet malleable aptamer structure that controls chemical reactivity.

As short nucleic acids, aptamers in solution are believed to be structurally flexible. Consistent with this view, most aptamers examined for this property have been shown to bind their target molecules by mechanisms that can be described as "induced fit". But, it is not known to what extent this structural flexibility affects the integrity of the target-aptamer interaction.

Crystal structure of the membrane fusion protein CusB from Escherichia coli.

Gram-negative bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, frequently utilize tripartite efflux complexes belonging to the resistance-nodulation-division family to expel diverse toxic compounds from the cell. These systems contain a periplasmic membrane fusion protein (MFP) that is critical for substrate transport. We here present the x-ray structures of the CusB MFP from the copper/silver efflux system of E.

A randomized, placebo-controlled, dose-escalation study to determine the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of an HPV-16 therapeutic vaccine in HIV-positive participants with oncogenic HPV infection of the anus.

Objective: Study aimed to assess safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of novel therapeutic HPV-16 E6E7 ISCOMATRIX vaccine for treatment of human papilloma virus (HPV)-related anal intraepithelial neoplasia in HIV-infected men who have sex with men with moderate immunosuppression.

Design: Randomized, multicenter, blinded, placebo-controlled, dose-escalating study investigating 3 different doses of vaccine and different dose schedule. Primary objective to determine safety and tolerability, including clinical status, maintenance of virological control, and CD4 cell count for more than 252 days.

Continuous antiretroviral therapy decreases bone mineral density.

Objectives: To assess the effects of antiretroviral therapy (ART) on bone mineral density (BMD) DESIGN: Randomized comparison of continuous ART (viral suppression group; VS) with intermittent ART (drug conservation group; DC) SETTING: Outpatient clinics in the United States, Australia, and Spain.

Participants: Participants in the Strategies for Management of Antiretroviral Therapy (SMART) Body Composition substudy.

Main Outcome Measures: Annual hip and spine BMD by dual-energy radiographic absorptiometry (DXA) and spine BMD by quantitative computed tomography (qCT).

Lipoprotein particle subclasses, cardiovascular disease and HIV infection.

Objective: To study the association of lipoprotein particles with CVD in a subgroup of HIV-infected patients who were enrolled in the Strategies for Management of Anti-Retroviral Therapy (SMART) study. SMART was a trial of intermittent use of ART (drug conservation [DC]) versus continuous of ART (viral suppression [VS]).

Methods: In a nested case-control study, lipoprotein particles (p) by nuclear magnetic resonance were measured at baseline and at the visit prior to the CVD event (latest levels) for 248 patients who had a CVD event and for 480 matched controls.

Review: correlations between oxygen affinity and sequence classifications of plant hemoglobins.

Plants express three phylogenetic classes of hemoglobins (Hb) based on sequence analyses. Class 1 and 2 Hbs are full-length globins with the classical eight helix Mb-like fold, whereas Class 3 plant Hbs resemble the truncated globins found in bacteria. With the exception of the specialized leghemoglobins, the physiological functions of these plant hemoglobins remain unknown.

Thirty years later: enrichment practices for captive mammals.

Environmental enrichment of captive mammals has been steadily evolving over the past thirty years. For this process to continue, it is first necessary to define current enrichment practices and then identify the factors that limit enhancing the quality and quantity of enrichment, as well as the evaluation of its effectiveness. With the objective of obtaining this information, an international multi-institutional questionnaire survey was conducted with individuals working with zoo-housed mammals.

Long-term patterns in CD4 response are determined by an interaction between baseline CD4 cell count, viral load, and time: The Asia Pacific HIV Observational Database (APHOD).

Background: Random effects models were used to explore how the shape of CD4 cell count responses after commencing combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) develop over time and, in particular, the role of baseline and follow-up covariates.

Methods: Patients in Asia Pacific HIV Observational Database who first commenced cART after January 1, 1997, and who had a baseline CD4 cell count and viral load measure and at least 1 follow-up measure between 6 and 24 months, were included. CD4 cell counts were determined at every 6-month period after the commencement of cART for up to 6 years.

Effect of rosiglitazone on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma gene expression in human adipose tissue is limited by antiretroviral drug-induced mitochondrial dysfunction.

Background: Treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 with thymidine-analogue nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (tNRTIs) causes lipoatrophy, mitochondrial toxicity, and lower adipose tissue expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma [PPARG gene]). Rosiglitazone (RSG), a PPARgamma agonist, improves congenital lipoatrophy but not HIV lipoatrophy.

Methods: Serial fat biopsies were taken from HIV-infected, lipoatrophic men randomized to receive RSG or placebo for 48 weeks.

Herbicide Effects on Sugarcane Growth, Pythium Root Rot, and Pythium arrhenomanes.

ABSTRACT Six herbicides were evaluated for their effects on Pythium root rot and growth of sugarcane in greenhouse experiments and on in vitro mycelial growth rate of Pythium arrhenomanes. Pendimethalin and atrazine were most inhibitory to mycelial growth, but neither reduced root rot severity. Asulam, atrazine, and metribuzin were not phytotoxic to sugarcane and did not affect root rot symptom severity in clay loam or silt loam field soils.

Protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibitor herbicide effects on pythium root rot of sugarcane, pythium species, and the soil microbial community.

ABSTRACT The effects of three protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibitor herbicides, azafenidin, flumioxazin, and sulfentrazone, on Pythium root rot of sugarcane and the soil microbial community were evaluated in greenhouse experiments. Herbicides were applied as foliar and soil treatments. There were no consistent effects on plant growth or disease parameters.

New therapeutic agents in the management of HIV: an overview of darunavir for clinicians.

This overview will provide the reader with summarised information about darunavir, a new protease inhibitor licensed for the treatment of drug resistant HIV-infection. Darunavir is a promising new drug with good clinical efficacy data and safety profile. In this overview clinicians will be updated on clinical efficacy data, side-effects, resistance profile and drug interactions.

Determination of the underlying cause of death in three multicenter international HIV clinical trials.

Purpose: Describe processes and challenges for an Endpoint Review Committee (ERC) in determining and adjudicating underlying causes of death in HIV clinical trials.

Method: Three randomized HIV trials (two evaluating interleukin-2 and one treatment interruption) enrolled 11,593 persons from 36 countries during 1999-2008. Three ERC members independently reviewed each death report and supporting source documentation to assign underlying cause of death; differences of opinion were adjudicated.

Double-stranded RNA-mediated suppression of Period2 expression in the suprachiasmatic nucleus disrupts circadian locomotor activity in rats.

Circadian behavioral rhythms in mammals are controlled by a central clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). PER2, the protein product of the clock gene, Period 2 (Per2), is expressed rhythmically in the SCN [Beaule C, Houle LM, Amir S (2003) Expression profiles of PER2 immunoreactivity within the shell and core regions of the rat suprachiasmatic nucleus: Lack of effect of photic entrainment and disruption by constant light. J Mol Neurosci 21:133-148] and has been implicated in the control of circadian behavioral rhythms based on the evidence that genetic mutations in Per2 abolish free running locomotor activity rhythms in mice [Zheng B, Larkin DW, Albrecht U, Sun ZS, Sage M, Eichele G, Lee CC, Bradley A (1999) The mPer2 gene encodes a functional component of the mammalian circadian clock.

Phase 1 single dose studies to optimize the pharmacokinetics of DG17, a novel HIV-protease inhibitor pro-drug, using sodium bicarbonate and ritonavir.

DG17 is an orally available prodrug of DG35 (a novel HIV protease inhibitor with variable pharmacokinetics). These studies aimed to optimize DG17 pharmacokinetics by gastric acid neutralization and ritonavir pharmacoenhancement. Both studies were conducted using a randomized, cross-over design in which 6 healthy individuals were administered a single dose of 100mg or 200mg DG17, half with the study intervention (sodium bicarbonate solution in the first study, low dose ritonavir in the second).

Temporal Increase and Spatial Distribution of Sugarcane Yellow Leaf and Infestations of the Aphid Vector, Melanaphis sacchari.

Yellow leaf, caused by Sugarcane yellow leaf virus (ScYLV), is a potentially important disease of sugarcane first found in Louisiana during 1996. A survey during 2002 determined that ScYLV infection was present in all sugarcane-production areas of Louisiana. Virus was detected in 48% of 42 fields, and incidence averaged 15% in these fields.

Incidence of putative HIV superinfection and sexual practices among HIV-infected men who have sex with men.

Objectives: To determine the upper limit for the incidence of clinically important HIV superinfection among HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM) and its relationship with engagement in unsafe sexual practices.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort and nested case-control study. Electronic files of all HIV-infected MSM not on antiretroviral therapy were reviewed.

Influence of IFNgamma co-expression on the safety and antiviral efficacy of recombinant fowlpox virus HIV therapeutic vaccines following interruption of antiretroviral therapy.

Therapeutic immunization to stimulate host immune responses and control human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) replication is being investigated as a supplementary treatment for the management of HIV infection. On completion of an earlier study involving three vaccinations while taking combination antiretroviral therapy (CART), twenty-five subjects with plasma viral load (pVL) <50 copies/mL received a booster vaccination with either placebo (n = 7); fowl pox vaccine (rFPV) expressing HIV-1 Gag/Pol; [partial construct- PC (n = 8)] or rFPV coexpressing HIV-1 Gag/Pol and human interferon gamma[full construct - FC (n = 10)]. One week after the booster vaccination, participants stopped ART and were monitored for safety, pVL and immunological parameters for < or =20 weeks.

The structure and function of plant hemoglobins.

Plants, like humans, contain hemoglobin. Three distinct types of hemoglobin exist in plants: symbiotic, non-symbiotic, and truncated hemoglobins. Crystal structures and other structural and biophysical techniques have revealed important knowledge about ligand binding and conformational stabilization in all three types.

HIV infection and high density lipoprotein metabolism.

HIV infection and its treatment are associated with dyslipidemia, including hypoalphalipoproteinemia, and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Parameters of HDL metabolism in HIV-positive patients were investigated in a cross-sectional study. The following groups of subjects were selected: (i) 25 treatment-naïve HIV-infected patients or HIV-infected patients on long therapy break, (ii) 28 HIV-infected patients currently treated with protease inhibitors, and (iii) 33 HIV-negative subjects.