Then the coated ITO glass was evaporated under vacuum for 2 h. The following procedure was used in succession: a square frame made of silicon served as a thickness (2 mm) spacer between the lipid-coated

glass and normal glass. The selleck kinase inhibitor chamber was filled with 10 mM HEPES buffer (pH 7.2) through a hole in the silicon spacer. Immediately, the application of 1.7 V (peak-to-peak, sine wave) and 10 Hz to the ITO electrodes was carried out using a sweep function generator (Protek, Sweep Function Generator 9205C) for 2 h. GUVs from the ITO glass were then detached under conditions of 4 V (peak-to-peak, sine wave) and 4 Hz for 10 min. The peptides (at the MIC) were treated and changes of a single GUV were observed using an inverted fluorescence phase-contrast microscope (Leica, DFC420C) (Angelova & Dimitrov, 1986; Angelova et al., 1992; Lee & Lee, 2009). In this study, the antifungal effects of papiliocin were investigated to suggest the potential of the peptide as a novel antifungal peptide, by comparing it with melittin (Table 1), which was derived from the venom of honey bee Apis mellifera. Melittin is a representative membrane-active AMP, helping researchers to understand lipid–protein interactions at the molecular level, and is also known to Palbociclib ic50 have powerful antimicrobial and hemolytic activities (Habermann, 1972; Tosteson et al., 1985; Dempsey, 1990).

The antifungal activity of papiliocin against human fungal pathogens was first examined. AMPs have been considered to exhibit cell selectivity (Matsuzaki, 2009). This means that they selectively kill pathogenic microorganisms without being significantly toxic to human cells. This Florfenicol concept, which coincides with roles of AMPs in innate immunity, arises from a plethora of observations showing that AMPs are nonhemolytic at concentrations well above their MICs against various

microorganisms (Matsuzaki, 2009). A cytotoxicity assay showed that papiliocin exerted antifungal activities against human pathogenic fungal strains, including yeasts and filamentous fungi, with MIC values in the 5–20 μM range, whereas for melittin, MIC values in the 1.25–5 μM range were determined (Table 2). Furthermore, in a previous study, papiliocin did not cause hemolysis of human erythrocytes, at any of the tested concentrations (Kim et al., 2010). Therefore, these results suggest that papiliocin has the potential to be considered as a novel antibiotic peptide for treating fungal diseases in humans, with potent antifungal activity without toxicity to human red blood cells. As antifungal agents could display static or cidal patterns of activity (Lewis, 2007), a time-kill kinetic assay was carried out using C. albicans to elucidate the pattern of activity of papiliocin. Candida albicans is an important pathogen in humans and is versatile as a pathogen.

3c). These differences were not the consequence of different growth rates as both strains showed similar growth curves in minimal medium (data not shown). The M. loti triple mutant also showed a significantly lower competitive ability when co-inoculated with the rhcN mutant strain (Fig. 3a). Different independent experiments (Fig. 3a) indicated a positive role for the protein encoded in mlr6316 in the symbiotic competitiveness on Lo. tenuis cv. Esmeralda: The wt strain showed a slightly higher competitiveness than the mlr6316 mutant, and the same difference was observed when the double mutant mlr6358/mlr6361 was co-inoculated with the triple mutant. The comparison between the results obtained when the wt strain

was co-inoculated with the mlr6316 mutant and those obtained when the wt strain was co-inoculated with the triple mutant indicates Ion Channel Ligand Library mouse that the triple mutation affects competitiveness more drastically than the single mutation in mlr6316 (Fig. 3a and b). This suggests the possibility that the protein encoded in mlr6358 and/or the protein encoded in mlr6361 play a positive role in the symbiotic

competitiveness. Consistent with this, the double mutant mlr6358/mlr6361 was less competitive than the wt strain (Fig. 3a). The triple mutation in mlr6358, mlr6361, and mlr6316 also Selleckchem Ku0059436 caused a more drastic effect on competitiveness than the combined mlr6316/mlr6361 mutation (Fig. 3a and b). This indirectly indicates that Mlr6358 has a positive effect on competitiveness on Lo. tenuis. No statistically significant differences were observed in competitiveness on Lo. tenuis cv. Esmeralda between the wt and the mlr6361 mutant or between the wt and the double mutant mlr6331/mlr6361 (Fig. 3a). However, the mutant affected in both Mlr6361

and Mlr6331 showed decreased competitiveness compared with the wt strain on Lo. japonicus tetracosactide MG-20 (Fig. 3c). To determine which of the two proteins are responsible for the positive effect on this plant, co-inoculation assays of the double mutant with each of the single mutants were performed. Results indicate that the double mutant was less competitive than the single mutant affected in mlr6361 but more competitive than the single mutant affected in mlr6331 (Fig. 3c). This indicates that Mlr6331 has a positive effect and that Mlr6361 has a negative effect on the competitiveness on Lo. japonicus MG-20. We determined the nodulation kinetics for the M. loti wt, the rhcN mutant, and the triple mutant on Lo. tenuis cv. Esmeralda (Fig. 4). Although the rhcN mutant showed greater competitive ability on this plant (Fig. 3a), its nodulation kinetics was negatively affected when compared with the wt strain. On the other hand, in concordance with the competitiveness results, the M. loti triple mutant presented a kinetic phenotype significantly negatively affected compared with the wt strain and a delayed nodulation kinetics compared with the rhcN mutant strain (Fig. 4).

We have shown that the bacteriocins produced by UAL307 (CclA, CbnBM1 and PisA) are effective antimicrobial agents against Gram-negative pathogens, insofar as they can access the cytoplasmic membrane. Because UAL307 is already approved for use in processed meats, we are highly interested in pursuing the potential of PisA or CclA cotreatment with EDTA as a food preservation method for

inhibiting both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Furthermore, we have shown that the different classes of bacteriocins used in this study (lantibiotics, type IIa and circular) exhibit different spectra of activity, highlighting that these classes of bacteriocins kill Gram-negative bacteria by unique modes of action. We thank Dr Marco van Belkum for advice, and Lara Silkin, Erika Steels Romidepsin in vitro and Dr Karen Kawulka for assistance in the purification of nisin, PisA and SubA. This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC),

see more the Canada Research Chair in Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, the Advanced Foods and Materials Network (AFMNet) and Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR). Appendix S1. The activity of bacteriocins from Carnobacterium maltaromaticum UAL307 against Gram-negative bacteria in combination with EDTA treatment. Please note: Wiley-Blackwell is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting materials supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing material) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article. “
“The YgjD protein is essential for the synthesis of the universal tRNA modification, N6-threonylcarbamoyladenosine (t6A), which is necessary for the decoding of ANN codons. We isolated a suppressor (ygjDsup) of the ygjDts mutant by its permissive

growth at high temperature in Escherichia coli. Mannose-binding protein-associated serine protease Resequencing of the ygjDsup mutant genome showed the presence of a complicated chromosome rearrangement, an inverse insertion of a large duplicated region (c. 450 kb) into a small deleted region. The temperature-resistant growth associated with ygjDsup was due to the presence of multicopy suppressor genes, yjeE and groL, of the ygjDts mutation in the duplicated region. This DNA rearrangement was not simply mediated by IS1 transposition, but the duplicated region was flanked by IS1. We showed that the frequency of IS1 transposition was increased in ygjDts mutants. The transposase of IS1 is coded for by the insB gene, and its translation occurs through a frameshift of a ribosome translating upstream of the insA gene. We showed that this frameshifting frequency was increased by the ygjDts mutation. These results indicated that the mutation of the gene for tRNA modification, t6A, affected IS1 transposition.

, 2009): Ceritinib in vivo MD was significantly higher in patients with ADHD in these regions, but no difference was observed for FA values (Pavuluri et al., 2009). Moreover, decreased FA in the SLF and in the corticospinal tract in children and adolescents with ADHD has been demonstrated (Hamilton et al., 2008). Our

findings of increased FA bilaterally in frontotemporal WM connections point to an involvement of widespread brain areas in the pathophysiology of ADHD. While temporal structural abnormalities have not yet been described in previous MRI and DTI studies, a recent functional MRI study demonstrated bilateral temporal lobe dysfunction in boys with ADHD (Rubia et al., 2007). Possible reasons for the discrepancy with respect to the results of DTI studies in childhood and adolescence could be the sample heterogeneity between studies, the medication status of the investigated patients and the different diffusion imaging parameters between studies. In contrast to the majority of imaging studies in ADHD, we only included never-medicated patients in our study. Particularly, none of the patients had received any ADHD-specific treatment before such as psychostimulant medication. We are therefore able to exclude potential medication effects on imaging results as well as on neuropsychological findings.

In addition, we have excluded patients with ADHD with acute psychiatric comorbidity. Although Sorafenib mw we did not include medicated patients and patients with acute psychiatric comorbidity, symptom

severeness of our patients as measured with the BADDS was quite high (Brown, 1996; Table 1). For completeness, it also needs to be mentioned heptaminol that the possibility of false positive results in our study cannot be entirely excluded. In fact, taking into account the relatively weak group differences in our study, which would not survive a correction for multiple comparisons, and also the findings in DTI studies conducted by other groups in (adult) ADHD (Casey et al., 2007; Makris et al., 2008), replication studies would be desirable to confirm these findings. To our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating a direct association between microstructural integrity and measures of attention in adult patients with ADHD. The correlation analyses between diffusion parameters and the ADHD score, which reflects the ability to focus attention (Greenberg & Kindschi, 1996), demonstrated significant findings in the right SLF. This specific fibre pathway together with the cingulum bundle connects frontal areas and cortical regions at the right temporo-occipito-parietal junction, which are considered to play a key role in processing information related to attentional functions (Makris et al., 2008).

Pseudomembranous colitis was observed in 26 cases. It was caused by Clostridium difficile in 15 cases, and then production of extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL) was observed in eight cases. Criteria of the administration of antibiotics were different among the hospitals. The criteria of antibiotics selleck chemical administration during the perioperative period were different among the hospitals and the surgical procedure. Although fatal complications due to postoperative infection are rare in the gynecologic field, C. difficile infection and the production of ESBL were observed on occasion. Thus, our committee must make the

criteria of antibiotics administration at the perioperative period. None of the authors has anything to disclose. “
“Aim:  Non-endometrioid endometrial cancer is a clinically and pathologically distinct subtype of endometrial cancer.

The aim of this study was to determine whether systematic pelvic lymphadenectomy improves overall survival compared to no lymphadenectomy in non-endometrioid endometrial cancer. Material and Methods:  The authors retrospectively reviewed the medical records and pathological findings of 112 patients who underwent surgical staging for non-endometrioid endometrial cancer from 2000 to 2006 in Korea. Results:  Systematic pelvic lymphadenectomy selleck chemicals was performed in 71 patients. Pelvic lymph node metastases were identified in 31% and 14.6% patients who underwent systematic pelvic lymphadenectomy and no lymphadenectomy, respectively. After adjusting for risk factors, there was no significant difference in overall survival (odds ratio = 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.29–1.67) between patients who did or did not undergo systematic pelvic lymphadenectomy. On multivariate analysis, patients with lymph node metastasis had higher risk of death (odds ratio = 3.11; 95% confidence

interval, 0.97–10.00) than the patients with no lymph node metastasis. Conclusion:  Although systematic pelvic lymphadenectomy did not affect overall survival in patients with the non-endometrioid subtype, it has the potential benefit of providing prognostic Methamphetamine information and acting as a guide for further adjuvant treatment. “
“Aim:  Hormones and inflammation have been implicated in the pathological process of endometriosis; therefore, we investigated the combined effects of 17β-estradiol (E2) and peritoneal fluid obtained from patients with endometriosis (ePF) or a control peritoneal fluid (cPF) obtained from patients without endometriosis on the release of monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) by monocytes and the role of signaling pathways. Methods:  Monocytes were cultured with ePF and cPF in the presence of E2; the MCP-1 levels in the supernatants were then measured by ELISA. In addition, mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation was measured by Western blotting of phosphorylated proteins.

0 kPa) and a repeatedly normal ALT should be given the option to commence treatment or to be monitored not less than 6-monthly with HBV DNA and ALT and at least yearly for evidence of fibrosis (2C). We recommend all patients with a CD4 <500 cells/μL are treated with fully suppressive ART inclusive of anti-HBV-active Forskolin ic50 antivirals (1B). We

recommend at least two baseline HBV DNA measurements are obtained 3 to 6 months apart to guide initiation of therapy. We recommend 6-monthly HBV DNA measurements for routine monitoring of therapy. We recommend that an ALT level below the upper limit of normal should not be used to exclude fibrosis or as a reason to defer HBV therapy. Normal levels of ALT should be considered as 30 IU/L for men and 19 IU/L for women. GSK2118436 cost Proportion of patients with a CD4 ≥500 cells/μL and an HBV DNA ≥2000 IU/mL and/or evidence of more than minimal fibrosis (Metavir ≥F2, Ishak ≥S2, or

TE ≥9.0 kPa) commencing ART inclusive of anti-HBV antivirals Central to the optimal management of patients infected with HBV and HIV is the need for adequate assessment of both HBV and HIV status to inform the decision as to whether neither, HBV alone or both viruses require treatment. Recommendations for the patient with HBV monoinfection are generally based on HBV DNA levels, Idelalisib ic50 evidence of liver inflammation and degree of fibrosis, and the same is true for those with coinfection. A raised ALT most often reflects HBV-induced inflammation and the need for treatment, although significant liver damage may be present without

raised transaminases, especially in the setting of HIV coinfection [7]. Hence, assessment of liver fibrosis by TE or liver biopsy should be performed in all patients, and will guide decisions including the need for therapy in those with high CD4 cell counts and no HIV indication for ART, the choice of drug treatment, and the need for HCC screening. Liver biopsy may provide additional information on the degree of inflammation and fibrosis and exclude the presence of other pathology. No RCT evidence exists, and the assessment and recommendations on when to initiate ART are based on theoretical considerations and indirect data: i) observational data demonstrating HBV/HIV infection is associated with a faster rate of fibrosis progression and an increased risk of cirrhosis, ESLD, HCC and liver-related death when compared to HBV monoinfection [7,22–27].

More recently, C. vulgaris NJ-7, a strain isolated from the Antarctic, was used to investigate the adaptation of eukaryotic microbes to permanently cold environments (Hu et al., 2008; Li et al., 2009). The strain NJ-7 possesses the same 18S rRNA gene sequence as that of UTEX259, a strain isolated

from the temperate region, but shows a significantly intensified freezing tolerance (5- to  1000-fold higher viability) than the temperate strain. Comparative studies of the two C. vulgaris strains provide opportunities to understand how intra-species learn more evolution is undertaken in eukaryotic microbes to adapt to the Antarctic or other extreme environments. HIC6 is a group-3 late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) protein found in C. vulgaris. Together with HIC12, it was first identified by 2D-HPLC and SDS-PAGE to be hardening (cold treatment)-induced in the strain C-27 (Honjoh et al., 1995). Its cDNA was also identified by differential screening of a cDNA library (Joh et al., 1995) or suppression subtractive hybridization (Machida et al., 2008). LEA Omipalisib research buy proteins were initially found at the late stage of embryogenesis in cotton (Galau et al., 1986) and were subsequently found in algae (such as C. vulgaris), cyanobacteria (Close & Lammers, 1993), nematodes (Browne

et al., 2002) and fungi (Abba’ et al., 2006). The proteins can be divided into different groups on the basis of similarities in amino acid sequences (Colmenero-Flores et al., 1997; Cuming, 2005; Battaglia et al., 2008). Like many other LEA proteins, HIC6 remained soluble under boiling conditions and showed in vitro cryoprotective activities on lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (Honjoh et al., 2000). Overexpression of HIC6 in plant or yeast could enhance their freezing tolerance (Honjoh et al., 1999, 2001), and

in the transgenic plant, HIC6 was localized to mitochondria (Honjoh et al., 2001). In strains NJ-7 and UTEX259, the encoding gene hiC6 was also induced upon exposure to cold, and the expression was intensified in strain NJ-7 in comparison with UTEX259 (Li et al., 2009). These results suggest that the enhanced expression of hiC6 is probably involved in the development of freezing tolerance in C. vulgaris. The intensified expression of hiC6 in NJ-7 could be due to gene duplication, increased transcription or post-transcriptional regulation. Roflumilast In our previous study, only one hiC6 gene was identified in each of the two Chlorella strains, NJ-7 and UTEX259 (Li et al., 2009). In the present study, however, sequencing of that chromosomal region revealed that multiple hiC6 genes are organized in tandem in both strains. The tandem-arrayed genes encode different HIC6 isoforms and are differentially expressed. Chlorella vulgaris strains were grown in BG11 (Stanier et al., 1971) in the light of 50 μE m−2 s−1 at 20 °C with aeration. Cells grown at 20 °C were cooled to 4 °C in a water bath and transferred to a 4 °C refrigerator with aeration and illumination (50 μE m−2 s−1) for different periods of time.

Three E. coli strains DH5α, Jm107 and BL21 (DE3) and three plasmids pGEM-T, pET-28a and pCAMBIA

with different sizes (3000, 5369 and 8428 bp, respectively) were Everolimus cost used to test the protocol. The results indicated a significant increase in number of transformed colonies compared with heat-shock method. Our findings also demonstrated the favourable impacts of glycerol on transformation of E. coli. “
“A novel thermophilic, anaerobic, keratinolytic bacterium designated KD-1 was isolated from grassy marshland. Strain KD-1 was a spore-forming rod with a Gram-positive type cell wall, but stained Gram-negative. The temperature, pH, and NaCl concentration range necessary for growth was 30–65 °C (optimum 55 °C), 6.0–10.5 (optimum 8.0–8.5), and 0–6% (optimum 0.2%) (w/v), respectively. Strain KD-1 possessed extracellular keratinase, and the optimum activity of the crude enzyme was pH 8.5 and 70 °C. The enzyme was identified as a thermostable serine-type protease. The strain was sensitive to rifampin, Gefitinib ic50 chloramphenicol, kanamycin, and tetracycline and was resistant to erythromycin, neomycin, penicillin, and streptomycin. The main cellular fatty acid was predominantly C15:0 iso (64%), and the G+C content was 28 mol%. Morphological and physiological characterization, together with phylogenetic analysis based

on 16S rRNA gene sequencing identified KD-1 as a new species of a novel genus of Clostridiaceae with 95.3%, 93.8% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to Clostridium ultunense BST (DSM 10521T) and Tepidimicrobium xylanilyticum PML14T (= JCM 15035T), respectively. We propose the name Keratinibaculum paraultunense gen. nov., sp. nov., with KD-1 (=JCM 18769T =DSM 26752T) as the type strain. “
“The

freshwater cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 exhibits light-dependent growth. Although it has been reported that DNA replication also depends on light irradiation in S. elongatus 7942, the involvement of the light in the regulation of DNA replication remains unclear. 4-Aminobutyrate aminotransferase To elucidate the regulatory pathway of DNA replication by light, we studied the effect of several inhibitors, including two electron transport inhibitors, 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU) and 2,5-dibromo-3-methyl-6-isopropyl-p-benzoquinone (DBMIB), on DNA replication in S. elongatus 7942. DCMU inhibited only DNA replication initiation, whereas DBMIB blocked both the initiation and progression of DNA replication. These results suggest that DNA replication depends on the photosynthetic electron transport activity and initiation and progression of DNA replication are regulated in different ways. “
“Most glycolipid antigens used for serological tests of Mycoplasma pneumoniae are not M. pneumonia-specific, and can cross-react with other microorganism antigens and body tissues, resulting in false positives. It is important to identify M. pneumonia-specific antigen(s) for serological testing and correct diagnosis.

Three E. coli strains DH5α, Jm107 and BL21 (DE3) and three plasmids pGEM-T, pET-28a and pCAMBIA

with different sizes (3000, 5369 and 8428 bp, respectively) were selleck kinase inhibitor used to test the protocol. The results indicated a significant increase in number of transformed colonies compared with heat-shock method. Our findings also demonstrated the favourable impacts of glycerol on transformation of E. coli. “
“A novel thermophilic, anaerobic, keratinolytic bacterium designated KD-1 was isolated from grassy marshland. Strain KD-1 was a spore-forming rod with a Gram-positive type cell wall, but stained Gram-negative. The temperature, pH, and NaCl concentration range necessary for growth was 30–65 °C (optimum 55 °C), 6.0–10.5 (optimum 8.0–8.5), and 0–6% (optimum 0.2%) (w/v), respectively. Strain KD-1 possessed extracellular keratinase, and the optimum activity of the crude enzyme was pH 8.5 and 70 °C. The enzyme was identified as a thermostable serine-type protease. The strain was sensitive to rifampin, Trametinib supplier chloramphenicol, kanamycin, and tetracycline and was resistant to erythromycin, neomycin, penicillin, and streptomycin. The main cellular fatty acid was predominantly C15:0 iso (64%), and the G+C content was 28 mol%. Morphological and physiological characterization, together with phylogenetic analysis based

on 16S rRNA gene sequencing identified KD-1 as a new species of a novel genus of Clostridiaceae with 95.3%, 93.8% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to Clostridium ultunense BST (DSM 10521T) and Tepidimicrobium xylanilyticum PML14T (= JCM 15035T), respectively. We propose the name Keratinibaculum paraultunense gen. nov., sp. nov., with KD-1 (=JCM 18769T =DSM 26752T) as the type strain. “
“The

freshwater cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 exhibits light-dependent growth. Although it has been reported that DNA replication also depends on light irradiation in S. elongatus 7942, the involvement of the light in the regulation of DNA replication remains unclear. Bumetanide To elucidate the regulatory pathway of DNA replication by light, we studied the effect of several inhibitors, including two electron transport inhibitors, 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU) and 2,5-dibromo-3-methyl-6-isopropyl-p-benzoquinone (DBMIB), on DNA replication in S. elongatus 7942. DCMU inhibited only DNA replication initiation, whereas DBMIB blocked both the initiation and progression of DNA replication. These results suggest that DNA replication depends on the photosynthetic electron transport activity and initiation and progression of DNA replication are regulated in different ways. “
“Most glycolipid antigens used for serological tests of Mycoplasma pneumoniae are not M. pneumonia-specific, and can cross-react with other microorganism antigens and body tissues, resulting in false positives. It is important to identify M. pneumonia-specific antigen(s) for serological testing and correct diagnosis.

T levels in archived serum were measured using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The LC-MS/MS system includes equipment for extraction of serum samples and automated sample loading, as well as a cohesive high-turbulence liquid chromatography system, and a Thermo-Finnigan Quattro

Tandem Mass Spectrometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Waltham, GDC-0199 mouse MA, USA). This assay has a sensitivity of 2 ng/dL, and the interassay coefficient of variation ranged from 3.3 to 7.7%. Sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG) was measured using radioimmunoassay (RIA). The SHBG assay uses a two-site directed immunofluorometric assay with a sensitivity of 2.5 nmol/L and is highly specific, with less than 0.1% cross-reactivity with known circulating proteins. Finally, FT was calculated Inhibitor Library from total T and SHBG measurements using the Vermeulen equation [17]. Additional variables of interest included race, body

mass index (BMI), the presence of hypertension, current smoking status and the use of lipid-lowering agents. These variables were collected from semi-annual interview data. Fasting specimens for high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, insulin and glucose to calculate homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) [18] were collected. In HIV-infected individuals, CD4 cell count and viral load were collected. Current and prior exposure to the major antiretroviral classes, i.e. protease inhibitors (PIs), nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) and nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), was collected from semi-annual data. Current and prior exposure to individual Non-specific serine/threonine protein kinase antiretroviral agents was also collected. This was a cross-sectional analysis of data from a single visit. We compared demographic and clinical characteristics of participants with and without HIV infection, using χ2 tests to compare counts and prevalence measurements.

To compare continuous variables, we used the two-sample t-test or Wilcoxon rank sum test, depending on the distribution of the variables. We first constructed two multivariable logistic regression models using data for all participants, with CAC presence and carotid lesion presence as the two outcomes being modelled and log-transformed FT as the primary independent variable in each model. Other covariates included in the models were HIV status, age, BMI, race (Black vs. other), smoking, HDL cholesterol ≤40 mg/dL, LDL cholesterol ≥ 160 mg/dL, HOMA-IR, hypertension, lipid-lowering agent use and clinic site. We then modelled the relationship between carotid IMT and FT using a multivariable linear regression model. The dependent variable for the model was log-transformed IMT, and the primary independent variable was log-transformed FT. We included HIV status, age, BMI, race (Black vs.