Those harboring a clean deletion of liaR were identified using PCR. Bacillus subtilis wild-type and mutant strains were inoculated from fresh overnight cultures and grown aerobically in LB medium until an OD600 nm of c. 0.5. The cultures were split into 1 mL samples and different concentrations of

rhamnolipids were added. The effect of rhamnolipids see more on cell density of each sample was monitored over a period of 7 h. Genome-wide expression profiling is a powerful approach to characterize the response to a certain stimulus, such as the presence of antimicrobial compounds. It has also been used to gain insights into inhibitory mechanisms and to differentiate between different modes of action of novel antibiotics (Hutter et al., 2004; Fischer & Freiberg, 2007; Wecke et al., 2009). We used genome-wide DNA microarray analysis to investigate the response of the model organism B. subtilis to the presence of rhamnolipids, which have been shown to affect cell envelope integrity (Vasileva-Tonkova et al., 2011). B. subtilis was treated with sublethal concentrations (50 μg mL−1) of rhamnolipids, which is sufficient to induce a transcriptional response, but does not impair growth of the culture, as can be demonstrated 3-deazaneplanocin A in vitro by concentration-dependent lysis curve experiments (see below and Fig. 3). After 10 min of induction,

total RNA was prepared and DNA microarray analysis performed. Expression of 40 loci was ≥fivefold increased by rhamnolipids compared Cell press with the mRNA levels of an uninduced culture (Table 3 and Fig. 1a). Almost half

of these loci can be assigned to known regulons of TCS or ECF σ factors. The most strongly induced locus was the liaIHGFSR operon (c. 640-fold), which is autoregulated by the LiaRS TCS (Mascher et al., 2004). The first two genes of this locus, liaIH, represent the main targets of LiaRS-dependent signal transduction and liaH encodes a phage-shock protein homolog. The LiaRS TCS is activated by cell wall antibiotics, especially lipid II-interacting compounds, but it does not mediate resistance against most of its inducers (Mascher et al., 2004; Wolf et al., 2010). Strong expression of the lia locus also resulted in significant read-through transcription of the downstream located gerAAABAC operon, which has been observed previously for both B. subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis (Mascher et al., 2003; Wecke et al., 2006). The genes htrA (c. 60-fold) and htrB (c. 25-fold), both encoding serine proteases, were also strongly induced by rhamnolipids (Table 3 and Fig. 1a). Expression of both genes is controlled by the TCS CssRS, which is activated by heat and secretion stress. Expression of cssRS itself was not induced by rhamnolipids, similar to the effect of heat stress, although moderately increased expression of this operon can be observed under secretion stress conditions caused by overexpression of the secretory protein α-amylase (Darmon et al.

In addition to mbhA, several intercellular genes (including asgA and popC) Selleckchem AZD2014 appear to have been subject to HGT (Goldman et al., 2007), but all of the intracellular pathway genes assessed by Goldman et al. (2007) seem to have evolved vertically. Firstly, on average, intercellular genes have more severe phenotypes upon deletion than intracellular genes (Fig. 2), producing approximately fivefold fewer spores (14% and 72% of wild-type sporulation, respectively). Secondly, intracellular genes are more variable than intercellular genes, as manifested

by lower mean percentage identities and similarities when aligned against their orthologues in S. aurantiaca (67% identity and 78% similarity compared with 77% identity and 85% similarity, respectively). There is a medium strength correlation (ρ=0.374) between percentage identity and percentage of wild-type sporulation. Developmental timers

and nutrient sensors also differ quantifiably. Developmental timers have a small average effect on spore yield upon deletion (117% of wild-type sporulation) and high sequence variability (61% identity and 75% similarity to S. aurantiaca orthologues), whereas nutrient sensors have relatively severe effects on deletion (44% of wild-type sporulation) and exhibit reduced NU7441 in vitro sequence variability (72% identity and 81% similarity to their S. aurantiaca orthologues), as can be seen in Fig. 2. Intracellular pathway genes were found on average to lie only 1374 coding sequences (CDSs) from the origin (17.3% of the genome), while the mean for intercellular pathway genes was 2106 CDSs (27.0% mafosfamide of the genome). The average for all genes in the genome is 1879 CDSs (25% of the genome). Developmental timer genes were found to lie particularly close to the origin (mean 628 CDSs, 7.8% of the genome), while nutrient sensor genes averaged 1891 CDSs from the origin (23.6% of the genome). Genomic location and sequence conservation (percentage identity) exhibit a medium strength correlation (ρ=0.428), while the genomic location and severity of a phenotype are strongly correlated (ρ=0.651). Student’s two-sample t-tests (not assuming

equal variance) lent highly significant support (P<0.05 in all cases) to the proposal that the intercellular and intracellular genes assessed had been sampled from discrete populations, whether assessing percentage identity, percentage similarity, distance from origin or severity of phenotype. Statistically significant correlations were also observed between genomic location, sequence conservation and severity of phenotype (reported above), and correlation coefficients were of a similar magnitude whether derived from parametric or nonparametric (Spearman) tests of correlation. Further support for categorization on the basis of a mechanistic role (intercellular vs. intracellular, and nutrient sensor vs. developmental timer) was also obtained from a variety of nonparametric tests, including Mann–Whitney U-tests (P<0.

This region has not been shown to be involved in the binding of l-arginine or in the hexamerization of the protein. This domain could be implicated

in a specific interaction with the other Xer system factors, such as the PepA protein. Our experiments demonstrate that the α6-helix of ArgR can be mutated without reducing the protein’s ability to repress the expression of genes involved in arginine biosynthesis or its capacity to bind l-arginine or to form higher order structures. However, when the PLX4032 ic50 end of this helix is disrupted by additional residues, or by premature termination, its role in Xer site-specific recombination is severely hindered. Further studies will demonstrate the exact role of this region in the formation of the recombinational synapse and how it interacts with the Xer recombinational machinery. We would like to thank Dr Jannette Carey for supplying us with E. coli strain EC146(λAZ-7), Finbarr Hayes for supplying us with

plasmid pFH395, Aboud Mounayerdji for assistance with β-galactosidase assays and François Aller, Loubna Jouan, Manuela Villion, Maxime Leroux and Hua Liu for their assistance and advice. This work Ponatinib in vivo was supported by Discovery grant 106085-06 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. “
“Cell-surface expression of phytase allows the enzyme to be expressed and anchored on the cell surface of Pichia pastoris. This avoids tedious downstream processes such

as purification and separation involved with extracellular expression. In addition, yeast cells with anchored proteins can be used as a whole-cell biocatalyst with high value added. In this work, the phytase was expressed on the cell surface of P. pastoris with a glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchoring system. The recombinant phytase was shown to be located at the cell surface. The cell-surface phytase exhibited high activity with an optimal temperature Sclareol at 50–55 °C and two optimal pH peaks of 3 and 5.5. The surface-displayed phytase also exhibited similar pH stability and pepsin resistance to the native and secreted phytase. In vitro digestibility test showed that P. pastoris containing cell-surface phytase released phosphorus from feedstuff at a level similar to secreted phytase. Yeast cells expressing phytase also provide additional nutrients, especially biotin and niacin. Thus, P. pastoris with phytase displayed on its surface has a great potential as a whole-cell supplement to animal feed. Phosphorus is largely stored in most foods of plant origin as phytic acid (Oh et al., 2004). Monogastric animals lack a sufficient level of phytate-hydrolyzing enzymes in their gastrointestinal tracts, and so are unable to digest phytate efficiently. Furthermore, phytic acid acts as an antinutritional factor by interfering with absorption of divalent cations and amino acids in the gut.

9, P > 0.1 Z-IETD-FMK in vivo for area, F2,360 = 0.54, P > 0.5 for epoch). The results indicate that the Fano factor was equivalent in the two areas and the different contribution of the two areas on behavioral choice could not be accounted for by a difference in response variability between areas. Analysis of choice probability in the delayed match-to-sample task revealed

systematic differences between the effects of neuronal activity in each area on behavior; however, the nature of errors in this task could involve multiple factors. As the monkeys were only allowed to make behavioral responses after a delay and a subsequent match/non-match stimulus presentation, error responses could be caused by a target discrimination failure, or failure to maintain the location of the salient stimulus Trametinib datasheet in memory. To test more directly whether the relationship between neuronal activity and detection of the salient stimulus differed in the parietal and prefrontal cortex we analysed choice probability in a reaction-time version of the task (Fig. 1C). In this task variant, the monkeys were trained to report the presence or absence of the salient

stimulus as soon as the stimulus array was presented. When the salient stimulus was present (Go trials), the animals were required to release the lever as fast as possible to receive a reward. When the salient stimulus was absent (NoGo trials), the monkeys were required to keep holding the lever. A reward was delivered after 0.8 s of continuing to hold the lever in this case. Analysis of choice probability in this task allowed us therefore to determine the influence of neuronal activity in detecting the salient target per se. This task had three difficulty levels using the same color scheme as the delayed match-to-sample task (Fig. 1D, dotted box). Error trials were categorized into two groups: (i) miss trials in which the monkeys did not release the lever when the salient stimulus was presented (which should have been Go trials) and (ii) false alarm trials

in which the monkeys falsely Etoposide in vivo reported the presence of the salient stimulus when it was not presented (which should have been NoGo trials). We again identified neurons with at least three error trials per condition, resulting in a total of 17 dlPFC neurons and 14 LIP neurons that were used for this analysis. Behavioral performances in the sessions of the dlPFC and LIP recordings were not significantly different (61 and 57% for the level 3 trials, respectively; t-test, t12 = 1.80, P > 0.09). Choice probability was computed using trials of the most difficult levels (level 3) with at least three error trials. Time-resolved choice probabilities were computed for Go trials when the salient stimulus appeared in the neuron’s preferred location (correct detections vs. miss trials). Choice probabilities were computed separately for all NoGo trials pooled (based on false alarms vs. correct rejections).

Methods:  Patients consecutively included into the joint database of five university hospitals were analyzed for low or high disease activity according to different criteria. Standardized mean differences (SMD) for two ASDAS versions were evaluated. selleck compound Results:  The ASDAS versions (back pain, morning stiffness, patient global pain, pain/swelling of peripheral joints, plus either erythrocyte sedimentation rate or C-reactive protein) discriminated high and low disease activity in subgroups according to Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (BASDAI) and ASAS remission/partial remission criteria. ASDAS versions

were also not influenced by peripheral arthritis and correlated well with other outcome measurements and

acute-phase reactants. The ASDAS versions performed better than patient-reported measures or acute-phase reactants discriminating high and low disease activity status. Conclusion:  Both ASDAS versions, consisting of both patient-reported data and acute-phase reactants, performed well in discriminating low and high disease activity. Further longitudinal data may better estimate the usefulness of ASDAS to JQ1 cell line assess disease activity subgroups and treatment response. “
“Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease and glucocorticoid is the mainstay of treatment in SLE. The reported incidence of steroid-induced diabetes mellitus (SDM) ranged between 1–53%. We sought to investigate the prevalence and associated factors of SDM in patients with SLE. A total of 100 SLE patients attending

the Nephrology/SLE and Rheumatology Clinic, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) who received corticosteroid treatment were recruited. The diagnosis of diabetes mellitus was based on the 2010 American Diabetes Association’s criteria. Prevalent cases of SDM were also included. Statistical analysis was performed to determine the factors associated with SDM. Thirteen of them (13%) developed SDM, with the median onset of diagnosis from Protein kinase N1 commencement of glucocorticoid treatment being 8 years (range 0.5–21 years). Although only seven Indians were recruited into the study, three of them (42.9%) had SDM compared to Malays (9.3%) and Chinese (12.8%) (P ≤ 0.05). Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that higher numbers of system or organ involvement in SLE, abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia and daily prednisolone of ≥ 1 mg/kg/day were the important associated factors of SDM (P ≤ 0.05). Meanwhile, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) use was associated with reduced SDM prevalence (P < 0.05). The prevalence of SDM among SLE patients was 13% and Indians were more prone to develop SDM compared to other races. Higher numbers of system involvement, abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia and the use of oral prednisolone of ≥ 1 mg/kg/day were associated with SDM, while HCQ use potentially protects against SDM.

We conducted a cross-sectional survey of all team-based and usual care physicians (attending physicians and medical residents) who worked on the participating clinical teaching unit or primary healthcare

teams during the study period. They were invited to complete an online version of the validated Physician-Pharmacist Collaboration Index (PPCI) survey at the end of the study. The main endpoint of interest was the mean total PPCI score. Only three (response rate 2%) of the usual care physicians responded and this prevented us from conducting pre-specified comparisons. A total of 23 team-based physicians completed the survey (36%) and reported a mean total PPCI score of 81.6 ± 8.6 out of a total Sunitinib of 92. Mean domain scores were highest for relationship initiation (14.0 ± 1.4 out of 15), and trustworthiness (38.9 ± 3.7 out of 42), followed by role specification (28.7 ± 4.3 out of 35). Pharmacists who are pursuing collaborative practice in inpatient settings may find the PPCI to be a meaningful tool to gauge the extent of collaborative working relationships with physician team members. “
“Objectives  This study sought to identify patients’ perceived drug knowledge, need for more information and drug information sources,

and how they varied by patient characteristics, particularly education level. Methods  A convenience sample of 366 adult patients was interviewed when leaving 20 Egyptian pharmacies after collecting a dispensed prescription. Akt inhibitor Patients were asked about their (1) perceived knowledge of their drugs’ purpose, (2) use of package inserts (PIs) to learn about side selleck inhibitor effects, contraindications and drug interactions, (3) perceived need to know more about their drugs and (4) general sources of drug information beyond healthcare providers. Key findings  More than 30% of the patients reported that they did not know the purpose of at least one of their drugs and only read PIs selectively. Whereas 36% read about drug interactions, more reported reading about side effects (65%) and contraindications (60%) in PIs. Sixty-nine

per cent of patients reported that they needed more information about their drugs. This was true for 86.8% of patients with limited education compared to 48.5% of university graduates. University graduates reported using PI topics, newspapers, internet, TV and family and friends as sources of drug information at significantly higher rates than did patients with lower levels of education. Conclusion  There is a need for healthcare professionals to evaluate patient comprehension and needs for drug information, especially for patients with less schooling. Healthcare providers should also consider other information sources that a patient is using. “
“Objective  Antiretroviral therapy requires strict adherence to ensure therapeutic success.

The factors associated with vitamin D insufficiency are Bangkok resident, non-farmer, obesity and not taking vitamin D supplementation. “
“Adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) is a rare chronic inflammatory disorder presenting with prolonged fever and polyarthritis. Retrospective study of patients with AOSD, seen between 1992 and 2009 at a large tertiary care hospital. Twenty-nine patients (18 female) with median age at onset of 28 (17–58) years were seen. The clinical features included fever in 29, inflammatory polyarthritis in 26, sore throat in eight and typical rash in 13. Lymphadenopathy was present in 15, hepatomegaly in 15, splenomegaly in 13

and serositis in five patients. Anemia was present in 22, neutrophilic leukocytosis in 28 and thrombocytosis in 13 patients. Acute phase reactants Epigenetics inhibitor were elevated in all. Fifteen patients had transaminitis. Low titer antinuclear antibodies were present in 6/28 patients. On median follow-up (25 patients) of 23.7 months (range: 3–84) one patient had self-limited or monocyclic pattern, eight had polycyclic and 16 had chronic articular pattern. All patients received non-steroidal Luminespib anti-inflammatory drugs and 25 received methotrexate and/or prednisolone. During the course 14 patients had remission and of these six

were in remission on drugs at last follow-up. One patient received tociliziumab and was in clinical remission. One patient developed macrophage activation syndrome and one had atlanto-axial dislocation. Three patients developed tuberculosis and two died of infection associated with immunosuppression. AOSD is an uncommon

disorder with 1–2 patients seen at a large tertiary care rheumatology unit. Overall AOSD has a fair outcome with significant morbidity and most needing long-term therapy with steroids and methotrexate. “
ported. To examine the serum vitamin D status in Thai RA patients and possible independent factors affecting serum 25 hydroxyvitamin vitamin D (25(OH)D) and the associations of serum 25(OH)D level and the disease activity and functional status in Thai RA patients. A cross-sectional study was performed in 239 Thai RA patients. The blood levels Thiamet G of 25(OH)D2 and D3 were measured by chemiluminescent immunoassay. Disease activity was assessed according to tender and swollen joint counts, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), visual analog scale for global patient assessment, Disease Activity Score-28 (DAS-28) and Thai Health Assessment Questionnaire (Thai HAQ). The mean vitamin D level was 28.79 ng/mL. There were no associations between 25(OH)D levels and number of tender and swollen joint counts, DAS-28 score, HAQ score or rheumatoid factor (RF) and/or anti-cyclic citrulinated peptide (CCP) positivity. After multivariated analysis, Bangkok residents, non-farmer, obesity and non-vitamin D supplementation were the predictors for vitamin D insufficiency in Thai patients with RA.

The factors associated with vitamin D insufficiency are Bangkok resident, non-farmer, obesity and not taking vitamin D supplementation. “
“Adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) is a rare chronic inflammatory disorder presenting with prolonged fever and polyarthritis. Retrospective study of patients with AOSD, seen between 1992 and 2009 at a large tertiary care hospital. Twenty-nine patients (18 female) with median age at onset of 28 (17–58) years were seen. The clinical features included fever in 29, inflammatory polyarthritis in 26, sore throat in eight and typical rash in 13. Lymphadenopathy was present in 15, hepatomegaly in 15, splenomegaly in 13

and serositis in five patients. Anemia was present in 22, neutrophilic leukocytosis in 28 and thrombocytosis in 13 patients. Acute phase reactants AZD5363 clinical trial were elevated in all. Fifteen patients had transaminitis. Low titer antinuclear antibodies were present in 6/28 patients. On median follow-up (25 patients) of 23.7 months (range: 3–84) one patient had self-limited or monocyclic pattern, eight had polycyclic and 16 had chronic articular pattern. All patients received non-steroidal Osimertinib anti-inflammatory drugs and 25 received methotrexate and/or prednisolone. During the course 14 patients had remission and of these six

were in remission on drugs at last follow-up. One patient received tociliziumab and was in clinical remission. One patient developed macrophage activation syndrome and one had atlanto-axial dislocation. Three patients developed tuberculosis and two died of infection associated with immunosuppression. AOSD is an uncommon

disorder with 1–2 patients seen at a large tertiary care rheumatology unit. Overall AOSD has a fair outcome with significant morbidity and most needing long-term therapy with steroids and methotrexate. “
ported. To examine the serum vitamin D status in Thai RA patients and possible independent factors affecting serum 25 hydroxyvitamin vitamin D (25(OH)D) and the associations of serum 25(OH)D level and the disease activity and functional status in Thai RA patients. A cross-sectional study was performed in 239 Thai RA patients. The blood levels SPTLC1 of 25(OH)D2 and D3 were measured by chemiluminescent immunoassay. Disease activity was assessed according to tender and swollen joint counts, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), visual analog scale for global patient assessment, Disease Activity Score-28 (DAS-28) and Thai Health Assessment Questionnaire (Thai HAQ). The mean vitamin D level was 28.79 ng/mL. There were no associations between 25(OH)D levels and number of tender and swollen joint counts, DAS-28 score, HAQ score or rheumatoid factor (RF) and/or anti-cyclic citrulinated peptide (CCP) positivity. After multivariated analysis, Bangkok residents, non-farmer, obesity and non-vitamin D supplementation were the predictors for vitamin D insufficiency in Thai patients with RA.

The F plasmid transfer region is regulated by an intricate web of host- and plasmid-encoded factors, with F TraJ and H-NS playing important opposing roles in regulating F transfer region gene expression in response to nutritional and extracytoplasmic stress (Will et al., 2004; Lau-Wong et al., 2008; Frost & Koraimann, 2010). However, the mechanism by which F TraJ counteracts H-NS repression remains unclear. F TraJ appears to contain an HTH DNA-binding motif (residues 154–180), suggesting that TraJ and H-NS might compete for DNA-binding sites within the PY region. F TraJ

contains a glycine (G166) at the turn between helix-2 and helix-3, the recognition helix, which is characteristic of HTH DNA-binding proteins (Pabo & Sauer, 1992; Aravind et al., 2005). Mutations this website of G166, Y163 and H169 within the HTH motif resulted in reduced mating ability using complementation assays, whereas mutations upstream or PD0325901 downstream of the motif did not affect mating ability. This would suggest that, whereas the glycine is important, the sequence of the helices within the HTH motif can vary. The importance of G166 for DNA binding was revealed using the ChIP assay. Although this assay did not indicate the precise

sequence recognized by TraJ, it demonstrated that TraJ is a DNA-binding protein and that it binds to the PY region and potentially releases it from H-NS silencing (Will & Frost, 2006). The deletion of only four amino acids from the C-terminus 17-DMAG (Alvespimycin) HCl of TraJ prevented the activation of PY as measured by mating ability assays, but did not prevent TraJ dimerization or DNA binding in vivo. Thus, desilencing of H-NS-repressed PY by F TraJ appears to involve other aspects of TraJ function. Remarkably, deletion of the last four amino acids from the Yersinia pseudotuberculosis activator RovA, which counteracts H-NS silencing of the inv genes in that system, also blocks RovA function, but does not prevent its binding to DNA (Tran et al., 2005). TraJ, RovA and a similar activator in Salmonella enterica, SlyA (Perez et al., 2008), share sequence similarity and charge distribution within their

C-terminal tails (Fig. 1b). Nevertheless, it seems that charge is not an important factor in TraJ or RovA functioning because single substitutions of charged C-terminal amino acids by alanine did not have any effect on transcriptional activation. The C-terminal tail in RovA is considered to be surface exposed in order to interact with RNA polymerase and directly activate transcription (Tran et al., 2005). RovA and SlyA are members of the MarR/SlyA subfamily that are homodimers (Ellison & Miller, 2006) and bind DNA via a winged-helix domain, which is an HTH motif, followed by two β-strands (Aravind et al., 2005; Fang & Rimsky, 2008). Although it more closely resembles tetra-helical HTH proteins such as LuxR (Aravind et al., 2005), TraJ might activate transfer gene expression in a manner similar to RovA and SlyA.

For the SMR, age-specific Selleckchem GSK2126458 and gender-specific mortality rates, the reference population was taken to be the general population resident in Brescia Province. Event rates in demographic subsets of the reference population were used to calculate

the ‘expected rates’ for SMR denominators. Event rates in demographic subsets of the HIV-infected population were used to calculate ‘observed rates’ for SMR numerators. The ratio between the observed and the expected death and chronic disease rates in the index population provided the SMR and SHR, respectively. For event rates that are similar in the HIV-infected population and in the general population the SMR or SHR is close to 1, while for values less than or greater than 1, rates in HIV-infected population are lower or higher,

respectively, than those expected based on estimates in the general population. For either SMR or SHR, Byar’s approximation was used to calculate the 95% confidence intervals (CIs) [13]. Data management and analyses were performed using the stata software (Stata Statistical Software release 9.1, 2006; Stata Corporation, College Station, TX, USA) [14]. The main characteristics of the HIV-infected population are shown in Table 1. For the period 2003–2007, 3200 patients were identified as receiving care for HIV infection from the National Health System in the form of provision of drugs, out-patient consultations, and in-patient and day-hospital care. The number of HIV-infected persons increased from Selleck Obeticholic Acid 2263 in 2003 to 2893 in 2007, representing an annual increase of 7.0%. In addition,

the prevalence of HIV infection increased from 218 HIV-infected persons per 100 000 receiving care in 2003 to 263 per 100 000 in 2007, an annual increase of 5.1%. However, the increase in prevalence cannot be attributed to an increase in new cases (incidence). The average incidence rate of detected cases during the period was stable at around 22 per 100 000, with a transient decrease in 2006 (16 per 100 000). By contrast, the number of ‘lost’ cases (deaths and patients who moved Orotidine 5′-phosphate decarboxylase outside the Province) was always lower than the number of new cases. In particular, mortality rate showed a marked decrease from 24 per 1000 HIV-infected persons in 2003 to 16 per 1000 in 2007. The average age of HIV-infected patients receiving care increased continuously from 40 years in 2003 to 43 years in 2007, while the average age of new cases was stable at approximately 39 years. Female patients represented less than a third of prevalent cases, although this proportion appeared to increase among new cases. The proportion of patients on antiretroviral treatment increased from 69.7% in 2003 to 80.0% in 2007. The SMRs and SHRs for chronic diseases in the HIV-infected population compared with the general population, adjusted for gender and age, are shown in Fig. 1.