Humoral and cellular immunity to SARS-COV-2 after vaccination with mRNA vaccines in PLWH with discordant immune response. Influence of the vaccine administered

Background: Data on SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine immunogenicity in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLWH) and discordant immune response (DIR) are currently limited. Therefore, we compare the immunogenicity of these vaccines in DIR and immunological responders (IR). Methods: A prospective cohort that enrolled 89 participants. Finally, 22 IR and 24 DIR were analyzed before vaccination (T), one (T) and six months (T) after receiving BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 vaccine. Additionally, 10 IR and 16 DIR were evaluated after a third dose (T). Anti-S-RBD IgG, neutralizing antibodies (nAb), neutralization activity, and specific memory B cells were quantified. Furthermore, specific CD4 and CD8 responses were determined by intracellular cytokine staining and polyfunctionality indexes (Pindex). Results: At T, all participants developed anti-S-RBD. 100% IR developed nAb compared to 83.3% DIR. Spike-specific B cells were detected in all IR and 21/24 DIR. Memory CD4 T cells responded in 5/9 IR and 7/9 DIR, mainly based on the expression of IFN-γ and TNF-α, with a higher Pindex in DIR. Memory CD8 T cells responded in only four participants in each group. At T, anti-S-RBD and nAb titers were higher in DIR than in IR. In both groups, there was an increase in specific B memory cells, higher in DIR. Six IR and five DIR maintained a specific memory CD4 response. Memory CD8 response was preserved in IR but was lost in DIR. In a multivariate linear regression analysis, receiving mRNA-1273 instead of BNT162b2 played a prominent role in the results. Conclusions: Our data suggest that PLWH with DIR can mount an immune response similar to those with higher CD4, provided they receive the mRNA-1273 vaccine instead of others less immunogenic.In collaboration with the Gilead Biomedical Research Grants Program GLD21_00096. In addition, this work was supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund “a way to make Europe” through the Program Miguel Servet to AG-V (CP19/00159), PFIS contract to AS-A (FI21/ 00165) and EM-M (FI19/00304) and programa Rio Hortega to MM-T (CM21/00115). Consejerı́a de Transformación Económica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades, Junta de Andalucı́a, grant P20_00906

The ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC

ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is a general-purpose, heavy-ion detector at the CERN LHC which focuses on QCD, the strong-interaction sector of the Standard Model. It is designed to address the physics of strongly interacting matter and the quark-gluon plasma at extreme values of energy density and temperature in nucleus-nucleus collisions. Besides running with Pb ions, the physics programme includes collisions with lighter ions, lower energy running and dedicated proton-nucleus runs. ALICE will also take data with proton beams at the top LHC energy to collect reference data for the heavy-ion programme and to address several QCD topics for which ALICE is complementary to the other LHC detectors. The ALICE detector has been built by a collaboration including currently over 1000 physicists and engineers from 105 Institutes in 30 countries. Its overall dimensions are 161626 m3 with a total weight of approximately 10 000 t. The experiment consists of 18 different detector systems each with its own specific technology choice and design constraints, driven both by the physics requirements and the experimental conditions expected at LHC. The most stringent design constraint is to cope with the extreme particle multiplicity anticipated in central Pb-Pb collisions. The different subsystems were optimized to provide high-momentum resolution as well as excellent Particle Identification (PID) over a broad range in momentum, up to the highest multiplicities predicted for LHC. This will allow for comprehensive studies of hadrons, electrons, muons, and photons produced in the collision of heavy nuclei. Most detector systems are scheduled to be installed and ready for data taking by mid-2008 when the LHC is scheduled to start operation, with the exception of parts of the Photon Spectrometer (PHOS), Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) and Electro Magnetic Calorimeter (EMCal). These detectors will be completed for the high-luminosity ion run expected in 2010. This paper describes in detail the detector components as installed for the first data taking in the summer of 2008

Ten golden rules for optimal antibiotic use in hospital settings: the WARNING call to action

Antibiotics are recognized widely for their benefits when used appropriately. However, they are often used inappropriately despite the importance of responsible use within good clinical practice. Effective antibiotic treatment is an essential component of universal healthcare, and it is a global responsibility to ensure appropriate use. Currently, pharmaceutical companies have little incentive to develop new antibiotics due to scientific, regulatory, and financial barriers, further emphasizing the importance of appropriate antibiotic use. To address this issue, the Global Alliance for Infections in Surgery established an international multidisciplinary task force of 295 experts from 115 countries with different backgrounds. The task force developed a position statement called WARNING (Worldwide Antimicrobial Resistance National/International Network Group) aimed at raising awareness of antimicrobial resistance and improving antibiotic prescribing practices worldwide. The statement outlined is 10 axioms, or “golden rules,” for the appropriate use of antibiotics that all healthcare workers should consistently adhere in clinical practice

Social Support Is Related to the Use of Adaptive Emotional Regulation Strategies in Ecuadorian Adolescents in Foster Care

Adolescents in foster care are exposed to maltreatment and inadequate social support which can have lasting repercussions on their emotional development. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of social support on the use of emotional regulation strategies in Ecuadorian adolescents in foster care and non-foster peers. This study recruited 181 adolescents, 56 in foster care and 123 non-foster peers, from various locations in Quito, Ecuador. Participants completed the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Using linear regression, we found that being in foster care was related to lower perceived social support. The non-foster care control group reported using more emotion regulation strategies, both adaptive and maladaptive (acceptance, rumination, refocusing to planning, and self-blaming), than the foster care group. Greater social support was associated with the use of more positive strategies (reappraisal, positive refocusing, and refocusing to planning) and less maladaptive strategies (catastrophizing). Youth in foster care have less social support than their non-foster peers. This puts them at risk, as social support has an important role in the use of healthy emotion regulation skills in adolescents

Porous Titanium Cylinders Obtained by the Freeze-Casting Technique: Influence of Process Parameters on Porosity and Mechanical Behavior

The discrepancy between the stiffness of commercially pure titanium and cortical bone tissue compromises its success as a biomaterial. The use of porous titanium has been widely studied, however, it is still challenging to obtain materials able to replicate the porous structure of the bones (content, size, morphology and distribution). In this work, the freeze-casting technique is used to manufacture cylinders with elongated porosity, using a home-made and economical device. The relationship between the processing parameters (diameter and material of the mold, temperature gradient), microstructural features and mechanical properties is established and discussed, in terms of ensuring biomechanical and biofunctional balance. The cylinders have a gradient porosity suitable for use in dentistry, presenting higher Young’s modulus at the bottom, near the cold spot and, therefore better mechanical resistance (it would be in contact with a prosthetic crown), while the opposite side, the hot spot, has bigger, elongated pores and walls

Where Brain, Body and World Collide

The production cross section of electrons from semileptonic decays of beauty hadrons was measured at mid-rapidity (|y| < 0.8) in the transverse momentum range 1 < pt < 8 Gev/c with the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC in pp collisions at a center of mass energy sqrt{s} = 7 TeV using an integrated luminosity of 2.2 nb^{-1}. Electrons from beauty hadron decays were selected based on the displacement of the decay vertex from the collision vertex. A perturbative QCD calculation agrees with the measurement within uncertainties. The data were extrapolated to the full phase space to determine the total cross section for the production of beauty quark-antiquark pairs