Author Correction: Convalescent plasma for hospitalized patients with COVID-19: an open-label, randomized controlled trial (Nature Medicine, (2021), 27, 11, (2012-2024), 10.1038/s41591-021-01488-2)

In the version of this Article initially published, there was an omission in the member list for the CONCOR-1 Study Group. Valérie Arsenault (Héma-Québec, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) has now been included in the CONCOR-1 Study Group in the online version of the article

DE LA DISSOCIATION, AUX TROUBLES FORMELS DE LA PENSEE DANS LA SCHIZOPHRENIE (ASPECTS CONTEMPORAINS)

PARIS7-Villemin (751102101) / SudocPARIS-BIUM (751062103) / SudocSudocFranceF

The Fe³⁺: Al₂O₃ Whispering Gallery Mode Maser Oscillator

The Fe3+: Al2O3 Whispering Gallery Mode Maser Oscillator is presented in this paper. Preliminary results already show a frequency stability of about 10−14 for integration times up to 30s. A model combining the rate equations and the electromagnetic field in the sapphire is presented. Paramagnetic properties and maser sensitivity to external parameters have been conducted to verify the validity of our model

Patients with schizophrenia are less prone to interpret virtual others' empathetic questioning as helpful

International audienceIndividuals with schizophrenia are impaired in their neurocognition and present cognitive biases. Theseimpairments may lead to a deficit in recognizing helping intentions of others. To investigate recognitionof help, we designed a card-guessing game (Virtual Help Recognition Paradigm) involving two successivevirtual agents asking questions to the participant at different moments of the game. These questionswere either empathetic (i.e. on the subject's feelings) or non-empathetic (i.e. on technical aspects of thegame). We assessed how much the participant felt that the virtual agent had helped him and, her attitudeand personality traits. We measured how much the participant trusted the virtual agent with amonetary allocation procedure. Twenty individuals with schizophrenia and twenty healthy controls wererecruited. The controls� ratings demonstrated that they interpreted empathetic questioning as helpingand rewarded it positively with an increased monetary allocation. Participants with schizophrenia had areduced perception of the differences between the two agents. Only the rating concerning the �interest/attention� of the agent toward these participants yielded significant differences among conditions. Hypothetically,individuals with schizophrenia take into account the fact they are the object of another'sattention, but may fail to infer a helping intention and to behave accordingly

How and why affective and reactive virtual agents will bring new insights on social cognitive disorders in schizophrenia? An illustration with a virtual card game paradigm

International audienceIn recent decades, many studies have shown that schizophrenia is associated with severe social cognitive impairments affecting key components, such as the recognition of emotions, theory of mind, attributional style, and metacognition. Most studies investigated each construct separately, precluding analysis of the interactive and immersive nature of real-life situation. Specialized batteries of tests are under investigation to assess social cognition, which is thought now as a link between neurocognitive disorders and impaired functioning. However, this link accounts for a limited part of the variance of real-life functioning. To fill this gap, advances in virtual reality and affective computing have made it possible to carry out experimental investigations of naturalistic social cognition, in controlled conditions, with good reproducibility. This approach is illustrated with the description of a new paradigm based on an original virtual card game in which subjects interpret emotional displays from a female virtual agent, and decipher her helping intentions. Independent variables concerning emotional expression in terms of valence and intensity were manipulated. We show how several useful dependant variables, ranging from classic experimental psychology data to metacognition or subjective experiences records, may be extracted from a single experiment. Methodological issues about the immersion into a simulated intersubjective situation are considered. The example of this new flexible experimental setting, with regards to the many constructs recognized in social neurosciences, constitutes a rationale for focusing on this potential intermediate link between standardized tests and real-life functioning, and also for using it as an innovative media for cognitive remediation

Nanoscale Analysis of Randall’s Plaques by Electron Energy Loss Spectromicroscopy: Insight in Early Biomineral Formation in Human Kidney

International audienceIdiopathic kidney stones originate mainly from calcium phosphate deposits at the tip of renal papillae, known as Randall’s plaques (RPs), also detected in most human kidneys without stones. However, little is known about the mechanisms involved in RP formation. The localization and characterization of such nano-sized objects in the kidney remains a real challenge making their study arduous. This study provides a nanoscale analysis of the chemical composition and morphology of incipient RPs, characterizing in particular the interface between the mineral and the surrounding organic compounds. Relying on data gathered from a calculi collection, the morphology and chemical composition of incipient calcifications in renal tissue was determined using spatially resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). We detected micro-calcifications and individual nano-calcifications found at some distance from the larger ones. Strikingly, concerning the smaller ones, we show that two types of nano-calcifications coexist: calcified organic vesicles and nanometric mineral granules mainly composed of calcium phosphate with carbonate in their core. Interestingly, some of these nano-calcifications present similarities with those reported in physiological bone or pathological cardiovascular biominerals, suggesting possible common formation mechanisms. However the high diversity of these nano-calcifications suggests that several mechanisms may be involved (nucleation on a carbonate core or on organic compounds). In addition, incipient RPs also appear to present specific features at larger scales revealing secondary calcified structures embedded in a fibrillar organic material. Our study proves that analogies exist between physiological and pathological biominerals and provides information to understand the physico-chemical processes involved in pathological calcification formation

The impact of nucleoside base modification in mRNA vaccine is influenced by the chemistry of its lipid nanoparticle delivery system

The use of modified nucleosides is an important approach to mitigate the intrinsic immunostimulatory activity of exogenous mRNA and to increase its translation for mRNA therapeutic applications. However, for vaccine applications, the intrinsic immunostimulatory nature of unmodified mRNA could help induce productive immunity. Additionally, the ionizable lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) used to deliver mRNA vaccines can possess immunostimulatory properties that may influence the impact of nucleoside modification. Here we show that uridine replacement with N1-methylpseudouridine in an mRNA vaccine encoding influenza hemagglutinin had a significant impact on the induction of innate chemokines/cytokines and a positive impact on the induction of functional antibody titers in mice and macaques when MC3 or KC2 LNPs were used as delivery systems, while it impacted only minimally the titers obtained with L319 LNPs, indicating that the impact of nucleoside modification on mRNA vaccine efficacy varies with LNP composition. In line with previous observations, we noticed an inverse correlation between the induction of high innate IFN-α titers in the macaques and antigen-specific immune responses. Furthermore, and consistent with the species specificity of pathogen recognition receptors, we found that the effect of uridine replacement did not strictly translate from mice to non-human primates

L’immigration turque en France et en Allemagne

Numéro consacré à ces deux communautés turques, l'une, en Allemagne, nombreuse (environ 1 600 000 personnes) et l'autre, en France, en croissance rapide (entre 200 et 250 000). Analyse comparée de leurs modes d'intégration et des problèmes qu'elles rencontrent, notamment en raison de la montée du racisme, le rôle des associations politiques et religieuses, l'évolution des envois de fonds des travailleurs immigrés. Comment, compte tenu de leur hétérogénéité sociale, culturelle (Turcs et Kurdes..