Development of CMOS Pixel Sensors fully adapted to the ILD Vertex Detector Requirements

CMOS Pixel Sensors are making steady progress towards the specifications of the ILD vertex detector. Recent developments are summarised, which show that these devices are close to comply with all major requirements, in particular the read-out speed needed to cope with the beam related background. This achievement is grounded on the double- sided ladder concept, which allows combining signals generated by a single particle in two different sensors, one devoted to spatial resolution and the other to time stamp, both assembled on the same mechanical support. The status of the development is overviewed as well as the plans to finalise it using an advanced CMOS process.Comment: 2011 International Workshop on Future Linear Colliders (LCWS11), Granada, Spain, 26-30 September 201

Relationships between physical activity across lifetime and health outcomes in older adults: Results from the NuAge cohort

Abstract: Objectives: This study aims to (1) describe participation in four physical activity (PA) domains across life and (2) examine the influence of PA during adolescence, early, mid-life, and later adulthood on health variables at older age. Design: Retrospective, observational, population-based cohort. Setting: Longitudinal study Nutrition as a Determinant of Successful Aging study ParticipantS: 1 378 healthy older adults (667 men; 711 women; aged 67-84 yrs at baseline) Measurements: Using a modified version of the interviewer-administered Lifetime Total Physical Activity Questionnaire (LTPAQ) and life events calendar to facilitate the recall, participants reported the frequency, duration, and intensity of occupational (OPA), commuting (CPA), household (HPA), and leisure time (LTPA) they participated in at the ages of 15, 25, 45, and 65 years and at the first follow-up (aged 68-85 yrs at follow-up). Fat mass, lean body mass, body mass index, waist to hip ratio, fasting glucose, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, self-reported chronic diseases, and socio-demographic were assessed at baseline. Results: Changes in PA differed across sex and PA domain. However, there was a general decline in all PA domains among both sexes after the age of 65. In multiple regression analyses, current LTPA was systematically associated with more favorable waist to hip ratio and fat mass in both sexes, whereas CPA, OPA, and HPA across life were not consistently associated with health variables. Conclusion: PA domains during adolescence, early adulthood, and mid-life were not directly related to health variables at older age, while current LTPA was, suggesting it is never too late to start

L'immunisation avec proteosome TM génère une réponse humorale efficace et de longue durée.

La vaccination intranasale (i.n.) est une stratégie permettant d’induire une immunité mucosale en plus d’une immunité systémique. En utilisant la voie d’entrée naturelle de certains pathogènes des voies respiratoires, cette immunisation est considérée plus souhaitable qu’un vaccin parentéral. Il a été démontré que le système de libération d’antigènes et d’adjuvants ProteosomeTM, donné de façon i.n., pouvait générer une réponse adaptative spécifique de l’hémagglutinine (HA) et donc une protection contre le virus influenza. Ces travaux visent à comparer l’efficacité de la réponse humorale induite par ProteosomeTM à d’autres adjuvants au niveau des titres d’anticorps et de leur persistance. Des souris BALB/c ont été immunisées par voie i.n. au jour 0 et 14 avec des antigènes seuls (sFlu), combinés à CpG ou avec ProteosomeTM. Après 21 jours, les sérums et lavages bronco-alvéolaires (BALF) ont été récupérés puis analysés par ELISA afin de mesurer la concentration d’IgG et d’IgA spécifiques aux HA. Parallèlement, du sang a été récolté à chaque deux semaine pendant 10 mois à partir de souris immunisées suivant le même protocole. Les IgG spécifiques ont ainsi été dosés. Les résultats montrent que ProteosomeTM et CpG induisent des niveaux d’IgG similaires et supérieurs aux antigènes seuls, tant dans les sérums que dans les BALF. Les anticorps sériques spécifiques (IgG) persistent même au-delà de 38 semaines après l’immunisation avec ProteosomeTM ou CpG. Les titres d’anticorps mesurés dans les BALF démontrent que les antigènes seuls ne sont pas suffisants pour induire une réponse humorale supérieure au control négatif (PBS) indiquant du même coup la nécessité de la présence des adjuvants dans l’immunité mucosale

Reconstruction of primary vertices at the ATLAS experiment in Run 1 proton–proton collisions at the LHC

This paper presents the method and performance of primary vertex reconstruction in proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment during Run 1 of the LHC. The studies presented focus on data taken during 2012 at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=8 TeV. The performance has been measured as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing over a wide range, from one to seventy. The measurement of the position and size of the luminous region and its use as a constraint to improve the primary vertex resolution are discussed. A longitudinal vertex position resolution of about 30μm is achieved for events with high multiplicity of reconstructed tracks. The transverse position resolution is better than 20μm and is dominated by the precision on the size of the luminous region. An analytical model is proposed to describe the primary vertex reconstruction efficiency as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing and of the longitudinal size of the luminous region. Agreement between the data and the predictions of this model is better than 3% up to seventy interactions per bunch crossing

Un type de discours et sa production/diffusion

Autour du problème de la diffusion de la monographie et de l’interaction avec la recherche et l’écriture, le deuxième débat a réuni producteurs (directeurs de collection, éditeurs, responsables d’administrations culturelles), médiateurs (di- recteur de services culturels), des personnes qui sont souvent aussi elles-mêmes des chercheurs et des auteurs… Isabelle Balsamo (conservateur général du patrimoine, Direction de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine) modérait une table ronde avec Geneviève Bresc-Bautier (conservateur général du patrimoine au Département des sculptures du Musée du Louvre), Jean-François Barielle (directeur des éditions Hazan), Christian Besson (professeur d’histoire de l’art à la Haute école d’art et de design de Genève) et Jean Galard (philosophe, ancien responsable du service culturel du Musée du Louvre) et Rodolphe Rapetti (conservateur général du patrimoine, adjoint au Directeur des musées de France).Perspective publie un résumé de ce débat

Development of an innovative adenovirus-inspired self-assembling vaccine platform rapidly adaptable to coronaviruses and other emergent viruses

The COVID-19 pandemic clearly shows how emergent diseases can cause severe global health and economic problems. We must be prepared to react swiftly against new pathogenic agents and this requires the development of vaccines that are safe, efficient in the long-term and easily adaptable with a short revision time. To this end, the COVID-19 mRNA and adenoviral vector vaccines have been spectacular successes, permitting rapid vaccination across the world in an unprecedented manner. Here we report the design of a new adenovirus-derived vaccine technology based on non-infectious pseudo-viral nanoparticles from the serotype 3 human adenovirus. Each nanoparticle comprises sixty identical proteins that assemble to form a 30 nm diameter spherical particle. A sequence has been engineered into the surface of this protein that enables the display of a covalently-bound target antigens. To demonstrate the efficiency of this approach, we added the SARS-CoV 2 spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD), that interacts with host cell ACE2 receptors, to the surface of the nanoparticles. We first showed that the glycosylated RBD retained its ACE2-binding function when displayed on nanoparticles. We then measured the in vivo humoral response of our vaccine candidate in mice and observed a strong antibody response after the prime injection; further levels were achieved following a second booster injection. In mice preimmunized with underivatized adenoviral nanoparticles, we tested if adenovirus seroprevalence, as frequently observed in humans, was detrimental to the RBD-mediated protection provided by our vaccine candidate. Interestingly, a strong anti-coronaviral response was still observed suggesting that existing circulating anti-adenovirus antibodies are not deleterious to our vaccine platform. We then performed pseudo-CoV 2 neutralization assays and obtained higher ID50 values than observed with COVID-19 convalescent sera, thus showing the high potential efficacy of our vaccine platform. This new vaccine technology is a tool that is easily adaptable to future SARS-CoV 2 variants and, more generally, to future emergent viruses and pathogens

P2X7 Receptor Promotes Mouse Mammary Cancer Cell Invasiveness and Tumour Progression, and Is a Target for Anticancer Treatment

The P2X7 receptor is an ATP-gated cation channel with a still ambiguous role in cancer progression, proposed to be either pro- or anti-cancerous, depending on the cancer or cell type in the tumour. Its role in mammary cancer progression is not yet defined. Here, we show that P2X7 receptor is functional in highly aggressive mammary cancer cells, and induces a change in cell morphology with fast F-actin reorganization and formation of filopodia, and promotes cancer cell invasiveness through both 2- and 3-dimensional extracellular matrices in vitro. Furthermore, P2X7 receptor sustains Cdc42 activity and the acquisition of a mesenchymal phenotype. In an immunocompetent mouse mammary cancer model, we reveal that the expression of P2X7 receptor in cancer cells, but not in the host mice, promotes tumour growth and metastasis development, which were reduced by treatment with specific P2X7 antagonists. Our results demonstrate that P2X7 receptor drives mammary tumour progression and represents a pertinent target for mammary cancer treatment

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements