The effect of excess weight on circulating inflammatory cytokines in drug-naïve first-episode psychosis individuals

Background: Low-grade inflammation has been repeatedly associated with both excess weight and psychosis. However, no previous studies have addressed the direct effect of body mass index (BMI) on basal serum cytokines in individuals with first-episode psychosis (FEP). Objectives: The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of BMI on basal serum cytokine levels in FEP patients and control subjects, separating the total sample into two groups: normal-weight and overweight individuals. Methods: This is a prospective and open-label study. We selected 75 FEP patients and 75 healthy controls with similar characteristics to patients according to the following variables: sex, age, and cannabis and tobacco consumption. Both controls and patients were separated into two groups according to their BMI: subjects with a BMI under 25 were considered as normal weight and those with a BMI equal to or more than 25 were considered as overweight. Serum levels of 21 cytokines/chemokines were measured at baseline using the Human High Sensitivity T Cell Magnetic Bead Panel protocol from the Milliplex® Map Kit. We compared the basal serum levels of the 21 cytokines between control and patient groups according to their BMI. Results: In the normal-weight group, IL-8 was the only cytokine that was higher in patients than in the control group (p = 0.001), whereas in the overweight group, serum levels of two pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, p = 0.000; IL-1?, p = 0.003), two chemokines (IL-8, p = 0.001; MIP-1?, p = 0.001), four Th-1 and Th-2 cytokines (IL-13, p = 0.009; IL-2, p = 0.001; IL-7, p = 0.001; IL-12p70, p = 0.010), and one Type-3 cytokine (IL-23, p = 0.010) were higher in patients than in controls. Conclusions: Most differences in the basal serum cytokine levels between patients and healthy volunteers were found in the overweight group. These findings suggest that excess weight can alter the homeostasis of the immune system and therefore may have an additive pro-inflammatory effect on the one produced by psychosis in the central nervous system.Funding: The present study was carried out at the Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla, University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain, under the following grant support from MINECO SAF2013-46292-R, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, and Fundación Marqués de Valdecilla. No pharmaceutical company has participated in the study concept and design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of the results, and drafting of the manuscript. We thank the Valdecilla Biobank for blood sampling handling and storage. We also wish to thank the participants and their families for enrolling in this study. The study, designed and directed by B C-F, conformed to international standards for research ethics and was approved by the local institutional review board

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns

Acquired immunologic tolerance: with particular reference to transplantation

The first unequivocally successful bone marrow cell transplantation in humans was recorded in 1968 by the University of Minnesota team of Robert A. Good (Gatti et al. Lancet 2: 1366–1369, 1968). This achievement was a direct extension of mouse models of acquired immunologic tolerance that were established 15 years earlier. In contrast, organ (i.e. kidney) transplantation was accomplished precociously in humans (in 1959) before demonstrating its feasibility in any experimental model and in the absence of a defensible immunologic rationale. Due to the striking differences between the outcomes with the two kinds of procedure, the mechanisms of organ engraftment were long thought to differ from the leukocyte chimerism-associated ones of bone marrow transplantation. This and other concepts of alloengraftment and acquired tolerance have changed over time. Current concepts and their clinical implications can be understood and discussed best from the perspective provided by the life and times of Bob Good

Power balances, transnational elites, and local economic governance: The political economy of development in Medellín

Applying a non-linear political economy analysis of power balances, institutional mechanisms, and elite structures, this study sheds light on the characteristics of Medellín’s economic development since the early 2000s. Elites with minimal technological capabilities and interests in promoting the advancement of transnational capitalism have successfully secured access to sources of power. These conditions (re)produce neoliberal logics of local governance that focus on economic growth in sectors with perceived global comparative advantages and on sustaining the particular power balances in Medellín’s political settlement. This has led to failures of generating positive forward and backward linkages for productivity growth of local firms, a local labour market marked by low wages and high employment elasticities, and large income inequalities. The local governance model that perpetuates productivity and inequality problems of the city is adopted as an opportunistic discourse of Medellín’s transnationalised capitalist elite in the larger neoliberal context of Colombia’s polity and economic policy agenda. In the absence of structural reforms targeting low wages and incentivising firms to develop technological capabilities, Medellín’s low productivity and high inequality problems are likely to persist

Biofluid Biomarkers in Huntington's Disease

Huntington's disease (HD) is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative condition where new markers of disease progression are needed. So far no disease-modifying interventions have been found, and few interventions have been proven to alleviate symptoms. This may be partially explained by the lack of reliable indicators of disease severity, progression, and phenotype.Biofluid biomarkers may bring advantages in addition to clinical measures, such as reliability, reproducibility, price, accuracy, and direct quantification of pathobiological processes at the molecular level; and in addition to empowering clinical trials, they have the potential to generate useful hypotheses for new drug development.In this chapter we review biofluid biomarker reports in HD, emphasizing those we feel are likely to be closest to clinical applicability

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta