Pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis in patients affected by systemic sclerosis: What should the rheumatologist do?

Pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis (PPFE) is a rare new interstitial lung disease (ILD) characterized by the fibrotic thickening of the visceral pleura and subadjacent parenchymal areas of the upper lobes This study reveals that patients with ILD-SSc associated with chest HRCT evidence of PPFE require close and recurrent follow-up with periodic evaluation of lung function parameters, DLCO and chest HRCT. Rheumatologists should be aware of this new radiological finding which is accompanied by a negative prognosis, especially when associated with a progressive course. Patients with this radiological pattern need to be monitored with particular attention

Broadband Parametric Amplification in DARTWARS

Superconducting parametric amplifiers offer the capability to amplify feeble signals with extremely low levels of added noise, potentially reaching quantum-limited amplification. This characteristic makes them essential components in the realm of high-fidelity quantum computing and serves to propel advancements in the field of quantum sensing. In particular, Traveling-Wave Parametric Amplifiers (TWPAs) may be especially suitable for practical applications due to their multi-Gigahertz amplification bandwidth, a feature lacking in Josephson Parametric Amplifiers (JPAs), despite the latter being a more established technology. This paper presents recent developments of the DARTWARS (Detector Array Readout with Traveling Wave AmplifieRS) project, focusing on the latest prototypes of Kinetic Inductance TWPAs (KITWPAs). The project aims to develop a KITWPA capable of achieving 20 dB of amplification. To enhance the production yield, the first prototypes were fabricated with half the length and expected gain of the final device. In this paper, we present the results of the characterization of one of the half-length prototypes. The measurements revealed an average amplification of approximately 9 dB across a 2 GHz bandwidth for a KITWPA spanning 17 mm in length

T-Cell Immune Responses Against Env from CRF12_BF and Subtype B HIV-1 Show High Clade-Specificity that Can Be Overridden by Multiclade Immunizations

BACKGROUND: The extreme genetic diversity of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) poses a daunting challenge to the generation of an effective AIDS vaccine. In Argentina, the epidemic is characterized by the high prevalence of infections caused by subtype B and BF variants. The aim of this study was to characterize in mice the immunogenic and antigenic properties of the Env protein from CRF12_BF in comparison with clade B, employing prime-boost schemes with the combination of recombinant DNA and vaccinia virus (VV) vectors. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: As determined by ELISPOT from splenocytes of animals immunized with either EnvBF or EnvB antigens, the majority of the cellular responses to Env were found to be clade-specific. A detailed peptide mapping of the responses reveal that when there is cross-reactivity, there are no amino acid changes in the peptide sequence or were minimal and located at the peptide ends. In those cases, analysis of T cell polifunctionality and affinity indicated no differences with respect to the cellular responses found against the original homologous sequence. Significantly, application of a mixed immunization combining both clades (B and BF) induced a broader cellular response, in which the majority of the peptides targeted after the single clade vaccinations generated a positive response. In this group we could also find significant cellular and humoral responses against the whole gp120 protein from subtype B. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This work has characterized for the first time the immunogenic peptides of certain EnvBF regions, involved in T cell responses. It provides evidence that to improve immune responses to HIV there is a need to combine Env antigens from different clades, highlighting the convenience of the inclusion of BF antigens in future vaccines for geographic regions where these HIV variants circulate