CpG-ODN-induced sustained expression of BTLA mediating selective inhibition of human B cells.

BTLA (B- and T-lymphocyte attenuator) is a prominent co-receptor that is structurally and functionally related to CTLA-4 and PD-1. In T cells, BTLA inhibits TCR-mediated activation. In B cells, roles and functions of BTLA are still poorly understood and have never been studied in the context of B cells activated by CpG via TLR9. In this study, we evaluated the expression of BTLA depending on activation and differentiation of human B cell subsets in peripheral blood and lymph nodes. Stimulation with CpG upregulated BTLA, but not its ligand: herpes virus entry mediator (HVEM), on B cells in vitro and sustained its expression in vivo in melanoma patients after vaccination. Upon ligation with HVEM, BTLA inhibited CpG-mediated B cell functions (proliferation, cytokine production, and upregulation of co-stimulatory molecules), which was reversed by blocking BTLA/HVEM interactions. Interestingly, chemokine secretion (IL-8 and MIP1β) was not affected by BTLA/HVEM ligation, suggesting that BTLA-mediated inhibition is selective for some but not all B cell functions. We conclude that BTLA is an important immune checkpoint for B cells, as similarly known for T cells

L'intérêt de la spectroscopie proche infrarouge en analyse de terre (synthèse bibliographique)

Use of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy in soil analysis. A review. This paper presents a literature review on the development of near infrared reflectance spectroscopy for soil analysis and the contribution of this technique to the evaluation of soil fertility analysis. This technique is used to estimate the chemical composition of soil samples on the basis of their absorption properties. It is therefore an indirect method of measurement, which requires a calibration phase for the prediction of these properties. NIR spectroscopy offers many advantages compared to reference analysis: it is known to be a physical, non-destructive, rapid, reproducible and low cost method. Often employed in other analytical domains, such as agro-food, NIR spectroscopy has, however, seldom been used in soil characterization, due to the complexity of the soil matrix. Thanks to the development of chemometric methods, numerous studies have recently been conducted to evaluate the feasibility of the application of the technique in soil analysis. Most authors conclude that NIR spectroscopy is promising; however, to date, use of the technique has not spread to routine laboratories. The paper is organized as follows. Firstly, we provide an overview of the NIR spectroscopy technique and related chemometric methods. Secondly, we describe the soil characteristics that can be predicted using this technique. Finally, we detail examples of results that have been obtained through the use of the technique, mainly in the determination of clay and organic carbon content, and of cation exchange capacity

Business process modelling and visualisation to support e-government decision making: Business/IS alignment

© 2017 Springer-Verlag. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57487-5_4.Alignment between business and information systems plays a vital role in the formation of dependent relationships between different departments in a government organization and the process of alignment can be improved by developing an information system (IS) according to the stakeholders’ expectations. However, establishing strong alignment in the context of the eGovernment environment can be difficult. It is widely accepted that business processes in the government environment plays a pivotal role in capturing the details of IS requirements. This paper presents a method of business process modelling through UML which can help to visualise and capture the IS requirements for the system development. A series of UML models have been developed and discussed. A case study on patient visits to a healthcare clinic in the context of eGovernment has been used to validate the models