Largest ancient fortress of South-West Asia and the western world?:Recent fieldwork at Sasanian Qaleh Iraj at Pishva, Iran

The article presents recent works at Qale Iraj, near Varamin, Iran. My short contribution is on the Middle Persian ostraka found at the site

The inherited association of interstitial lung disease, hypocalciuric hypercalcemia, and defective granulocyte function

The history and pulmonary histopathology of 3 siblings, presenting with the association of idiopathic interstitial lung disease, hypocalciuric hypercalcemia, and an intrinsic defect in granulocyte function are described. Prospective examination of 40 family members indicated that the 3 abnormalities are inherited according to an autosomal dominant pattern with, however, a variable penetration. Lung biopsies in the index cases revealed an interstitial infiltration of inflammatory cells and aggregates of conchoid bodies surrounded by multinucleated giant cells. Bronchoalveolar lavage was performed in 11 subjects and often showed an elevated cell recovery and abnormal cell distribution indicative of active alveolitis. In several subjects, multinucleated giant cells were found. The diffusing capacity (in percent predicted) showed a significant decrease with age, independent of smoking habits. The hypocalciuric hypercalcemia was unaffected by steroids or parathyroidectomy. It was not associated with abnormal levels of parathyroid hormone, calcitonin, 25-hydroxy-vitamin D3, 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D3, or angiotensin-converting enzyme

A ghostly corpse in the city. Spatial configurations and iconographic representations of capital punishment in the 'Belgian Space'

This contribution addresses the complex relation between ‘sovereign’ power, legitimate State violence, and public space in the ‘Belgian’ territories. By linking the spatiality of the execution and its iconographic representation to changing socio-political power configurations, it studies the role of the Belgian ‘culture of capital executions’ in its specific path of State formation. The trend of removing the death penalty from the communal agora is a general issue in the West. From the Middle Ages, capital executions were characterised by specific appropriations of space by central authorities, local elites and ordinary citizens. During the eighteenth century, local powers faced attempts of the central governments to control the public execution, and more specifically the death penalty. Data from the 1770s to the 1850s, during several quickly succeeding political regimes, supports the hypothesis of a decline of publicly exposed death penalties. In nineteenth century Belgium, the gradual disappearance of the public execution as a spectacular expression of the State runs parallel with the (all but) inexistence of an iconography’ of public executions. The guillotine appears as the expression of a change in criminal justice and it also influences the representation of capital execution. It focuses now on the cutted head, the seat of the mental faculties. During the same period, cell confinement is considered by the State as a mean of control the criminal's mind

Why Do We Use 600 mg of Rifampicin in Tuberculosis Treatment?

Item does not contain fulltextThe 600-mg once daily dose of rifampicin plays a key role in tuberculosis treatment. The evidence underpinning this dose is scant. A review of the historical literature identified 3 strands of reasoning. The first is the pharmacokinetic argument: The 600-mg dose yields serum drug concentrations well above the minimum inhibitory concentration of rifampicin against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The second is the argument that adverse events may be dose related. The third is the economic argument: Rifampicin was prohibitively expensive at the time of its introduction. Recent in vitro, animal, and early bactericidal activity studies suggest that the 600-mg once daily dose is at the lower end of the dose-response curve, refuting the pharmacokinetic argument. The reduced cost and the lack of evidence of toxicity at higher daily doses remove the other arguments. To optimize tuberculosis treatment, the clinical value of higher doses of rifampicin should be tested in clinical trials

Lancet Infect Dis

Background To address the unmet medical need for an effective prophylactic vaccine against Ebola virus we assessed the safety and immunogenicity of three different two-dose heterologous vaccination regimens with a replication-deficient adenovirus type 26 vector-based vaccine (Ad26.ZEBOV), expressing Zaire Ebola virus glycoprotein, and a non-replicating, recombinant, modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vector-based vaccine, encoding glycoproteins from Zaire Ebola virus, Sudan virus, and Marburg virus, and nucleoprotein from the Tai Forest virus. Methods This randomised, observer-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial was done at seven hospitals in France and two research centres in the UK. Healthy adults (aged 18–65 years) with no history of Ebola vaccination were enrolled into four cohorts. Participants in cohorts I–III were randomly assigned (1:1:1) using computer-generated randomisation codes into three parallel groups (randomisation for cohorts II and III was stratified by country and age), in which participants were to receive an intramuscular injection of Ad26.ZEBOV on day 1, followed by intramuscular injection of MVA-BN-Filo at either 28 days (28-day interval group), 56 days (56-day interval group), or 84 days (84-day interval group) after the first vaccine. Within these three groups, participants in cohort II (14:1) and cohort III (10:3) were further randomly assigned to receive either Ad26.ZEBOV or placebo on day 1, followed by either MVA-BN-Filo or placebo on days 28, 56, or 84. Participants in cohort IV were randomly assigned (5:1) to receive one dose of either Ad26.ZEBOV or placebo on day 1 for vector shedding assessments. For cohorts II and III, study site personnel, sponsor personnel, and participants were masked to vaccine allocation until all participants in these cohorts had completed the post-MVA-BN-Filo vaccination visit at 6 months or had discontinued the trial, whereas cohort I was open-label. For cohort IV, study site personnel and participants were masked to vaccine allocation until all participants in this cohort had completed the post-vaccination visit at 28 days or had discontinued the trial. The primary outcome, analysed in all participants who had received at least one dose of vaccine or placebo (full analysis set), was the safety and tolerability of the three vaccination regimens, as assessed by participant-reported solicited local and systemic adverse events within 7 days of receiving both vaccines, unsolicited adverse events within 42 days of receiving the MVA-BN-Filo vaccine, and serious adverse events over 365 days of follow-up. The secondary outcome was humoral immunogenicity, as measured by the concentration of Ebola virus glycoprotein-binding antibodies at 21 days after receiving the MVA-BN-Filo vaccine. The secondary outcome was assessed in the per-protocol analysis set. This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02416453, and EudraCT, 2015-000596-27. Findings Between June 23, 2015, and April 27, 2016, 423 participants were enrolled: 408 in cohorts I–III were randomly assigned to the 28-day interval group (123 to receive Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo, and 13 to receive placebo), the 56-day interval group (124 to receive Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo, and 13 to receive placebo), and the 84-day interval group (117 to receive Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo, and 18 to receive placebo), and 15 participants in cohort IV were assigned to receive Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo (n=13) or to receive placebo (n=2). 421 (99·5%) participants received at least one dose of vaccine or placebo. The trial was temporarily suspended after two serious neurological adverse events were reported, one of which was considered as possibly related to vaccination, and per-protocol vaccination was disrupted for some participants. Vaccinations were generally well tolerated. Mild or moderate local adverse events (mostly pain) were reported after 206 (62%) of 332 Ad26.ZEBOV vaccinations, 136 (58%) of 236 MVA-BN-Filo vaccinations, and 11 (15%) of 72 placebo injections. Systemic adverse events were reported after 255 (77%) Ad26.ZEBOV vaccinations, 116 (49%) MVA-BN-Filo vaccinations, and 33 (46%) placebo injections, and included mostly mild or moderate fatigue, headache, or myalgia. Unsolicited adverse events occurred after 115 (35%) of 332 Ad26.ZEBOV vaccinations, 81 (34%) of 236 MVA-BN-Filo vaccinations, and 24 (33%) of 72 placebo injections. At 21 days after receiving the MVA-BN-Filo vaccine, geometric mean concentrations of Ebola virus glycoprotein-binding antibodies were 4627 ELISA units (EU)/mL (95% CI 3649–5867) in the 28-day interval group, 10 131 EU/mL (8554–11 999) in the 56-day interval group, and 11 312 mL (9072–14106) in the 84-day interval group, with antibody concentrations persisting at 1149–1205 EU/mL up to day 365. Interpretation The two-dose heterologous regimen with Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo was safe, well tolerated, and immunogenic, with humoral and cellular immune responses persisting for 1 year after vaccination. Taken together, these data support the intended prophylactic indication for the vaccine regimen. Funding Innovative Medicines Initiative and Janssen Vaccines & Prevention BV