Epstein-Barr Virus in Patients with Classical Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Background. A close relationship between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma (cHL) has been established in approximately 1/3 patients. EBV-positive lymphomas are characterized by increased level of EBV specific antibodies emerging long before tumor symptoms, аs well as a high plasma EBV DNA concentration. These viral markers normally correlate with clinical manifestations and the outcome of treatment performed. In patients with EBV-negative lymphomas, however, there has been no attempt to assess the clinical significance of either humoral response to EBV or EBV DNA concentration in plasma. Aim. To evaluate diagnostic and prognostic significance of EBV markers in patients with EBV-negative lymphomas. Methods. The clinical trial included 13 cHL-patients admitted at the Department of chemotherapy of hemoblastoses of NN Blokhin National Medical Cancer Research Center. The male to female ratio was 1:1.3, the median age was 26.4 years. Leukocyte and lymphocyte counts were evaluated in all the patients before, during, and after treatment as well as throughout the follow-up period. The same indicators were analysed in the control group which contained 40 healthy persons (with the median age of 41.1 years, male to female ratio 1.5:1). The study was based on serologic test for EBV antibodies and quantitative analysis of the viral DNA copy number in plasma. Results. The obtained data show a low immunie response to EBV and its diminishment after several polychemotherapy treatment cycles, correlating with decreased leukocyte and lymphocyte levels. As opposed to levels of virus-specific antibodies which do not reflect the efficacy of anticancer therapy, plasma EBV DNA concentration in 2 patients decreased to 0 after remission had been achieved. Conclusion. Although the number of observations is limited, one could suggest that viral load values in plasma of patients with EBV-negative lymphomas can prove to be a useful marker of anticancer therapeutic effect. Additional studies of these markers are required

Axion-like-particle search with high-intensity lasers

We study ALP-photon-conversion within strong inhomogeneous electromagnetic fields as provided by contemporary high-intensity laser systems. We observe that probe photons traversing the focal spot of a superposition of Gaussian beams of a single high-intensity laser at fundamental and frequency-doubled mode can experience a frequency shift due to their intermittent propagation as axion-like-particles. This process is strongly peaked for resonant masses on the order of the involved laser frequencies. Purely laser-based experiments in optical setups are sensitive to ALPs in the $\mathrm{eV}$ mass range and can thus complement ALP searches at dipole magnets.Comment: 25 pages, 2 figure

Cross-cultural agreement in facial attractiveness preferences: the role of ethnicity and gender

Previous work showed high agreement in facial attractiveness preferences within and across cultures. The aims of the current study were twofold. First, we tested cross-cultural agreement in the attractiveness judgements of White Scottish and Black South African students for own- and other-ethnicity faces. Results showed significant agreement between White Scottish and Black South African observers' attractiveness judgements, providing further evidence of strong cross-cultural agreement in facial attractiveness preferences. Second, we tested whether cross-cultural agreement is influenced by the ethnicity and/or the gender of the target group. White Scottish and Black South African observers showed significantly higher agreement for Scottish than for African faces, presumably because both groups are familiar with White European facial features, but the Scottish group are less familiar with Black African facial features. Further work investigating this discordance in cross-cultural attractiveness preferences for African faces show that Black South African observers rely more heavily on colour cues when judging African female faces for attractiveness, while White Scottish observers rely more heavily on shape cues. Results also show higher cross-cultural agreement for female, compared to male faces, albeit not significantly higher. The findings shed new light on the factors that influence cross-cultural agreement in attractiveness preferences