Pulmonary cystic disease in HIV positive individuals in the Democratic Republic of Congo: three case reports

Pulmonary emphysema and bronchiectasis in HIV seropositive patients has been described in the presence of injection drug use, malnutrition, repeated opportunistic infections, such as Pneumocytis jirovici pneumonia and Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, and has been linked to the presence of HIV virus in lung tissue. Given the high burden of pulmonary infections and malnutrition among people living with HIV in resource poor settings, these individuals may be at increased risk of developing pulmonary emphysema, potentially reducing the long term benefit of antiretroviral therapy (ART) if initiated late in the course of HIV infection

MASP-1 Induces a Unique Cytokine Pattern in Endothelial Cells: A Novel Link between Complement System and Neutrophil Granulocytes

Microbial infection urges prompt intervention by the immune system. The complement cascade and neutrophil granulocytes are the predominant contributors to this immediate anti-microbial action. We have previously shown that mannan-binding lectin-associated serine protease-1 (MASP-1), the most abundant enzyme of the complement lectin pathway, can induce p38-MAPK activation, NFkappaB signaling, and Ca(2+)-mobilization in endothelial cells. Since neutrophil chemotaxis and transmigration depends on endothelial cell activation, we aimed to explore whether recombinant MASP-1 (rMASP-1) is able to induce cytokine production and subsequent neutrophil chemotaxis in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). We found that HUVECs activated by rMASP-1 secreted IL-6 and IL-8, but not IL-1alpha, IL-1ra, TNFalpha and MCP-1. rMASP-1 induced dose-dependent IL-6 and IL-8 production with different kinetics. rMASP-1 triggered IL-6 and IL-8 production was regulated predominantly by the p38-MAPK pathway. Moreover, the supernatant of rMASP-1-stimulated HUVECs activated the chemotaxis of neutrophil granulocytes as an integrated effect of cytokine production. Our results implicate that besides initializing the complement lectin pathway, MASP-1 may activate neutrophils indirectly, via the endothelial cells, which link these effective antimicrobial host defense mechanisms

Infections in Children Admitted with Complicated Severe Acute Malnutrition in Niger

Although malnutrition affects thousands of children throughout the Sahel each year and predisposes them to infections, there is little data on the etiology of infections in these populations. We present a clinical and biological characterization of infections in hospitalized children with complicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in Maradi, Niger

Radiative τ pair production and search for new particles decaying into τ

A study of radiative τ pair production,e + e −→τ+τ−γ ande + e −→τ+τ−γγ, is presented. The observed events agree with QED predictions of order α3 and α4. Excited τ′s have been searched for and lower limits on single and pair production are obtained. For QED-like coupling the τ* mass is limited to values greater than 40 GeV (95% CL). A search for unstable charged scalars (S ±) decaying into τ, e.g. charged Higgs, technipions or the supersymmetric partners of τ′s, yields no evidence for such particles. Assuming a branching fraction ofB(S→τν)=1,S masses up to 18.7 GeV are excluded with 95% CL

Determination of the B lifetime

We have determined the lifetime of B-hadrons produced ine + e − annihilation into multihadronic final states, by measuring the impact parameter of the track with respect to the centre of the interaction region. Two different analyses of the data were performed and gave compatible results. The lifetime is τ B =1.8 −0.4 +0.5±0.4 ps