Multiancestry analysis of the HLA locus in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases uncovers a shared adaptive immune response mediated by HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes

Across multiancestry groups, we analyzed Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) associations in over 176,000 individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) versus controls. We demonstrate that the two diseases share the same protective association at the HLA locus. HLA-specific fine-mapping showed that hierarchical protective effects of HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes best accounted for the association, strongest with HLA-DRB1*04:04 and HLA-DRB1*04:07, and intermediary with HLA-DRB1*04:01 and HLA-DRB1*04:03. The same signal was associated with decreased neurofibrillary tangles in postmortem brains and was associated with reduced tau levels in cerebrospinal fluid and to a lower extent with increased Aβ42. Protective HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes strongly bound the aggregation-prone tau PHF6 sequence, however only when acetylated at a lysine (K311), a common posttranslational modification central to tau aggregation. An HLA-DRB1*04-mediated adaptive immune response decreases PD and AD risks, potentially by acting against tau, offering the possibility of therapeutic avenues

Faba bean pollinating insects in south spain: daily variation in abundance

International audienc

Diversité et efficacité de l'entomofaune pollinisatrice (Hymenoptera : Apidae), de la fèverole (Vicia faba L.) sur deux sites en France et en Espagne

SupplémentNational audienc

CER’EL - Créer les outils d’approche humaine, organisationnelle et juridique pour développer des complémentarités territoriales et des synergies locales entre systèmes spécialisés CERéales/grandes cultures et systèmes d’ELevages.

Ce numéro est constitué d’articles de synthèse des projets DEPHY EXPE publiés à l’occasion du Colloque National DEPHY EXPE, qui s’est déroulé le 28 mai 2019 à l'Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d'Agriculture (Paris). Nous vous invitons à découvrir le bilan et les enseignements de 19 projets conduits sur la période 2013-2018.The agricultural specialization currently faces some limits. New synergies between crop and livestocksystems with mutual benefits seem necessary. These new crop-livestock systems offer a solution for amore sustainable agriculture on the scale of farms but also territories.The project aimed at promoting partnerships between crops and livestock specialized systems on aterritory scale, focusing on sociological, organizational and legal issues. The action was based on 7experimental groups in 3 different French regions (Centre-Val de Loire, Pays de la Loire, NouvelleAquitaine). The main objective was to analyse obstacles and catalysts to create complementarities at aterritory scale. The project identified key elements to develop complementarities (sociological analysis)and created new tools to support farms for emergence, stabilisation and formalisation of the exchangesand for securing them: a methodological guide, videos of successful experiences, testimonies andmethods records and a legal guideFace aux limites de la spécialisation des systèmes d’exploitation de grandes cultures et d’élevages, unenouvelle complémentarité à bénéfices communs est nécessaire. Il s’agit de « recréer un système » pourune agriculture plus durable au niveau des territoires et non plus seulement au sein des exploitations.Le projet CER’EL s’est ainsi intéressé aux ressorts sociologiques, organisationnels et juridiques pourétablir une complémentarité territoriale innovante entre systèmes spécialisés de grandes cultures etd’élevages. En s’appuyant sur sept territoires pilotes représentant la diversité des situations rencontréesdans les trois régions partenaires (Centre – Val de Pays de la Loire et Nouvelle Aquitaine), le projetCER’EL a permis d’identifier des clefs de développement des complémentarités (analyse sociologique)et d’élaborer des outils concrets permettant aux conseillers d’accompagner les agriculteurs dansl’émergence, la stabilisation, la formalisation et la sécurisation des échanges : un guideméthodologique, des vidéos d’expériences réussies, des fiches méthodes et témoignages, ainsi qu’unguide juridique

Characteristics and dying trajectories of adult hospital patients from acute care wards who die following review by the rapid response team.

A third of patients reviewed by rapid response teams (RRT) require end-of-life care. However, little is known about the characteristics and management of these patients following RRT review. This paper presents results of a retrospective, descriptive audit that explored the dying trajectory of adult ward inpatients who died outside of intensive care following RRT review. The study setting was a 430-bed tertiary New Zealand hospital during 2013. RRT, inpatient databases and hospital notes were used to identify 100 consecutive adult inpatients who died subsequent to RRT review. Outcome measures included time from RRT review to death, place of death, pre-existing co-morbidities and frequency of medical review. Results demonstrated that patients were old (median 77 years, IQR 63-85years), emergency admissions (n=100) and admitted under a medical specialty (n=71). All but one of the cohort had pre-existing co-morbidities (mean 3.2, SD 1.7), almost a third (n=31) had cancer and 51% had 1-4 previous inpatient admissions within the previous 12 months. The mean length of stay prior to RRT review was 4.9 days (SD 5.5) during which patients were frequently reviewed by senior medical staff (mean 6.8 times, SD 6.9, range 0-44). Twenty per cent of patients died after their first RRT review with a further 40% receiving treatment limitation/palliation. Fifty-two per cent of patients had a pre-existing DNAR. Eighty per cent of patients died in hospital. Whilst the RRT fulfils an unmet need in decision-making at end of life, there is a need to understand what RRT, instead of ward-based or palliative care teams, offers dying patients

Thermal, mechanical and viscoelastic properties of citric acid-crosslinked starch/cellulose composite foams

In this work, biodegradable starch/cellulose composite foams were fabricated at 220 °C by compression moulding gelatinised starch containing cellulose fibres as a reinforcing agent and citric acid as a cross-linking agent. It was found that the stiffness, tensile strength, flexural strength, and hydrophobicity of the starch/cellulose composite foams increased, and water absorption capacity decreased with an increase in the concentration of citric acid. The tensile strength increased from 1.76 MPa for 0% citric acid to 2.25 MPa for the starch/cellulose composite foam crosslinked with 5% (w/w) citric acid. Similarly, the flexural modulus also increased from 445 MPa to 601.1 MPa, and the flexural strength from 3.76 MPa to 7.61 MPa, for the composite foam crosslinked with 5% (w/w) citric acid. The crosslinked composite foams showed better thermal stability compared to the non-crosslinked composite foam. The resulting composite foams could be used as a biodegradable alternative to expanded polystyrene packaging