Subjects who developed SARS-CoV-2 specific IgM after vaccination show a longer humoral immunity and a lower frequency of infection

Background: We have previously shown that eliciting SARS-CoV-2-specific IgM after vaccination is associated with higher levels of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing IgG. This study aims to assess whether IgM development is also associated with longer-lasting immunity. Methods: We analysed anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike protein IgG and IgM (IgG-S, IgM-S), and anti-nucleocapsid IgG (IgG-N) in 1872 vaccinees at different time points: before the first dose (D1; w0), before the second dose (D2; w3) at three (w6) and 23 weeks (w29) after D2; moreover, 109 subjects were further tested at the booster dose (D3, w44), at 3 weeks (w47) and 6 months (w70) after D3. Two-level linear regression models were used to evaluate the differences in IgG-S levels. Findings: In subjects who had no evidence of a previous infection at D1 (non-infected, NI), IgM-S development after D1 and D2 was associated with higher IgG-S levels at short (w6, p < 0.0001) and long (w29, p < 0.001) follow-up. Similar IgG-S levels were observed after D3. The majority (28/33, 85%) of the NI subjects who had developed IgM-S in response to vaccination did not experience infection. Interpretation: The development of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM-S following D1 and D2 is associated with higher IgG-S levels. Most individuals who developed IgM-S never became infected, suggesting that IgM elicitation may be associated with a lower risk of infection. Funding: "Fondi Ricerca Corrente" and "Progetto Ricerca Finalizzata" COVID-2020 (Italian Ministry of Health); FUR 2020 Department of Excellence 2018-2022 (MIUR, Italy); the Brain Research Foundation Verona

Challenging the diagnosis of Cystic Fibrosis in a patient carrying the 186-8T/C allelic variant in the CF Transmembrane Conductance Regulator gene

BACKGROUND: This report describe for the first time a clinical case with a CFTR allelic variant 186-8T/C (c.54-8 T/C) in intron 1 of CFTR and underline the importance of applying a combination of genetic and functional tests to establish or exclude a diagnosis of Cystic Fibrosis. In this case the diagnostic algorithm proposed for CF has been successfully applied at our Center and previous CF diagnosis assigned in a different Center was not confirmed.Case report: A 38 year-old Italian woman had been treated as affected by CF since 2010, following diagnosis based on sweat tests (reported values of 73 and 57 mEq/L) and a clinical history consistent with CF. No mutations were identified by first level of genetic analysis. Afterwards the patient referred to our center for assessing the relevance of these findings. The genetic variant 186-8T/C (c.54-8 T/C) in intron 1 of the CFTR gene was detected by sequencing. Low-level interstitial-alveolar infiltration was recorded by high-resolution computerized tomography. Lung function was normal and sputum and Broncho Alveolar Lavage cultures resulted bacteriologically negative. Sweat chloride levels was re-assessed and resulted with values of 57 and 35 mEq/L, with a borderline range between 40 and 60 mEq/L. Nasal Potential Difference measurements resulted in three reliable measurements consistent with a non-CF phenotype. Differential diagnosis with ciliary dyskinesia was excluded, as was exon 2 skipping of CFTR gene that might have caused a CFTR functional defect. Furthermore, single cell fluorescence analysis in response to cAMP agonists performed in patient's monocytes overlapped those obtained in healthy donors. CONCLUSION: We concluded that this patient was not affected by CF. This case highlights the need for referrals to highly specialized centers and the importance of combined functional and genetic tests in making a correct diagnosis. Moreover, we confirmed a correlation between NPD tracings and cell depolarization in monocytes providing a rationale for proposing the use of leukocytes as a potential support for CF diagnosis

Parallax-Based View Synthesis From Uncalibrated Images

In this paper we present an image-based system for novel view synthesis from multiple model views. Our method works by segmenting images of a static scene in background and foreground, basing on motion parallax. From this segmentation we are able to recover the relative affine structure. Finally, we synthesize novel views with an original method based on step-wise replication of the epipolar geometry acquired from few model or "seed" views. The method is uncalibrated, for it does not need the rigid displacements in the Euclidean frame (which is unknown), and it is automatic, for it does not require the user to manually specify viewing parameters.

An adoptive immuno-gene therapy approach targeting neuroblastoma.

Although dose intensification of chemotherapy has increased initial response rates in neuroblastoma (NB), this effect has not translated into durable remissions in patients with disseminated disease. Immunotherapy may be an alternative approach following cytoreductive chemotherapy providing a long-term disease control (I). We have engineered human cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) to express a chimeric receptor (CR) for the specific recognition of GD2 that is expressed in NB (II). Chimeric lymphocytes (CL) have been previously introduced towards several tumors (III). Thus, we have generated a novel CR consisting of a single-chain variable domain of an anti-GD2 antibody in conjunction with a signal domain of 4-1BB molecule (CD137). Retroviral particles encoding for the flag gene only (GFP), for the whole CR and for a truncated receptor were generated. Peripheral blood cells from buffy-coat were specifically stimulated and transuced obtaining a cytotoxic population of T cells having high level of transduction (50\ub125%). Co-culture experiments were then performed against NB cell lines. In short (4h) co-culture experiments (T:E=1:20) by Cr51 release assay, CLs exerted a powerful and specific cytotoxicity against GD2-positive NB cells, compared with truncated controls (35\ub15% and 10,8\ub14% ; p<0,05). Moreover, in a longer co-culture assay (5 days) in vitro at higher ratio (T:E =1:5), using as read-out FACS analyses targeting GD2 expressing cells, we observed a significant decrease (from 92\ub13% to 19\ub15% ; p<0.05) of the NB cells compared with controls (from 92\ub13% to 76,5\ub14% %; p<0.05). These preliminary data in vitro suggest that CL against GD2-positive NB cells may represent a powerful new tool for T-cell therapy in patients with GD2-positive NB or other GD2-positive malignancies

View Synthesis from Uncalibrated Images Using Parallax

This work deals with the view synthesis problem, i.e., how to generate snapshots of a scene taken from a &quot;virtual &quot; viewpoint different from all the viewpoints of the real views. Starting from uncalibrated reference images, the geometry of the scene is recovered by means of the relative affine structure. This information is used to extrapolate novel views using planar warping plus parallax correction. The contributions of this paper are twofold. First we introduce an automatic method for specifying the virtual viewpoint based on the replication of the epipolar geometry linking two reference views. Second, we presents a method for generating synthetic views of a soccer ground starting from a single uncalibrated image. Experimental results using real images are shown

The identification of cystic fibrosis (CF) cells and their pharmacological correction by mid-infrared microspectroscopy and unsupervised data analysis methods

We aimed at demonstrating that non-cystic fibrosis (CF) cells and isogenic, CF bronchial epithelial cell lines can be correctly classified by Fourier transform (FT) mid-infrared (IR) absorbance spectra and unsupervised methods for multivariate data analysis such as principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). CF cells were exposed \u201cex vivo\u201d to VRT-325, a chemical corrector of defective anion transporter Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane conductance Regulator (CFTR) caused by the F508del mutation. Unstained epithelial cells from CF patients and a healthy control were deposited on ZnSe window and analyzed with an IR interferometer connected to a FTIR microscope (microFTIR). In order to explain spectral variability reflecting biochemical differences between CF and non-CF cells, we applied PCA to dataset of untreated cells and cells treated for 24 hours with 1x10-5 M VRT-325. The information achieved with IR analysis was cross validated by the findings on CFTR expression and by the results of functional CFTR bioassays carried out in replicate samples. We conclude suggesting the possibility to utilize IR spectra analysis to recognize CF cells and the effect of pharmacological treatment aimed to correct the basic defect of C

Neurocysticercosis-related seizures in the post-partum period: two cases and a review of the literature

Neurocysticercosis, the infection of the CNS with larval cysts of Taenia solium, is a leading cause of seizures in low-income countries. The clinical presentation of neurocysticercosis is variable and depends on the number, size, and location of cysticerci, and on the immune response of the host. In most patients, the affected site is the brain parenchyma, where cysts can precipitate seizures. Neurocysticercosis has seldom been described in pregnant women. In this Grand Round, we report two cases of pregnant women who immigrated to Italy from Bolivia and Ecuador, and who developed seizures in the early post-partum period, due to calcified parenchymal neurocysticercosis lesions. We discuss the complex interactions between neurocysticercosis and the immune system in pregnancy and the post-partum period. Building on this scenario, we propose practices for the management of neurocysticercosis in pregnancy and the post-partum period, highlighting important gaps in the literature that should be addressed