The EDELWEISS-II experiment

EDELWEISS is a direct dark matter search situated in the low radioactivity environment of the Modane Underground Laboratory. The experiment uses Ge detectors at very low temperature in order to identify eventual rare nuclear recoils induced by elastic scattering of WIMPs from our Galactic halo. The commissioning of the second phase of the experiment, involving more than 7 kg of Ge, has been completed in 2007. Two new type of detectors with active rejection of events due to surface contamination have demonstrated the performances required to achieve the physics goal of the present phase.Comment: 43rd Rencontres de Moriond - Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories, La Thuile : Italie (2008

Nuclear stellar discs in early-type galaxies --- II. Photometric properties

Hubble Space Telescope images of two early-type galaxies harboring both nuclear and outer stellar discs are studied in detail. By means of a photometric decomposition, the images of NGC 4342 and NGC 4570 are analyzed and the photometric properties of the nuclear discs investigated. We find a continuity of properties in the parameter space defined by the central surface brightness and the scalelength of discs in spirals, S0s and embedded discs in ellipticals, in the sense that the nuclear discs extend the observed disc properties even further towards smaller scalelengths and brighter central surface brightnesses. When including the nuclear discs, disc properties span more than four orders of magnitude in both scalelength and central surface brightness. The nuclear discs studied here are the smallest and brightest stellar discs known, and as such, they are as extreme in their photometric properties as Malin I, when compared to typical galactic discs that obey Freeman's law. We discuss a possible formation scenario in which the double-disc structure observed in these galaxies has been shaped by now dissolved bars. Based on the fact that the black holes known to exist in some of these galaxies have masses comparable to those of the nuclear discs, we explore a possible link between the black holes and the nuclear discs.Comment: 9 pages (TeX) with 7 figures (postscript). Accepted for publication in MNRA

Post SARS-CoV-2 vaccination Guillain-Barre syndrome in 19 patients

SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations are not free from side effects. Usually, they are mild or moderate but occasionally severe. One of these severe side effects is Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). This review summarizes and discusses GBS as a side effect of SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations (SCoVaG) based on recent research reports. Altogether, nine articles reporting 18 patients with SCoVaG were identified and one more report on another patient is under review. The age for the studies ranged between 20-86y. Nine patients were male, and ten were female. In all 19 patients, SCoVaG developed after the first dose of the vaccine. The Astra Zeneca vaccine was used in fourteen patients, the Pfizer vaccine in four patients, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was applied in one patient. The latency between vaccination and onset of GBS ranged from 3h to 39d. The treatment of SCoVaG included IVIGs (n=13), steroids (n=3), or no therapy (n=3). Six patients required mechanical ventilation. Only a single patient recovered completely and partial recovery was achieved in nine patients. In conclusion, GBS may develop time-linked to the first dose of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Though a causal relationship between SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations and SCoVaG remains speculative, more evidence is in favour than against it

Natural regulatory (CD4+CD25+FOXP+) T cells control the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines during Plasmodium chabaudi adami infection and do not contribute to immune evasion.

Different functions have been attributed to natural regulatory CD4+CD25+FOXP+ (Treg) cells during malaria infection. Herein, we assessed the role for Treg cells during infections with lethal (DS) and non-lethal (DK) Plasmodium chabaudi adami parasites, comparing the levels of parasitemia, inflammation and anaemia. Independent of parasite virulence, the population of splenic Treg cells expanded during infection, and the absolute numbers of activated CD69+ Treg cells were higher in DS-infected mice. In vivo depletion of CD25+ T cells, which eliminated 80% of CD4+FOXP3+CD25+ T cells and 60–70% of CD4+FOXP3+ T cells, significantly decreased the number of CD69+ Treg cells in mice with lethal malaria. As a result, higher parasite burden and morbidity were measured in the latter, whereas the kinetics of infection with non-lethal parasites remained unaffected. In the absence of Treg cells, parasite-specific IFN-γ responses by CD4+ T cells increased significantly, both in mice with lethal and non-lethal infections, whereas IL-2 production was only stimulated in mice with non-lethal malaria. Following the depletion of CD25+ T cells, the production of IL-10 by CD90− cells was also enhanced in infected mice. Interestingly, a potent induction of TNF- and IFN-γ production by CD4+ and CD90− lymphocytes was measured in DS-infected mice, which also suffered severe anaemia earlier than non-depleted infected controls. Taken together, our data suggest that the expansion and activation of natural Treg cells represent a counter-regulatory response to the overwhelming inflammation associated with lethal P.c. adami. This response to infection involves TH1 lymphocytes as well as cells from the innate immune system

Phenotypic spectrum of FARS2-deficiency

Krankenanstalt Rudolfstiftung Wien, Vienna, AustriaUniv Fed Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Escola Paulista Med EPM, Disciplina Neurociencia, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Escola Paulista Med EPM, Disciplina Neurociencia, Sao Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

selfie

This body of work is comprised of a series of portraits that the artist photographed during the summer of 2014. For the project, he questioned each participant before shooting their portrait, asking them what their relationship is to the church and then asking them to describe their relationship with God. Scorza’s interpretation of their answers to these questions and the conversations that followed informed how he needed to shoot their portrait. The resulting imagery, or portraits, is a visual representation of the inward self-reflection these individuals shared – a selfie