Autoantibodies against type I IFNs in patients with life-threatening COVID-19

Interindividual clinical variability in the course of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is vast. We report that at least 101 of 987 patients with life-threatening coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia had neutralizing immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies (auto-Abs) against interferon-w (IFN-w) (13 patients), against the 13 types of IFN-a (36), or against both (52) at the onset of critical disease; a few also had auto-Abs against the other three type I IFNs. The auto-Abs neutralize the ability of the corresponding type I IFNs to block SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. These auto-Abs were not found in 663 individuals with asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infection and were present in only 4 of 1227 healthy individuals. Patients with auto-Abs were aged 25 to 87 years and 95 of the 101 were men. A B cell autoimmune phenocopy of inborn errors of type I IFN immunity accounts for life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia in at least 2.6% of women and 12.5% of men

The RaPID Perceptual Image Description Method (RaPID)

This paper contains a general description of the RaPID (rapid perceptual image description) method, and the results of a series of experiments on the attribute sharpness. The method aims at a rapid and perceptually meaningful description and quantification of the primary factors of image quality. The purpose of the project is primarily to develop the main dimensions of image quality, but also to determine how they combine into overall image quality, and to develop perceptual models for the main dimensions. The result of the project will be a technique that can be used to evoke, quantify, analyze and interpret subjective reactions to the characteristics of imaging systems. A preliminary experiment was conducted on sharpness related attributes of images. The results showed that the five TV sets under study had to be evaluated on 11 different terms and that they combine into two independent attribute dimensions for natural or test images. If both types of images are considered simultaneously, the 'sharpness' space consists of at least 3 dimensions. Physical measurements were used to calculate sharpness related measures (MTFs, step responses, line width) and these were correlated with the subjective results

The RaPID Perceptual Image Description Method (RaPID)

This paper contains a general description of the RaPID (rapid perceptual image description) method, and the results of a series of experiments on the attribute sharpness. The method aims at a rapid and perceptually meaningful description and quantification of the primary factors of image quality. The purpose of the project is primarily to develop the main dimensions of image quality, but also to determine how they combine into overall image quality, and to develop perceptual models for the main dimensions. The result of the project will be a technique that can be used to evoke, quantify, analyze and interpret subjective reactions to the characteristics of imaging systems. A preliminary experiment was conducted on sharpness related attributes of images. The results showed that the five TV sets under study had to be evaluated on 11 different terms and that they combine into two independent attribute dimensions for natural or test images. If both types of images are considered simultaneously, the 'sharpness' space consists of at least 3 dimensions. Physical measurements were used to calculate sharpness related measures (MTFs, step responses, line width) and these were correlated with the subjective results

Transcription Profiling of Candida albicans Cells Undergoing the Yeast-to-Hyphal Transition

The ability of the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans to switch from a yeast to a hyphal morphology in response to external signals is implicated in its pathogenicity. We used glass DNA microarrays to investigate the transcription profiles of 6333 predicted ORFs in cells undergoing this transition and their responses to changes in temperature and culture medium. We have identified several genes whose transcriptional profiles are similar to those of known virulence factors that are modulated by the switch to hyphal growth caused by addition of serum and a 37°C growth temperature. Time course analysis of this transition identified transcripts that are induced before germ tube initiation and shut off later in the developmental process. A strain deleted for the Efg1p and Cph1p transcription factors is defective in hyphae formation, and its response to serum and increased temperature is almost identical to the response of a wild-type strain grown at 37°C in the absence of serum. Thus Efg1p and Cph1p are needed for the activation of the transcriptional program that is induced by the presence of serum