Detection of adeno-associated virus type 2 genome in cervical carcinoma

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) can impair the replication of other viruses. Adeno-associated virus seroprevalences have been reported to be lower among women with cervical cancer. In-vitro, AAV can interfere with the production of human papillomavirus virions. Adeno-associated virus-2 DNA has also been detected in cervical cancer tissue, although not consistently. To evaluate the role of AAV infection in relation to invasive cervical cancer, we performed a nested case–control study within a retrospectively followed population-based cohort. A total of 104 women who developed invasive cervical cancer on average 5.6 years of follow-up (range: 0.5 months–26.2 years) and 104 matched control-women who did not develop cervical cancer during the same follow-up time were tested for AAV and human papillomavirus by polymerase chain reaction. At baseline, two (2%) case-women and three (3%) control-women were positive for AAV-2 DNA. At the time of cancer diagnosis, 12 (12%) case-women and 3 (3%) matched control-women were positive for AAV-2 DNA. Persisting AAV infection was not evident. In conclusion, AAV-2 DNA was present in a low proportion of cervical cancers and we found no evidence that the presence of AAV in cervical smears of healthy women would be associated with reduced risk of cervical cancer

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) Telescope Architecture

We describe the instrument architecture of the Johns Hopkins University-led CLASS instrument, a groundbased cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarimeter that will measure the large-scale polarization of the CMB in several frequency bands to search for evidence of inflation

Induction of Membrane Ceramides: A Novel Strategy to Interfere with T Lymphocyte Cytoskeletal Reorganisation in Viral Immunosuppression

Silencing of T cell activation and function is a highly efficient strategy of immunosuppression induced by pathogens. By promoting formation of membrane microdomains essential for clustering of receptors and signalling platforms in the plasma membrane, ceramides accumulating as a result of membrane sphingomyelin breakdown are not only essential for assembly of signalling complexes and pathogen entry, but also act as signalling modulators, e. g. by regulating relay of phosphatidyl-inositol-3-kinase (PI3K) signalling. Their role in T lymphocyte functions has not been addressed as yet. We now show that measles virus (MV), which interacts with the surface of T cells and thereby efficiently interferes with stimulated dynamic reorganisation of their actin cytoskeleton, causes ceramide accumulation in human T cells in a neutral (NSM) and acid (ASM) sphingomyelinase–dependent manner. Ceramides induced by MV, but also bacterial sphingomyelinase, efficiently interfered with formation of membrane protrusions and T cell spreading and front/rear polarisation in response to β1 integrin ligation or αCD3/CD28 activation, and this was rescued upon pharmacological or genetic ablation of ASM/NSM activity. Moreover, membrane ceramide accumulation downmodulated chemokine-induced T cell motility on fibronectin. Altogether, these findings highlight an as yet unrecognised concept of pathogens able to cause membrane ceramide accumulation to target essential processes in T cell activation and function by preventing stimulated actin cytoskeletal dynamics

Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death. RESULTS: At 48 months, the median reduction from baseline in the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level was 26 percentage points greater in the group that received the 50-mg dose of canakinumab, 37 percentage points greater in the 150-mg group, and 41 percentage points greater in the 300-mg group than in the placebo group. Canakinumab did not reduce lipid levels from baseline. At a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the incidence rate for the primary end point was 4.50 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group, 4.11 events per 100 person-years in the 50-mg group, 3.86 events per 100 person-years in the 150-mg group, and 3.90 events per 100 person-years in the 300-mg group. The hazard ratios as compared with placebo were as follows: in the 50-mg group, 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.07; P = 0.30); in the 150-mg group, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = 0.021); and in the 300-mg group, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.99; P = 0.031). The 150-mg dose, but not the other doses, met the prespecified multiplicity-adjusted threshold for statistical significance for the primary end point and the secondary end point that additionally included hospitalization for unstable angina that led to urgent revascularization (hazard ratio vs. placebo, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P = 0.005). Canakinumab was associated with a higher incidence of fatal infection than was placebo. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for all canakinumab doses vs. placebo, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.06; P = 0.31). Conclusions: Antiinflammatory therapy targeting the interleukin-1β innate immunity pathway with canakinumab at a dose of 150 mg every 3 months led to a significantly lower rate of recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo, independent of lipid-level lowering. (Funded by Novartis; CANTOS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01327846.

A TESS Dress Rehearsal: Planetary Candidates and Variables from K2 Campaign 17

We produce light curves for all ∼34,000 targets observed with K2 in Campaign 17 (C17), identifying planet candidates, eclipsing binaries, and other periodic variables. The forward-facing direction of the C17 field means follow-up can begin immediately now that the campaign has concluded and interesting targets have been identified. The C17 field has a large overlap with C6, so this latest campaign also offers an infrequent opportunity to study a large number of targets already observed in a previous K2 campaign. The timing of the C17 data release, shortly before science operations begin with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), also lets us exercise some of the tools and methods developed for identification and dissemination of planet candidates from TESS. We find excellent agreement between these results and those identified using only K2-based tools. Among our planet candidates are several planet candidates with sizes <4 R ⊕ and orbiting stars with Kp ≲ 10 (indicating good RV targets of the sort TESS hopes to find) and a Jupiter-sized single-transit event around a star already hosting a 6 day planet candidate

A Super-Earth and Sub-Neptune Transiting the Late-type M Dwarf LP 791-18

Planets occur most frequently around cool dwarfs, but only a handful of specific examples are known to orbit the latest-type M stars. Using TESS photometry, we report the discovery of two planets transiting the low-mass star called LP 791-18 (identified by TESS as TOI 736). This star has spectral type M6V, effective temperature 2960 K, and radius 0.17 R o, making it the third-coolest star known to host planets. The two planets straddle the radius gap seen for smaller exoplanets; they include a 1.1R ⊕ planet on a 0.95 day orbit and a 2.3R ⊕ planet on a 5 day orbit. Because the host star is small the decrease in light during these planets' transits is fairly large (0.4% and 1.7%). This has allowed us to detect both planets' transits from ground-based photometry, refining their radii and orbital ephemerides. In the future, radial velocity observations and transmission spectroscopy can both probe these planets' bulk interior and atmospheric compositions, and additional photometric monitoring would be sensitive to even smaller transiting planets

The TESS Objects of Interest Catalog from the TESS Prime Mission

We present 2241 exoplanet candidates identified with data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) during its 2 yr Prime Mission. We list these candidates in the TESS Objects of Interest (TOI) Catalog, which includes both new planet candidates found by TESS and previously known planets recovered by TESS observations. We describe the process used to identify TOIs, investigate the characteristics of the new planet candidates, and discuss some notable TESS planet discoveries. The TOI catalog includes an unprecedented number of small planet candidates around nearby bright stars, which are well suited for detailed follow-up observations. The TESS data products for the Prime Mission (sectors 1-26), including the TOI catalog, light curves, full-frame images, and target pixel files, are publicly available at the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes

Elektrofusion pflanzlicher Zellen unterschiedlicher Herkunft und Dichte unter #mu#g-Bedingungen und Charakterisierung der Hybride Abschlussbericht

SIGLETIB Hannover: D.Dt.F. AC 1000(37,75) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman