Non-classical immunology. Meeting Report

This large annual immunology meeting covered a wide range of subjects from biochemical protein characterizations to cell biology and the study of complex disease pathologies. One particularly interesting session covered the emerging field of non-classical major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules. A great deal of attention is now focused on defining the expression, structure and ligands of these proteins, as recent research has indicated that they are involved in both innate and adaptive immunological responses. Heat shock proteins are another group of molecules that appear to have a wide range of immunostimulatory and regulatory effects; a one-day session covered recent advances in our understanding of the immunological roles of heat shock proteins as well as their potential therapeutic uses. Moving on from individual protein families, speakers in the plenary session discussed the complex dynamics of lymphocyte activation, cell-cell interactions and protein translocation

Frame dragging with optical vortices

General Relativistic calculations in the linear regime have been made for electromagnetic beams of radiation known as optical vortices. These exotic beams of light carry a physical quantity known as optical orbital angular momentum (OAM). It is found that when a massive spinning neutral particle is placed along the optical axis, a phenomenon known as inertial frame dragging occurs. Our results are compared with those found previously for a ring laser and an order of magnitude estimate of the laser intensity needed for a precession frequency of 1 Hz is given for these "steady" beams of light.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure

Oligoclonal expansions of CD8(+) T cells in chronic HIV infection are antigen specific

Acute HIV infection is associated with a vigorous immune response characterized by the proliferation of selected T cell receptor V beta (BV)-expressing CD8(+) T cells. These 'expansions', which are commonly detected in the peripheral blood, can persist during chronic HIV infection and may result in the dominance of particular clones. Such clonal populations are most consistent with antigen-driven expansions of CD8(+) T cells. However, due to the difficulties in studying antigen-specific T cells in vivo, it has been hard to prove that oligoclonal BV expansions are actually HIV specific. The use of tetrameric major histocompatibility complex-peptide complexes has recently enabled direct visualization of antigen-specific T cells ex vivo but has not provided information on their clonal composition. We have now made use of these tetrameric complexes in conjunction with anti-BV chain-specific monoclonal antibodies and analysis of cytotoxic T lymphocyte lines/clones to show that chronically clonally expanded CD8(+) T cells are HIV specific in vivo

Passive Aeroelastic Tailored Wing Modal Test Using the Fixed Base Correction Method

In modal testing and finite element model correlation, analysts desire modal results using free-free or rigid boundary conditions to ease comparisons of test versus analytical data. It is often expensive both in cost and schedule to build and test with boundary conditions that replicate the free-free or rigid boundaries. Static test fixtures for load testing are often large, heavy, and unyielding, but do not provide adequate boundaries for modal tests because they are dynamically too flexible and often contain natural frequencies within the frequency range of interest of the test article. Dynamic coupling between the test article and test fixture complicates the model updating process because significant effort is required to model the test fixture and boundary conditions in addition to the test article. If there were a way to correct the modal results for fixture coupling, then setups used for other structural testing could be adequate for modal testing. In the case described in this paper, a partial static loads testing setup was used, which allowed significant schedule and cost savings by eliminating a unique setup for a modal test. A fixed base correction technique was investigated during modal testing of a flexible wing cantilevered from part of a static test fixture. The technique was successfully used to measure the wing modes de-coupled from the dynamically active test fixture. The technique is promising for future aircraft applications, but more research is needed

‘Smash the patriarchy’: the changing meanings and work of ‘patriarchy’ online

This article discusses the resurgence of the term ‘patriarchy’ in digital culture and reflects on the everyday online meanings of the term in distinction to academic theorisations. In the 1960s–1980s, feminists theorised patriarchy as the systematic oppression of women, with differing approaches to how it worked. Criticisms that the concept was unable to account for intersectional experiences of oppression, alongside the ‘turn to culture’, resulted in a fall from academic grace. However, ‘patriarchy’ has found new life through Internet memes (humorous, mutational images that circulate widely on social media). This article aims to investigate the resurgence of the term ‘patriarchy’ in digital culture. Based on an analysis of memes with the phrase ‘patriarchy’ and ‘smash the patriarchy’, we identify how patriarchy memes are used by two different online communities (feminists and anti-feminists) and consider what this means for the ongoing usefulness of the concept of patriarchy. We argue that, whilst performing important community-forming work, using the term is a risky strategy for feminists for two reasons: first, because memes are by their nature brief, there is little opportunity to address intersections of oppression; secondly, the underlying logic of feminism is omitted in favour of brevity, leaving it exposed to being undermined by the more mainstream logic of masculinism

Searching (the) FIRST radio arcs near ACO clusters

Gravitational lensing (GL) of distant radio sources by galaxy clusters should produce radio arc(let)s. We extracted radio sources from the FIRST survey near Abell cluster cores and found their radio position angles to be uniformly distributed with respect to the cluster centres. This result holds even when we restrict the sample to the richest or most centrally condensed clusters, and to sources with high S/N and large axial ratio. Our failure to detect GL with statistical methods may be due to poor cluster centre positions. We did not find convincing candidates for arcs either. Our result agrees with theoretical estimates predicting that surveys much deeper than FIRST are required to detect the effect. This is in apparent conflict with the detection of such an effect claimed by Bagchi & Kapahi (1995).Comment: 6 pages; 8 figures and 1 style file are included; to appear in Proc. "Observational Cosmology with the New Radio Surveys", eds. M. Bremer, N. Jackson & I. Perez-Fournon, Kluwer Acad. Pres

Traumatismes fermés et pénétrants de l’abdomen: Analyse rétrospective sur 175 cas et revue de la littérature

Les traumatismes abdominaux sont relativement fréquents mais graves dans les pays en développement. Le but de cette étude était de décrire lesaspects épidémiologiques, diagnostiques, thérapeutiques et évolutifs des contusions et plaies pénétrantes de l'abdomen prises en charge dans unpays à faibles ressources. Patients et méthodes : Il s'agissait d'une étude rétrospective et descriptive de 2 ans (2011-2012) ayant colligé 175 casde traumatisés abdominaux au CHU-JRA Tananarive Madagascar. Parmi ces blessés (144 hommes et 31 femmes), il existait 122 vivants (69,7%) et 53 décès (30,3%) avant tout geste thérapeutique hospitalier. Les étiologies étaient dominées par les accidents à responsabilité civile  (52,5%) et de la voie publique (38,5%). Les contusions et plaies pénétrantes représentaient respectivement 41,8% et 58,2%. Parmi les blessés vivants, 112 ont été opérés (91,8%). L'évolution hospitalière était favorable dans 94,3%. Quatre patients avaient des suites opératoires compliquées (3,6%). Sept patients étaient décédés (5,7%). Parmi les décès préhospitaliers, nous avons observé 73,6% de polytraumatisme (n=39) et 26,4% de traumatismes abdominaux isolés (n=14). A l'autopsie, les lésions abdominales étaient hémorragiques dans 94,3% incluant des plaies vasculaires rétropéritonéales, des ruptures hépatospléniques et des traumatismes graves du bassin. En situation précaire, les traumatismes abdominaux ont une mortalité préhospitalière assez importante. A  l'hôpital, l'évolution était généralement favorable au prix d'un acte  opératoire invasif

A tri-dimensional approach for auditing brand loyalty

Over the past twenty years brand loyalty has been an important topic for both marketing practitioners and academics. While practitioners have produced proprietary brand loyalty audit models, there has been little academic research to make transparent the methodology that underpins these audits and to enable practitioners to understand, develop and conduct their own audits. In this paper, we propose a framework for a brand loyalty audit that uses a tri-dimensional approach to brand loyalty, which includes behavioural loyalty and the two components of attitudinal loyalty: emotional and cognitive loyalty. In allowing for different levels and intensity of brand loyalty, this tri-dimensional approach is important from a managerial perspective. It means that loyalty strategies that arise from a brand audit can be made more effective by targeting the market segments that demonstrate the most appropriate combination of brand loyalty components. We propose a matrix with three dimensions (emotional, cognitive and behavioural loyalty) and two levels (high and low loyalty) to facilitate a brand loyalty audit. To demonstrate this matrix, we use the example of financial services, in particular a rewards-based credit card