2,303 research outputs found
Narconon, Scientology, and the Battle for Legitimacy
This article provides an historical description and analysis of Scientologyâs controversial drug treatment program, Narconon. Following scholarship by sociologist Terra Manca on Scientologyâs pseudo-medicine, I argue that Scientology initially claimed its program to be part of its religion, but eventually dropped this claim as it attempted to get Narconon programs and teachings established in communities. I show, however, the intimate association between Scientology and Narconon courses, and present some of the evidence that the program lacks scientific validityâespecially its Purification Rundown. Â
Politiques de rage et narcissisme malin
Dans cet article, le trouble de la personnalitĂ© connu sous le nom de « narcissisme malin » est prĂ©sentĂ©. Ce concept est par la suite utilisĂ© pour expliquer la crĂ©ation, par le dirigeant dâun groupe, de politiques organisationnelles destinĂ©es Ă contrer les personnes quâil considĂ©rait comme ennemies, mettant en Ă©vidence la rage narcissique Ă lâoeuvre. Notre argument est examinĂ© Ă la lumiĂšre dâune Ă©tude de cas dans laquelle il est dĂ©montrĂ© que le dirigeant a tentĂ© de discrĂ©diter les dĂ©tracteurs du groupe, transposant sa rage narcissique dans des politiques organisationnelles que des membres loyaux adoptaient pour lui. Ă lâaide dâobservations psychologiques de la personnalitĂ© du chef et, par la suite, en dĂ©montrant comment celle-ci est Ă la source de politiques et dâactions socialement dĂ©viantes, nous espĂ©rons encourager les criminologues Ă examiner dâautres groupes en appliquant des thĂ©ories semblables.In this article, a personality disorder known as âmalignant narcissismâ is presented. This notion is then used to explain the creation of organizational policies against perceived enemies that reflected this narcissistic rage. We illustrate our argument by the analysis of a case study in which it is shown that the leader attempted to discredit the detractors of the group, thus transposing the narcissistic rage into organizational policies that loyal members enacted on his behalf. By using psychological insights about the leaderâs personality, and then showing how that personality translated into socially deviant policies and actions, we hope to encourage criminologists to examine other groups by applying similar theories.En este artĂculo presentamos el trastorno de la personalidad denominado ânarcisismo malignoâ. Este concepto es a continuaciĂłn utilizado para explicar la creaciĂłn, por parte del dirigente de un grupo, de polĂticas organizacionales destinadas a contrarrestar a las personas consideradas por Ă©l como enemigas y que ponen de manifiesto su ira narcisista. Nuestra argumentaciĂłn es examinada a la luz de un estudio de caso en el que se demuestra que el dirigente intentĂł desacreditar a los detractores del grupo, trasfiriendo su ira narcisista a polĂticas organizacionales que fueron adoptadas por miembros leales a la organizaciĂłn. Gracias a observaciones psicolĂłgicas de la personalidad del lĂder y, mĂĄs adelante, demostrando cĂłmo su personalidad estĂĄ en la base de polĂticas y acciones socialmente desviantes, esperamos alentar a los criminĂłlogos a examinar otros grupos aplicando teorĂas similares
Expression in Escherichia coli of a cloned DNA sequence encoding the pre-S2 region of hepatitis B virus
A DNA sequence encoding the entire pre-S2 region (amino acids 120-174; serotype ayw) of human hepatitis B virus envelope protein has been inserted into the lacZ gene of the plasmid pSKS105 yielding a recombinant, pWS3. Lac+ colonies of the Escherichia coli M182 (lacIOPZYA), isolated after transformation with pWS3, produced a pre-S2 peptide-Ă-galactosidase fusion protein. This fusion protein, which comprised as much as 3% of the total bacterial protein, was purified to >90% homogeneity by affinity chromatography on p-aminophenyl-Ă-D-thiogalactoside-Sepharose. It is immunoprecipitable with rabbit antibodies to a synthetic peptide corresponding to amino acids 120-145 of the pre-S2 region of serotype adw [pre-S(120-145)] or with antibodies to hepatitis B virus. pre-S(120-145) completely blocked the binding of either antibody to the pre-S2 peptide-Ă-galactosidase fusion protein. These results indicate that there are antigenic determinants on the fusion protein that are closely related to, if not identical to, determinants on synthetic pre-S(120-145) and on pre-S2 sequences of native hepatitis B virus particles. Thus, bacteria transformed with pWS3 can provide an abundant source of pre-S2-Ă-galactosidase fusion protein, which may prove useful either as a diagnostic reagent possessing marker enzyme activity suitable for ELISA tests or as an immunogen with potential to contribute to active prophylaxis of hepatitis B
Fc-mediated functions and the treatment of severe respiratory viral infections with passive immunotherapy â a balancing act
Passive immunotherapies have been used to treat severe respiratory infections for over a century, with convalescent blood products from recovered individuals given to patients with influenza-related pneumonia as long ago as the Spanish flu pandemic. However, passive immunotherapy with convalescent plasma or hyperimmune intravenous immunoglobulin (hIVIG) has not provided unequivocal evidence of a clinical benefit for severe respiratory infections including influenza and COVID-19. Efficacy trials, primarily conducted in late-stage disease, have demonstrated inconsistent efficacy and clinical benefit for hIVIG treatment of severe respiratory infections. To date, most serological analyses of convalescent plasma and hIVIG trial samples have focused on the measurement of neutralizing antibody titres. There is, however, increasing evidence that baseline antibody levels and extra-neutralizing antibody functions influence the outcome of passive immunotherapy in humans. In this perspective, findings from convalescent plasma and hIVIG trials for severe influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) will be described. Clinical trial results will be discussed in the context of the potential beneficial and deleterious roles of antibodies with Fc-mediated effector functions, with a focus on natural killer cells and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. Overall, we postulate that treating respiratory viral infections with hIVIG represents a delicate balance between protection and immunopathology
Inducible Bronchus-Associated Lymphoid Tissues (iBALT) Serve as Sites of B Cell Selection and Maturation Following Influenza Infection in Mice
Seasonally recurrent influenza virus infections are a significant cause of global morbidity and mortality. In murine models, primary influenza infection in the respiratory tract elicits potent humoral responses concentrated in the draining mediastinal lymph node and the spleen. In addition to immunity within secondary lymphoid organs (SLO), pulmonary infection is also associated with formation of ectopic inducible bronchus-associated tissues (iBALT) in the lung. These structures display a lymphoid organization, but their function and protective benefits remain unclear. Here we examined the phenotype, transcriptional profile and antigen specificity of B cell populations forming iBALT in influenza infected mice. We show that the cellular composition of iBALT was comparable to SLO, containing populations of follicular dendritic cells (FDC), T-follicular helper (Tfh) cells, and germinal center (GC)-like B cells with classical dark- and light-zone polarization. Transcriptional profiles of GC B cells in iBALT and SLO were conserved regardless of anatomical localization. The architecture of iBALT was pleiomorphic and less structurally defined than SLO. Nevertheless, we show that GC-like structures within iBALT serve as a distinct niche that independently support the maturation and selection of B cells primarily targeted against the influenza virus nucleoprotein. Our findings suggest that iBALT, which are positioned at the frontline of the lung mucosa, drive long-lived, and unique GC reactions that contribute to the diversity of the humoral response targeting influenza
Identification of a novel retroviral gene unique to human immunodeficiency virus type 2 and simian immunodeficiency virus SIVMAC
Human and simian immunodeficiency-associated retroviruses are extraordinarily complex, containing at least five genes, tat, art, sor, R, and 3' orf, in addition to the structural genes gag, pol, and env. Recently, nucleotide sequence analysis of human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) and simian immunodeficiency virus SIVMAC revealed the existence of still another open reading frame, termed X, which is highly conserved between these two viruses but absent from HIV-1. In this report, we demonstrate for the first time that the X open reading frame represents a functional retroviral gene in both HIV-2 and SIVMAC and that it encodes a virion-associated protein of 14 and 12 kilodaltons, respectively. We also describe the production of recombinant TrpE/X fusion proteins in Escherichia coli and show that sera from some HIV-2-infected individuals specifically recognize these proteins
Total Synthesis of the Bovine Pancreatic Trypsin Inhibitor (BPTI) and the Protein Diastereomer [Gly37D-Ala]BPTI using Boc Chemistry Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis
Bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) is a wellâstudied model for investigation of protein folding and stability. Here, we report the synthesis and characterization of wildâtype BPTI and a diastereomeric protein analogue [Gly37DâAla]BPTI. Each 58âresidue polypeptide chain was made by native chemical ligation of two peptide segments, BPTI[1â29]âαthioester and the appropriate version of the Cys30â58 BPTI peptide segment. Boc chemistry in situ neutralization solid phase synthesis was used to prepare the peptide segment reactants. The resulting fullâlength polypeptide chains were folded in a cysteine/cystine redox buffer to give synthetic protein molecules containing three disulfide bonds. The diastereomeric analogue [Gly37DâAla]BPTI folded as efficiently as the native protein. Synthetic proteins were characterized by analytical LCMS and by naturalâabundance 1Hâ15N HSQC NMR fingerprinting. These results illustrate the power of Boc chemistry peptide synthesis and its utility for the total chemical synthesis of protein molecules
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In vivo articular cartilage deformation: noninvasive quantification of intratissue strain during joint contact in the human knee
The in vivo measurement of articular cartilage deformation is essential to understand how mechanical forces distribute throughout the healthy tissue and change over time in the pathologic joint. Displacements or strain may serve as a functional imaging biomarker for healthy, diseased, and repaired tissues, but unfortunately intratissue cartilage deformation in vivo is largely unknown. Here, we directly quantified for the first time deformation patterns through the thickness of tibiofemoral articular cartilage in healthy human volunteers. Magnetic resonance imaging acquisitions were synchronized with physiologically relevant compressive loading and used to visualize and measure regional displacement and strain of tibiofemoral articular cartilage in a sagittal plane. We found that compression (of 1/2 body weight) applied at the foot produced a sliding, rigid-body displacement at the tibiofemoral cartilage interface, that loading generated subject- and gender-specific and regionally complex patterns of intratissue strains, and that dominant cartilage strains (approaching 12%) were in shear. Maximum principle and shear strain measures in the tibia were correlated with body mass index. Our MRI-based approach may accelerate the development of regenerative therapies for diseased or damaged cartilage, which is currently limited by the lack of reliable in vivo methods for noninvasive assessment of functional changes following treatment
Dynamics of a semiconductor laser with optical feedback
We investigate both experimentally and theoretically the dynamics of a semiconductor laser with optical feedback in the low-frequency fluctuation regime. First we demonstrate that low-frequency fluctuations can be observed for both single and multimode operation of a semiconductor laser with optical feedback. The analysis of the fast dynamics associated with this low-frequency instability is well described by single-mode rate equations. In the multimode regime, fast pulsation is observed in every laser mode. In this case the fluctuations in total intensity are much smaller than those in the intensity of each individual mode, This indicates the presence of anticorrelations dynamics at high frequency between the different laser modes. (S1050-2947(99)08307-9)
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