Rubella Virus-Associated Cutaneous Granulomatous Disease : a Unique Complication in Immune-Deficient Patients, Not Limited to DNA Repair Disorders

The association of immunodeficiency-related vaccine-derived rubella virus (iVDRV) with cutaneous and visceral granulomatous disease has been reported in patients with primary immunodeficiency disorders (PIDs). The majority of these PID patients with rubella-positive granulomas had DNA repair disorders. To support this line of inquiry, we provide additional descriptive data on seven previously reported patients with Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS) (n=3) and ataxia telangiectasia (AT) (n=4) as well as eight previously unreported patients with iVDRV-induced cutaneous granulomas and DNA repair disorders including NBS (n=1), AT (n=5), DNA ligase 4 deficiency (n=1), and Artemis deficiency (n=1). We also provide descriptive data on several previously unreported PID patients with iVDRV-induced cutaneous granulomas including cartilage hair hypoplasia (n=1), warts, hypogammaglobulinemia, immunodeficiency, myelokathexis (WHIM) syndrome (n=1), MHC class II deficiency (n=1), Coronin-1A deficiency (n=1), X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (X-SCID) (n=1), and combined immunodeficiency without a molecular diagnosis (n=1). At the time of this report, the median age of the patients with skin granulomas and DNA repair disorders was 9years (range 3-18). Cutaneous granulomas have been documented in all, while visceral granulomas were observed in six cases (40%). All patients had received rubella virus vaccine. The median duration of time elapsed from vaccination to the development of cutaneous granulomas was 48months (range 2-152). Hematopoietic cell transplantation was reported to result in scarring resolution of cutaneous granulomas in two patients with NBS, one patient with AT, one patient with Artemis deficiency, one patient with DNA Ligase 4 deficiency, one patient with MHC class II deficiency, and one patient with combined immunodeficiency without a known molecular etiology. Of the previously reported and unreported cases, the majority share the diagnosis of a DNA repair disorder. Analysis of additional patients with this complication may clarify determinants of rubella pathogenesis, identify specific immune defects resulting in chronic infection, and may lead to defect-specific therapies.Peer reviewe

Genome-Wide Association of Body Fat Distribution in African Ancestry Populations Suggests New Loci

Central obesity, measured by waist circumference (WC) or waist-hip ratio (WHR), is a marker of body fat distribution. Although obesity disproportionately affects minority populations, few studies have conducted genome-wide association study (GWAS) of fat distribution among those of predominantly African ancestry (AA). We performed GWAS of WC and WHR, adjusted and unadjusted for BMI, in up to 33,591 and 27,350 AA individuals, respectively. We identified loci associated with fat distribution in AA individuals using meta-analyses of GWA results for WC and WHR (stage 1). Overall, 25 SNPs with single genomic control (GC)-corrected p-values<5.0×10−6 were followed-up (stage 2) in AA with WC and with WHR. Additionally, we interrogated genomic regions of previously identified European ancestry (EA) WHR loci among AA. In joint analysis of association results including both Stage 1 and 2 cohorts, 2 SNPs demonstrated association, rs2075064 at LHX2, p = 2.24×10−8 for WC-adjusted-for-BMI, and rs6931262 at RREB1, p = 2.48×10−8 for WHR-adjusted-for-BMI. However, neither signal was genome-wide significant after double GC-correction (LHX2: p = 6.5×10−8; RREB1: p = 5.7×10−8). Six of fourteen previously reported loci for waist in EA populations were significant (p<0.05 divided by the number of independent SNPs within the region) in AA studied here (TBX15-WARS2, GRB14, ADAMTS9, LY86, RSPO3, ITPR2-SSPN). Further, we observed associations with metabolic traits: rs13389219 at GRB14 associated with HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, and fasting insulin, and rs13060013 at ADAMTS9 with HDL-cholesterol and fasting insulin. Finally, we observed nominal evidence for sexual dimorphism, with stronger results in AA women at the GRB14 locus (p for interaction = 0.02). In conclusion, we identified two suggestive loci associated with fat distribution in AA populations in addition to confirming 6 loci previously identified in populations of EA. These findings reinforce the concept that there are fat distribution loci that are independent of generalized adiposity

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

The Science Performance of JWST as Characterized in Commissioning

This paper characterizes the actual science performance of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as determined from the six month commissioning period. We summarize the performance of the spacecraft, telescope, science instruments, and ground system, with an emphasis on differences from pre-launch expectations. Commissioning has made clear that JWST is fully capable of achieving the discoveries for which it was built. Moreover, almost across the board, the science performance of JWST is better than expected; in most cases, JWST will go deeper faster than expected. The telescope and instrument suite have demonstrated the sensitivity, stability, image quality, and spectral range that are necessary to transform our understanding of the cosmos through observations spanning from near-earth asteroids to the most distant galaxies.Comment: 5th version as accepted to PASP; 31 pages, 18 figures; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1538-3873/acb29