Saints and lovers: myths of the avant-garde in Michel Georges-Michel's Les Montparnos

This article examines Michel Georges-Michel’s 1924 novel Les Montparnos as a study of the myths circulating around the Montparnasse avant-garde of the 1920s, and their function in relation to art. Key amongst these myths is the idea of art as a religion, according to which avant-garde artists are conceived as secular saints and martyrs. While this notion of artist as saint is strongly present in early-twentieth-century biographies of Van Gogh, Georges-Michel explicitly relates his fictionalized version of Modigliani’s life not to such recent models but rather to the Renaissance masters, and especially to Raphael, a link which is explained in terms of the post-war ‘retour à l’ordre’ in French artistic culture. The novel’s references to Raphael as archetypal painter-lover are also related to its construction of a myth of the artist as virile and sexually prolific, and to its identification of creative and sexual impulses

Standard solar models: Perspectives from updated solar neutrino fluxes and gravity-mode period spacing

Context. Thanks to the vast and exquisite set of observations that have been made available for the Sun, our star is by far an ideal target for testing stellar models with a unique precision. A recent issue under consideration in the field is related to the progress in the solar surface abundances derivation that has led to a decrease of the solar metallicity. While the former high-metallicity models were in fair agreement with other observational indicators from helioseismology and solar neutrino fluxes, it is no longer the case for low-metallicity models. This issue has become known as ’the solar problem’. Recent data are, however, promising to shed a new light on it. For instance, in 2020, the Borexino collaboration released the first-ever complete estimate of neutrinos emitted in the CNO cycle, which has reaffirmed the role of the neutrino constraints in the solar modelling process and their potential in exploring related issues. In parallel, a newly claimed detection of solar gravity modes of oscillation offers another opportunity for probing the stratification in the Sun’s central layers. Aims. We propose combining the diagnoses from neutrinos and helioseismology, both from pressure and gravity modes, in assessing the predictions of solar models. We compare in detail the different physical prescriptions currently at our disposal with regard to stellar model computations. Methods. We built a series of solar standard models based on a variation of the different physical ingredients directly affecting the core structure: opacity, chemical mixture, nuclear reactions rates. We compare the predictions of these models to their observational counterparts for the neutrinos fluxes, gravity-mode period spacing, and low-degree pressure mode frequency ratios. Results. The CNO neutrino flux confirms previous findings, exhibiting a preference for high-metallicity models. Nevertheless, we found that mild modification of the nuclear screening factors can re-match low-metallicity model predictions to observed fluxes, al- though it does not restore the agreement with the helioseismic frequency ratios. Neither the high-metallicity or low-metallicity models are able to reproduce the gravity-mode period spacing. The disagreement is huge, more than 100σ to the observed value. Reversely, the family of standard models narrows the expected range of the Sun’s period spacing: between ∼2150 to ∼2190 s. Moreover, we show this indicator can constrain the chemical mixture, opacity, and – to a lower extent – nuclear reactions in solar models

Combining multiple structural inversions to constrain the Solar modelling problem

The Sun is the most studied of stars and a laboratory of fundamental physics. However, the understanding of our star is stained by the solar modelling problem which can stem from various causes. We combine inversions of sound speed, an entropy proxy and the Ledoux discriminant with the position of the base of the convective zone and the photospheric helium abundance to test combinations of ingredients such as equation of state, abundance and opacity tables. We study the potential of the inversions to constrain ad-hoc opacity modifications and additional mixing in the Sun. We show that they provide constraints on these modifications to the ingredients and that the solar problem likely occurs from various sources and using phase shifts with our approach is the next step to take.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the PHOST meeting held in Banyuls, Franc

Cognitive neuropsychological and brain imaging investigation of apraxia in corticobasal degeneration

peer reviewe

Male gays in the female gaze: women who watch m/m pornography

This paper draws on a piece of wide-scale mixed-methods research that examines the motivations behind women who watch gay male pornography. To date there has been very little interdisciplinary research investigating this phenomenon, despite a recent survey by PornHub (one of the largest online porn sites in the world) showing that gay male porn is the second most popular choice for women porn users out of 25+ possible genre choices. While both academic literature and popular culture have looked at the interest that (heterosexual) men have in lesbian pornography, considerably less attention has been paid to the consumption of gay male pornography by women. Research looking at women's consumption of pornography from within the Social Sciences is very focused around heterosexual (and, to a lesser extent, lesbian) pornography. Research looking more generally at gay pornography/erotica (and the subversion of the ‘male gaze’/concept of ‘male as erotic object’) often makes mention of female interest in this area, but only briefly, and often relies on anecdotal or observational evidence. Research looking at women's involvement in slashfic (primarily from within media studies), while very thorough and rich, tends to view slash writing as a somewhat isolated phenomenon (indeed, in her influential article on women's involvement in slash, Bacon-Smith talks about how ‘only a small number’ of female slash writers and readers have any interest in gay literature or pornography more generally, and this phenomenon is not often discussed in more recent analyses of slash); so while there has been a great deal of very interesting research done in this field, little attempt has been made to couch it more generally within women's consumption and use of pornography and erotica or to explore what women enjoy about watching gay male pornography. Through a series of focus groups, interviews, and an online questionnaire (n = 275), this exploratory piece of work looks at what women enjoy about gay male pornography, and how it sits within their consumption of erotica/pornography more generally. The article investigates what this has to say about the existence and nature of a ‘female gaze’

A Novel Unstable Duplication Upstream of HAS2 Predisposes to a Breed-Defining Skin Phenotype and a Periodic Fever Syndrome in Chinese Shar-Pei Dogs

Hereditary periodic fever syndromes are characterized by recurrent episodes of fever and inflammation with no known pathogenic or autoimmune cause. In humans, several genes have been implicated in this group of diseases, but the majority of cases remain unexplained. A similar periodic fever syndrome is relatively frequent in the Chinese Shar-Pei breed of dogs. In the western world, Shar-Pei have been strongly selected for a distinctive thick and heavily folded skin. In this study, a mutation affecting both these traits was identified. Using genome-wide SNP analysis of Shar-Pei and other breeds, the strongest signal of a breed-specific selective sweep was located on chromosome 13. The same region also harbored the strongest genome-wide association (GWA) signal for susceptibility to the periodic fever syndrome (praw = 2.3×10−6, pgenome = 0.01). Dense targeted resequencing revealed two partially overlapping duplications, 14.3 Kb and 16.1 Kb in size, unique to Shar-Pei and upstream of the Hyaluronic Acid Synthase 2 (HAS2) gene. HAS2 encodes the rate-limiting enzyme synthesizing hyaluronan (HA), a major component of the skin. HA is up-regulated and accumulates in the thickened skin of Shar-Pei. A high copy number of the 16.1 Kb duplication was associated with an increased expression of HAS2 as well as the periodic fever syndrome (p<0.0001). When fragmented, HA can act as a trigger of the innate immune system and stimulate sterile fever and inflammation. The strong selection for the skin phenotype therefore appears to enrich for a pleiotropic mutation predisposing these dogs to a periodic fever syndrome. The identification of HA as a major risk factor for this canine disease raises the potential of this glycosaminoglycan as a risk factor for human periodic fevers and as an important driver of chronic inflammation

Between Antagonism and Eros: The Feud as Couple Form and Netflix’s GLOW

A feud is an antagonism that is continuous and extended; “a state of prolonged mutual hostility” (OED). Historically, feuds take place between families or communities, or result from failed couples. Considered as a couple form in its own right, however, the feud is associated with aesthetic forms often coded as camp, queer, or feminized. In such popular, serialized forms, the feud must be open ended and of unforeseen futurity, for resolution brings an end to the feud as such and dissolves the couple. Thus, feuds reject normative modes of coupling (such as the nuclear family) that center harmonious or happy feelings. The article begins with the political economy of the feud through an examination of the pre-modern form of the blood feud and continues with its late-modern presence in popular culture. We rehearse the idea of the feud as it emerges from anthropology and philosophy, especially as it impacts notions of debt and alternative economies, before thinking through the contemporary “coupling” of the feud in popular culture, fandom, and, via the performance form of professional wrestling and Netflix’s GLOW

Safety and Reactogenicity of Canarypox ALVAC-HIV (vCP1521) and HIV-1 gp120 AIDSVAX B/E Vaccination in an Efficacy Trial in Thailand

A prime-boost vaccination regimen with ALVAC-HIV (vCP1521) administered intramuscularly at 0, 4, 12, and 24 weeks and gp120 AIDSVAX B/E at 12 and 24 weeks demonstrated modest efficacy of 31.2% for prevention of HIV acquisition in HIV-uninfected adults participating in a community-based efficacy trial in Thailand.Reactogenicity was recorded for 3 days following vaccination. Adverse events were monitored every 6 months for 3.5 years, during which pregnancy outcomes were recorded. Of the 16,402 volunteers, 69% of the participants reported an adverse event any time after the first dose. Only 32.9% experienced an AE within 30 days following any vaccination. Overall adverse event rates and attribution of relatedness did not differ between groups. The frequency of serious adverse events was similar in vaccine (14.3%) and placebo (14.9%) recipients (p = 0.33). None of the 160 deaths (85 in vaccine and 75 in placebo recipients, p = 0.43) was assessed as related to vaccine. The most common cause of death was trauma or traffic accident. Approximately 30% of female participants reported a pregnancy during the study. Abnormal pregnancy outcomes were experienced in 17.1% of vaccine and 14.6% (p = 0.13) of placebo recipients. When the conception occurred within 3 months (estimated) of a vaccination, the majority of these abnormal outcomes were spontaneous or elective abortions among 22.2% and 15.3% of vaccine and placebo pregnant recipients, respectively (p = 0.08). Local reactions occurred in 88.0% of vaccine and 61.0% of placebo recipients (p<0.001) and were more frequent after ALVAC-HIV than AIDSVAX B/E vaccination. Systemic reactions were more frequent in vaccine than placebo recipients (77.2% vs. 59.8%, p<0.001). Local and systemic reactions were mostly mild to moderate, resolving within 3 days.The ALVAC-HIV and AIDSVAX B/E vaccine regimen was found to be safe, well tolerated and suitable for potential large-scale use in Thailand.ClinicalTrials.govNCT00223080

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2–4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease