CASPASE-12, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and the Dog That Didn’t Bark

CASPASE-12 (CASP12) has an anti-inflammatory function during infection. To determine and if CASP12 could protect against inflammatory disease, we investigated the distribution of CASP12 alleles in African-Americans (AA) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). CASP12 homozygous patients had lower baseline joint narrowing and total disease scores. However, there was no significant difference for distribution of CASP12 genotypes between AA controls and patients with RA, or any other clinical criteria for this disease. CASP12 homozygosity appears to be, at best a subtle protective factor for some aspects of RA in AA patients. This raises an intriguing issue as to how this protein would not have a more significant role in an inflammatory disease process

CASPASE-12 and Lupus: The Curious Case of the Dog That Didn’t Bark

CASPASE-12 (CASP12) has an anti-inflammatory function during infection, and is a risk factor for sepsis in African-Americans (AA). To determine if CASP12 could be protective for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in AA, we genotyped AA SLE patients and controls. We found that, at best, there was a weak association between CASP12 genotype with the absence of anti-dsDNA autoantibodies in SLE patients. No effect was seen upon serum interleukin-1 beta levels, nor was any other protective effect noted for the CASP12 genotype, whether upon association with SLE, or any of the 11 American College of Rheumatology classification criteria. We concluded that CASP12 genotype thus does not influence the phenotype of SLE in AA. This raises the issue as to why this protein would not play a more significant role in a chronic inflammatory disease process

Dietary calcium and zinc effects in unilaterally neutron irradiated swine

The importance of zinc in animal nutrition has been increasingly recognized in recent years. Numerous experiments have demonstrated that this trace element is an important constituent of rations for swine, poultry, ruminants, and some data are available on humans. No information was found regarding the metabolism of stable zinc and radiozinc in tissues of neutron irradiated swine. It has been widely demonstrated that a calcium and zinc relationship exists and that an inadequate amount of zinc in the diet has induced growth retardation and parakeratosis in swine (Lewis et al., 1956), as well as a health problem in cattle, goats, and chickens. Zinc is known to be a constituent of a number of metalloenzymes (Orten, 1966 and Vallee, 1959 referred to by Prasad, 1967), These include; carbonic anhydrase, pancreatic carboxypeptidase, liver, and yeast alcohol dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, malic dehydrogenase, and glutamic and lactic dehydrogenase. In addition zinc increases the activity of a number of other enzymes apparently as a cofactor in a nonspecific manner. The gross and histological features of swine skin resemble that of the human, and the radiosensitivity of the pig is within the range estimated for man. Hence, investigations using X-ray and mixed neutron-gamma irradiated swine have been conducted. Since neutron irradiation can produce changes in the animal body, this work was initiated to study: (1) the excretion and retention of radiozinc and stable zinc in the organs of neutron irradiated swine fed different levels of calcium and zinc; and (2) to observe any gross and/or histological changes caused by neutron exposure

Amyloid–β-Sheet Formation at the Air-Water Interface

AbstractAn amyloid(1-40) solution rich in coil, turn, and α-helix, but poor in β-sheet, develops monolayers with a high β-sheet content when spread at the air-water interface. These monolayers are resistant to repeated compression-dilatation cycles and interaction with trifluoroethanol. The secondary structure motifs were detected by circular dichroism (CD) in solution and with infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS) at the interface. Hydrophobic influences are discussed for the structure conversion in an effort to understand the completely unknown reason for the natural change of the normal prion protein cellular (PrPC) into the abnormal prion protein scrapie (PrPSc)

Le réveil de l’eau-forte dans la seconde moitié du xixe siècle

En 1862, la Revue anecdotique des excentricités contemporaines, dont l’éditeur Auguste Poulet-Malassis venait de prendre la direction, ouvrait le numéro de la deuxième quinzaine du mois d’avril par un article de Charles Baudelaire intitulé « L’eau-forte est à la mode ». À peine quelques semaines après cette parution, Alfred Cadart, qui avait déjà publié des cahiers d’eaux-fortes d’Édouard Manet, de Johan Barthold Jongkind et d’Alphonse Legros, fondait la Société des aquafortistes, appelée à d..

Odilon Redon. Prince du rêve

Odilon Redon, prince du rêve. Du 22 mars au 20 juin 2011. Paris, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. Exposition organisée par la Réunion des musées nationaux et le musée d’Orsay en collaboration avec la Bibliothèque nationale de France. Commissariat général : Rodolphe Rapetti, conservateur général du patrimoine. Commissariat : Marie-Pierre Salé, conservateur au musée d’Orsay ; Valérie Sueur-Hermel, conservateur au département des Estampes et de la photographie de la BnF. L’exposition sera v..

Ouvrons les portefeuilles d’estampes de Félix Ziem !

Le « peintre de Venise », Félix Ziem (1821-1911), a vu inaugurer, peu avant sa mort, le musée qui lui est consacré à Martigues, ville dans laquelle il résida à partir de 1860 et à laquelle il consentit plusieurs dons. Ce musée s’est enrichi, en 1993, d’un legs de sa petite-fille adoptive comportant non seulement des peintures et des dessins, un fonds d’archives personnelles propres à éclairer les exégètes de son parcours artistique, mais aussi sa collection d’estampes. Après la mise en valeur..

Henri Marie Petiet (1894-1980), marchand d’estampes

Depuis 1991, deux rendez-vous annuels ont réuni, à l’Hôtel Drouot, les amateurs d’estampes modernes venus assister à la dispersion de l’immense collection d’Henri Marie Petiet. Tout inépuisable que pût sembler ce fonds d’estampes majeures du xixe et du xxe siècles, le ralentissement récent du rythme des ventes, passées de deux à une par an en 2012, laissait présager l’imminence d’un tarissement. Dernier acte venu clore en beauté vingt-six années qui feront date dans l’histoire des ventes d’es..