Glycosylation is well-known to modulate the functional capabilities of immunoglobulin G (IgG)-mediated cellular and humoral responses. Indeed, highly sialylated and desialylated IgG is endowed with ...anti- and pro-inflammatory activities, respectively, whereas fully deglycosylated IgG is a rather lame duck, with no effector function besides toxin neutralization. Recently, several studies revealed the impact of different glycosylation patterns on the Fc part and Fab fragment of IgG in several autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Here, we provide a synoptic update summarizing the most important aspects of antibody glycosylation, and the current progress in this field. We also discuss the therapeutic options generated by the modification of the glycosylation of IgG in a potential treatment for chronic inflammatory diseases.
Context. The Gl 486 system consists of a very nearby, relatively bright, weakly active M3.5V star at just 8 pc with a warm transiting rocky planet of about 1.3 R⨁ and 3.0 M⨁. It is ideal for both ...transmission and emission spectroscopy and for testing interior models of telluric planets.
Aims. To prepare for future studies, we aim to thoroughly characterise the planetary system with new accurate and precise data collected with state-of-the-art photometers from space and spectrometers and interferometers from the ground.
Methods. We collected light curves of seven new transits observed with the CHEOPS space mission and new radial velocities obtained with MAROON-X at the 8.1m Gemini North telescope and CARMENES at the 3.5m Calar Alto telescope, together with previously published spectroscopic and photometric data from the two spectrographs and TESS. We also performed near-infrared interferometric observations with the CHARA Array and new photometric monitoring with a suite of smaller telescopes (AstroLAB, LCOGT, OSN, TJO). This extraordinary and rich data set was the input for our comprehensive analysis.
Results. From interferometry, we measure a limb-darkened disc angular size of the star Gl 486 at θLDD = 0.390 ± 0.018 mas. Together with a corrected Gaia EDR3 parallax, we obtain a stellar radius R* = 0.339 ± 0.015 R⨀. We also measure a stellar rotation period at Prot = 49.9 ± 5.5 days, an upper limit to its XUV (5–920 Å) flux informed by new Hubble/STIS data, and, for the first time, a variety of element abundances (Fe, Mg, Si, V, Sr, Zr, Rb) and C/O ratio. Moreover, we imposed restrictive constraints on the presence of additional components, either stellar or sub-stellar, in the system. With the input stellar parameters and the radial-velocity and transit data, we determine the radius and mass of the planet Gl 486 b at Rp = 1.343+0.063-0.062 R⨀ and Mp = 3.00+0.13-0.13 M⨁, with relative uncertainties of the planet radius and mass of 4.7% and 4.2%, respectively. From the planet parameters and the stellar element abundances, we infer the most probable models of planet internal structure and composition, which are consistent with a relatively small metallic core with respect to the Earth, a deep silicate mantle, and a thin volatile upper layer. With all these ingredients, we outline prospects for Gl 486 b atmospheric studies, especially with forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) observations.
While there are many efforts to simulate technical systems in virtual environments and provide a visual interaction for applications such as training, authoring and analysis, the process of ...generating applications still requires a lot of manual work. This is particularly critical in the context of interactive Digital Twins for resilience, where uncertain events can occur and every malfunction or mistreatment of any part of the system needs to be modeled. This paper presents an approach to model such systems in a modular way by automating the generation of its components for a game engine and simulators based on a common specification. Component instances are then synchronized bidirectionally across applications to achieve interaction between the game engine and simulators. An example hydraulic system is implemented and tested to demonstrate our approach, which needs minimal manual work by using predefined components. The solution can be extended by integrating more components and simulations.
Three Cases of Spontaneous Hyphaema Bauer, P; Henrich, P B; Stürmer, J
Klinische Monatsblatter fur Augenheilkunde
234, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Spontaneous anterior chamber bleeding is a rare event. We present three photodocumented cases treated in our clinic.
Three patients sought medical assistance in our clinic because of bleeding inside ...the eye and/or visual impairment. None of them had a history of trauma or intraocular surgery.
Two patients had oral anticoagulation, which was discontinued. These cases were treated with topical steroids. The third patient had no anticoagulation and no topical steroids were used in treatment. Topical intraocular pressure-lowering drugs were administered as needed. In all three cases, the anterior chamber bleeding stopped spontaneously. No intervention was required. Even after resolution of the bleeding, there were no signs of iris abnormalities.
In cases of spontaneous anterior chamber bleeding without a history of trauma, oral anticoagulation, hypertension and iris abnormalities such as microaneurysm, pseudoexfoliation, iridocyclitis or neovascularisation have to be considered.
In clinical practice the temporal artery biopsy (TAB) in suspected giant cell arteritis (GCA) is still believed to be the "gold standard". The purpose of this study was to compare the ...histopathological findings of the TAB with duplex sonography of the temporal artery.
In our retrospective study we analysed 85 consecutive patients (52 female, mean age 71.5, range 55 - 91 years; 33 male, mean age 71.6, range 44 - 91 years) with suspected GCA who underwent TAB in our clinic between January 1999 - February 2011. All patients received a preoperative duplex sonography, 57 patients including description of the temporal arteries.
38 of 85 (44.7 %) of the artery biopsies were proven positive for GCA by histopathology. Interpretation of the duplex sonography was congruent of histopathological interpretation of the biopsy in 39 patients (68.4 %) and incongruent in 18 patients (31.6 %). Sensitivity of duplex-sonography was 44.4 %, specificity 90 %, positive predictive value 80 %.
Duplex sonography is a non-invasive and very helpful diagnostic tool to guide the clinician in cases of suspected GCA but needs considerable skills. It shows a good specificity and relatively high positive predictive value as there are only few false positive results. A negative report however does not rule out GCA, so that in our opinion the TAB - at least in those cases - should still be performed.
Context
. TOI-732 is an M dwarf hosting two transiting planets that are located on the two opposite sides of the radius valley. Inferring a reliable demographics for this type of systems is key to ...understanding their formation and evolution mechanisms.
Aims
. By doubling the number of available space-based observations and increasing the number of radial velocity (RV) measurements, we aim at refining the parameters of TOI-732 b and c. We also use the results to study the slope of the radius valley and the density valley for a well-characterised sample of M-dwarf exoplanets.
Methods
. We performed a global Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis by jointly modelling ground-based light curves and CHEOPS and TESS observations, along with RV time series both taken from the literature and obtained with the MAROON-X spectrograph. The slopes of the M-dwarf valleys were quantified via a support vector machine (SVM) procedure.
Results
. TOI-732b is an ultrashort-period planet (
P
= 0.76837931
-0.00000042
+0.0000039
days) with a radius
R
b
= 1.325
-0.058
+0.057
R
⊕
, a mass
M
b
= 2.46 ± 0.19
M
⊕
, and thus a mean density
ρ
b
= 5.8
-0.8
+1.0
g cm
-3
, while the outer planet at
P
= 12.252284 ± 0.000013 days has
R
c
= 2.39
-0.11
+0.10
R
⊕
,
M
c
= 8.04
-0.48
+0.50
M
⊕
, and thus
ρ
c
= 3.24
-0.43
+0.55
g cm
-3
. Even with respect to the most recently reported values, this work yields uncertainties on the transit depths and on the RV semi-amplitudes that are smaller up to a factor of ~1.6 and ~2.4 for TOI-732 b and c, respectively. Our calculations for the interior structure and the location of the planets in the mass-radius diagram lead us to classify TOI-732 b as a super-Earth and TOI-732 c as a mini-Neptune. Following the SVM approach, we quantified d log
R
p,valley
/ d log
P
= -0.065
-0.013
+0.024
, which is flatter than for Sun-like stars. In line with former analyses, we note that the radius valley for M-dwarf planets is more densely populated, and we further quantify the slope of the density valley as d log ρ^
valley
/ d log
P
= -0.02
-0.04
+0.12
.
Conclusions
. Compared to FGK stars, the weaker dependence of the position of the radius valley on the orbital period might indicate that the formation shapes the radius valley around M dwarfs more strongly than the evolution mechanisms.
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