State of the art: Reproduction and pregnancy in rheumatic diseases

Throughout the last decade, increasing awareness has been raised on issues related to reproduction in rheumatic diseases including basic research to clarify the important role of estrogens in the etiology and pathophysiology of immune/inflammatory diseases. Sub- or infertility is a heterogeneous condition that can be related to immunological mechanisms, to pregnancy loss, to disease burden, to therapy, and to choices in regard to family size. Progress in reproductive medicine has made it possible for more patients with rheumatic disease to have children. Active disease in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects their children's birth weight and may have long-term effects on their future health status. Pregnancy complications as preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction are still increased in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), however, biomarkers can monitor adverse events, and several new therapies may improve outcomes. Pregnancies in women with APS remain a challenge, and better therapies for the obstetric APS are needed. New prospective studies indicate improved outcomes for pregnancies in women with rare diseases like systemic sclerosis and vasculitis. TNF inhibitors hold promise for maintaining remission in rheumatological patients and may be continued at least in the first half of pregnancy. Pre-conceptional counseling and interdisciplinary management of pregnancies are essential for ensuring optimal pregnancy outcomes.

Self-control strength in the relation between trait test anxiety and state anxiety

The present research examined whether in a test situation, the relation between trait test anxiety and state anxiety depends on the momentary availability of self-control strength. Since self-control strength is crucial for emotion regulation, we assume that trait test anxiety is more closely related to state anxiety if self-control strength is depleted than if it is not depleted. We conducted an experiment with 119 undergraduates in which we measured trait test anxiety, manipulated availability of self-control strength, and assessed state anxiety after a test announcement. Consistent with the assumption, multiple regression analyses revealed that trait test anxiety and state anxiety were positively related if self-control strength was depleted, but were not related if self-control strength was intact.

Search for nonpointing and delayed photons in the diphoton and missing transverse momentum final state in 8 TeV pp collisions at the LHC using the ATLAS detector

A search has been performed, using the full 20.3  fb −1 data sample of 8 TeV proton-proton collisions collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, for photons originating from a displaced vertex due to the decay of a neutral long-lived particle into a photon and an invisible particle. The analysis investigates the diphoton plus missing transverse momentum final state, and is therefore most sensitive to pair production of long-lived particles. The analysis technique exploits the capabilities of the ATLAS electromagnetic calorimeter to make precise measurements of the flight direction, as well as the time of flight, of photons. No excess is observed over the Standard Model predictions for background. Exclusion limits are set within the context of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking models, with the lightest neutralino being the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle and decaying into a photon and gravitino with a lifetime in the range from 250 ps to about 100 ns.

Direct visualization of the outer membrane of mycobacteria and corynebacteria in their native state.

The cell envelope of mycobacteria, which include the causative agents of tuberculosis and leprosy, is crucial for their success as pathogens. Despite a continued strong emphasis on identifying the multiple chemical components of this envelope, it has proven difficult to combine its components into a comprehensive structural model, primarily because the available ultrastructural data rely on conventional electron microscopy embedding and sectioning, which are known to induce artifacts. The existence of an outer membrane bilayer has long been postulated but has never been directly observed by electron microscopy of ultrathin sections. Here we have used cryo-electron microscopy of vitreous sections (CEMOVIS) to perform a detailed ultrastructural analysis of three species belonging to the Corynebacterineae suborder, namely, Mycobacterium bovis BCG, Mycobacterium smegmatis, and Corynebacterium glutamicum, in their native state. We provide new information that accurately describes the different layers of the mycobacterial cell envelope and challenges current models of the organization of its components. We show a direct visualization of an outer membrane, analogous to that found in gram-negative bacteria, in the three bacterial species examined. Furthermore, we demonstrate that mycolic acids, the hallmark of mycobacteria and related genera, are essential for the formation of this outer membrane. In addition, a granular layer and a low-density zone typifying the periplasmic space of gram-positive bacteria are apparent in CEMOVIS images of mycobacteria and corynebacteria. Based on our observations, a model of the organization of the lipids in the outer membrane is proposed. The architecture we describe should serve as a reference for future studies to relate the structure of the mycobacterial cell envelope to its function.

Primitive ontology and quantum state in the GRW matter density theory

The paper explains in what sense the GRW matter density theory (GRWm) is a primitive ontology theory of quantum mechanics and why, thus conceived, the standard objections against the GRW formalism do not apply to GRWm. We consider the different options for conceiving the quantum state in GRWm and argue that dispositionalism is the most attractive one.

The Secular State Under Siege: Religion and Politics in Europe and America

Throughout human history, religion and politics have entertained the most intimate of connections as systems of authority regulating individuals and society. While the two have come apart through the process of secularization, secularism is challenged today by the return of public religion. This cogent analysis unravels the nature of the connection, disconnection, and attempted reconnection between religion and politics in the West. In a comparison of Western Europe and North America, Christianity and Islam, Joppke advances far-reaching theoretical, historical, and comparative-political arguments. With respect to theory, it is argued that only a “substantive” concept of religion, as pertaining to the existence of supra-human powers, opens up the possibility of a historical-comparative perspective on religion. At the level of history, secularization is shown to be the distinct outcome of Latin Christianity itself. And at the level of comparative politics, the Christian Right in America which has attacked the “wall of separation” between religion and state and Islam in Europe with the controversial insistence on sharia law and other “illiberal” claims from some quarters are taken to be counterpart incarnations of public religion and challenges to the secular state. This clearly argued, sweeping book will provide an invaluable framework for approaching an array of critical issues at the intersection of religion, law and politics for advanced students and researchers across the social sciences and legal studies, as well as for the interested public.