Long-Lasting Immunity Against SARS-CoV-2: Dream or Reality?

Since its declaration as a pandemic in March 2020, SARS-CoV-2 has infected more than 217 million people worldwide and despite mild disease in the majority of the cases, more than 4.5 million cases of COVID-19-associated death have been reported as of September 2021. The question whether recovery from COVID-19 results in prevention of reinfection can be answered with a “no” since cases of reinfections have been reported. The more important question is whether during SARS-CoV-2 infection, a protective immunity is built and maintained afterwards in a way which protects from possibly severe courses of disease in case of a reinfection. A similar question arises with respect to vaccination: as of September 2021, globally, more than 5.2 billion doses of vaccines have been administered. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to study the cellular and humoral immunity toward SARS-CoV-2 in a longitudinal manner. In this study, reconvalescent COVID-19 patients have been followed up for more than 1 year after SARS-CoV-2 infection to characterize in detail the long-term humoral as well as cellular immunity. Both SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells and antibodies could be detected for a period of more than 1 year after infection, indicating that the immune protection established during initial infection is maintained and might possibly protect from severe disease in case of reinfection or infection with novel emerging variants. Moreover, these data demonstrate the opportunity for immunotherapy of hospitalized COVID-19 patients via adoptive transfer of functional antiviral T cells isolated from reconvalescent individuals.

The absurdist liberation of architecture

<p>I am Sisyphus and architecture is my boulder. For those who are not already familiar, Sisyphus is the Greek mythological king of Ephyra. However, he is perhaps most well-known for his unique, boulder-rolling, fate. As punishment for deceitfulness, Sisyphus was condemned to a life in which he was to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down again; he was to repeat this task for eternity (Homer, Odyssey, XI.593). At the beginning of the final year of my architecture master’s degree, I felt much like I imagine Sisyphus to feel as he walks back down the hill to begin his task once more. Another year at university pushing another piece of architecture up the hill of hopeless, sure to be lost to interpretation, meaning - something with which many contemporaries, and architectural critics seem to have become mildly obsessed. This incessant striving for meaning is reinforced through the typical university design project’s marking schedule. It is common a student must prove that his or her design is meaningful, and was not merely plucked from their imagination. Often, according to these marking schedules, a ‘good’ design must have undergone numerous conceptual iterations (methodology), have included a range of theoretical and practical influences (context) and be something that no-one has seen before (originality). Other than undermining a student’s confidence in his or her own imaginative creativity and the value of creativity alone, this demonstrates the level of the contemporary architectural critics’ obsession with meaning. It is this hopeless push back up the hill of meaning that we now too often call design. This phenomenon can also be observed outside of the university walls. A fine example is Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye which, though no longer contemporary, is still undoubtedly relevant due to its lingering influence and fame. I will also admit that I would certainly be lying if I said that provocation has had no effect on my selection; I find it serves as a useful tool in point making. Regardless, Villa Savoye is a landmark of hopeless intended meaning. Corbusier’s five points of architecture are indicative of the meaning he had hoped to convey through this building: an original expression and glorification of the Modern (Western) context of living (Corbusier, 1986). This is all fine and well, and yes it is true that one can recognise this expression in the architecture once it has been explained. In fact, I have no doubt that some uninformed observers may even realise that the semicircular path of the Villa Savoye’s driveway is exactly the turning radius of a 1927 Citroën automobile. However even of those impressive few who do, even fewer will recognise this as a design strategy to aid in the celebration of the industrial phenomena of the automobile. The building’s context, originality and methodology, its meaning, have undeniably been lost to interpretation - a fate shared by all attempts to portray and interpret meaning in architecture. So is it sensible to strive for meaning so passionately? A remarkably similar question was identified by a number of post-war philosophers who, spurred by the atrocities and revelations of war, went on to become the pioneers of movements which now collectively fit under the heading Existentialism. Questions around the conditions of existence, and whether any human can experience true meaning within the apparent meaninglessness of our universe, began to be considered (Solomon, 1974). Within this, the theory of Absurdism arose from the identification of the paradoxical act of an individual’s hopeless attempt to determine meaning within a meaningless existence; that being the Absurd Act. The similarities are, I hope, apparent, as it is the identification of this similarity that initiated this thesis. Just as individuals seek meaning in their existence, they seek meaning in their architecture. And both can undeniably be considered Absurd Acts due to the limitations of perception and interpretation. I need to explain Absurdism in more depth, and I do so in the following chapter, but what needs to be understood for now is that, according to the Absurdist theory, no individuals will find true meaning in their meaningless universe, or in their architecture. Assuming you too refuse to accept this bleak outlook, we must ask a question of architecture, and existence also. How can its meaning be validated? The clues to a solution lie in the discussions of Absurdism; and it is the findings and explanations of Albert Camus that will pave the path that I will follow in the establishment of architecture within the paradox of meaninglessness.</p>

The absurdist liberation of architecture

<p>I am Sisyphus and architecture is my boulder. For those who are not already familiar, Sisyphus is the Greek mythological king of Ephyra. However, he is perhaps most well-known for his unique, boulder-rolling, fate. As punishment for deceitfulness, Sisyphus was condemned to a life in which he was to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down again; he was to repeat this task for eternity (Homer, Odyssey, XI.593). At the beginning of the final year of my architecture master’s degree, I felt much like I imagine Sisyphus to feel as he walks back down the hill to begin his task once more. Another year at university pushing another piece of architecture up the hill of hopeless, sure to be lost to interpretation, meaning - something with which many contemporaries, and architectural critics seem to have become mildly obsessed. This incessant striving for meaning is reinforced through the typical university design project’s marking schedule. It is common a student must prove that his or her design is meaningful, and was not merely plucked from their imagination. Often, according to these marking schedules, a ‘good’ design must have undergone numerous conceptual iterations (methodology), have included a range of theoretical and practical influences (context) and be something that no-one has seen before (originality). Other than undermining a student’s confidence in his or her own imaginative creativity and the value of creativity alone, this demonstrates the level of the contemporary architectural critics’ obsession with meaning. It is this hopeless push back up the hill of meaning that we now too often call design. This phenomenon can also be observed outside of the university walls. A fine example is Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye which, though no longer contemporary, is still undoubtedly relevant due to its lingering influence and fame. I will also admit that I would certainly be lying if I said that provocation has had no effect on my selection; I find it serves as a useful tool in point making. Regardless, Villa Savoye is a landmark of hopeless intended meaning. Corbusier’s five points of architecture are indicative of the meaning he had hoped to convey through this building: an original expression and glorification of the Modern (Western) context of living (Corbusier, 1986). This is all fine and well, and yes it is true that one can recognise this expression in the architecture once it has been explained. In fact, I have no doubt that some uninformed observers may even realise that the semicircular path of the Villa Savoye’s driveway is exactly the turning radius of a 1927 Citroën automobile. However even of those impressive few who do, even fewer will recognise this as a design strategy to aid in the celebration of the industrial phenomena of the automobile. The building’s context, originality and methodology, its meaning, have undeniably been lost to interpretation - a fate shared by all attempts to portray and interpret meaning in architecture. So is it sensible to strive for meaning so passionately? A remarkably similar question was identified by a number of post-war philosophers who, spurred by the atrocities and revelations of war, went on to become the pioneers of movements which now collectively fit under the heading Existentialism. Questions around the conditions of existence, and whether any human can experience true meaning within the apparent meaninglessness of our universe, began to be considered (Solomon, 1974). Within this, the theory of Absurdism arose from the identification of the paradoxical act of an individual’s hopeless attempt to determine meaning within a meaningless existence; that being the Absurd Act. The similarities are, I hope, apparent, as it is the identification of this similarity that initiated this thesis. Just as individuals seek meaning in their existence, they seek meaning in their architecture. And both can undeniably be considered Absurd Acts due to the limitations of perception and interpretation. I need to explain Absurdism in more depth, and I do so in the following chapter, but what needs to be understood for now is that, according to the Absurdist theory, no individuals will find true meaning in their meaningless universe, or in their architecture. Assuming you too refuse to accept this bleak outlook, we must ask a question of architecture, and existence also. How can its meaning be validated? The clues to a solution lie in the discussions of Absurdism; and it is the findings and explanations of Albert Camus that will pave the path that I will follow in the establishment of architecture within the paradox of meaninglessness.</p>

A necessary condition for CPA-security of randomized symmetric code cryptosystems

We investigate a class of symmetric code cryptosystems constructed similarly to the well-known randomized (asymmetric) McEliece cryptosystem. A necessary condition for CPA- security of such cryptosystems is obtained (that is, their security against arbitrary distinguishing chosen-plaintext attacks). To each randomized code cryptosystem of specified type correspond its shortening, which is its reduced version. It is proved that the CPA-security of the input cryptosystem imply the CPA-security of its shortening. To a certain extent, this makes it possible to reduce the question about the CPA-security of randomized code cryptosystems to similar question about cryptosystems that have simpler structure. The obtained result can be used in further research in the construction of provable secure symmetric code cryptosystems.

Where Is the Palestinian Talmud Going?

Where does the archive of the Rabbinic Rhetorical Schools in Sepphoris, Caesarea and Tiberias belong in the formation of modern subjectivity and humanity? In his archeology of modern subjectivity, Alain de Libera answers a similar question about Church Fathers to locate the beginnings of both (1) a modern human as a willing and thinking subject and of (2) Heidegger’s critique thereof in the philosophical horizons of Western and Eastern patristics. In this context, the essay examines a fragment of the archive in juxtaposition with de Libera’s discovery of the patristic horizon of Heidegger’s thought. The essay builds upon and reconsiders the method of philosophical archeology as a self-critical “method” of examining the “beginnings” as retro-projections of repetition in both Heidegger’s (eschatological) and de Libera’s (post-theological) versions of philosophical archeology. The results are a comparative reading of the two parallel, never-intersecting but ever commensurable figures of the relationships between G-d and Israel in the Rabbinic and Patristic horizons of thought and a requalification of the scope and task of archeology of modern subjectivity in de Libera’s and Heidegger’s work.

“I Said Something Wrong”: Transworld Obligation in Yesterday

Danny Boyle's film Yesterday (2019) is a contemporary morality play in which the main character, Jack Malik, a failing singer-songwriter, is magically sent to a different possible world in which the Beatles never existed. Possessing his memory of the Beatles’ catalogue in the new possible world, he is now in sole possession of an extremely valuable artifact. Recording and performing the songs of the Beatles and passing them off as his own, he becomes rich, famous, and deeply unhappy. Once he confesses his wrong-doing, however, he is redeemed and his life becomes wonderful. The presupposition that underlays the plot is that in claiming authorship of the songs of the Beatles in a world in which the Beatles never existed, he is acting immorally. But on what theoretical grounds can this intuitive judgment be justified? Can one plagiarize work for which there is no author in one's world? Saul Kripke, in Naming and Necessity, dubs terms that refer in all possible worlds to be “rigid designators” and considers the metaphysics necessary to support them. In this case, it is not reference but moral responsibility that is invariant under changes of possible world and so we must ask a similar question for “rigid obligators.” We argue that a virtue ethics approach is the only way to support the foundational moral intuition.

Unpredictive linguistic verbal cues accelerate congruent visual targets into awareness in a breaking continuous flash suppression paradigm

One of the most influential ideas within the domain of cognition is that of embodied cognition, in which the experienced world is the result of an interplay between an organism’s physiology, sensorimotor system, and its environment. An aspect of this idea is that linguistic information activates sensory representations automatically. For example, hearing the word ‘red’ would automatically activate sensory representations of this color. But does linguistic information prioritize access to awareness of congruent visual information? Here, we show that linguistic verbal cues accelerate matching visual targets into awareness by using a breaking continuous flash suppression paradigm. In a speeded reaction time task, observers heard spoken color labels (e.g., red) followed by colored targets that were either congruent (red), incongruent (green), or neutral (a neutral noncolor word) with respect to the labels. Importantly, and in contrast to previous studies investigating a similar question, the incidence of congruent trials was not higher than that of incongruent trials. Our results show that RTs were selectively shortened for congruent verbal–visual pairings, and that this shortening occurred over a wide range of cue–target intervals. We suggest that linguistic verbal information preactivates sensory representations, so that hearing the word ‘red’ preactivates (visual) sensory information internally.

When Ought a Reference for a Preliminary Ruling be Made?

Chapter 7 concerns the situation where the national court has discretion in its decision as to whether or not it should refer a preliminary question to the Court of Justice. It analyses (1) the different criteria that form the basis for the national court’s discretionary decision, (2) to what extent EU law interferes with that discretion, and (3) at what time in the proceedings it is best to make a preliminary reference. The chapter first identifies the different criteria that in general form the basis for the national court’s decision as to whether or not it should make use of the preliminary reference procedure. It then deals with the particular situation where a similar question is already pending before the Court of Justice or where the national court has a cluster of parallel cases before it and must decide whether to make a preliminary reference in all cases or only in one or a few test cases. Next, it discusses to what extent a national court not sitting as a court of last instance should refrain from posing a preliminary question because such a question could also be posed during a possible appeal procedure. Finally, chapter 7 examines at what stage of the proceedings it is most appropriate to refer a preliminary question and discusses to what extent points of fact and national law ought to be clarified before it is decided whether to make use of the preliminary procedure.

Magic squares of squares over a finite field

A magic square M M over an integral domain D D is a 3 × 3 3\times 3 matrix with entries from D D such that the elements from each row, column, and diagonal add to the same sum. If all the entries in M M are perfect squares in D D , we call M M a magic square of squares over D D . In 1984, Martin LaBar raised an open question: “Is there a magic square of squares over the ring Z \mathbb {Z} of the integers which has all the nine entries distinct?” We approach to answering a similar question when D D is a finite field. We claim that for any odd prime p p , a magic square over Z p \mathbb Z_p can only hold an odd number of distinct entries. Corresponding to LaBar’s question, we show that there are infinitely many prime numbers p p such that, over Z p \mathbb Z_p , magic squares of squares with nine distinct elements exist. In addition, if p ≡ 1 ( mod 120 ) p\equiv 1\pmod {120} , there exist magic squares of squares over Z p \mathbb Z_p that have exactly 3, 5, 7, or 9 distinct entries respectively. We construct magic squares of squares using triples of consecutive quadratic residues derived from twin primes.