Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece
UNIL IRIS | Institutional Research Information SystemNot a member yet
170689 research outputs found
Sort by
The Strength of the Bond. From Grammar to Phenomenology and Back Again
No full textThis chapter aims to clarify the types of relationships that could serve as the elementary units of a relational ontology by exploring two key concepts of internal relationships exemplified by Robinson Crusoe's journey: one structural and impersonal, and the other intersubjective and personal. By examining these contrasting, ideal-typical relational modes, the chapter sets the stage for proposing an intermediate model of relationality - what M. Mauss and G. Simmel describe as the “relational in-between”. This mode, distinct from both structural and intersubjective relations, concerns social forms of exchange and “ the strength of the bond” they can create. After outlining these generic social forms, the chapter argues for a grammatical approach to social relations, conceptualizing them as a system of places governed by constitutive rules and practically implemented as normative affordances. This framework allows for the articulation of a grammar and phenomenology of the social bond, which is then tested through Favret-Saada's ethnography of witchcraft. Finally, the chapter moves from a descriptive to a normative perspective, examining the kind of relationship that should ideally serve as the foundation of the social world
A colorblind ideal and the motivation to improve intergroup relations: The role of an (in)congruent status quo
No full textClinical Reasoning: A 62-Year-Old Man With Symmetric Saddle Hypoesthesia and Sphincter Dysfunction.
No full textA 62-year-old man presented with acute onset of symmetric burning dysesthesias in the buttocks, accompanied by saddle hypoesthesia and bladder, bowel, and sexual dysfunction. Initially, the clinical presentation was suggestive of cauda equina syndrome. However, the initial contrast-enhanced lumbar MRI revealed no evidence of extrinsic compression or enhancement of the lumbosacral nerve roots or conus medullaris. Further diagnostic workup uncovered a rare etiology, highlighting the importance of considering uncommon causes in the case of acute conus medullaris syndrome
Comparing Line-Field Confocal Optical Coherence Tomography and Reflectance Confocal Microscopy on the In Vivo Healing Process of Lesions Induced by Fractional Photothermolysis.
No full textThe advent of ablative fractional photothermolysis has revolutionized laser dermatology by providing a method to produce well-standardized, precise, and repeatable microscopic lesions. These wounds typically heal within 1-3 weeks, depending on the body site, with a minimal risk of permanent scarring. This positions ablative fractional photothermolysis as an exemplary in vivo model for studying the skin's wound healing processes.
This study aims to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of two noninvasive imaging techniques, reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) and line-field confocal optical coherence tomography (LC-OCT), in assessing skin wound healing following microscopic injuries induced by ablative fractional photothermolysis.
The forearms of participating volunteers were treated and ablated with a CO 2 -Laser in a fractional pattern using varying power settings (2.5-10 mJ/MTZ). In vivo RCM and LC-OCT images were obtained at predefined time intervals post-laser treatment, ranging from 6 h to 14 days.
Vertical visualization of the lesions through both imaging modalities revealed a healing process characterized by the upward and outward movement of microscopic epidermal necrotic debris, thereby reducing the depth of the injury while forming an external crust. LC-OCT imaging demonstrated more comprehensive results with fewer movement artifacts. Conversely, horizontal visualization with both techniques highlighted a gathering of keratinocytes around the wounds, indicating the initiation of the regenerative process. RCM provided superior image clarity in this horizontal plane.
RCM and LC-OCT offer valuable and complementary noninvasive alternatives to conventional biopsy methods for the assessment and characterization of the skin's wound healing process post-ablative fractional photothermolysis. These findings underscore the potential of such imaging techniques in enhancing our understanding of the wound healing process.
ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05614557
Lessons from TNF-α Inhibitor-Induced Alopecia Areata: Does TNF-α Operate as a Hair Follicle Immune Privilege Guardian under Inflammatory Conditions?
No full textThe inhibition of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) signaling with inhibitors (TNFi) like infliximab, adalimumab, or etanercept has become a staple of dermatological and rheumatological therapy. Intriguingly, a sizeable minority of patients under TNFi therapy develop alopecia areata (AA), the most common inflammatory hair loss disease, at a higher prevalence than the general population. This appears paradoxical, since the pro-inflammatory Th1 cytokine TNF-α, inhibits hair follicle (HF) growth, but encourages one to reconsider the as yet under-investigated roles of TNF-α in human HF physiology. Because AA only affects HFs whose immune privilege (IP) has collapsed, the occurrence of AA under TNFi therapy raises the question if inhibiting TNF-a signaling could be detrimental to the maintenance of HF IP. Here, we probe this question by exploring lesser-known aspects of TNF-α biology, notably within the context of skin inflammation. We hypothesize that, under inflammatory conditions, TNF-α exerts underappreciated functions as a HF IP guardian, e.g., by stimulating perifollicular immunoinhibitory cells and suppressing IFN-α secretion. Thus, TNFi may weaken HF IP and facilitate the onset of AA. We delineate how this provocative hypothesis can be tested experimentally, and why it is both biologically and clinically important to do so.
Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
Early metabolic changes in the brain of Alzheimer's disease rats are driven by GLAST+ cells.
No full textGlucose metabolic dysfunction is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology and is used to diagnose the disease or predict imminent cognitive decline. The main method to measure brain metabolism in vivo is positron emission tomography with 2-Deoxy-2-[ 18 F]fluoroglucose ([ 18 F]FDG-PET). The cellular origin of changes in the [ 18 F]FDG-PET signal in AD is controversial. We addressed this by combining [ 18 F]FDG-PET with subsequent cell-sorting and γ-counting of [ 18 F]FDG-accumulation in sorted cell populations. 7-month-old male TgF344-AD rats and wild-type controls (n = 24/group) received sham or ceftriaxone (200 mg/kg) injection prior to [ 18 F]FDG-PET imaging to increase glutamate uptake and glucose utilisation. The same animals were injected again one week later, and radiolabelled brains were dissected, with hippocampi taken for magnetically-activated cell sorting of radioligand-treated tissues (MACS-RTT). Radioactivity in sorted cell populations was measured to quantify cell-specific [ 18 F]FDG uptake. Transcriptional analyses of metabolic enzymes/transporters were also performed. Hypometabolism in the frontal association cortex of TgF344-AD rats was identified using [ 18 F]FDG-PET, whereas hypermetabolism was identified in the hippocampus using MACS-RTT. Hypermetabolism was primarily driven by GLAST+ cells. This was supported by transcriptional analyses which showed alteration to metabolic apparatus, including upregulation of hexokinase 2 and altered expression of glucose/lactate transporters. See Figure 1 for summary
Role of the New Physical Examination Minor Criterion (New Heart Murmur) for the Diagnosis of Infective Endocarditis.
No full textAmong 3127 episodes of suspected infective endocarditis, the 2023 Duke-International Society for Cardiovascular Infectious Diseases clinical criteria showed an accuracy of 90% for infective endocarditis diagnosis. A new heart murmur was present in 690 (22%) episodes. Excluding imaging and surgical findings decreased the accuracy to 73%, while using the physical examination criterion slightly improved the accuracy to 78%