New York University

About: New York University is a education organization based out in New York, New York, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 72380 authors who have published 165545 publications receiving 8334030 citations. The organization is also known as: NYU & University of the City of New York.

Phase I/II study of COVID-19 RNA vaccine BNT162b1 in adults.

Abstract: In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)1, a pandemic. With rapidly accumulating numbers of cases and deaths reported globally2, a vaccine is urgently needed. Here we report the available safety, tolerability and immunogenicity data from an ongoing placebo-controlled, observer-blinded dose-escalation study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT04368728) among 45 healthy adults (18–55 years of age), who were randomized to receive 2 doses—separated by 21 days—of 10 μg, 30 μg or 100 μg of BNT162b1. BNT162b1 is a lipid-nanoparticle-formulated, nucleoside-modified mRNA vaccine that encodes the trimerized receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2. Local reactions and systemic events were dose-dependent, generally mild to moderate, and transient. A second vaccination with 100 μg was not administered because of the increased reactogenicity and a lack of meaningfully increased immunogenicity after a single dose compared with the 30-μg dose. RBD-binding IgG concentrations and SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing titres in sera increased with dose level and after a second dose. Geometric mean neutralizing titres reached 1.9–4.6-fold that of a panel of COVID-19 convalescent human sera, which were obtained at least 14 days after a positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR. These results support further evaluation of this mRNA vaccine candidate. In a dose-escalation study of the COVID-19 RNA vaccine BNT162b1 in 45 healthy adults, RBD-binding IgG concentrations and SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing titres in sera increased with dose level and after a second vaccine dose.

The Galaxy Luminosity Function and Luminosity Density at Redshift z = 0.1*

Abstract: Using a catalog of 147,986 galaxy redshifts and fluxes from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), we measure the galaxy luminosity density at z = 0.1 in five optical bandpasses corresponding to the SDSS bandpasses shifted to match their rest-frame shape at z = 0.1. We denote the bands 0.1u, 0.1g, 0.1r, 0.1i, 0.1z with λeff = (3216, 4240, 5595, 6792, 8111 A), respectively. To estimate the luminosity function, we use a maximum likelihood method that allows for a general form for the shape of the luminosity function, fits for simple luminosity and number evolution, incorporates the flux uncertainties, and accounts for the flux limits of the survey. We find luminosity densities at z = 0.1 expressed in absolute AB magnitudes in a Mpc3 to be (-14.10 ± 0.15, -15.18 ± 0.03, -15.90 ± 0.03, -16.24 ± 0.03, -16.56 ± 0.02) in (0.1u, 0.1g, 0.1r, 0.1i, 0.1z), respectively, for a cosmological model with Ω0 = 0.3, ΩΛ = 0.7, and h = 1 and using SDSS Petrosian magnitudes. Similar results are obtained using Sersic model magnitudes, suggesting that flux from outside the Petrosian apertures is not a major correction. In the 0.1r band, the best-fit Schechter function to our results has * = (1.49 ± 0.04) × 10-2 h3 Mpc-3, M* - 5 log10 h = -20.44 ± 0.01, and α = -1.05 ± 0.01. In solar luminosities, the luminosity density in 0.1r is (1.84 ± 0.04) × 108 h L0.1r,☉ Mpc-3. Our results in the 0.1g band are consistent with other estimates of the luminosity density, from the Two-Degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey and the Millennium Galaxy Catalog. They represent a substantial change (~0.5 mag) from earlier SDSS luminosity density results based on commissioning data, almost entirely because of the inclusion of evolution in the luminosity function model.

Ionizing radiation inhibition of distant untreated tumors (abscopal effect) is immune mediated

Abstract: Purpose Ionizing radiation can reduce tumor growth outside the field of radiation, known as the abscopal effect. Although it has been reported in multiple malignancies, the abscopal effect remains a rare and poorly understood event. Ionizing radiation generates inflammatory signals and, in principle, could provide both tumor-specific antigens from dying cells and maturation stimuli that are necessary for dendritic cells' activation of tumor-specific T cells. We therefore tested the hypothesis that the abscopal effect elicited by radiation is immune mediated. This was directly tested by enhancing the number of available dendritic cells using the growth factor Flt3-Ligand (Flt3-L). Methods and materials Mice bearing a syngeneic mammary carcinoma, 67NR, in both flanks were treated with Flt3-L daily for 10 days after local radiation therapy (RT) to only 1 of the 2 tumors at a single dose of 2 or 6 Gy. The second nonirradiated tumor was used as indicator of the abscopal effect. Data were analyzed using repeated measures regression. Results RT alone led to growth delay exclusively of the irradiated 67NR tumor, as expected. Surprisingly, growth of the nonirradiated tumor was also impaired by the combination of RT and Flt3-L. As control, Flt3-L had no effect without RT. Importantly, the abscopal effect was shown to be tumor specific, because growth of a nonirradiated A20 lymphoma in the same mice containing a treated 67NR tumor was not affected. Moreover, no growth delay of nonirradiated 67NR tumors was observed when T cell deficient (nude) mice were treated with RT plus Flt3-L. Conclusions These results demonstrate that the abscopal effect is in part immune mediated and that T cells are required to mediate distant tumor inhibition induced by radiation.

Uniting the Tribes of Fluency to Form a Metacognitive Nation

Abstract: Processing fluency, or the subjective experience of ease with which people process information, reliably influences people’s judgments across a broad range of social dimensions. Experimenters have manipulated processing fluency using a vast array of techniques, which, despite their diversity, produce remarkably similar judgmental consequences. For example, people similarly judge stimuli that are semantically primed (conceptual fluency), visually clear (perceptual fluency), and phonologically simple (linguistic fluency) as more true than their less fluent counterparts. The authors offer the first comprehensive review of such mechanisms and their implications for judgment and decision making. Because every cognition falls along a continuum from effortless to demanding and generates a corresponding fluency experience, the authors argue that fluency is a ubiquitous metacognitive cue in reasoning and social judgment.