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We provide a fine classification of rigid hyperelliptic manifolds in dimension four up to biholomorphism and diffeomorphism. These manifolds are explicitly described as finite \'etale quotients of a product of four Fermat elliptic curves., Comment: 22 pages, MAGMA code on personal homepage

For each $n\geq 3$ we give examples of infinitesimally rigid projective manifolds of general type of dimension $n$ with non-contractible universal cover. We provide examples with projective and examples with non-projective universal cover., 9 pages, 1 table. v2: minor changes; v3: extended the main construction, proved a stronger result throught a simpler proof; v4: minor correction, final version to appear on Geometriae Dedicata

Summary Atherosclerosis is studied in models with dysfunctional lipid homeostasis—predominantly the ApoE−/− mouse. The role of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) for lipid homeostasis is not clear. Using a LacZ reporter mouse, we showed that CD11c+ cells were enriched in aortae of ApoE−/− mice. Systemic long-term depletion of CD11c+ cells in ApoE−/− mice resulted in significantly increased plaque formation associated with reduced serum ApoE levels. In CD11ccre+ApoEfl/fl and Albumincre+ApoEfl/fl mice, we could show that ≈70% of ApoE is liver-derived and ≈25% originates from CD11c+ cells associated with significantly increased atherosclerotic plaque burden in both strains. Exposure to acLDL promoted cholesterol efflux from CD11c+ cells and cell-specific deletion of ApoE resulted in increased inflammation reflected by increased IL-1β serum levels. Our results determined for the first time the level of ApoE originating from CD11c+ cells and demonstrated that CD11c+ cells ameliorate atherosclerosis by the secretion of ApoE., Graphical abstract, Highlights • CD11c+ cells are enriched in aortae of high cholesterol-fed ApoE−/- mice • Depletion of CD11c+ cells increases plaque size in ApoE−/- mice • ≈ 20% of serum ApoE derives from CD11c+ cells • ApoE from CD11c+ cells contributes to protection from atherosclerosis, Biological sciences; Molecular biology; Immune response; Components of the immune system

In this paper the authors study quotients of the product of elliptic curves by a rigid diagonal action of a finite group $G$. It is shown that only for $G = \operatorname{He(3)}, \mathbb Z_3^2$, and only for dimension $\geq 4$ such an action can be free. A complete classification of the singular quotients in dimension 3 and the smooth quotients in dimension $4$ is given. For the other finite groups a strong structure theorem for rigid quotients is proven., 32 pages

In this note we provide a two-dimensional family of smooth minimal threefolds of general type with canonical map of degree 96, improving the previous known bound of 72., 7 pages; v2: Minor changes, final version to appear on the Taiwanese Journal of Mathematics

We give a method for the computation of the plurigenera of a product-quotient manifold, and two different types of applications of it: to the construction of Calabi-Yau threefolds and to the determination of the minimal model of a product-quotient surface of general type.

A threefold isogenous to a product of curves X is a quotient of a product of three compact Riemann surfaces of genus at least two by the free action of a finite group. In this paper we study these threefolds under the assumption that the group acts diagonally on the product. We show that the classification of these threefolds is a finite problem, present an algorithm to classify them for a fixed value of χ ( O X ) and explain a method to determine their Hodge numbers. Running an implementation of the algorithm we achieve the full classification of threefolds isogenous to a product of curves with χ ( O X ) = − 1 , under the assumption that the group acts faithfully on each factor.

Objective— Infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may be associated with atherosclerosis and vascular disease. Macrophages are a major component of atherosclerotic plaque, and classically activated (M1) macrophages contribute to plaque instability. Our goal was to identify plasma biomarkers that reflect macrophage inflammation and are associated with subclinical atherosclerosis. Approach and Results— We tested whether M1 macrophages produce galectin-3–binding protein in vitro. Then, we measured galectin-3–binding protein and the soluble macrophage biomarkers soluble cluster of differentiation (CD) 163 and soluble CD14 in 264 participants in the Women’s Interagency HIV Study. Women were positive for HIV, HCV, both, or neither (66 in each group, matched for age, race/ethnicity, and smoking status). Carotid artery disease was assessed by ultrasound measurement of right distal common carotid artery intima-media thickness, distensibility, and presence of atherosclerotic lesions (intima-media thickness >1.5 mm). Plasma galectin-3–binding protein was higher in HCV+ than HCV− women ( P Conclusions— The macrophage inflammatory markers galectin-3–binding protein, soluble CD163, and soluble CD14 are significantly associated with carotid artery disease in the setting of HIV and HCV infection.

In this paper we study \emph{threefolds isogenous to a product of mixed type} i.e. quotients of a product of three compact Riemann surfaces $C_i$ of genus at least two by the action of a finite group $G$, which is free, but not diagonal. In particular, we are interested in the systematic construction and classification of these varieties. Our main result is the full classification of threefolds isogenous to a product of mixed type with $\chi(\mathcal O_X)=-1$ assuming that any automorphism in $G$, which restricts to the trivial element in $Aut(C_i)$ for some $C_i$, is the identity on the product. Since the holomorphic Euler-Poincar\'e-characteristic of a smooth threefold of general type with ample canonical class is always negative, these examples lie on the boundary, in the sense of threefold geography. To achieve our result we use techniques from computational group theory. Indeed, we develop a MAGMA algorithm to classify these threefolds for any given value of $\chi(\mathcal O_X)$., Comment: 27 pages

Ibrahim Gueler,1 Susanne Mueller,1 Matthias Helmschrott,1 Christian U Oeing,1 Christian Erbel,1 Lutz Frankenstein,1 Christian Gleißner,1 Arjang Ruhparwar,2 Philipp Ehlermann,1 Thomas J Dengler,3 Hugo A Katus,1 Andreas O Doesch1 1Department of Cardiology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, 2Department of Cardiac Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, 3Department of Cardiology, SLK-Kliniken Heilbronn, Bad Friedrichshall, Germany Background: Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a common comorbidity in patients after heart transplantation (HTx) and is associated with adverse long-term outcomes. Methods: The retrospective study reported here analyzed the effects of vildagliptin therapy in stable patients post-HTx with T2DM and compared these with control patients for matched-pairs analysis. A total of 30 stable patients post-HTx with T2DM were included in the study. Fifteen patients (mean age 58.6 ± 6.0 years, mean time post-HTx 4.9 ± 5.3 years, twelve male and three female) were included in the vildagliptin group (VG) and 15 patients were included in the control group (CG) (mean age 61.2 ± 8.3 years, mean time post-HTx 7.2 ± 6.6 years, all male). Results: Mean glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in the VG was 7.4% ± 0.7% before versus 6.8% ± 0.8% after 8 months of vildagliptin therapy (P = 0.002 vs baseline). In the CG, HbA1c was 7.0% ± 0.7% versus 7.3% ± 1.2% at follow-up (P = 0.21). Additionally, there was a significant reduction in mean blood glucose in the VG, from 165.0 ± 18.8 mg/dL to 147.9 ± 22.7 mg/dL (P = 0.002 vs baseline), whereas mean blood glucose increased slightly in the CG from 154.7 ± 19.7 mg/dL to 162.6 ± 35.0 mg/dL (P = 0.21). No statistically significant changes in body weight (from 83.3 ± 10.8 kg to 82.0 ± 10.9 kg, P = 0.20), total cholesterol (1.5%, P = 0.68), or triglyceride levels (8.0%, P = 0.65) were seen in the VG. No significant changes in immunosuppressive drug levels or dosages were observed in either group. Conclusion: Vildagliptin therapy significantly reduced HbA1c and mean blood glucose levels in post-HTx patients in this study with T2DM and did not have any negative effects on lipid profile or body weight. Thus, vildagliptin therapy presented an interesting therapeutic approach for this selected patient cohort. Keywords: immunosuppression, glycated hemoglobin, mean blood glucose