The victory of abortion rights protesters in Poland is likely to be short lived

A proposal to increase restrictions on abortion in Poland generated several large protests across the country in early October, with the proposal ultimately being voted down in parliament. Magdalena Mikulak argues that despite the apparent victory of the protesters, it remains likely that the government will nevertheless push for new restrictions on abortion

Poland: a change so good, it makes you want to cry

Poland’s Law and Justice government, which came to power in October last year, has carried out a number of reforms which have attracted international attention, notably judicial and media reforms which have been the subject of an inquiry by the European Commission. Magdalena Mikulak argues that the government’s vision of change has left little room for alternative views and values, noting that there are now legitimate concerns about the effects of these reforms on Polish society and women in particular

Are human V\u3b42pos T cells really resistant to aging and Human Cytomegalovirus infection?

In their recent paper, Weili Xu et al. [1] described the different behaviors of V\u3b41pos and V\u3b42pos T cell subsets in response to lifelong stress and claimed that V\u3b42pos T cells are not affected by aging and Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection. While we agree that these two \u3b3\u3b4 T cell subsets diverge both in phenotype/function and in tissue distribution, we are somewhat surprised that authors did not take into account the several previously published and contradictory experimental evidence in regards to senescence of V\u3b42pos T cells [2,3]. These latter studies reported that HCMV infection not only induces a clonal expansion of a distinct V\u3b39neg/V\u3b42pos T cell subset, but also determines a concomitant adaptive differentiation from CD27high na\uefve cells to CD27low/neg terminal-effectors. However, Weili Xu et al. argued that the expression and kinetics of both CD27 and CD45RA surface markers do not change and follow the homeostatic changes of V\u3b42pos T cells. This statement goes in the opposite direction to previously reported findings as the CD27/CD45RA phenotype has been shown to mark the maturation and differentiation (TNa\uefve, TCentral-Memory, Teffector-Memory and TEffectory-Memory RA) of V\u3b42pos T cells. Indeed, the different surface expression of both CD27 and CD45 parallel the progressive decrease of telomere length, the proliferative capacity as well as the different effector-functions and resistance to death of V\u3b42+ T cells in response to antigens and homeostatic cytokines [4,5]. Hence, we believe that these controversial issues require further discussion beyond the unilateral conclusion given by the study of Weili Xu et al

The Polish Parliamentary elections 2015: A gender analysis

On 25 October, 50,92% of Polish citizens entitled to vote exercised their right to do so in the parliamentary elections. Yet, it is not the low turn out that made this year’s election unusual (turn out for the 2011 elections was 48,9%), but the sweeping victory for the right. The results gave the conservative right-wing party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS) (Law and Justice) 37,58% of the total vote allowing it to independently form a government. Commenting on the outcome, Adam Michnik, editor in chief of the most important left-leaning daily, Gazeta Wyborcza (Electoral Gazette), remarked that one cannot take offence at democracy. The ruling centre-right party Platforma Obywatelska (PO) (Civic Platform) came second (with 24,09% of the votes), followed by two entirely new parties – Kukiz’15, led by a populist rebel with many causes and no plan (8,81%) and the liberal, business orientated Nowoczesna.Pl (Modern.Pl) (7,6%). The only other party that made it past the electoral threshold (5% for a single party and 8% for a coalition) was Polskie Stronnictowo Ludowe (PSL) (Polish Peasant Party), which received 5,13% of the votes (Państwowa Komisja Wyborcza, 2015). The results for the upper house of the parliament, the senat were as follows: PiS 61%, PO 34%, PSL 1%, with the 4 remaining per cent going to independent candidates. In short, in the 26 years of Polish democracy, the parliament has never looked so right-wing, and the consequences of it will certainly be felt in areas such as gender equality and women’s rights, with the first becoming evident already in the electoral campaign

Chemotherapy accelerates immune-senescence and functional impairments of Vδ2pos T cells in elderly patients affected by liver metastatic colorectal cancer.

Human (gamma delta) γδ T cells are unconventional innate-like lymphocytes displaying a broad array of anti-tumor activities with promising perspectives in cancer immunotherapy. In this context, Vδ2pos T cells represent the preferential target of several immunotherapy protocols against solid tumors. However, the impact of both aging and chemotherapy (CHT) on Vδ2pos T cells is still unknown. The present study evaluates with multi-parametric flow cytometry the frequencies, terminal differentiation, senescence and effector-functions of peripheral blood and tumor infiltrating Vδ2pos T cells purified from liver metastases (CLM) of patients affected by colorectal cancer (CRC) compared to those of sex- and age-matched healthy donors. The peripheral blood of CLM patients underwent CHT is characterized by decreased amounts of Vδ2pos T cells showing a relative increase of terminally-differentiated CD27neg/CD45RApos (TEMRA) cells. The enrichment of this latter subset is associated with an increased expression of the senescent marker CD57. The acquisition of CD57 on TEMRA Vδ2pos T cells is also coupled with impairments in cytotoxicity and production of TNF-α and IFN-γ. These features resemble the acquisition of an immune-senescent profile by Vδ2pos T cells from CLM patients that received CHT, a phenomenon that is also associated with the loss of the co-stimulatory marker CD28 and with the induced expression of CD16. The group of CLM patients underwent CHT and older than 60 years old showed higher frequencies of CD57pos and TEMRA Vδ2pos T cells. Similar results were found for tumor infiltrating Vδ2pos T cell subset purified from CLM specimens of patients treated with CHT. The toxicity of CHT regimens also affects the homeostasis of Vδ2pos T cells by inducing higher frequencies of circulating CD57pos TEMRA subset in CLM underwent CHT and younger than 60 years old. Taken together, our data demonstrate that the enrichment of senescent Vδ2pos T cells in CLM patients is not only induced by patients' aging but also by the toxicity of CHT that further accelerates the accumulation of CD57pos TEMRA cells highly dysfunctional in their anti-tumor activities. These results are important to both predict the clinical outcome of CLM and to optimize those protocols of cell cancer immunotherapy employing unconventional Vδ2pos T cells

The Symbolic Power Of Color: Constructions Of Race, Skin-Color, And Identity In Brazil

Some current cultural anthropologists define race as a social construct, yet explorations of the socio-historical constructions that give form and structure to racial identities perpetuating notions of “race” are rarely discussed. This study explores the theory of racial formations proposed by Michael Omi and Howard Winant as it applies to Brazil’s racial project, arguing that Brazil’s rhetoric on race and national identity during the late 19th to early 20th century culminated in a racial project ultimately known as democracia racial. As a result, I propose that Brazilian racial consciousness is symbolically pluralistic, encompassing race, social class, and social position, generating a particularly virulent, yet silent form of racism. I expand upon racial formation theory through analysis of my fieldwork carried out in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerias, in 2004. This analysis illustrates how contemporary Brazilian social structure and daily cultural discourses on race, skin-color, racial identity, and social marginalization reflect the nation’s early racist ideology, yet contest its reality. Informants discuss self-identifications of skin-color, the meanings attributed to color tonalities, and the impact racism has on their daily lives