Centrilobular emphysema: CT-pathologic correlation

Over a 5-year period, 25 patients who had undergone chest computed tomography (CT) died and were autopsied. Their lungs were fixed in the inflated state and were assessed for the presence and severity of centrilobular emphysema (CLE). Three radiologists independently evaluated the CT scans for nonperipheral low-attenuation areas, peripheral low-attenuation areas, pulmonary vascular pruning, pulmonary vascular distortion, and pulmonary density gradient. The CT criterion that best correlated with the presence and severity of CLE was the nonperipheral low-attenuation area. With this CT criterion, lung destruction was correctly identified in 13 of 15 cases. The absence of this criterion resulted in correct identification of eight of ten normal lungs. These preliminary data suggest that CLE can be reliably identified and quantified with current CT scanners.     

Use of the Perceive, Recall, Plan and Perform System of Task Analysis for persons with schizophrenia: A preliminary study

Background/aim:  Task analysis that targets information processing skills is an essential tool to understanding difficulties encountered by people with schizophrenia in their daily activities. The purpose of this preliminary study was to explore the use of the Perceive, Recall, Plan and Perform (PRPP) System of Task Analysis for this clientele. The specific objectives were to describe information processing difficulties as measured by the PRPP and to examine preliminary evidence of construct validity and interrater reliability.
Methods:  In the first part of this study, 10 participants with schizophrenia living in the community were assessed using the PRPP during both a simple and a complex meal preparation task. Community functioning was measured using the Independent Living Skills Survey. In the second part, interrater reliability was appraised using three trained raters, who scored 15 participants preparing the complex meal preparation task.
Results:  Analysis of performance demonstrates that people with schizophrenia have difficulties especially in the Perceive and Plan quadrants of the PRPP and are more challenged in the complex task. The PRPP total score for the complex task is strongly related to the community functioning score. Results indicate good interrater reliability for the PRPP total score and moderate interrater reliability for the quadrant scores.
Conclusion:  Despite the small sample size, results from this preliminary study support the use of the PRPP System of Task Analysis to further explore the impact cognitive deficits have on daily task performance and thus on community functioning in people with schizophrenia.     

Melanoma and tumor thickness: challenges of early diagnosis

OBJECTIVE: To test the basic assumption of campaigns for early diagnosis of melanoma, ie, prognosis is correlated with the delay in the diagnosis. DESIGN: Prospective study of the correlation between delays to diagnosis, assessed using a questionnaire, and the Breslow thickness as a prognosis marker. SETTING: Dermatology departments in France. PATIENTS: Five hundred ninety consecutive patients, referred within 12 weeks after resection of cutaneous melanoma. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Assessment of 5 successive time intervals from the first time the patients realized that they had a lesion until the resection of the melanoma, and results of the correlation between each time interval and tumor thickness (Breslow). RESULTS: There is a positive but weak correlation between tumor thickness and the delay to identify a lesion as suspicious (r = 0.17; P = .009). However, this delay tends to be short for the thickest tumors. There is a negative correlation between tumor thickness and the delay to seek medical attention (r = -0.20; P<.001). This delay was shorter for nodular melanoma. No correlation is found between melanoma thickness and physicians' delays. CONCLUSIONS: Poor prognosis can be accounted for by aggressive rapidly growing tumors rather than by delays. In well-informed populations, campaigns for early diagnosis of melanoma may thus no longer have a major impact on prognosis, unless they are focused on subgroups less accessible to information and medical care.     

E6 and E7 proteins from different beta-papillomaviruses types do not interfere in UVB-induced apoptosis of HaCaT keratinocytes

Beta-papillomaviruses (beta-HPV) have been linked to the development of skin cancer in humans. Because both E6 and E7 proteins from beta-HPV have been involved in the potential carcinogenicity of these viruses, we investigated their role on UVB-induced apoptosis in HaCaT cell line. HaCaT cells have been transduced with both E6/E7 using a retroviral system and treated with PRIMA-1. Apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry to measure mitochondrial membrane potential and DNA fragmentation. HaCat keratinocytes transduced with both E6 and E7 genes of seven beta-HPV types (HPV5, HPV8, HPV14, HPV24, HPV36, HPV38 and HPV49) did not demonstrate any inhibition of UVB-induced apoptosis, even after p53 reactivation through PRIMA-1. Our data suggest that the expression of E6 and E7 exert different modulatory effects on UVB-induced apoptosis according to beta-HPV types and to the cellular genetic context.