Clinical characteristics of human brucellosis in patients with various monoarticular involvements

Clinical Rheumatology - The aim of the study was to determine the main demographic, epidemiological, clinical characteristics, and outcome in patients with various types of brucellar monoarticular...     

Improved risk estimation of locoregional recurrence,secondary contralateral tumors and distant metastases in early breast cancer: the INFLUENCE 2.0 model

Breast Cancer Research and Treatment - To extend the functionality of the existing INFLUENCE nomogram for locoregional recurrence (LRR) of breast cancer toward the prediction of secondary primary...     

Determination of selected trace elements in airborne aerosol particles using different sample preparation

Determination of trace element concentrations in atmospheric aerosols is important because of their toxic effects on human health. Additionally, they are now widely used in source apportionment studies. There is a number of methods for sample preparation of ambient particulate matter. One of the most widely used is microwave-assisted digestion of filter-based samples. Since the water-soluble fraction is bioavaliable, the aim of our study was to determine the concentration of selected trace elements (V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Sb, Tl, and Pb) in this fraction and compare it to the amounts obtained by two different microwave digestion procedures - one using a mixture of H2O2 and HNO3 and the other using a mixture of HF, HCl, and HNO3. The recoveries of the digestion procedures used were tested on certified reference material (NIST SRM 1648 Urban Particulate Matter). The procedures were applied to filters containing PM10 particles collected at an urban background location in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Among the elements analysed, V, Zn, As, and Cd displayed the highest concentration within the water-soluble fraction, with Cr, Ni, Tl and Pb displaying the lowest concentrations. The comparison between the two applied digestion procedures showed that Cr, Ni, Sb and Tl were strongly bound to the sample matrix.     

Diagnostic utility of low-affinity nerve growth factor receptor (P 75) immunostaining in atypical fibroxanthoma

Background: Atypical fibroxanthoma (AFX) is a locally destructive, dermal‐based, fibrohistiocytic, mesenchymal tumor. Immunohistochemistry helps to differentiate AFX from squamous cell carcinoma and spindle cell melanoma. Immunomarkers against p75 yield positive stains in spindled cell melanomas and negative stains in AFX, suggesting that these may be useful in differentiating these two entities. However, a recent study concluded that p75 is not a specific marker of neuroectodermal tumors; furthermore, p75 staining in AFX has only been evaluated in a few cases. Methods: We stained 20 AFXs for p75 and various other markers. Results: Reactivity was noted for vimentin (20 of 20 cases), CD10 (17/20), CD68 (14/20), CD99 (13/20), D2‐40 (10/20) and p75 (1/20). Conclusions: We confirmed that CD99 and CD10 are frequently expressed in AFX (65 and 85%, respectively) and that CD31 rarely stains positive (5%). The 50% positivity rate of D2‐40, in contrast with published evidence for its absence in melanoma, suggests that D2‐40 may be useful for distinguishing AFX from melanoma. Furthermore, because only one sample was positive for p75, we confirm that p75 is useful in differentiating AFX from spindle cell melanoma. We advocate adding p75 and D2‐40 to assist in differentiating AFX from melanoma. Bull C, Mirzabeigi M, Laskin W, Dubina M, Traczyc T, Guitart J, Gerami P. Diagnostic utility of low‐affinity nerve growth factor receptor (P 75) immunostaining in atypical fibroxanthoma.