Postmortem biochemical investigations in hypothermia fatalities

Despite the progress made during the past several decades in forensic pathology, the possibilities for the postmortem diagnosis of hypothermia remains relatively limited. Aside from histology and immunohistochemistry, numerous authors have investigated the postmortem biochemistry of hypothermia fatalities. Several biochemical markers (e.g., glucose, electrolytes, hormones, ketone bodies, and neurotransmitters) and various biological samples (e.g., blood, urine, heart, liver, skeletal muscle as well as pericardial and cerebrospinal fluids) have been proposed as potentially useful markers to improve the insufficient diagnostic efficacy of macroscopic and microscopic findings. The aim of this article is to review the medicolegal literature covering the postmortem biochemical investigations that are associated with hypothermia cases as well as report our own research results on this topic where possible.     

Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 in Breeding Turkeys, Valparaiso, Chile

Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus was detected in breeding turkeys on 2 farms in Valparaiso, Chile. Infection was associated with measurable declines in egg production and shell quality. Although the source of infection is not yet known, the outbreak was controlled, and the virus was eliminated from the birds.     

Inter-disease Comparison of Research Quantity and Quality: Bronchial Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Background. The two obstructive airway diseases bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) represent major global causes of disability and death. Whereas COPD research was largely underfunded in the 1980s and 1990s, increased funding activities have been initiated since the year 2000. However, detailed scientometric data on the development of research for asthma and COPD have not been generated so far. Methods. The present scientometric study was conducted to establish a database of research quantity and quality in the 20-year period between 1987 and 2006 using the Web of Science information system and the United Kingdom and Germany for comparison of research activities. Results. The information database Web of Science was screened and during the period from 1987 to 2006 a number of 8,874 items related to asthma was published by UK affiliations. Of these, 1,824 were published in cooperation with a total of 86 other countries. This is a ratio of 20.55%. In the same period, 3,341 items were published by German institutions (923 in cooperation with 56 other countries, ratio of 27.63%). Citation analysis demonstrated an average citation of 24.48 per UK article and 17.62 per German article. For COPD, 2,179 items were published by UK affiliations and 689 items by German institutions. Of the UK COPD publications, 570 were published in cooperations with 47 countries (ratio of 22.95 %). By contrast, 218 of the 689 German COPD articles were published with 29 other countries (ratio of 25.49%). When citation analysis was performed, average citation ratios of 18.93 for the UK and 10.61 for German were found. Conclusion. Summarizing this first country-specific comparative benchmarking analysis for obstructive pulmonary diseases it can be concluded that () asthma research dominated in the past 20 years; () COPD research gained importance in the field since the end of the 1990s; () there are large differences present in the research output between the two high-income countries examined.     

Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli in Children from Costa Rica

More than 5,000 diarrheal cases per year receive medical care at the National Children''s Hospital of Costa Rica, and nearly 5% of them require hospitalization. A total of 173 Escherichia coli strains isolated from children with diarrhea were characterized at the molecular, serologic, and phenotypic level. Multiplex and duplex polymerase chain reactions were used to detect the six categories of diarrheagenic E. coli. Thirty percent (n = 52) of the strains were positive, indicating a high prevalence among the pediatric population. Enteropathogenic E. coli and enteroinvasive E. coli pathotypes were the most prevalent (21% and 19%, respectively). Pathogenic strains were distributed among the four E. coli phylogenetic groups A, B1, B2, and D, with groups A and B1 the most commonly found. This study used molecular typing to evaluate the prevalence of diarrheagenic E. coli reported in Costa Rica and demonstrated the importance of these pathotypes in the pediatric population.     

Volume Holograms in Photopolymers: Comparison between Analytical and Rigorous Theories

There is no doubt that the concept of volume holography has led to an incredibly great amount of scientific research and technological applications. One of these applications is the use of volume holograms as optical memories, and in particular, the use of a photosensitive medium like a photopolymeric material to record information in all its volume. In this work we analyze the applicability of Kogelnik’s Coupled Wave theory to the study of volume holograms recorded in photopolymers. Some of the theoretical models in the literature describing the mechanism of hologram formation in photopolymer materials use Kogelnik’s theory to analyze the gratings recorded in photopolymeric materials. If Kogelnik’s theory cannot be applied is necessary to use a more general Coupled Wave theory (CW) or the Rigorous Coupled Wave theory (RCW). The RCW does not incorporate any approximation and thus, since it is rigorous, permits judging the accurateness of the approximations included in Kogelnik’s and CW theories. In this article, a comparison between the predictions of the three theories for phase transmission diffraction gratings is carried out. We have demonstrated the agreement in the prediction of CW and RCW and the validity of Kogelnik’s theory only for gratings with spatial frequencies higher than 500 lines/mm for the usual values of the refractive index modulations obtained in photopolymers.     

Effects of Serum Testosterone Levels After 6 Months of Androgen Deprivation Therapy on the Outcome of Patients With Prostate Cancer

BackgroundControversy exists about whether testosterone serum levels at a cutoff point of < 50 ng/dL during luteinizing hormone–releasing hormone analogue (LHRHA) treatment are related to the outcome of patients with prostate cancer. We assessed the relationship between serum testosterone levels after 6 months of LHRHA therapy and disease outcome in a consecutive series of patients with prostate cancer.Patients and MethodsSerum testosterone levels were measured prospectively in a cohort of patients given LHRHA for 6 months. End points were time to progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS).ResultsThe study population was 153 patients: 54 with metastatic disease and 99 with biochemical failure. In multivariate analysis, adjustment for age, baseline serum prostatic specific antigen (PSA) levels, Gleason score, and disease stage, testosterone levels < 50 ng/dL failed to be associated with TTP and OS. A cutoff of < 20 ng/dL was associated with a nonsignificant lower risk of progression (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0.58; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.30-1.15; P = .12) and a significant lower risk of death (adjusted HR, 0.19; 95% CI, 0.04-0.76; P = .02). Only 25 patients attained serum testosterone levels < 20 ng/dL. Using a receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), we found that a testosterone value of 30 ng/dL offered the best overall sensitivity and specificity for prediction of death. Serum testosterone levels < 30 ng/mL were associated with a significantly lower risk of death (adjusted HR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.22-0.94; P = .034.ConclusionsSerum testosterone levels lower than the currently adopted cutoff of 50 ng/dL have a prognostic role in patients with prostate cancer receiving LHRHA and are a promising surrogate parameter of LHRHA efficacy.     

Discordances in Estrogen Receptor Status,Progesterone Receptor Status,and HER2 Status Between Primary Breast Cancer and Metastasis

Background.

The primary aim of this retrospective study was to investigate intraindividual correlation of estrogen receptor (ER) status, progesterone receptor (PR) status, and HER2 status between primary breast cancer and metastatic breast cancer (mBC). Secondary aims included patients'' characteristics, overall survival, feasibility of histopathological evaluation in the metastatic setting, and predictive factors associated with receptors status discordance.

Methods.

Patients with either biopsy of metastatic relapse or surgery of metastasis were identified. Demographics, tumor characteristics, treatment characteristics, and ER, PR, and HER2 statuses were retrospectively obtained in patients'' reports. Receptors statuses were assessed by immunohistochemistry with a positivity cutoff of more than 10% for ER and PR. HER2 was considered as positive if overexpression was scored at 3+ in immunohistochemistry or if amplification ratio was >2 in fluorescent in situ hybridization.

Results.

From a cohort of 489 patients with mBC, 269 patients had histopathological samples of metastatic relapse. Histopathological analysis of the specimen confirmed the diagnosis of mBC in 235 patients. Discordance in one or more receptors between primary breast cancer and mBC was found in 99 patients (42%). A switch in receptor status was identified for ER in 17% of tumors (p = 4 × 10⁻³), PR in 29% of cancers (p < 4 × 10⁻⁴), and HER2 in 4% of lesions (p = .16). Exposure to chemotherapy and to anthracycline-based chemotherapy was statistically associated with switches in ER status. Seven (2%) second malignancies and three benign diseases (1%) were diagnosed.

Conclusions.

This study confirms that discordance in ER and PR receptor expression between the primary breast tumor and the corresponding metastatic lesions is high, whereas HER2 status remains relatively constant. Chemotherapy, and specifically anthracycline-based chemotherapy, was associated with switch in ER status. These results were obtained in a selected population of patients; further studies are warranted to confirm these data and to determine the interest of systematic rebiopsy in the metastatic setting.