Lymph node pick up by separate stations: Option or necessity

AIM: To evaluate whether lymph node pick up by separate stations could be an indicator of patients submitted to appropriate surgical treatment. METHODS: One thousand two hundred and three consecutive gastric cancer patients submitted to radical resection in 7 general hospitals and for whom no information was available on the extension of lymphatic dissection were included in this retrospective study. RESULTS: Patients were divided into 2 groups: group A, where the stomach specimen was directly formalinfixed and sent to the pathologist, and group B, where lymph nodes were picked up after surgery and fixed for separate stations. Sixty-two point three percent of group A patients showed 16 retrieved lymph nodes compared to 19.4% of group B(P 0.0001). Group B(separate stations) patients had significantly higher survival rates than those in group A [46.1 mo(95%CI: 36.5-56.0) vs 27.7 mo(95%CI: 21.3-31.9); P = 0.0001], independently of T or N stage. In multivariate analysis, group A also showed a higher risk of death than group B(HR = 1.24; 95%CI: 1.05-1.46).CONCLUSION: Separate lymphatic station dissection increases the number of retrieved nodes, leads to better tumor staging, and permits verification of the surgical dissection. The number of dissected stations could potentially be used as an index to evaluate the quality of treatment received.     

IL-4 in vitro production is upregulated in Alzheimer's disease patients treated with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors

Cytokines appear to be involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Their modulation by treatment has been investigated only in a few studies. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEI) on Interleukin-4 (IL-4) production in AD patients. IL-4 levels were measured by ELISA on peripheral blood mononuclear cell cultures in the presence or absence of Concanavalin A or Phytohaemagglutinin. Linear regression analysis shows that patients who have been treated, have higher levels of IL-4 independently from age, gender and comorbidity. The increased production of IL-4 in AChEI treated patients might represent an additional mechanism through which AChEI act on AD progression.     

Increasing atrial fibrillation: What is the cause?

A 72‐year‐old woman with a history of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) and sinus node dysfunction is seen in clinic for routine follow‐up.     

A preliminary investigation of serological tools for the detection of Onchocerca lupi infection in dogs

Onchocerca lupi is a neglected filarioid causing nodular lesions associated with acute or chronic ocular disease in dogs. Despite the recent appraisal of its zoonotic potential, human cases are increasingly reported in the Old and New Worlds. Therefore, the development of accurate tools for the rapid diagnosis of O. lupi infections in dogs is becoming a priority. In this study, we conducted a preliminary investigation aimed at evaluating the usefulness of a commercially available ELISA test for the detection of O. lupi antigens in canine sera. The potential use of this tool for larger epidemiological studies of canine onchocerciasis is discussed.     

A comprehensive optical analysis of nanoscale structures: from thin films to asymmetric nanocavities

A simple and robust method able to evaluate and predict, with high accuracy, the optical properties of single and multi-layer nanostructures is presented. The method was implemented using a COMSOL Multiphysics simulation platform and it has been validated by four case studies with increasing numerical complexities: (i) a single thin layer (20 nm) of Ag deposited on a glass substrate; (ii) a metamaterial composed of five bi-layers of Ag/ITO (indium tin oxide), with a thickness of 20 nm each; (iii) a system based on a three-material unit cell (AZO/ITO/Ag), but without any thickness periodicity (AZO stands for Al₂O₃/zinc oxide); (iv) an asymmetric nanocavity (thin-ITO/Ag/thick-ITO/Ag). A thorough study of this latter configuration reveals peculiar metamaterial effects that can widen the actual scenario in nanophotonic applications. Numerical results have been compared with experimental data provided by real ellipsometric measurements performed on the above mentioned ad hoc fabricated nanostructures. The obtained agreement is excellent, suggesting this research as a valid design approach to realize multi-band metamaterials able to work in a broad spectral range.

Hyper transmission of asymmetric nanocavity metamaterials; a comprehensive optical analysis of multi-layered nanostructures.