Religious Allergic Contact Dermatitis

Henna, derived from a combination of natural leaves and coloring additives, is a common decorative dye traditionally used in many Islamic religious celebrations. Para‐phenylenediamine (PPD), a major component of black henna tattoo, is a strong sensitizer and common allergen. We report a case of severe connubial allergic contact dermatitis after black henna heterotransfer in a girl.     

Large gangliocytic paraganglioma of the duodenum: A rare entity

Gangliocytic paragangliomas are rare tumors that almost exclusively occur within the second portion of the duodenum. Although these tumors generally have a benign clinical course, they have the potential to recur or metastasize to regional lymph nodes. The case report presented here describes a 57-year-old female patient with melena, progressive asthenia, anemia, and a mass in the second-third portion of the duodenum that was treated by local excision. The patient was diagnosed with a friable bleeding tumor. The histologic analysis showed that the tumor was a 4 cm gangliocytic paraganglioma without a malignant cell pattern. In the absence of local invasion or distant metastasis, endoscopic resection represents a feasible, curative therapy. Although endoscopic polypectomy is currently considered the treatment of choice, it is not recommended if the size of the tumor is > 3 cm and/or there is active or recent bleeding. Patients diagnosed with a gangliocytic paraganglioma should be closely followed-up for possible local recurrence.     

Polymerization of α-olefins in the presence of δ-TiCl3/Al(CH3)3: Chain propagation rate constants for ethylene and propene

The chain propagation rate constants for the polymerization of ethylene and propene in the presence of δ-TiCl₃/Al(CH₃)₃ at 22 °C are determined by means of a ¹³C NMR analysis of suitable block copolymers. The numerical values of the rate constants are compared with those previously reported.     

Smoking and Sleep Disorders

Snoring and sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (SAHS) are two disorders of considerable relevance due to their high prevalence in the general population and their notable morbidity and mortality, particularly in association with their harmful effects on the cardiovascular system. As well as sex, age, weight, craniofacial malformations, alcohol consumption, and use of hypnotic drugs, it has been suggested that smoking may be a risk factor for developing sleep-disordered breathing. While there is solid evidence for the independent association between snoring and smoking in both children and adults, it is still unclear whether smoking constitutes an independent risk factor for developing SAHS, despite the many studies carried out to assess this link. This is probably because the association, if it exists, is very weak.     

Loss of cables, a novel gene on chromosome 18q, in ovarian cancer.

Cables, a cyclin-dependent kinase (cdk) interacting protein, has recently been identified and mapped to human chromosome 18q11. Cables appears to be primarily involved in cell cycle regulation and cell proliferation. Overexpression of Cables in Hela and other cell lines inhibits cell proliferation and tumor formation. We hypothesize that loss of Cables expression is associated with ovarian cancer. To test our hypothesis, we examined Cables expression in the four most common subtypes of ovarian carcinomas: serous, endometrioid, mucinous, and clear cell. In addition, mucinous and serous borderline tumors were also included. Loss of Cables expression was observed at high frequency in ovarian serous (11 of 14 cases, 79%) and endometrioid (5 of 10 cases, 50%) carcinomas. In contrast, strong Cables staining was detected in all clear cell carcinomas (10 cases) and mucinous tumors (5 carcinomas and 5 borderline tumors). The majority of serous borderline tumors (11 of 14 cases, 79%) showed positive Cables staining, with the rest showing focal loss of Cables expression. Furthermore, RT-PCR revealed the lack of Cables mRNA in a human ovarian cancer xenograft. No correlation was noted between loss of Cables and histologic grade, tumor stage, and survival. In conclusion, our results indicate that loss of Cables is common in ovarian serous and endometrioid carcinomas and imply that Cables may be involved in the pathogenesis of these two types of ovarian carcinomas.     

Biocompatibility studies on biodegradable polyester-based composites of human osteoblasts: a preliminary screening.

A series of biodegradable composites with natural hydroxyapatite, designed for possible use in orthopedics applications, were preliminarily screened for biocompatibility by employing primary cultures of human osteoblasts in a direct contact method. The cells were seeded at low density onto the materials under investigation and allowed to grow for 2 weeks. They then were analyzed for morphology, proliferation, viability, alkaline phosphatase activity (AP), osteocalcin (OC) production, and extracellular matrix mineralization. The results showed that all materials have good biocompatibility. Cell viability tests demonstrated that in all cases the values were comparable to the control, and the addition of hydroxyapatite always resulted in an enhancement of performance with respect to the plain polymer. AP and OC analysis confirmed that all composites allowed the expression of phenotypic markers. Scanning electron microscopy provided direct evidence of intense cell adhesion and proliferation on the tested materials.     

Activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in mice selected for left- or right-handedness

Asymmetry in brain modulation of the immune system has been previously described. In mice, paw preference has been shown to be associated with immune reactivity but the mechanisms involved in such an association are not yet known. The autonomic nervous system and the neuroendocrine system are considered as major candidates for neural influences on the immune system. In the present study, the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis of adult female mice selected for paw preference (left-handers vs. right-handers) was assessed by measuring both adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone plasma levels, as well as the in vitro responses of hypothalamus and adrenocortical cells to various hormone releasing stimuli. The results reported here showed no difference in the activity of the HPA axis between left- and right-handed mice, suggesting that this neuroendocrine axis is not implicated in the association between functional brain asymmetry and immune reactivity. However, our results do not exclude the possibility that the HPA axis could play a role in such an association under other circumstances, such as during development or stressful situations.     

Shared executive dysfunctions in unaffected relatives of patients with autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

BACKGROUND: Executive dysfunctions have been studied as a potential endophenotype associated with the genetic basis of autism. Given that recent findings from clinical and molecular genetic studies suggest that autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) could share a common pattern of heritability, we assessed executive functions as a possible common cognitive endophenotype in unaffected family members of individuals with either autism or OCD. METHODS: Five tests assessing executive functions (Tower of London, verbal fluency, design fluency, trail making and association fluency) were proposed to 58 unaffected first-degree relatives (parents and siblings) of probands with autism and 64 unaffected first-degree relatives of OCD patients. Results were compared with those of 47 healthy controls matched for age, sex, and level of education. RESULTS: In the Tower of London test, both groups of unaffected relatives showed significantly lower scores and longer response times compared with controls. No differences were observed between autism and OCD relatives and healthy controls in the four other tasks (verbal fluency, design fluency, trail making test and association fluency). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show the existence of executive dysfunction in the unaffected first-degree relatives of probands with OCD, similar to those observed in the relatives of patients with autism. These results support and extend previous cognitive studies on probands indicating executive dysfunctions in autism and OCD. Planning and working memory processes could thus represent a common cognitive endophenotype in autism and OCD that could help in the identification of genes conferring vulnerability to these disorders.     

Hepatocyte paraffin 1 antibody does not distinguish primary ovarian tumors with hepatoid differentiation from metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma.

Anti-hepatocyte antibody, hepatocyte paraffin 1, is a monoclonal antibody that is highly specific for normal and neoplastic hepatocytes and that can differentiate hepatocytic from nonhepatocytic tumors. This marker has been rarely studied in extra-hepatic tumors and to our knowledge has not been investigated in ovarian tumors with hepatoid differentiation. We studied hepatocyte paraffin 1 immunoreactivity in a series of ovarian hepatoid carcinomas, ovarian hepatoid yolk sac tumors (YSTs), and hepatocellular carcinomas metastatic to the ovary to assess the potential utility of hepatocyte paraffin 1 in differential diagnosis. Hepatocyte paraffin 1 positivity was seen in three of seven ovarian hepatoid carcinomas, five of eight hepatoid yolk sac tumors, and six of eight metastatic hepatocellular carcinomas. The extent of positivity ranged from <25% to >50% of the tumor cells. There was strong coarsely granular cytoplasmic staining in all three tumor types without a distinctive staining pattern in any group. The degree of hepatic differentiation correlated with hepatocyte paraffin 1 positivity in the three groups: 83% of the well differentiated tumors, 50% of the moderately differentiated tumors, and none of the poorly differentiated tumors were positive. All ovarian hepatoid carcinomas were either immunoreactive for alpha-fetoprotein or had an elevated serum alpha-fetoprotein level; more than half of these tumors were hepatocyte paraffin 1 negative. All but one hepatocyte paraffin 1 negative hepatoid yolk sac tumor and ovarian hepatocellular carcinoma were also negative for alpha-fetoprotein. In conclusion, hepatocyte paraffin 1 is positive in primary ovarian tumors with hepatoid differentiation, with the degree of hepatocyte paraffin 1 positivity correlating with the degree of hepatoid differentiation. Hepatocyte paraffin 1, however, is not useful in distinguishing metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma from primary ovarian hepatoid carcinoma or hepatoid yolk sac tumor.