Background We report 6 new cases of onycholemmal carcinoma, a rare, often misdiagnosed, subcategory of squamous cell carcinoma. All reported cases to date have been treated with amputation of the ...affected digit. Objective The purpose of this study was to present the clinical and pathological features of each new case and to discuss treatment options that spare digit functionality. Methods Hematoxylin-eosin stains were performed on tumor sections and examined using light microscopy. In situ hybridization using probes against human papillomavirus were examined in 1 case. Results The female to male ratio was 1:1 with involvement of fingers in 3, thumb in 1, and toe in 1. Among the symptoms were onycholysis, periungual erythema, and pain; symptom duration ranged from 6 months to 2 years. Histologically, all cases showed a well-differentiated atypical infiltrative squamous proliferative lesion exhibiting a lobulated and cystic pattern of growth in the dermis. Abrupt keratinization reminiscent of trichilemmal keratinization was noted. Mohs micrographic surgery and radiation therapy were used as primary treatment modalities, maintaining digit functionality and achieving remission. Limitations Limitations of this study included the small number of cases, the infrequency with which this tumor has been reported in the literature, and the inability to obtain follow-up on an older archival case. Conclusions Onycholemmal carcinoma is a distinct type of squamous cell carcinoma arising from the nail isthmus; its natural clinical course is indolent. In this regard less aggressive digit-sparing treatment modalities such as radiation or Mohs micrographic surgery should be considered.
Comparative and trend analysis was conducted on annual prevalence of antimicrobial susceptibility among
Campylobacter jejuni and
Campylobacter coli recovered from rural Egyptian children from 1995 ...through 2000.
C. jejuni and
C. coli demonstrated significant decreasing trends in ciprofloxacin susceptibility over the study period (
p < 0.001 for both). In general,
C. coli demonstrated a higher degree of susceptibility than
C. jejuni, however, there was no statistical difference (
p = 0.2) comparing the linear trends over the duration of the study. There was no indication of frank macrolide (erythromycin or azithromycin) resistance among any
Campylobacter. Moreover, there were statistically significant positive trends in both the MIC
50 and MIC
90 values for the erythromycin and azithromycin during the study period, suggesting a possible decreasing trend in susceptibility among
Campylobacter. This study demonstrated that antimicrobial susceptibility in
Campylobacter has significantly decreased from 1995 through 2000 among pediatric diarrhea cases in rural Egypt.
The major programme for observing young, non-recycled pulsars with the Parkes telescope has transitioned from a narrow-band system to an ultra-wideband system capable of observing between 704 and ...4032 MHz. We report here on the initial two years of observations with this receiver. Results include dispersion measure (DM) and Faraday rotation measure (RM) variability with time, determined with higher precision than hitherto, flux density measurements and the discovery of several nulling and mode changing pulsars. PSR J1703-4851 is shown to be one of a small subclass of pulsars that has a weak and a strong mode which alternate rapidly in time. PSR J1114-6100 has the fourth highest |RM| of any known pulsar despite its location far from the Galactic Centre. PSR J1825-1446 shows variations in both DM and RM likely due to its motion behind a foreground supernova remnant.
We present high signal-to-noise, full polarization pulse profiles for 40 bright, 'slowly'-rotating (non-recycled) pulsars using the new Ultra-Wideband Low-frequency (UWL; 704-4032 MHz) receiver on ...the Parkes radio telescope. We obtain updated and accurate interstellar medium parameters towards these pulsars (dispersion measures and Faraday rotation measures), and reveal Faraday dispersion towards PSR J1721-3532 caused by interstellar scattering. We find general trends in the pulse profiles including decreasing fractional linear polarization and increasing degree of circular polarization with increasing frequency, consistent with previous studies, while also revealing new features and frequency evolution. This demonstrates results that can be obtained using UWL monitoring observations of slow pulsars, which are valuable for improving our understanding of pulsar emission and the intervening interstellar medium. The calibrated data products are publicly available.
Antibody microarrays are a high throughput technology used to concurrently screen for protein expression. Most antibody arrays
currently used are based on the ELISA sandwich approach that uses two ...antibodies to screen for the expression of a limited
number of proteins. Also because antigen-antibody interactions are concentration-dependent, antibody microarrays need to normalize
the amount of antibody that is used. In response to the limitations with the currently existing technology we have developed
a single antibody-based microarray where the quantity of antibody spotted is used to standardize the antigen concentration.
In addition, this new array utilizes an internally controlled system where one color represents the amount of antibody spotted,
and the other color represents the amount of the antigen that is used to quantify the level of protein expression. When compared
with median fluorescence intensity alone, normalization for antibody spot intensity decreased variability and lowered the
limits of detection. This new antibody array was tested using standard cytokine proteins and also cell lysates obtained from
mouse macrophages stimulated in vitro and evaluated for the expression of the cytokine proteins interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-5, IL-6, and macrophage inflammatory proteins
1α and 1β. The levels of protein expression seen with the antibody microarray was compared with that obtained with Western
blot analysis, and the magnitude of protein expression observed was similar with both technologies with the antibody array
actually showing a greater degree of sensitivity. In summary, we have developed a new type of antibody microarray to screen
for protein expression that utilizes a single antibody and controls for the amount of antibody spotted. This type of array
appears at least as sensitive as Western blot analysis, and the technology can be scaled up for high throughput screening
for hundreds of proteins in complex biofluids such as blood.
Research has identified a positive relationship between physical activity and neuropsychological functioning across the lifespan. The present study further examined the relationship between physical ...activity, depression, anxiety, and cognitive functioning in community-dwelling older adults (ages 65–96) who completed an outpatient neuropsychological evaluation ( N = 526). Psychometrically sound and validated measures were used to assess depression, anxiety, and cognitive functioning. Analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) were conducted to examine differences between individuals who reported regularly engaging in physical activity and those who did not, after adjusting for demographic variables (age, education, and gender). Results indicated that physical activity was associated with better scores on measures of depression, anxiety, and cognitive functioning. Effect sizes for total scores on all measures were large, but there was a sizeable range of effect sizes (from small to large) for various cognitive domains. Smallest effect sizes were observed for subtests measuring language skills and visuospatial abilities, whereas largest effect sizes were seen in processing speed and memory. Results suggest that engaging in physical activity may be a beneficial non-pharmacological intervention for older adults. These findings underscore the importance of integrating physical activity programs in community and healthcare settings to foster mental and cognitive health in older populations.
The main goal of pulsar timing array experiments is to detect correlated signals such as nanohertz-frequency gravitational waves. Pulsar timing data collected in dense monitoring campaigns can also ...be used to study the stars themselves, their binary companions, and the intervening ionised interstellar medium. Timing observations are extraordinarily sensitive to changes in path length between the pulsar and the Earth, enabling precise measurements of the pulsar positions, distances and velocities, and the shapes of their orbits. Here we present a timing analysis of 25 pulsars observed as part of the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA) project over time spans of up to 24 yr. The data are from the second data release of the PPTA, which we have extended by including legacy data. We make the first detection of Shapiro delay in four Southern pulsars (PSRs J1017\(-\)7156, J1125\(-\)6014, J1545\(-\)4550, and J1732\(-\)5049), and of parallax in six pulsars. The prominent Shapiro delay of PSR J1125\(-\)6014 implies a neutron star mass of \(M_p = 1.5 \pm 0.2 M_\odot\) (68% credibility interval). Measurements of both Shapiro delay and relativistic periastron advance in PSR J1600\(-\)3053 yield a large but uncertain pulsar mass of \(M_p = 2.06^{+0.44}_{-0.41}\) M\(_\odot\) (68% credibility interval). We measure the distance to PSR J1909\(-\)3744 to a precision of 10 lyr, indicating that for gravitational wave periods over a decade, the pulsar provides a coherent baseline for pulsar timing array experiments.
Background High levels of IgE are associated with asthma. Whether higher levels of IgE are associated with more severe asthma is still unclear. Objective To determine whether IgE is associated with ...asthma severity among Latino and African American subjects with asthma. Methods We assessed lung function and asthma severity among African American, Mexican, and Puerto Rican patients with asthma with high IgE levels (≥100 IU/mL; n = 492) and compared these values to those of patients with asthma with low IgE levels (<100 IU/mL; n = 247). We also examined IgE as a continuous variable among these groups. Results Patients with asthma with high IgE had a lower mean FEV1 (87.6 ± 17.1, percent of predicted) than patients with asthma with low IgE (91.5 ± 17.0; P = .031). Regardless of race and ethnicity, baseline FEV1 , forced expiratory flow, and FEV1 /forced vital capacity were lower among subjects with high IgE than among subjects with low IgE ( P = .031, P < .0001, P = .0001, respectively). In addition, 54.7% of patients with asthma with high IgE had been previously hospitalized, compared with 44.1% of patients with asthma with low IgE (odds ratio, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.04-1.71). Conclusion Higher IgE is associated with lower baseline lung function and more severe asthma among these populations. Clinical implications Among patients with asthma from 3 ethnically distinct groups, total IgE levels are inversely correlated with baseline lung function and asthma severity.
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