Fascin expression in colorectal carcinomas

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the significance of fascin expression in colorectal carcinoma. METHODS: This is a retrospective study of 167 consecutive, well-documented cases of primary colorectal adenocarcinoma for which archival material of surgical specimens from primary tumor resections were available. We chose a representative tissue sample block and examined fascin expression by immunohistochemistry using a primary antibody against "fascin". We calculated the "immunohistochemical score (IHS)" of fascin for each case, which was calculated from the multiplication of scores for the percentage of stained cells and the staining intensity. RESULTS: Fascin immunoreactivity was observed in 59 (35.3%) of all cases with strong reactivity in 24 (14.4%), moderate reactivity in 25 (14.9%) and weak reactivity in 10 (6.0%) cases. Strong/moderate immunoreactivities were mostly observed in invasive fronts of the tumors or in both invasive and other areas. Fascin immunoreactivity scores were significantly higher in tumors with lymph node metastasis (p:0.002) and advanced stage presentation (p:0.007). There was no relation between fascin expression and age, gender, depth of invasion, distant metastasis or histological grade (p>0.05). There was a higher and statistically significant correlation between fascin immunoreactivity in the invasive borders of tumors and lymph node metastasis (r:0.747, p:0.005). In stage III/IV tumors, two-year survival was 92.2% in tumors without fascin immunoreactivity, and only 60.0% in tumors with a fascin IHS>10 (p:0.003). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that fascin is heterogeneously expressed in approximately one third of colorectal carcinomas with a significant association with lymph node metastasis, tumor stage and location. Moreover, these results indicate that fascin may have a role in the lymph node metastasis of colorectal carcinoma

Persistent High Postoperative Carcinoembryonic Antigen in Colorectal Cancer Patients- Is it Important?

INTRODUCTION: Evaluation of pre- and postoperative serum CEA levels together has seldom been assessed for the prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC). OBJECTIVE: To concurrently evaluate pre- and postoperative CEA as factors of relapse and survival. METHODS: The study consisted of 114 patients who had undergone surgery from February 2002 to June 2006 for CRC. All patients were classified into four groups according to their pre- and postoperative CEA levels. Data obtained for clinicopathologic parameters, lymph node metastasis, stage, recurrence, and CEA levels were analyzed to determine their association with survival. Multivariate analysis by the Cox proportional hazard regression model was performed to identify the independent prognostic factors associated with survival. RESULTS: Postoperative serum CEA levels remained high in Group 3 (n = 32). Nineteen patients (59.3%) demonstrated a detectable cause for persistent high CEA levels, while the reasons for those in the other thirteen patients (40.6%) remained obscure. Abnormal preoperative CEA levels significantly correlated with the depth of tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, and recurrence (p < 0.05). Abnormal postoperative CEA levels were significantly related to the depth of tumor invasion, TNM stage, and postoperative relapse (p<0.05). Patients in Group 3 demonstrated the worst survival rate. Abnormal postoperative CEA levels, lymph node metastasis, and location of the tumor were independent prognostic factors for survival. CONCLUSION: The survival of patients with high postoperative CEA levels due to unknown reasons may be extended if they are exhaustively tested with sensitive diagnostic methods and treated at an early stage

Chronic hepatitis B associated with hepatic steatosis, insulin resistance, necroinflammation and fibrosis.

Background: The effect of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection on fatty liver disease is unclear.. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the viral and host causes of fatty liver in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. This study included 88 CHB patients of which 17 were not treated. Liver biopsy was performed in each patient. Group 1 included those with hepatic steatosis (n=28) and group 2 those without hepatic steatosis. The groups were compared in terms of age, body mass index (BMI), Homeostasis Model Assessment- Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), viral load, biochemical parameters and histological findings. Patients in group 1 were subdivided according to the degree of steatosis as follows: grade 1 (15 patients, 53.6%), grade 2 (6 patients, 21.4%),and grade 3 (7 patients, 25%). Results: In group 1 (n=28), mean age, BMI, cholesterol, and HOMA-IR were found to be significantly higher than in group 2 (n=60). There were no significant differences in the positivity of viral load, HbeAg, treatment, fibrosis and other laboratory parameters between the two groups. HOMA-IR was the only independent predictive factor of liver steatosis in patients with CHB in logistic regression analysis. Conclusion: Hepatic steatosis in CHB patients was associated with host metabolic factors

Assessment of the requisites of microbiology based infectious disease training under the pressure of consultation needs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Training of infectious disease (ID) specialists is structured on classical clinical microbiology training in Turkey and ID specialists work as clinical microbiologists at the same time. Hence, this study aimed to determine the clinical skills and knowledge required by clinical microbiologists.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study was carried out between June 1, 2010 and September 15, 2010 in 32 ID departments in Turkey. Only patients hospitalized and followed up in the ID departments between January-June 2010 who required consultation with other disciplines were included.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 605 patients undergoing 1343 consultations were included, with pulmonology, neurology, cardiology, gastroenterology, nephrology, dermatology, haematology, and endocrinology being the most frequent consultation specialties. The consultation patterns were quite similar and were not affected by either the nature of infections or the critical clinical status of ID patients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results of our study show that certain internal medicine subdisciplines such as pulmonology, neurology and dermatology appear to be the principal clinical requisites in the training of ID specialists, rather than internal medicine as a whole.</p

Epigenetic perturbations in the pathogenesis of mustard toxicity; hypothesis and preliminary results

Among the most readily available chemical warfare agents, sulfur mustard (SM), also known as mustard gas, has been the most widely used chemical weapon. SM causes debilitating effects that can leave an exposed individual incapacitated for days to months; therefore delayed SM toxicity is of much greater importance than its ability to cause lethality. Although not fully understood, acute toxicity of SM is related to reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, oxidative stress, DNA damage, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) activation and energy depletion within the affected cell. Therefore several antioxidants and PARP inhibitors show beneficial effects against acute SM toxicity. The delayed toxicity of SM however, currently has no clear mechanistic explanation. One third of the 100,000 Iranian casualties are still suffering from the detrimental effects of SM in spite of the extensive treatment. We, therefore, made an attempt whether epigenetic aberrations may contribute to pathogenesis of mustard poisoning. Preliminary evidence reveals that mechlorethamine (a nitrogen mustard derivative) exposure may not only cause oxidative stress, DNA damage, but epigenetic perturbations as well. Epigenetic refers to the study of changes that influence the phenotype without causing alteration of the genotype. It involves changes in the properties of a cell that are inherited but do not involve a change in DNA sequence. It is now known that in addition to mutations, epimutations contribute to a variety of human diseases. Under light of preliminary results, the current hypothesis will focus on epigenetic regulations to clarify mustard toxicity and the use of drugs to correct possible epigenetic defects

Interface structure of diffusion bonded duplex stainless steel and medium carbon steel couple

Diffusion bonding of duplex stainless steel to medium carbon steel was carried out with different temperatures for sound bonds. in the bonding process, relatively intermediate temperatures such as 750, 800, 850 and 900 degrees C were used with a bonding time of 30 min. In this study, microstructural changes and mechanical properties in the interface region of duplex stainless steel and medium carbon steel couples were determined. The results showed that, in interface region, Cr(23)C(6) was formed on the stainless steel side, while ferrite formation was observed on the carbon steel side as a result of mutual diffusion of C and Cr. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Aircraft Gas Turbine Engine Health Monitoring System by Real Flight Data

Modern condition monitoring-based methods are used to reduce maintenance costs, increase aircraft safety, and reduce fuel consumption. In the literature, parameters such as engine fan speeds, vibration, oil pressure, oil temperature, exhaust gas temperature (EGT), and fuel flow are used to determine performance deterioration in gas turbine engines. In this study, a new model was developed to get information about the gas turbine engine's condition. For this model, multiple regression analysis was carried out to determine the effect of the flight parameters on the EGT parameter and the artificial neural network ( ANN) method was used in the identification of EGT parameter. At the end of the study, a network that predicts the EGT parameter with the smallest margin of error has been developed. An interface for instant monitoring of the status of the aircraft engine has been designed in MATLAB Simulink. Any performance degradation that may occur in the aircraft's gas turbine engine can be easily detected graphically or by the engine performance deterioration value. Also, it has been indicated that it could be a new indicator that informs the pilots in the event of a fault in the sensor of the EGT parameter that they monitor while flying