Primary Cutaneous Low Grade Mucinous Adenocarcinoma of Eyelid

Primary cutaneous mucinous adenocarcinoma is a rare adnexal neoplasm, eyelid being the most common site of presentation. Clinically it is mistaken for a benign / cystic lesion. Its morphologic similarity to metastatic deposits from breast, gastrointestinal tract (GIT) or any visceral sites adds to the diagnostic difficulty mandating the role of ancillary techniques in precise diagnosis and hence planning the management. We report a case of primary cutaneous mucinous adenocarcinoma of eyelid with emphasis on pathology along with a brief review of literature

Myxoid Neurothekeoma of the Nipple

Neurothekeomas are rare benign cutaneous neoplasms of nerve sheath origin. They are primarily found in the superficial soft tissue and are also known as dermal nerve sheath myxomas. They are commonly found on the upper extremities, head and neck followed by trunk. Here is an unusual presentation of neurothekeoma occurring as a polypoidal lesion of the nipple in a young female patient

A window into fungal endophytism in Salicornia europaea: deciphering fungal characteristics as plant growth promoting agents

Aim Plant-endophytic associations exist only when equilibrium is maintained between both partners. This study analyses the properties of endophytic fungi inhabiting a halophyte growing in high soil salinity and tests whether these fungi are beneficial or detrimental when non-host plants are inoculated. Method Fungi were isolated from Salicornia europaea collected from two sites differing in salinization history (anthropogenic and naturally saline) and analyzed for plant growth promoting abilities and non-host plant interactions. Results Most isolated fungi belonged to Ascomycota (96%) including dematiaceous fungi and commonly known plant pathogens and saprobes. The strains were metabolically active for siderophores, polyamines and indole-3-acetic acid (mainly Aureobasidium sp.) with very low activity for phosphatases. Many showed proteolytic, lipolytic, chitinolytic, cellulolytic and amylolytic activities but low pectolytic activity. Different activities between similar fungal species found in both sites were particularly seen for Epiccocum sp., Arthrinium sp. and Trichoderma sp. Inoculating the non-host Lolium perenne with selected fungi increased plant growth, mainly in the symbiont (Epichloë)-free variety. Arthrinium gamsii CR1-9 and Stereum gausapatum ISK3-11 were most effective for plant growth promotion. Conclusions This research suggests that host lifestyle and soil characteristics have a strong effect on endophytic fungi, and environmental stress could disturb the plant-fungi relations. In favourable conditions, these fungi may be effective in facilitating crop production in non-cultivable saline lands

Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineage 4 comprises globally distributed and geographically restricted sublineages

Generalist and specialist species differ in the breadth of their ecological niches. Little is known about the niche width of obligate human pathogens. Here we analyzed a global collection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineage 4 clinical isolates, the most geographically widespread cause of human tuberculosis. We show that lineage 4 comprises globally distributed and geographically restricted sublineages, suggesting a distinction between generalists and specialists. Population genomic analyses showed that, whereas the majority of human T cell epitopes were conserved in all sublineages, the proportion of variable epitopes was higher in generalists. Our data further support a European origin for the most common generalist sublineage. Hence, the global success of lineage 4 reflects distinct strategies adopted by different sublineages and the influence of human migration.We thank S. Lecher, S. Li and J. Zallet for technical support. Calculations were performed at the sciCORE scientific computing core facility at the University of Basel. This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grants 310030_166687 (S.G.) and 320030_153442 (M.E.) and Swiss HIV Cohort Study grant 740 to L.F.), the European Research Council (309540-EVODRTB to S.G.), TB-PAN-NET (FP7-223681 to S.N.), PathoNgenTrace projects (FP7-278864-2 to S.N.), SystemsX.ch (S.G.), the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF; S.N.), the Novartis Foundation (S.G.), the Natural Science Foundation of China (91631301 to Q.G.), and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (5U01-AI069924-05) of the US National Institutes of Health (M.E.)

Original Ariticle Intraoperative consultation and smear cytology in the diagnosis of brain tumours

Background: Intraoperative smear cytology provides a rapid and reliable intraoperative diagnosis and guidance to the neurosurgeon during surgical resection and lesion targeting. It also helps the surgeon to monitor and modify the approach at surgery. Objectives: 1) To assess the utility of intraoperative smear cytology and correlate with the �nal histopathological diagnosis. 2) To describe the cytomorphological features of common brain tumours in smear preparation. Materials and methods: The material for this study was obtained from 100 consecutive biopsies of central nervous system neoplasms sent for intraoperative consultation. Smears were prepared from the biopsy samples sent in isotonic saline for immediate processing. The smears were stained by the rapid Haematoxylin and Eosin method. The cytomorphological features were noted and correlated with paraf�n section �ndings. Results: Of the total 100 cases, 86 showed accuracy when compared with histopathological diagnosis. This was comparable with other studies. Of the remaining, two cases were frank errors, 12 cases showed partial correlation, with �ve cases showed incomplete typing of the cell type and seven, discrepancy in grading of tumours. The error percentage was 14%. Correlation with clinical details and radiological �ndings were helpful in improving the accuracy rate. Conclusions: Smear technique is a fairly accurate, relatively safe, rapid, simple, easily reproducible and cost effectiv

The cytokine TGF-β co-opts signaling via STAT3-STAT4 to promote the differentiation of human TFH cells.

Understanding the developmental mechanisms of follicular helper T cells (TFH cells) in humans is relevant to the clinic. However, the factors that drive the differentiation of human CD4+ helper T cells into TFH cells remain largely undefined. Here we found that transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) provided critical additional signals for the transcription factors STAT3 and STAT4 to promote initial TFH differentiation in humans. This mechanism did not appear to be shared by mouse helper T cells. Developing human TFH cells that expressed the transcriptional repressor Bcl-6 also expressed RORγt, a transcription factor typically expressed by the TH17 subset of helper T cells. Our study documents a mechanism by which TFH cells and TH17 cells emerge together in inflammatory environments in humans, as is often observed in many human autoimmune diseases. Nat Immunol 2014 Sep; 15(9):856-65