Acral Amelanotic Melanoma Mimicking a Non-Healing Arterial Ulcer

Acral melanomas contribute to approximately 2–3% of melanomas but are commonly misdiagnosed due to their rarity, subtlety at onset and tendency to display amelanotic features. This case report describes a 70-year-old male with an amelanotic melanoma misdiagnosed as a non-healing arterial ulcer. Histopathology demonstrated a Breslow 2.3 mm, Clark level IV acral lentiginous melanoma, which was definitively managed with surgical intervention. This case report highlights the importance of considering melanoma in the differential diagnosis of non-healing ulcers

A diagnostic autoantibody signature for primary cutaneous melanoma

Melanoma is an aggressive form of skin cancer that is curable by surgical excision in the majority of cases, if detected at an early stage. To improve early stage melanoma detection, the development of a highly sensitive diagnostic test is of utmost importance. Here we aimed to identify antibodies to a panel of tumour associated antigens that can differentiate primary melanoma patients and healthy individuals. A total of 245 sera from primary melanoma patients and healthy volunteers were screened against a high-throughput microarray platform containing 1627 functional proteins. Following rigorous statistical analysis, we identified a combination of 10 autoantibody biomarkers that, as a panel, displays a sensitivity of 79%, specificity of 84% and an AUC of 0.828 for primary melanoma detection. This melanoma autoantibody signature may prove valuable for the development of a diagnostic blood test for routine population screening that, when used in conjunction with current melanoma diagnostic techniques, could improve the early diagnosis of this malignancy and ultimately decrease the mortality rate of patients

Mild, Selective Sulfoxidation with Molybdenum(VI) cis-Dioxo Catalysts

Three molybdenum(VI) cis-dioxo catalysts (8-10) were synthesized with the goal of developing stable and selective oxidation catalysts for sulfoxidation. Their reactivities were investigated with a variety of substrates. We have demonstrated the usefulness of these catalysts for the chemoselective sulfoxidation of sulfides in the presence of reactive moieties, which has important applications for total synthesis processes. Notably, these catalysts are able to oxidize compounds analogous to sulfur mustard and can be used as an alternative to sodium periodate or meta-chloroperoxybenzoic acid (m-CPBA) for the oxidation of various organic sulfides without sacrificing total conversion. As the catalysts are tolerant of water and hydrogen peroxide, they allow for the design of completely green oxidation reactions, particularly for sulfur-containing amino acids

Understanding Perceptions of Health Risk and Behavioral Responses to Air Pollution in the State of Utah (USA)

Poor air quality in Utah creates an array of economic, environmental, and health-related impacts that merit investigation and informed political responses. Air pollution is known to cause a variety of health problems, ranging from increased rates of asthma to cardiovascular and lung disease. Our research investigates the extent of Utahn’s understanding of the health risks associated with long-term and short-term impacts of air quality. To assess the degree to which Utahn’s perceive the health risks of air pollution, we performed an ordinal logistic regression analysis using responses to the Utah Air Quality Risk and Behavioral Action Survey, a representative panel survey administered between November 2018 and January 2020 (n = 1160), to determine how socioeconomic status impacts risk perception. Socioeconomic status is not a predictor of perceiving air’s short-term risks to health. Those with more conservative political orientation, as well as those with higher religiosity scores, were less likely than those with more liberal political orientation or those with lower religiosity scores to strongly agree that air pollution poses short-term health risks. We find that for short-term health risks from air pollution, Utahns in the middle-income category are more likely than those in the low-income category to strongly agree that air pollution poses long-term health risks. In addition, those with more conservative political orientation were less likely than those with more liberal political orientation to strongly agree that air pollution poses long-term health risks