Complete small bowel obstruction caused by metastasis from primary nasopharyngeal carcinoma

We here report the first case in the literature on a surgical emergency of complete small bowel obstruction caused by metastasis from nasopharyngeal carcinoma nine months after the primary tumor was treated with concurrent chemoradiation. The patient achieved prolonged survival with prompt surgical treatment followed by systemic chemotherapy

Ad hoc influenza vaccination during years of significant antigenic drift in a tropical city with 2 seasonal peaks

We evaluated the acceptability of an additional ad hoc influenza vaccination among the health care professionals following seasons with significant antigenic drift. Self-administered, anonymous surveys were performed by hard copy questionnaires in public hospitals, and by an on-line platform available to all healthcare professionals, from April 1st to May 31st, 2015. A total of 1290 healthcare professionals completed the questionnaires, including doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals working in both the public and private systems. Only 31.8% of participating respondents expressed an intention to receive the additional vaccine, despite that the majority of them agreed or strongly agreed that it would bring benefit to the community (88.9%), save lives (86.7%), reduce medical expenses (76.3%), satisfy public expectation (82.8%), and increase awareness of vaccination (86.1%). However, a significant proportion expressed concern that the vaccine could disturb the normal immunization schedule (45.5%); felt uncertain what to do in the next vaccination round (66.0%); perceived that the summer peak might not occur (48.2%); and believed that the summer peak might not be of the same virus (83.5%). Furthermore, 27.8% of all respondents expected that the additional vaccination could weaken the efficacy of previous vaccinations; 51.3% was concerned about side effects; and 61.3% estimated that there would be a low uptake rate. If the supply of vaccine was limited, higher priority groups were considered to include the elderly aged ≥65 years with chronic medical conditions (89.2%), the elderly living in residential care homes (87.4%), and long-stay residents of institutions for the disabled (80.7%). The strongest factors associated with accepting the additional vaccine included immunization with influenza vaccines in the past 3 years, higher perceived risk of contracting influenza, and higher perceived severity of the disease impact. The acceptability to an additional ad hoc influenza vaccination was low among healthcare professionals. This could have a negative impact on such additional vaccination campaigns since healthcare professionals are a key driver for vaccine acceptance. The discordance in perceived risk and acceptance of vaccination regarding self versus public deserves further evaluation

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Human Papillomavirus DNA Detection in Menstrual Blood from Patients with Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia and Condyloma Acuminatum ▿

The Papanicolaou test generates pain and embarrassment, and cytology screening has limited sensitivity for detection of cervical neoplasia. These factors urge the use of another screening test that can overcome these limitations. We explore a completely noninvasive method using detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA in women's menstrual blood (MB). The participants were divided into 3 cohorts: (i) 235 patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 3 (CIN 3) (n = 48), CIN 2 (n = 60), CIN 1 (n = 58), or condyloma acuminatum (CAC) (n = 69) before treatment or remission; (ii) from the first cohort of patients, 108 CIN 3 or CIN 2 patients after treatment and 62 CIN 1 or CAC patients after remission; and (iii) 323 apparently normal subjects (ANS) without any cervical disease. The HPV genotypes of the infected patients were confirmed by direct sequencing. Quantitative real-time PCR (QRT-PCR) was used to measure the MB HPV16 load for 15 infected patients. Results showed that the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for detection of MB HPV DNA in samples from patients with CIN or CAC were 82.8%, 93.1%, 90.0%, and 87.9%, respectively. Moreover, MB HPV DNA was found in samples from 22.2% of CIN 3 or CIN 2 patients after treatment, 0.0% of CIN 1 or CAC patients after remission, and 8.1% of ANS, 4 of whom were found to have CIN 1 or CAC. Furthermore, QRT-PCR showed that the normalized MB HPV16 DNA copy numbers in samples from patients with CIN 1 to CIN 3 were significantly increased. These preliminary results suggested that MB HPV DNA is a potential noninvasive marker for these premalignant cervical diseases

ICC scores of FZD3 in various Dukes stage of patients with CRC.

<p>ICC scores of FZD3 in various Dukes stage of patients with CRC.</p

FZD3 expression in various non-CRC metastatic carcinomas.

<p>(A) Percentage of various non-CRC metastatic carcinomas with FZD3 ICC staining and (B) ICC scores of FZD3 in various non-CRC metastatic carcinomas. (HCC = hepatocellular carcinoma, RCCC = renal clear cell carcinoma, SCC1 = squamous cell carcinoma, LAC = lung adenocarcinoma, LNSCC = lung non-small cell carcinoma, PTC = papillary thyroid carcinoma, BC = breast carcinoma, OCCC = ovary clear cell carcinoma, CNSCC = cervical non-small cell carcinoma, FTSAC = fallopian tube serous adenocarcinoma, TCC = transitional cell carcinoma, SCC2 = small cell carcinoma and CND = carcinoma with neuroendocrine differentiation).</p

ICC staining of FZD3 in (A) a lymph node with CRC metastasis from a Dukes 3 patient and (B) an ovary with CRC metastasis from a Dukes 4 patient (T = tumor, Lym = lymphoid cells, original magnification, X400, scale bar = 100 µm).

<p>ICC staining of FZD3 in (A) a lymph node with CRC metastasis from a Dukes 3 patient and (B) an ovary with CRC metastasis from a Dukes 4 patient (T = tumor, Lym = lymphoid cells, original magnification, X400, scale bar = 100 µm).</p

ICC staining of FZD3 in (A) CRC, (B), CAD, (C) colorectal polyp, (D) normal colorectal tissues, (E) positive control and (F) negative control (Original magnification, X400, scale bar = 100 µm).

<p>ICC staining of FZD3 in (A) CRC, (B), CAD, (C) colorectal polyp, (D) normal colorectal tissues, (E) positive control and (F) negative control (Original magnification, X400, scale bar = 100 µm).</p