Molecular characterization of human gastric mucosa by HR-MAS Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

The present study was aimed at identifying themolecular profile characteristic of the healthy humangastric mucosa.Ex vivo HR-MAS magnetic resonance spectroscopy performed at 9.4 Tesla (400.13 MHz for 1H) on gastric specimens collected during endoscopy, permits the identification of more than forty species giving a detailed picture of the biochemical pattern of the gastric tissues. These preliminary data will be used for a comparison with gastric preneoplastic and neoplastic situations. Moreover, the full knowledge of the biochemical pattern of the healthy gastrictissues is the necessary presupposition for the application of magnetic resonance spectroscopy directly in vivo

Metastatic eccrine porocarcinoma: report of a case and review of the literature

Eccrine porocarcinoma (EPC) is a rare type of skin cancer arising from the intraepidermal portion of eccrine sweat glands or acrosyringium, representing 0.005-0.01% of all cutaneous tumors. About 20% of EPC will recur and about 20% will metastasize to regional lymph nodes. There is a mortality rate of 67% in patients with lymph node metastases. Although rare, the occurrence of distant metastases has been reported

A Single-Molecule Bioelectronic Portable Array for Early Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer Precursors

A cohort of 47 patients is screened for pancreatic cancer precursors with a portable 96-well bioelectronic sensing-array for single-molecule assay in cysts fluid and blood plasma, deployable at point-of-care (POC). Pancreatic cancer precursors are mucinous cysts diagnosed with a sensitivity of at most 80% by state-of-the-art cytopathological molecular analyses (e.g., KRASmut DNA). Adding the simultaneous assay of proteins related to malignant transformation (e.g., MUC1 and CD55) is deemed essential to enhance diagnostic accuracy. The bioelectronic array proposed here, based on single-molecule-with-a-large-transistor (SiMoT) technology, can assay both nucleic acids and proteins at the single-molecule limit-of-identification (LOI) (1% of false-positives and false-negatives). It comprises an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-like 8 × 12-array organic-electronics disposable cartridge with an electrolyte-gated organic transistor sensor array, and a reusable reader, integrating a custom Si-IC chip, operating via software installed on a USB-connected smart device. The cartridge is complemented by a 3D-printed sensing gate cover plate. KRASmut, MUC1, and CD55 biomarkers either in plasma or cysts-fluid from 5 to 6 patients at a time, are multiplexed at single-molecule LOI in 1.5 h. The pancreatic cancer precursors are classified via a machine-learning analysis resulting in at least 96% diagnostic-sensitivity and 100% diagnostic-specificity. This preliminary study opens the way to POC liquid-biopsy-based early diagnosis of pancreatic-cancer precursors in plasma.</p

A Single-Molecule Bioelectronic Portable Array for Early Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer Precursors

A cohort of 47 patients is screened for pancreatic cancer precursors with a portable 96-well bioelectronic sensing-array for single-molecule assay in cysts fluid and blood plasma, deployable at point-of-care (POC). Pancreatic cancer precursors are mucinous cysts diagnosed with a sensitivity of at most 80% by state-of-the-art cytopathological molecular analyses (e.g., KRASmut DNA). Adding the simultaneous assay of proteins related to malignant transformation (e.g., MUC1 and CD55) is deemed essential to enhance diagnostic accuracy. The bioelectronic array proposed here, based on single-molecule-with-a-large-transistor (SiMoT) technology, can assay both nucleic acids and proteins at the single-molecule limit-of-identification (LOI) (1% of false-positives and false-negatives). It comprises an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-like 8 × 12-array organic-electronics disposable cartridge with an electrolyte-gated organic transistor sensor array, and a reusable reader, integrating a custom Si-IC chip, operating via software installed on a USB-connected smart device. The cartridge is complemented by a 3D-printed sensing gate cover plate. KRASmut, MUC1, and CD55 biomarkers either in plasma or cysts-fluid from 5 to 6 patients at a time, are multiplexed at single-molecule LOI in 1.5 h. The pancreatic cancer precursors are classified via a machine-learning analysis resulting in at least 96% diagnostic-sensitivity and 100% diagnostic-specificity. This preliminary study opens the way to POC liquid-biopsy-based early diagnosis of pancreatic-cancer precursors in plasma.</p

Axillary node metastasis from differentiated thyroid carcinoma with hürthle and signet ring cell differentiation. A case of disseminated thyroid cancer with peculiar histologic findings

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Differentiated thyroid cancer is usually associated with an excellent prognosis and indolent course. Distant metastases are rare events at the onset of thyroid cancer. Among these presentations, metastasis to the axillary lymph nodes is even more unusual: only few cases were previously reported in the literature; there has been no report of axillary lymph node metastasis from follicular thyroid carcinoma. Axillary lymph node metastasis generally arises in the context of disseminated disease and carries an ominous prognosis.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>Here we present a case of axillary lymph node metastasis in the context of disseminated differentiated thyroid cancer. The patient underwent near total thyroidectomy and neck and axillary lymph node dissection. A histopathological diagnosis of poorly differentiated follicular carcinoma with "signet ring cells" and Hürthle cell features was established. The patient received radioactive iodine therapy and TSH suppression therapy. Subsequently his serum thyroglobulin level decreased to 44.000 ng/ml from over 100.000 ng/ml.</p> <p>Discussion and Conclusion</p> <p>Currently there are only few reported cases of axillary node metastases from thyroid cancer, and to our knowledge, this is the first report on axillary lymph node metastasis from follicular thyroid carcinoma. "Signet ring cell" is a morphologic feature shared by both benign and, more rarely, malignant follicular thyroid neoplasm, and it generally correlates with an arrest in folliculogenesis. Our case is one of the rare "signet ring cells" carcinomas so far described.</p

Measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum above 4×10184{\times}10^{18} eV using inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory

A measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum for energies exceeding $4{\times}10^{18}$ eV is presented, which is based on the analysis of showers with zenith angles greater than $60^{\circ}$ detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013. The measured spectrum confirms a flux suppression at the highest energies. Above $5.3{\times}10^{18}$ eV, the "ankle", the flux can be described by a power law $E^{-\gamma}$ with index $\gamma=2.70 \pm 0.02 \,\text{(stat)} \pm 0.1\,\text{(sys)}$ followed by a smooth suppression region. For the energy ($E_\text{s}$) at which the spectral flux has fallen to one-half of its extrapolated value in the absence of suppression, we find $E_\text{s}=(5.12\pm0.25\,\text{(stat)}^{+1.0}_{-1.2}\,\text{(sys)}){\times}10^{19}$ eV.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Energy Estimation of Cosmic Rays with the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is part of the Pierre Auger Observatory and is used to detect the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers. These observations are compared to the data of the surface detector stations of the Observatory, which provide well-calibrated information on the cosmic-ray energies and arrival directions. The response of the radio stations in the 30 to 80 MHz regime has been thoroughly calibrated to enable the reconstruction of the incoming electric field. For the latter, the energy deposit per area is determined from the radio pulses at each observer position and is interpolated using a two-dimensional function that takes into account signal asymmetries due to interference between the geomagnetic and charge-excess emission components. The spatial integral over the signal distribution gives a direct measurement of the energy transferred from the primary cosmic ray into radio emission in the AERA frequency range. We measure 15.8 MeV of radiation energy for a 1 EeV air shower arriving perpendicularly to the geomagnetic field. This radiation energy -- corrected for geometrical effects -- is used as a cosmic-ray energy estimator. Performing an absolute energy calibration against the surface-detector information, we observe that this radio-energy estimator scales quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy as expected for coherent emission. We find an energy resolution of the radio reconstruction of 22% for the data set and 17% for a high-quality subset containing only events with at least five radio stations with signal.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO