Advanced differentiation in trichoepithelioma and basal cell carcinoma investigated by immunohistochemistry against neurofilaments.

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and trichoepithelioma (TE) are sometimes diagnostic challenges for the pathologist in terms of their differential diagnosis. Although literature is quite rich in information about histologic and immunohistochemical clues to distinguish the differences between both, no single finding must be completely reliable. Moreover, some consider that TE is a better differentiated follicular tumour, while BCC represents a less developed stage in differentiation. For instance, the latter opinion is supported by the evidence of follicular papillae in TE.The formation of a perifollicular nerve plexus happens later than the formation of the follicular papillae in the development of a normal follicle. The study of the presence of the perifollicular nerve plexus in both tumours which could then provide us with evidence on the stage of differentiation of both tumours. 5 cases of TE and 10 cases of BCC were randomly selected from our archives and an immunohistochemical study for neurofilaments was performed in all the cases.We found a peritumoural nerve plexus in all the cases (TEs and BCCs). Since this plexus is a late sign of differentiation and since both types of neoplasias share it, we conclude that TE and BCC are both terminally differentiated neoplasms. The ability of BCC to infiltrate would have more to do with the acquisition by the tumour of such a property, rather than with a stage of indifferentiation

Rad-hard vertical JFET switch for the HV-MUX system of the ATLAS upgrade Inner Tracker

This work presents a new silicon vertical JFET (V-JFET) device, based on the trenched 3D-detector technology developed at IMB-CNM, to be used as switches for the High-Voltage powering scheme of the ATLAS upgrade Inner Tracker. The optimization of the device characteristics is performed by 2D and 3D TCAD simulations. Special attention has been paid to the on-resistance and the switch-off and breakdown voltages to meet the specific requirements of the system. In addition, a set of parameter values has been extracted from the simulated curves to implement a SPICE model of the proposed V-JFET transistor. As these devices are expected to operate under very high radiation conditions during the whole experiment life-time, a study of the radiation damage effects and the expected degradation on the device performance is also presented at the end of the paper.Comment: KEYWORDS: Radiation-hard electronics; Voltage distributions; Large detector systems for particle and astroparticle physics. 9 Pages, 7 Figure

Retinoic acid as a modulator of T cell immunity

Indexación: Scopus. DOAJ.Vitamin A, a generic designation for an array of organic molecules that includes retinal, retinol and retinoic acid, is an essential nutrient needed in a wide array of aspects including the proper functioning of the visual system, maintenance of cell function and differentiation, epithelial surface integrity, erythrocyte production, reproduction, and normal immune function. Vitamin A deficiency is one of the most common micronutrient deficiencies worldwide and is associated with defects in adaptive immunity. Reports from epidemiological studies, clinical trials and experimental studies have clearly demonstrated that vitamin A plays a central role in immunity and that its deficiency is the cause of broad immune alterations including decreased humoral and cellular responses, inadequate immune regulation, weak response to vaccines and poor lymphoid organ development. In this review, we will examine the role of vitamin A in immunity and focus on several aspects of T cell biology such as T helper cell differentiation, function and homing, as well as lymphoid organ development. Further, we will provide an overview of the effects of vitamin A deficiency in the adaptive immune responses and how retinoic acid, through its effect on T cells can fine-tune the balance between tolerance and immunity.http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/8/6/34