Inflammatory pseudo-tumor of the liver: a rare pathological entity

Inflammatory pseudo-tumor (IPT) of the liver is a rare benign neoplasm and is often mistaken as a malignant entity. Few cases have been reported in the literature and the precise etiology of inflammatory pseudotumor remains unknown. Patients usually present with fever, abdominal pain and jaundice. The proliferation of spindled myofibroblast cells mixed with variable amounts of reactive inflammatory cells is characteristics of IPT. We reviewed the literature regarding possible etiology for IPT with a possible suggested etiology

Cavity preparation machine for the standardization of in vitro preparations

Several in vitro studies employ the confection of cavity preparations that are difficult to standardize by means of manual high speed handpieces. This study presents the development of a cavity preparation machine designed to standardize in vitro cavity preparations. A metal base of 25 mm x 25 mm x 4 mm (length x width x height) was coupled to a small mobile table which was designed to be able to move by means of two precision micrometers (0.01-mm accuracy) in the horizontal directions (right-left, and back-front). A high speed handpiece was coupled to a metallic connecting rod which had an accurate dial indicator enabling control of the vertical movement. The high speed handpiece is also able to move 180° around its longitudinal axis and 360° around its transversal axis. The suggested cavity preparation machine precisely helps in the standardization of cavity preparations for in vitro studies

Targeted sequencing by proximity ligation for comprehensive variant detection and local haplotyping

Despite developments in targeted gene sequencing and whole-genome analysis techniques, the robust detection of all genetic variation, including structural variants, in and around genes of interest and in an allele-specific manner remains a challenge. Here we present targeted locus amplification (TLA), a strategy to selectively amplify and sequence entire genes on the basis of the crosslinking of physically proximal sequences. We show that, unlike other targeted re-sequencing methods, TLA works without detailed prior locus information, as one or a few primer pairs are sufficient for sequencing tens to hundreds of kilobases of surrounding DNA. This enables robust detection of single nucleotide variants, structural variants and gene fusions in clinically relevant genes, including BRCA1 and BRCA2, and enables haplotyping. We show that TLA can also be used to uncover insertion sites and sequences of integrated transgenes and viruses. TLA therefore promises to be a useful method in genetic research and diagnostics when comprehensive or allele-specific genetic information is needed