Squamous cell carcinoma of the middle ear: Case report and literature review

A 50 year-old man with squamous cell carcinoma of the right middle ear is presented. Treatment was by surgery and radiotherapy. The literature is reviewed. Key Words: Middle ear, carcinoma, squamous cell Annals of African Medicine Vol.3(2) 2004: 90-9

Densidad y dimensiones de la fibra de Gmelina arborea en árboles de rápido crecimiento en Costa Rica: relación con el rango de de crecimiento

The objective of this research was to determine growth rate effects measured in tree diameter on wood density parameters (mean, minimum, maximum and intra-ring variation) and in fiber dimensions (wall thickness, fiber width, lumen diameter and fiber length) of trees from fast growth plantations. Thirty mature trees were sampled from thirty different fast-growth plantations with a wide growth rate in Costa Rica. A disc was cut from each tree at DBH. The wood density parameters and fiber dimensions were determined in each growth ring. Some wood density parameters and fiber dimensions were related with growth rate. The minimum and mean density, cell wall thickness, fiber width and lumen diameter decreased with increase in growth rate. Intra-ring wood density variation increased with growth rate but the weak correlation was established. Maximum wood density was not found correlation with growth rate. A pronounced decrease was presented in minimum and mean density from 0 to 20 mm/year and after to 45 mm/year. A pronounced decrease and increase with increase in growth rate were presented in the fiber length and intra-ring wood density, respectively. Lumen diameter and fiber width presented few variations, until 40 mm/year; however, they showed decrease after this growth rate value.La Gmelina arborea es utilizada en plantaciones debido a que las practicas silviculturales producen altas tasas de crecimiento del árbol. El presente trabajo tiene el objetivo de establecer los efectos de la tasa de crecimiento en los parámetros de densidad de la madera (media, máxima, mínima y la variación intra-anillo) y las dimensiones de la fibra (largo, ancho, diámetro del lumen y espesor de pared) en árboles de plantaciones de rápido crecimiento. Fueron seleccionadas treinta árboles de treinta 30 plantaciones diferentes próximas al turno de rotación con una amplia tasa de crecimiento. Un disco a la altura del pecho fue cortado en cada uno de los árboles. Los parámetros de densidad y dimensiones de las fibras fueron determinadas en cada anillo de crecimiento. Algunos de los parámetros de la densidad y las dimensiones de la fibra fueron correlacionados con la tasa de crecimiento. La densidad mínima y el promedio, espesor de pared celular y diámetro del lumen diminuyen con el incremento de la tasa de crecimiento. La variación intra-anillo incremento, pero una débil correlación fue encontrada. La densidad máxima no presentó correlación. Una gran disminución de la densidad mínima y la densidad media fue encontrada cuando la tasa de crecimiento se encuentra entre 0 y 20 mm/año o superior a 45 mm/año. Un pronunciado decrecimiento e incremento con el incremento de la tasa de crecimiento fue encontrado en la longitud de la fibra y la variación intra-anillo, respectivamente. El diámetro del lumen y ancho de la fibra presentaron pocas variaciones cuando la tasa de crecimiento es menor a 40 mm/año, sin embargo, estos mostraron un decrecimiento luego del mencionado valor

Comparative Field Evaluation of Combinations of Long-Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets and Indoor Residual Spraying, Relative to Either Method Alone, for Malaria Prevention in an Area where the main Vector is Anopheles Arabiensis.

Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) are commonly used together in the same households to improve malaria control despite inconsistent evidence on whether such combinations actually offer better protection than nets alone or IRS alone. Comparative tests were conducted using experimental huts fitted with LLINs, untreated nets, IRS plus untreated nets, or combinations of LLINs and IRS, in an area where Anopheles arabiensis is the predominant malaria vector species. Three LLIN types, Olyset®, PermaNet 2.0® and Icon Life® nets and three IRS treatments, pirimiphos-methyl, DDT, and lambda cyhalothrin, were used singly or in combinations. We compared, number of mosquitoes entering huts, proportion and number killed, proportions prevented from blood-feeding, time when mosquitoes exited the huts, and proportions caught exiting. The tests were done for four months in dry season and another six months in wet season, each time using new intact nets. All the net types, used with or without IRS, prevented >99% of indoor mosquito bites. Adding PermaNet 2.0® and Icon Life®, but not Olyset® nets into huts with any IRS increased mortality of malaria vectors relative to IRS alone. However, of all IRS treatments, only pirimiphos-methyl significantly increased vector mortality relative to LLINs alone, though this increase was modest. Overall, median mortality of An. arabiensis caught in huts with any of the treatments did not exceed 29%. No treatment reduced entry of the vectors into huts, except for marginal reductions due to PermaNet 2.0® nets and DDT. More than 95% of all mosquitoes were caught in exit traps rather than inside huts. Where the main malaria vector is An. arabiensis, adding IRS into houses with intact pyrethroid LLINs does not enhance house-hold level protection except where the IRS employs non-pyrethroid insecticides such as pirimiphos-methyl, which can confer modest enhancements. In contrast, adding intact bednets onto IRS enhances protection by preventing mosquito blood-feeding (even if the nets are non-insecticidal) and by slightly increasing mosquito mortality (in case of LLINs). The primary mode of action of intact LLINs against An. arabiensis is clearly bite prevention rather than insecticidal activity. Therefore, where resources are limited, priority should be to ensure that everyone at risk consistently uses LLINs and that the nets are regularly replaced before being excessively torn. Measures that maximize bite prevention (e.g. proper net sizes to effectively cover sleeping spaces, stronger net fibres that resist tears and burns and net use practices that preserve net longevity), should be emphasized

Quantification of asbestos and other mineral phase burden in necroscopic human lung tissues with a new method

Background: A large amount of studies on asbestos exposure reconstruction have been so far conducted digesting the lung tissues with appropriate reagents, separating the powder from the digestion liquid by filtration and analysing the residue by optical or electron microscopy. This analytical approach has good sensitivity but is not yet well standardized, the investigated portion is not representative of the bulk sample, the results are often characterized by lack of reproducibility and repeatability. Moreover, the numeric quantification of asbestos requires a time-consuming particle by particle analysis. Aim: to develop a new method for the complete quantitative characterization of asbestos and other mineral phases in human lung tissue. Methods: The new method is based on sodium hypochlorite digestion, separation and XRPD analysis. The XRPD approach needs moderate lung tissue amounts (at least 20 g of wet tissue), but allows to conduct a complete quantitative characterization of each crystalline phase in the sample giving bulk-representative results with good reproducibility, accuracy and precision. The detection limit of conventional XRPD was considerably improved by a novel instrumental setting and weight concentrations can be obtained, giving additional information to numeric ones, preferable in clinical and pathogenetic studies but probably not for the exposure reconstruction. Results: Among the analysed autoptic lung tissues, ten samples belonged to subjects occupationally exposed to asbestos and six were collected from urban area controls. Asbestos phases were detected in none of controls and in 5 of 10 occupationally exposed subjects (those with highest exposure history) indicating that this method is suitable for the reconstruction of medium and high asbestos exposures. It has been furthermore confirmed the mineral association found in previous studies: mainly composed by quartz, talc, clay minerals, micas, Fe-Al-Ti oxides and bio-minerals such Ca-phosphates, carbonates and oxalates

Diel transcriptional response of a California Current plankton microbiome to light, low iron, and enduring viral infection.

Phytoplankton and associated microbial communities provide organic carbon to oceanic food webs and drive ecosystem dynamics. However, capturing those dynamics is challenging. Here, an in situ, semi-Lagrangian, robotic sampler profiled pelagic microbes at 4 h intervals over ~2.6 days in North Pacific high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll waters. We report on the community structure and transcriptional dynamics of microbes in an operationally large size class (>5 μm) predominantly populated by dinoflagellates, ciliates, haptophytes, pelagophytes, diatoms, cyanobacteria (chiefly Synechococcus), prasinophytes (chiefly Ostreococcus), fungi, archaea, and proteobacteria. Apart from fungi and archaea, all groups exhibited 24-h periodicity in some transcripts, but larger portions of the transcriptome oscillated in phototrophs. Periodic photosynthesis-related transcripts exhibited a temporal cascade across the morning hours, conserved across diverse phototrophic lineages. Pronounced silica:nitrate drawdown, a high flavodoxin to ferredoxin transcript ratio, and elevated expression of other Fe-stress markers indicated Fe-limitation. Fe-stress markers peaked during a photoperiodically adaptive time window that could modulate phytoplankton response to seasonal Fe-limitation. Remarkably, we observed viruses that infect the majority of abundant taxa, often with total transcriptional activity synchronized with putative hosts. Taken together, these data reveal a microbial plankton community that is shaped by recycled production and tightly controlled by Fe-limitation and viral activity

A Comparative Analysis of Ganglion Cell Complex Parameters in Nigerian Negroes with Glaucoma and Macular Disease

Aim: To evaluate the differences between ganglion cell complex (GCC) of primary open angle glaucoma and ocular disorders affecting the macula.Methods and Materials: Forty-seven patients diagnosed with primary open angle glaucoma and 27 patients with macular diseases of different aetiology were enrolled in this pilot study. All patients underwent direct GCC analysis with the optical coherence tomographic scan, using the Optovue Fourier Domain RTVue-version. A comparison of the average GCC thickness, focal loss volume (FLV) and the global loss volume (GLV) of thetwo groups was made.Results: A total of 74 pairs of eyes were included in the study. This comprised 48 males and 26 females with a mean age of 53.8 ± 11.3 among glaucoma patients and 59.8 ± 9.8 among patients with macular disease. Eyes with macular disease (33.3%) and eyes with glaucoma(42.6%) had abnormal average GCC parameters. However, the mean average GCC value was significantly higher in eyes with macular disease (87.50 ± 20.73) when compared with eyes with glaucoma (76.55± 12.51) (p=0.01). A significantly higher percentage of eyes with macular disease (43.3%) had GLV values within normal range when compared with eyes with glaucoma (21.3%) (p=0.03). Abnormal FLV values were seen in both eyes with macular disease (83.3%) and eyes with glaucoma (80.9%) but the differences were not of statistical significance (p= 0.24).Conclusion: This pilot study demonstrated abnormal OCT GCC values in eyes with glaucoma as well as in eyes with macular disease. However, eyes with macular disease had significantly higher mean average GCC parameters but GLV parameters that were within normal values.Key words: glaucoma, macular disease, ganglion cell comple

Distinctive dendritic cell subsets expressing factor XIIIa, CD1a, CD1b and CD1c in mycosis fungoides and psoriasis

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73825/1/j.1600-0560.1995.tb00742.x.pd

Evaluation of alternative mosquito sampling methods for malaria vectors in Lowland South - East Zambia.

Sampling malaria vectors and measuring their biting density is of paramount importance for entomological surveys of malaria transmission. Human landing catch (HLC) has been traditionally regarded as a gold standard method for surveying human exposure to mosquito bites. However, due to the risk of human participant exposure to mosquito-borne parasites and viruses, a variety of alternative, exposure-free trapping methods were compared in lowland, south-east Zambia. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention miniature light trap (CDC-LT), Ifakara Tent Trap model C (ITT-C), resting boxes (RB) and window exit traps (WET) were all compared with HLC using a 3 × 3 Latin Squares design replicated in 4 blocks of 3 houses with long lasting insecticidal nets, half of which were also sprayed with a residual deltamethrin formulation, which was repeated for 10 rounds of 3 nights of rotation each during both the dry and wet seasons. The mean catches of HLC indoor, HLC outdoor, CDC-LT, ITT-C, WET, RB indoor and RB outdoor, were 1.687, 1.004, 3.267, 0.088, 0.004, 0.000 and 0.008 for Anopheles quadriannulatus Theobald respectively, and 7.287, 6.784, 10.958, 5.875, 0.296, 0.158 and 0.458, for An. funestus Giles, respectively. Indoor CDC-LT was more efficient in sampling An. quadriannulatus and An. funestus than HLC indoor (Relative rate [95% Confidence Interval] = 1.873 [1.653, 2.122] and 1.532 [1.441, 1.628], respectively, P < 0.001 for both). ITT-C was the only other alternative which had comparable sensitivity (RR = 0.821 [0.765, 0.881], P < 0.001), relative to HLC indoor other than CDC-LT for sampling An. funestus. While the two most sensitive exposure-free techniques primarily capture host-seeking mosquitoes, both have substantial disadvantages for routine community-based surveillance applications: the CDC-LT requires regular recharging of batteries while the bulkiness of ITT-C makes it difficult to move between sampling locations. RB placed indoors or outdoors and WET had consistently poor sensitivity so it may be useful to evaluate additional alternative methods, such as pyrethrum spray catches and back packer aspirators, for catching resting mosquitoes

Pre-existing invasive fungal infection is not a contraindication for allogeneic HSCT for patients with hematologic malignancies: a CIBMTR study.

Patients with prior invasive fungal infection (IFI) increasingly proceed to allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HSCT). However, little is known about the impact of prior IFI on survival. Patients with pre-transplant IFI (cases; n=825) were compared with controls (n=10247). A subset analysis assessed outcomes in leukemia patients pre- and post 2001. Cases were older with lower performance status (KPS), more advanced disease, higher likelihood of AML and having received cord blood, reduced intensity conditioning, mold-active fungal prophylaxis and more recently transplanted. Aspergillus spp. and Candida spp. were the most commonly identified pathogens. 68% of patients had primarily pulmonary involvement. Univariate and multivariable analysis demonstrated inferior PFS and overall survival (OS) for cases. At 2 years, cases had higher mortality and shorter PFS with significant increases in non-relapse mortality (NRM) but no difference in relapse. One year probability of post-HSCT IFI was 24% (cases) and 17% (control, P&lt;0.001). The predominant cause of death was underlying malignancy; infectious death was higher in cases (13% vs 9%). In the subset analysis, patients transplanted before 2001 had increased NRM with inferior OS and PFS compared with later cases. Pre-transplant IFI is associated with lower PFS and OS after allogeneic HSCT but significant survivorship was observed. Consequently, pre-transplant IFI should not be a contraindication to allogeneic HSCT in otherwise suitable candidates. Documented pre-transplant IFI is associated with lower PFS and OS after allogeneic HSCT. However, mortality post transplant is more influenced by advanced disease status than previous IFI. Pre-transplant IFI does not appear to be a contraindication to allogeneic HSCT