attentional pattern classification for automatic dementia detection

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Young-adult carriers of Neisseria meningitidis in Puglia (Italy): will the pattern of circulating meningococci change following the introduction of meningococcal serogroup C conjugate vaccines?

Studies of meningococcal carriage are essential in improving knowledge of the epidemiology of meningococcal disease. The aim of this study is to ascertain the carrier rate and the serogroups of Neisseria Meningitidis circulating in a sample of students from the University of Bari. The population consisted of university students from the University of Bari - School of Medicine, who were invited to take a nasopharyngeal swab. The swabs were plated on selective plate medium; cultural and MLST tests were performed. Of 583 university students 12 carriers were identified (2%). 9 isolates proved auto-agglutinable. The other strains belonged to serogroups B, W135 and Y. Auto-agglutinable strains belonged to different clonal complexes, of which ST-53 was the most common. Only one strain, that belonged to ST-23/cluster A3 clonal complex, could cause meningococcal disease. No type C serogroup strain was detected and this could be directly related to immunization policies that provided meningococcal serogroup C conjugate vaccines for newborns and adolescents. The changing pattern of circulating serogroups of Neisseria meningitidis in healthy carriers could support a new immunization strategy which could provide quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccines to pre-adolescents and adults

Malignant Nerve Sheath Tumor of the Hypoglossal Nerve in a Maltese Dog

A 4 yr old male Maltese dog presented with a 1 wk history of intermittent neck pain and progressive difficulty walking. Neurologic evaluation was consistent with a left-sided brainstem lesion. On oral examination, left lingual hemiatrophy was evident suggesting hypoglossal nerve involvement. A dumbbell-shaped extra-axial mass in the left side of the caudal fossa extending extracranially through the hypoglossal canal was detected by MRI. At postmortem histologic examination, the hypoglossal nerve was diffusely infiltrated by fusiform neoplastic cells arranged in Antoni A and Antoni B patterns. This is the first description of a malignant nerve sheath tumor selectively involving the hypoglossal nerve in a dog

CSF Lactate and Glucose Levels as Predictors of Symptomatic Delayed Cerebral Ischemia in Patients with Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Haemorrhage

Aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH) is a complex neurovascular syndrome with profound systemic effects, associated with high rates of disability and mortality. Delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI), which encompasses all neurobiological events occurring in the subacute-late stage post-aSAH, has a complex pathogenesis and can occur even in the absence of instrumental vasospasm. Our aim was to assess the correlation between CSF lactate and glucose levels measured on the 2nd or 3rd day post-aSAH with clinical deterioration caused by DCI and with 3-month functional outcome

Differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis in human leiomyoma and leiomyosarcoma

High levels of myosin is associated with leiomyosarcoma

Structural and photophysical characterization of a tin(IV) porphyrin–rhenium(I)(diimine) conjugate

We report here the synthesis, solution and solid state (single crystal X-ray structure) of a novel robust conjugate, obtained via axial coordination of two Re(diimine) fragments to one tin(IV) porphyrin center. The photophysical behavior of the conjugate was investigated by emission and absorption time resolved experiments. The conjugate exhibits distinctive supramolecular features, different from those of the molecular components. Upon excitation of the Re(I)(diimine) units, the typical rhenium MLCT emission is completely quenched and efficient sensitization of the Sn-porphyrin triplet state occurs. The synthetic method proposed here may be easily extended to the facile and efficient obtainment of a large number of tin(IV) porphyrin–Re(diimine) conjugates, with tuned photophysical features

DIFFERENTIATION, PROLIFERATION AND APOPTOSIS LEVELS IN HUMAN LEIOMYOMA AND LEIOMYOSARCOMA

A comparative analysis of the differentiation pattern, the proliferative behaviour, and the level of apoptosis between human benign and malignant neoplasms of smooth-muscle (SM) tissue is lacking. The clinical, histopathological, immunochemical, and immunocytochemical features of leiomyomas (LM) and leiomyosarcomas (LMS) were investigated by a panel of monoclonal antibodies specific for some differentiation markers of SM tissue (SM myosin and alpha-actin, desmin, and SM22) and for markers of non-muscle tissue (vimentin and non-muscle myosin). Proliferating normal and neoplastic cells were identified by proliferating-cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)/Ki67 immunostainings and the apoptotic cells were revealed by means of the terminal-deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labelling technique. Gel electrophoresis and Western blotting, performed with anti-(SM1/SM2 myosin isoform) antibody, indicated quantitative differences between LMS and LM, which mirrored higher positive to negative nuclear ratios for PCNA, Ki67 and apoptosis in malignant as opposed to benign neoplasms. With LM, however, a similar SM1 to SM2 ratio could be associated with different proliferation levels. Uterine, gastric and intestinal LMS displayed specific patterns of SM1/SM2 and/or non-muscle myosin expression that were not paralleled by different levels of proliferation/apoptosis. While the level of PCNA/Ki67 correlated with the level of apoptosis in normal SM tissues and LM, that of LMS did not. In vivo at the cellular level, LM and uterine LMS displayed a near-uniform SM tissue differentiation, whereas the other LMS displayed a lesser or a heterogeneous immunoreactivity. In vitro, cultured LMS cells showed a limited and peculiar expression of SM myosin. In conclusion, there is no reciprocal relationship between degree of differentiation and the level of proliferation, as exemplified by the finding that the less differentiated intestinal LMS displays the lowest proliferative behaviour and that the relatively more differentiated gastric LMS/metastasis is more proliferative