559 research outputs found

    Prognostic significance of tyrosinase expression in sentinel lymph node biopsy for ultra-thin, thin, and thick melanomas

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    Abstract. – BACKGROUND: Investigate if the tyrosinase mRNA expression may be predictive of the outcome on ultra-thin, thin, and thick melanoma patients. AIM: In our study, we sought to correlate tyrosinase mRNA expression to the outcome in a group of 71 patients with thick, thin and ultra-thin melanomas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 71 patients with melanomas underwent a SLNB (sentinel lymph node biopsy) at the “Sapienza” University of Rome. Among these, 38 patients had thin melanomas, while the other 33 patients had thick melanomas. In every patient’s sample histology, immunohistochemistry and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was completed. We then correlated tyrosinase mRNA expression to the statistical analysis of the outcome of patients. RESULTS: Positivity of histology was found in one patient (1.4%), immunohistochemistry in five patients (7%), and tyrosinase in 52/71 (73.2%). Thickness and tyrosinase positivity were predictive for disease progression (p < 0.05). The median follow-up was 58.24 months. There were recurrences and/or deaths in both groups of patients. CONCLUSIONS: Nodal metastasis in melanoma is uncommon, especially in patients with thin melanomas. In this study, histology and immunohistochemistry were found to be non predictive for the risk of nodal metastases, while instead, tyrosinase m-RNA expression appeared to play a role in highlighting those patients with a risk of disease progression. Moreover, no differences among the thin melanoma groups of patients (0.30-0.75 mm and 0.76-1.00 mm) were observed

    Isospin mixing in Zr 80: from finite to zero temperature

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    S. Ceruti et al.; 5 págs.; 4 figs.; PACS numbers: 24.30.Cz, 24.60.Dr, 24.80.+y, 25.70.GhThe isospin mixing was deduced in the compound nucleus Zr80 at an excitation energy of E∗=54 MeV from the γ decay of the giant dipole resonance. The reaction Ca40+Ca40 at Ebeam=136 MeV was used to form the compound nucleus in the isospin I=0 channel, while the reaction Cl37+Ca44 at Ebeam=95 MeV was used as the reference reaction. The γ rays were detected with the AGATA demonstrator array coupled with LaBr3:Ce detectors. The temperature dependence of the isospin mixing was obtained and the zero-temperature value deduced. The isospin-symmetry-breaking correction δC used for the Fermi superallowed transitions was extracted and found to be consistent with β-decay data.This work was supported by PRIN No. 2001024324_01302, the Polish National Center for Science Grants No. 2013/08/ M/ST2/00591 and No. 2011/03/B/ST2/01894, and the Spanish Grant No. FPA2011-29854-C04-01. German Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) under Contract No. 05P12PKFNE TP4.Peer Reviewe

    Contrasting properties of particle-particle and hole-hole excitations in 206Tl and 210Bi nuclei

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    A complete-spectroscopy investigation of low-lying, low-spin states in the one-proton-hole and one-neutron-hole nucleus 206Tl has been performed by using thermal neutron capture and \u3b3-coincidence technique with the FIPPS Ge array at ILL Grenoble. The new experimental results, together with data for the one-proton-particle and one-neutron-particle nucleus 210Bi (taken from a previous study done at ILL in the EXILL campaign), allowed for an extensive comparison with predictions of shell-model calculations performed with realistic interactions. No phenomenological adjustments were introduced in the calculations. In 210Bi, state energies, transition multipolarities and decay branchings agree well with theory for the three well separated multiplets of states which dominate the low-lying excitations. On the contrary, in 206Tl significant discrepancies are observed: in the same energy region, six multiplets were identified, with a significant mixing among them being predicted, as a consequence of the smaller energy separation between the active orbitals. The discrepancies in 206Tl are attributed to the larger uncertainties in the determination of the off-diagonal matrix elements of the realistic shell-model interaction with respect to the calculated diagonal matrix elements, the only ones playing a major role in the case of 210Bi. The work points to the need of more advanced approaches in the construction of the realistic interactions

    Reduction in the uncertainty of the neutron-capture cross section of 210Bi: Impact of a precise multipolarity measurement of the 2− → 1− main ground-state transition

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    International audience; The mixing ratio of the main 320-keV, M1 + E2 ground-state γ transition in 210Bi has been more precisely quantified, allowing a significant reduction in the uncertainty of measurements of the neutron-capture cross section to the ground state of 210Bi from 25% to 0.9%. Accurate values for neutron-capture cross sections to both the ground and long-lived 9− isomeric state at 271 keV in 210Bi are of particular importance as Pb-Bi finds increased usage in Accelerator Driven Systems

    Volatile lipophilic substances management in case of fatal sniffing.

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    Death due to inhalation of aliphatic hydrocarbons such as butane and propane is a particularly serious problem worldwide, resulting in several fatal cases of sniffing these volatile substances in order to "get high". Despite the number of cases published, there is not a unique approach to case management of fatal sniffing. In this paper we illustrate the volatile lipophilic substances management in a case of a prisoner died after sniffing a butane-propane gas mixture from prefilled camping stove gas canisters, discussing the comprehensive approach of the crime scene, the autopsy, histology and toxicology. A large set of accurate values of both butane and propane was obtained by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyzing the following post-mortem biological samples: peripheral blood, heart blood, vitreous humor, liver, lung, heart, brain/cerebral cortex, fat tissue, kidney, and allowed an in depth discussion about the cause of death. A key role is played by following the proper sampling approach during autopsy

    (n,&#947;) reactions on rare Ca isotopes: Valence-hole - Coreexcitation couplings in47Ca

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    Recent results on the structure of 47Ca will be presented. The nucleus of interest was populated via the cold-neutron capture 46Ca(n,\u3b3) reaction, on a rare 46Ca target, during the EXILL experimental campaign at the nuclear reactor of Institut Laue- Langevin in Grenoble. High-resolution \u3b3-ray spectroscopy, performed with a composite array of HPGe detectors, enabled the identification of new transitions deexciting states between the neutron-capture level and the ground state. Experimental data will be compared with a novel microscopic theoretical model, currently under development, specifically designed to describe the low-lying structure of odd-mass nuclei with one valence particle/hole outside a spherical doubly-magic core, using the Skyrme effective interaction self-consistently
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