Melanocytic tumour in a black sheep never exposed to ultraviolet radiation

A slow growing skin tumour was identified on the head of a 6-year-old male Serra da Estrela black sheep. The animal had no previous history of exposure to ultraviolet radiation or illness. The tumour consisted of an irregular mass subdivided into two polypoid regions and there were small alternating pigmented and non-pigmented areas in the surrounding epidermis. Microscopical and immunohistochemical features were consistent with a melanocytic tumour of the melanocytoma type, without signs of vascular or perineural invasion. The tumour cells contained pigment stained by the Masson Fontana reaction, expressed S100 protein and vimentin and displayed a low proliferative rate (Ki67 labelling <1%). No metastases were found at the time of gross necropsy examination. Analyses of the homologous regions of the hot spot mutational exons of BRAF and NRAS (the genes that are most often mutated in human melanocytic tumours) did not reveal alterations, but there were silent polymorphic variations in these genes. No such variation was observed in the GNAQ gene sequence that is mutated in human melanocytomas.

A study of East Timor variability using the SNPforID 52-plex SNP panel

A set of 52 autosomal single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci was analyzed in 46 unrelated individuals from the East Timor population using the forensic assay previously described by Sanchez et al. (2006) [J.J. Sanchez, C. Phillips, C. Børsting, K. Balogh, M. Bogus, M. Fondevila, C.D. Harrison, E. Musgrave-Brown, A. Salas, D. Syndercombe Court, PM. Schneider, A. Carracedo, N. Morling, A multiplex assay with 52 single nucleotide polymorphisms for human identification, Electrophoresis 27 (2006) 1713-1724]. Allele frequencies are presented for the 52 SNPs with all loci in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium for the study population. Comparison with African, European, East Asian and Oceanian populations of the CEPH human genome diversity panel (CEPH-HGDP) revealed significant differences in allele frequency distributions between East Timor and each of the above population groups. Statistical parameters measuring forensic informativeness were also calculated and the values obtained reached comparable levels to those previously described for the other global population groups. This is the first study of variability in these SNPs in an Oceanian population outside of the CEPH-HGDP.

Influence of processing in the prevalence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a Portuguese traditional meat product

The concentration of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was determined in traditional dry/fermented sausage along distinct stages of processing under two different technological procedures (traditional and modified processes). The influence of product's position in the smoking room, on the variation of contaminants and in their migration dynamics from the outer into the inner part, was also followed up. Raw material mixtures presented expressive total PAH values, 106.17 μg kg(-1) in wet samples and 244.34 μg kg(-1) in dry mater (DM), expressing the frequent fire woods occurred in the regions pigs were extensively reared. Traditional processing produced a higher (p<0.01) total PAH levels comparatively to modified/industrial procedures, with mean values reaching 3237.10 and 1702.85 μg kg(-1) DM, respectively. Both, raw materials and final products, showed PAH profiles with light compounds representing about 99.0% of the total PAHs, mostly accounted by those having two rings (naphthalene-27.5%) or three rings (acenaphtene-16.9%; fluorene-27.1%; phenanthrene-19.5% and anthracene-3.9%). The benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) accumulated in traditional and modified processed products never surpassed the limit of 5 μg kg(-1) established by the EU legislation. PAHs in products hanged in bars closer to heating/smoking source speed up their transfer from the surface/outer portion to the inner part of the product.

Phase II study of preoperative bevacizumab, capecitabine, and radiotherapy for resectable locally advanced rectal cancer

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Background: Bevacizumab into chemoradiotherapy appears safe and active in locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC).This study evaluates whether the addition of bevacizumab to capecitabine-based chemoradiotherapy in the preoperative treatment of LARC improves pathological complete response rate (pCR).

Methods: Open-label, unicentric, phase II study in patients with resectable LARC (stage II or III), with or without nodal involvement and no evidence of distant metastases. Treatment schedule of 4-cycles: bevacizumab administered iv on day 1 (10 mg/kg in the first cycle and 5 mg/kg in the following 3 cycles) and capecitabine (900mg/m2/bid) in the 2nd cycle (5 d/wk) concomitantly with radiotherapy 45Gy (25 fractions of 1.8Gy/day) over 5 weeks. Surgical resection was scheduled 6-8 weeks after therapy completion. Preliminary results from ITT analysis are presented.

Results: Of the 43 patients included, 41 comprised ITT population. Baseline characteristics: median age 63 (55-67) years; male 76%; ECOG 0/1 49%/51%; stage T3/N1 80.5%/58.5%; nodal metastases 85%. 39 patients underwent surgery, 9 abdominoperineal and 30 anterior resection. No evidence of metastasis after surgery in 97%. Total mesorectal excision was performed in 69% of patients and 85% underwent R0 resection. Sphincter-preservation was achieved in 79.5%. Downstaging occurred in 82%. Among 39 patients evaluable for pathological response, 7.7% experienced pCR, 69.2% partial response and 20.5% stable disease. Grade 3/4 toxicities: 9.8% lymphopenia (all related to capecitabine and 4.9% to bevacizumab), 2.4% neutropenia (capecitabine-related), 2.4% radiodermatitis (related to RT and capecitabine) and 2.4% vasospastic angina (bevacizumab and capecitabine-related). 13 patients had postoperative complications not treatment-related. The most common were wound infection (6), intra-abdominal collection (3), wound dehiscence (2) and paralytic ileus (2).

Conclusions: Preoperative regimen with bevacizumab, capecitabine and RT is active for LARC with promising results of R0 resection, sphincter- preservation and tumour downstaging as well as manageable toxicity. Further studies are ongoing to confirm these data.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Questioning gender norms with men to improve health outcomes: evidence of impact

This article describes a review of 58 evaluation studies of programmes with men and boys in sexual and reproductive health (including HIV prevention, treatment, care and support); father involvement; gender-based violence; maternal, newborn and child health; and gender socialisation more broadly. While few of the programmes go beyond the pilot stage, or a relatively short-term timeframe, they offer compelling evidence that well-designed programmes with men and boys can lead to positive changes in their behaviours and attitudes related to sexual and reproductive health; maternal, newborn and child health; their interaction with their children; their use of violence against women; their questioning of violence with other men; and their health-seeking behaviour. The evidence indicates that programmes that incorporate a gender-transformative approach and promote gender-equitable relationships between men and women are more effective in producing behaviour change than narrowly focused interventions, as are programmes which reach beyond the individual level to the social context.

Asthma: specific clinical and functional characteristics in childhood. Results of a national program in Romanian asthmatic children

Childhood asthma presents with specific clinical and functional characteristics. The aim of our study was the description of a large cohort of asthmatic children. It was also to assess their outcome with maintenance therapy according to guidelines, and to analyze the relationship with baseline's characteristics. We focused particularly on clinical and functional pediatric specificities.

METHODS

Prospective study driven on asthmatic children, without treatment, recruited during a hospitalization for exacerbation or a visit for uncontrolled asthma, treated according to GINA guidelines and followed for one year.

RESULTS

412 children (mean age: 11.6 years +/- 2.7), were included. The level of severity was: intermittent asthma for 30% and persistent asthma for 70% (40.5% mild, 28% moderate, 1.5% severe). Mean prebeta2-FEV1 was 88.5% +/- 10.5 (PV) with mean beta2-reversibility of 10.8% +/- 7.8 (> 12% for 42% patients). 374 patients ended the study. After one year, we observed an improvement of clinical symptoms (p < 0.0001), rate of hospitalization (p < 0.0001), and lung function (mean prebeta2-FEV1: 91.2% +/- 7.9, p < 0.001). Asthma control was obtained for only 24.6%. Multivariate analysis show that decrease of symptoms was significantly related to younger age, higher level of initial severity and number of days of hospitalization.

CONCLUSION

This study confirms pediatric specificities of asthma, as a normal FEV1 level and a limited beta2-reversibility of FEV1, and the large part of uncontrolled asthma after one year of treatment. It emphasizes the risk of undertreatment in a strategy based on severity. It argues for the regular assessment of control as now recommended, taking into account the pediatric asthma specificities.

Flow cytometric assessment of Cd genotoxicity in three plants with different metal accumulation and detoxification capacities

Cadmium (Cd) is a widespread environmental contaminant, strongly mutagenic and known to cause DNA damage in plants. In this work, flow cytometry (FCM) was applied to determine if in vivo exposure to Cd would induce genotoxic effects at the genome level. The hyper-accumulator Thlaspi caerulescens (J. & C. Presl), the related non-accumulator Thlaspi arvense L. and the accumulator crop species Lactuca sativa L. were germinated in distilled water and grown in modified Hoagland's medium with increasing concentrations of Cd(NO3)2 (0, 1, 10 and 100 microM). After 28 days of exposure, shoot and root growth was recorded and the tissues were harvested for Cd and FCM analysis. In general, roots from treated plants contained higher content of Cd than leaves and growth inhibition was observed in the treated plants. Nuclear DNA content was estimated and the G0/G1 full peak coefficient of variation (FPCV), as an indicator of clastogenic damage, was recorded. In T. arvense and T. caerulescens no significant differences were detected between control and exposed plants. Leaves of L. sativa exposed to 10 microM Cd presented a statistically significant increase in FPCV values in comparison with the control group. Furthermore, roots exposed to 100 microM Cd presented a reduction in nuclear DNA content and an increase in FPCV when compared to the control. FCM data indicates that no major DNA damage was induced on both Cd-exposed Thlaspi species and L. sativa leaves. On the contrary, results obtained with L. sativa roots suggests clastogenic damage in these organs exposed to 100 microM of Cd.