The role of local non-tetragonal polar displacements in the temperature- and pressure-induced phase transitions in PbTiO3-BiMeO3 ferroelectrics.

In situ high-pressure/high-temperature Raman-scattering analyses on PbTiO 3 , 0.92PbTiO 3 - 0.08Bi(Zn 0.5 Ti 0.5 )O 3 and 0.83PbTiO 3 - 0.17Bi(Mg 0.5 Ti 0.5 )O 3 single crystals reveal an intensity transfer between the fine-structure components of the A 1 (TO) soft mode. The enhancement of the lowest-energy subpeak, which stems from intrinsic local non-tetragonal polar distortions, along with the suppression of the tetragonal A 1 (1TO) fundamental mode with increasing pressure and temperature indicates the key role of the local polarization fluctuations in transformation processes and emphasizes the significance of the order-disorder phenomena in both the pressure- and temperature-induced phase transitions of pure PbTiO 3 and its solid solutions with complex perovskites. Moreover, the temperature and pressure evolution of the fraction of the local non-tetragonal polar distortions is highly sensitive to the type of B-site substituent.

Influence of pemphigoid gestationis on pregnancy outcome: A case report and review of the literature.

Pemphigoid gestationis is considered to be a rare pregnancy exclusive bullous disease, which modifies the course of the pregnancy, with difficulties in the management of the pruritus and skin lesions as well as a possible change in the neonatal outcome. Differential diagnosis of skin lesions and pruritus in pregnancy is challenging, and complementary investigations such as skin biopsy or laboratory tests are indispensable. The correct diagnosis and proper treatment could change the natural course of a pregnancy at risk and could improve maternal and fetal morbidity. We present the case of a patient with pemfigoid gestationis with the aim to highlight: i) the management of this pregnancy-associated skin disorder which transfers this pregnancy into a category of high obstetrical risk pregnancy; ii) the particularities of the course of the pregnancy; and iii) the importance in the differential diagnosis of pregnancy dermatoses. The particularity of this case of pemphigoid gestationis was the acute fetal distress in the absence of intrauterine growth restriction that is frequently found in this pathology, and the management of a rare pregnancy skin condition that currently has no standard treatment.

Granulomatous slack skin - seven years follow-up of a case with features of "parapsoriasis en plaques", muscle involvement, granulomatous vasculitis, and necrobiotic changes.

Granulomatous slack skin (GSS) represents an extremely rare variant of mycosis fungoides with only 70 cases reported in the literature to date. It is characterized clinically by the occurrence of bulky, pendulous skinfolds, usually located in flexural areas and histologically by an infiltrate composed of small neoplastic T-lymphocytes joined by granulomatous inflammation with scattered multinucleated giant cells containing nuclei arranged in a wreath-like fashion. Since its first description, very rare cases of GSS with muscle involvement, large vessels involvement, or necrobiotic changes have been reported. We present an extraordinary case of GSS with all these unusual features developing in the lesions of the same patient. The long follow-up of seven years allowed us to document the evolution of each lesion. Some lesions appeared and evolved in a manner very reminiscent of those of "parapsoriasis en plaques", others were classical GSS lesions, and still others developed large ulcerated lesions. These ulcerated lesions consistently failed to respond to conventional wound therapy, skin directed therapy [retinoids + psoralen combined with ultraviolet A (PUVA)-therapy], and interferon-alpha therapy. Remarkably, the ulcers completely healed when systemic corticosteroids were added. We hence postulate that the ulcers appeared because of large vessel vasculitis rather than tumoral direct destruction.

Desmoplastic melanoma--challenges in the diagnosis and management of a rare cutaneous tumor.

Desmoplastic melanoma (DM) represents a distinctive rare variant of spindle cell melanoma with a predilection for chronically sun-exposed skin of the elderly. This neoplasm is notoriously difficult to diagnose, both clinically and histopathologically. Therefore, DM is deeply infiltrative at the time of presentation. Histologically, the tumor presents as a proliferation consisting of non-pigmented spindle cells arranged in poorly formed fascicles. The neoplastic cells have a deceptively bland appearance with slightly pleomorphic and hyperchromatic nuclei, inconspicuous nucleoli and low mitotic activity. DM can mimic a whole range of benign and malignant neoplasms with spindle cell and fibrous appearance. Even though S100 remains the first-choice marker for DM, currently, there is no reliable marker with both high sensitivity and specificity for its detection. However, emerging melanoma markers, such as SOX10, have shown promising results in the diagnosis of DM. An accurate diagnosis of DM should always be based on the integration of all the clinical, histological and immunohistochemical features. Once diagnosed, DM should be aggressively excised with at least 2 cm lateral margins and down to the fascia. We present a case of DM that appeared on a non sun-exposed site. The tumor recurred multiple times in spite of repeated surgery involving wide local excisions and histologically reported negative margins. Recurrences are almost always associated with the presence of neurotropism. In our case, the neurotropism was obvious only in the second recurrence. We highlight the difficulties encountered in the diagnosis and management of both the initial tumor and its recurrence.

Completely regressed primary cutaneous melanoma - difficulties in diagnosis and classification.

Complete regression of primary cutaneous melanoma is a very rare phenomenon. Only 49 cases of well-documented completely regressed primary cutaneous melanoma have been reported to date. The clinical picture and histological findings may vary considerably. The presence of regional lymphadenopathy represents a necessary requisite for the diagnosis of completely regressed primary cutaneous melanoma. However, some cases lie outside these criteria and are difficult to diagnose and classify. Moreover, completely regressed melanoma is not specifically referred to in the current AJCC (American Joint Commission on Cancer) melanoma staging system. We report three cases of completely regressed primary cutaneous melanoma. One of the cases presented with unquestionable clinical and histopathological findings of completely regressed primary cutaneous melanoma, but without concomitant regional lymph node metastasis. As expected, this patient eventually developed nodal metastatic disease. An extraordinary case of a completely regressed melanoma that appeared in association with a congenital melanocytic nevus is also documented. This case revealed a unique type of regression that affected only the melanoma. The nevus was left undisturbed by the immunological response.

Determination of the relative level of detection of a Qualitative microbiological measurement method with respect to a reference measurement method.

Performance of qualitative microbiological measurement methods where the results are either "O" (microorganism not detected) or "1" (microorganism detected) is described by their probability of detection (POD) function, i.e., the POD as a function of the level of contamination of the sample, expressed as CFU/g or CFU/mL, or by the level of detection (LODp), i.e., the contamination of the sample that is detected (measurement result "1") with a specified probability p. When it is impossible to obtain samples of known contamination, estimation of the POD and LOD is impossible. However, it may not be the LOD of the method that is of interest, but its LOD with respect to the LOD of a reference method. Hence, an intralaboratory experiment is performed with a reference method, R, and an alternative method, A, at different levels of unknown contamination. A complementary loglog model is used to statistically estimate the relative LOD (RLOD) of A with respect to R that is equal for all chosen values p of the POD. An intralaboratory experiment for the detection of Listeria monocytogenes in fish and eggs illustrates the method. In a simulation study, the bias of the estimate of the RLOD was investigated. This bias is due to the small number of repeated measurements in intralaboratory studies; the relative bias increases with increasing true values of the RLOD from 0 for true RLOD = 1 to about 20% for true RLOD = 3. If the number of CFUs in the test portions does not follow a Poisson distribution, but instead follows a negative binomial distribution, e.g., because of overdispersion, the bias of the estimate of the RLOD decreases. An EXCEL program RLOD_ver1. xlsm for this method of statistical analysis can be downloaded from http://www.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de/ instituteliso/mitarbeiterlwilrichlindex.html.

A study assessing the feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of real-time teledermatopathology.

Dermatopathology represents the gold standard for the diagnosis of skin diseases and neoplasms that cannot be diagnosed on clinical grounds alone. The aim of this study was to test the feasibility and to assess the accuracy of an Internet-based real-time (live) teledermatopathology consultation. Twenty teaching cases and 10 randomly selected routine cases were presented to four expert dermatopathologists, first by real-time teledermatopathology and, subsequently, in a blinded fashion, using light microscopy. Throughout the study the overall diagnostic accuracy did not differ for the two methods. However, the mean level of confidence and the mean observation times differed significantly between real-time teledermatopathology and light microscopy (92.6±0.24% versus 99.5±0.02%, and 96.31±11.55 sec versus 25.47±3.85 sec, respectively). Assessment of routine cases did not produce significant diagnostic differences between the two methods. These results prove that real-time teledermatopathology offers an affordable and technically simple technology that lends itself to training as well as to diagnosis of lesions from routine practice by experts situated at remote sites.

Combined microwave and electron beam exposure facilities for medical studies and applications.

The paper presents two radiation exposure facilities (REFs) which permit separate and simultaneous irradiation with microwaves (MW) of 2.45 GHz and electron beams (EB) of 6.23 MeV for malignant melanoma (MM) cell investigations, in vitro (MW+EB-REF-vitro) and in vivo (MW+EB-REF-vivo). The REFs are specifically designed for the following medical studies: 1) The effects of separate and combined (successive and simultaneous) MW and EB irradiation on the B16F10 mouse--MM cell cultures without/with drugs incubation, 2) The effects of separate and combined MW and EB irradiation on human blood components irradiated in samples of integral blood from healthy donors and from donors with MM; 3) The effects of separate and combined MW and EB whole body irradiation on the C57 BL/6 mice bearing MM without/with drugs administration. Several representative results obtained by experiments with REFs in vitro and in vivo are discussed. The most important conclusion of the experimental results is that low dose-total body MW+EB irradiation combined with drugs administration could present a valuable potential for an advanced study in malignant melanoma therapy.

Cell investigations simultaneously with exposure to 2.45 GHz microwaves.

The paper presents two microwave (MW) exposure systems (MWESs) that permit observations and measurements on cell cultures during their exposure to MW of 2.45 GHz: MWES-1 and MWES-2. MWES-1 is designed for the measurement of the cell membrane fluorescence anisotropies (MFA) simultaneously with MW exposure. MWES-2 is designed for the cells culture exploration under an inverted microscope before, during and after MW exposure. MWES-1 consists mainly of a 2.45 GHz microwave generator (MWG-2.45 GHz-SAIREM) of 0-25 W, equipped with forward power and reflected power displaying, and an adjustable coaxial antenna immersed directly into the cuvette with the cells-suspension of a Spex type spectrofluorometer. The MW effect on membrane fluidity of B16F10 malignant melanoma (B16F10-MM) cells in suspension were investigated with MWES-1, by MFA measurements. We observed a MW induced transition temperature (ITT) rising strongly during the MW exposure as compared with ITT obtained by classical heating (CH). The MWES-2 consists of the MWG-2.45 GHz-SAIREM generator and a rectangular waveguide applicator with traveling wave placed between the condenser and the objective of a Zeiss Axiovert 200 microscope, equipped with a fluorescence device and image acquisition. The MW effects on shape and apoptosis of the B16F10-MM cells were investigate with MWES-2. The B16F10-MM cells exhibited visible shape changes during MW exposure up to 37 degrees C. The MW exposure induced cells apoptosis/necrosis in several seconds after that MW are applied, beginning with SAR = 1.5 W/sample, compared to CH controls exposed at the same temperature dynamics.

Serum markers in skin melanoma--preliminary study.

Skin melanoma presents the strongest metastatic capacity and the highest mortality rate of all types of skin cancer, being one of the most aggressive forms of human cancer. Although melanoma represents only 4% of skin cancers, it accounts for 80% of skin cancer deaths. The aim of this study was the investigation of two specific serum markers for melanoma: S100B and melanoma inhibitory activity in relation to disease development. The longitudinal study was performed on 51 patients diagnosed with skin melanoma and 72 healthy volunteers. For serum S100B and MIA measurement standard ELISA was used. The serum concentration of S100B was found significantly different from normal values only in patients in stage IV, in contrast to MIA, where significant differences occurred as early as stage II. The dynamics of the studied serum markers was in accordance with the skin melanoma evolution, especially for serum MIA. Only both increased S100B and MIA serum levels can indicate the disease evolution towards advanced stages and appearance of the metastatic processes.

Biomarkers of metastatic melanoma.

Melanoma, one of the most aggressive forms of human cancer, has undergone an alarming increase in incidence in recent years. Early detection is a prerequisite for proper diagnosis and therapy orientation. Soluble biomarkers are an important tool for early diagnosis. Markers that are associated with melanocyte functions imply the enzymes involved in melanin synthesis and the melanin-related metabolites. Proteins such as autocrine melanocyte cell growth factor and melanoma metastasis suppressor have gained attention in the biomarkers domain. The antimelanoma immune response elicited in patients can not only provide new biomarkers but important therapeutic approaches in specific treatments. All the molecules generated during the metastasis process, invasion of neighboring tissue, angiogenesis, invading lymphatic/blood vessels and establishing new tumors at a distant site, are targets for biomarker discovery.