Solitary dilated duct visualised by mammography: ultrasound and anatomopathological correlation.

AIM: To correlate solitary dilated ducts (SDDs) detected by mammography with ultrasound and histopathological findings of intraductal lesions and evaluate the association with invasive or in situ breast carcinoma. The secondary goal was to evaluate the prevalence of SDDs in screening and diagnostic mammography. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective study of consecutive screening and diagnostic mammograms from March 2016 to March 2017 at a referral centre for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer was registered at clinicatrials.gov (NCT03161392). SDDs were recorded prospectively on mammography, and regardless of the findings' stability, the participants were recalled for targeted ultrasound to evaluate the intraductal content, which was submitted to histopathological analysis when heterogeneous content or masses were found. SDD stability was evaluated for 2 years. The categorical data are shown as frequency and percentage, and the comparisons were conducted using the chi-squared test. RESULTS: A total of 9,035 mammograms were evaluated. SDDs were identified in 130 (1.43%) mammograms and 94 targeted ultrasound were conducted. In 22 cases, histological analysis were performed, and the main findings were fibrocystic changes (n = 14) and papilloma (n = 8). The main clinical and imaging characteristics associated with statistical significance (p < 0.05) were the presence of nipple discharge, intraductal masses, and calcifications on mammography. CONCLUSION: SDDs visualised using mammography and without other associated findings should be complemented with targeted ultrasound to evaluate the intraductal content that shows benign histopathological results when papilloma is the most relevant finding. No cases of invasive or in situ breast carcinoma were found in this study.

Internal structure of multiphase zinc-blende wurtzite gallium nitride nanowires.

In this paper, the internal structure of novel multiphase gallium nitride nanowires in which multiple zinc-blende and wurtzite crystalline domains grow simultaneously along the entire length of the nanowire is investigated. Orientation relationships within the multiphase nanowires are identified using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy of nanowire cross-sections fabricated with a focused ion beam system. A coherent interface between the zinc-blende and wurtzite phases is identified. A mechanism for catalyst-free vapor-solid multiphase nanowire nucleation and growth is proposed.

New hetero silicon-carbon nanostructure formation mechanism.

We report the formation of silicon and carbon hetero-nanostructures in an inductively coupled plasma system by a simultaneous growth/etching mechanism. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes were grown during one, three and five hour depositions, while tapered silicon nanowires were progressively etched. The carbon and silicon nanostructures and the interfaces between them were studied by electron microscopies and micro Raman spectroscopies. The potential of this method for large-scale controlled production of nano heterostructures without the requirement of a common catalyst is explored.

Scanning probe microscopy with landmark referenced control for direct biological investigations.

We report the successful use of continuous wavelet transforms applied to atomic force microscope data sets for landmark recognition of biological features. The data sets were images of mixed red and white blood cells. Contrast enhancement followed by continuous wavelet transform of the data was used to successfully distinguish erythrocytes from neutrophil and monocyte leukocytes within the mixed cell images. All of the above are spherical objects between 6 and 8 microns in diameter, which demonstrates the ability to sort similar biological objects into distinct classes. The implications for development of on-line scanning probe recognition microscopy are discussed.