Capturing the often-elusive diagnosis of idiopathic myointimal hyperplasia of mesenteric veins.

Only 50 cases of idiopathic myointimal hyperplasia of the mesenteric veins (IMHMV) have been reported since 1991 when it was first described. This rare etiology for chronic colonic ischemia is often debilitating to the patient's quality of life, and no effective medical treatment is available. IMHMV is frequently confused with inflammatory bowel disease because the most common presenting symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, and hematochezia.

Monoclonal antibody pairs against SARS-CoV-2 for rapid antigen test development.

Background: The focus on laboratory-based diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) warrants alternative public health tools such as rapid antigen tests. While there are a number of commercially available antigen tests to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), all cross-react with the genetically similar SARS-CoV-1 or require an instrument for results interpretation.

Methodology/principal Findings: We developed and validated rapid antigen tests that use pairs of murine-derived monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), along with gold nanoparticles, to detect SARS-CoV-2 with or without cross-reaction to SARS-CoV-1 and other coronaviruses.

A Multiplex SNaPshot Assay is a Rapid and Cost-Effective Method for Detecting POLE Exonuclease Domain Mutations in Endometrial Carcinoma.

Determining the replicative DNA polymerase epsilon ( POLE) mutation status in endometrial carcinomas (ECs) has important clinical implications given that the majority of "ultramutated" tumors harboring pathogenic exonuclease domain mutations in POLE ( POLE mut) have a favorable prognosis, even among high-grade histotypes. Currently, there are no specific morphologic or immunophenotypic features that allow accurate detection of POLE mut tumors without molecular testing. Consequently, identifying POLE mut tumors has been challenging without employing costly and/or time-consuming DNA sequencing approaches.

Recurrent -Associated Esophageal Strictures in an Immunocompetent Patient.

Esophageal stricture due to esophagitis is a rare complication reported among immunocompromised patients in only limited case reports. We describe a unique case of a 36-year-old man with chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis without underlying immunocompromise who experienced over 10 years of recurrent dysphagia due to esophageal strictures from candidiasis. His symptoms were initially believed to be due to eosinophilic esophagitis; however, numerous biopsies from the esophagus were negative for eosinophils.

Eosinophilic Colitis in Recurrent Sigmoid Volvulus.

Eosinophilic colitis (EC) falls along the spectrum of a series of inflammatory gastrointestinal disorders in which eosinophils infiltrate the gut without known tissue eosinophilia. Eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders include eosinophilic esophagitis, eosinophilic gastritis, and the least common EC. The presentation of EC is extremely variable in mucosal, submucosal, and transmural inflammation.

Morphological, immunophenotypical and molecular features of hypermutation in colorectal carcinomas with mutations in DNA polymerase ε (POLE).

Aims: Colorectal carcinomas (CRC) with mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency have increased tumour mutation burden and respond to immune check-point inhibitor therapy. The Cancer Genome Atlas identified hypermutated CRCs with somatic mutations in DNA polymerase ε (POLE) with mutation burdens exceeding that of MMR-deficient CRCs.

Methods And Results: To identify the morphological, immunophenotypical and molecular features of POLE-mutated CRCs, 63 consecutive MMR-intact CRCs were evaluated by Sanger sequencing for POLE exonuclease domain mutations in exons 9, 11, 13 and 14 and confirmed by next-generation sequencing.

Determination of Tumor Margins with Surgical Specimen Mapping Using Near-Infrared Fluorescence.

For many solid tumors, surgical resection remains the gold standard and tumor-involved margins are associated with poor clinical outcomes. Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging using molecular agents has shown promise for imaging during resection. However, for cancers with difficult imaging conditions, surgical value may lie in tumor mapping of surgical specimens.

Intraoperative Pancreatic Cancer Detection using Tumor-Specific Multimodality Molecular Imaging.

Background: Operative management of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is complicated by several key decisions during the procedure. Identification of metastatic disease at the outset and, when none is found, complete (R0) resection of primary tumor are key to optimizing clinical outcomes. The use of tumor-targeted molecular imaging, based on photoacoustic and fluorescence optical imaging, can provide crucial information to the surgeon.

Central echogenic areas in thyroid nodules: Diagnostic performance in prediction of papillary cancer.

Purpose: To determine the diagnostic performance of the "central echogenic area" sonographic finding in differentiating papillary carcinomas from benign nodules and to how this finding may be used to improve fine needle aspiration(FNA) technique/utilization.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed ultrasound guided FNAs of thyroid nodules between 1 and 3 cm for central echogenic areas. 92 patients (evenly distributed benign vs papillary carcinoma) were evaluated by a blinded reader for areas of non-shadowing homogenously echogenic centers within the nodules and correlated with FNA proven pathologic diagnosis.

Diagnostic Performance of Margin Features in Thyroid Nodules in Prediction of Malignancy.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate thyroid nodule margins for specific morphologic features and determine the diagnostic performance of these features in differentiating papillary carcinoma from benign thyroid nodules.

Materials And Methods: Nodules measuring 1-3 cm in largest diameter that had been evaluated with high-resolution ultrasound (12-18 MHz) and ultrasound-guided biopsy with definitive pathologic diagnosis were analyzed. Three blinded board-certified readers evaluated high-resolution images of each nodule for jagged edges, lobulated borders, and curved borders along their margins.

Histologic Features of Gastrointestinal Tract Biopsies in IgA Vasculitis (Henoch-Schönlein Purpura).

Immunoglobulin A (IgA) vasculitis or Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) typically occurs in the pediatric population, although rare cases also occur in adults. Gastrointestinal (GI) involvement is common. The "classic" histologic finding in IgA vasculitis (HSP) is leukocytoclastic vasculitis (LCV); other histologic features in biopsies of IgA vasculitis (HSP) have only been rarely described.

Intestinal stem cell ablation reveals differential requirements for survival in response to chemical challenge.

The Drosophila intestine is maintained by multipotent intestinal stem cells (ISCs). Although increased intestinal stem cell (ISC) proliferation has been correlated with a decrease in longevity, there is some discrepancy regarding whether a decrease or block in proliferation also has negative consequences. Here we identify headcase (hdc) as a novel marker of ISCs and enteroblasts (EBs) and demonstrate that Hdc function is required to prevent ISC/EB loss through apoptosis.

Clinicopathologic Threshold of Acute Colorectal Graft-versus-Host Disease.

Context: -Colon biopsies are often used to determine the presence and severity of acute gastrointestinal graft-versus-host disease following bone marrow transplant.

Objective: -To establish a threshold consensus within our institution on the number of crypt apoptotic bodies (CAB) indicative of grade 1 acute colorectal graft-versus-host disease, we retrospectively reviewed colon biopsies from posttransplant patients and incorporated clinical and endoscopic findings to validate recently proposed minimum criteria for grade 1 graft-versus-host disease as 7 or more CAB per 10 contiguous crypts.

Design: -Eighty-one biopsies performed for suspected graft-versus-host disease from 74 individual patients were initially stratified based on their prior (prestudy) diagnoses: no significant abnormality, grade 1 graft-versus-host disease, and descriptive diagnoses mentioning increased apoptosis.

A Drought-Inducible Transcription Factor Delays Reproductive Timing in Rice.

The molecular mechanisms underlying photoperiod or temperature control of flowering time have been recently elucidated, but how plants regulate flowering time in response to other external factors, such as water availability, remains poorly understood. Using a large-scale Hybrid Transcription Factor approach, we identified a bZIP transcriptional factor, O. sativa ABA responsive element binding factor 1 (OsABF1), which acts as a suppressor of floral transition in a photoperiod-independent manner.

The temporal scaling of Caenorhabditis elegans ageing.

The process of ageing makes death increasingly likely, involving a random aspect that produces a wide distribution of lifespan even in homogeneous populations. The study of this stochastic behaviour may link molecular mechanisms to the ageing process that determines lifespan. Here, by collecting high-precision mortality statistics from large populations, we observe that interventions as diverse as changes in diet, temperature, exposure to oxidative stress, and disruption of genes including the heat shock factor hsf-1, the hypoxia-inducible factor hif-1, and the insulin/IGF-1 pathway components daf-2, age-1, and daf-16 all alter lifespan distributions by an apparent stretching or shrinking of time.

Signaling mechanisms of plant cryptochromes in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Cryptochromes (CRY) are flavoproteins that direct a diverse array of developmental processes in response to blue light in plants. Conformational changes in CRY are induced by the absorption of photons and result in the propagation of light signals to downstream components. In Arabidopsis, CRY1 and CRY2 serve both distinct and partially overlapping functions in regulating photomorphogenic responses and photoperiodic flowering.

Developmental time course of peripheral cross-modal sensory interaction of the trigeminal and gustatory systems.

Few sensory modalities appear to engage in cross-modal interactions within the peripheral nervous system, making the integrated relationship between the peripheral gustatory and trigeminal systems an ideal model for investigating cross-sensory support. The present study examined taste system anatomy following unilateral transection of the trigeminal lingual nerve (LX) while leaving the gustatory chorda tympani intact. At 10, 25, or 65 days of age, rats underwent LX with outcomes assessed following various survival times.

Fatal West Nile Virus Encephalitis in a Heart Transplant Recipient.

The diagnosis of encephalitis is particularly challenging in immunocompromised patients. We report here a case of fatal West Nile virus encephalitis confounded by the presence of budding yeast in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from a patient who had undergone heart transplantation for dilated cardiomyopathy 11 months prior to presentation of neurologic symptoms.

The local expression and abundance of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) binding proteins in skeletal muscle are regulated by age and gender but not local IGF-I in vivo.

We wished to determine whether sustained IGF-I production in skeletal muscle increases local IGF binding protein (IGFBP) abundance, thereby mitigating the long-term stimulation of muscle growth by IGF-I. Muscle growth of transgenic mice that overexpress IGF-I in muscle (SIS2) and of wild-type (Wt) mice was compared. At 3, 5, 10, and 20 wk of age, hind-limb muscle weights and IGFBP-3, -4, -5, and -6 mRNA and protein abundances were quantified.