"Onycholemmal carcinoma." An unusual case with apocrine and sebaceous differentiation. Are these tumors a microcystic nail bed carcinoma?

Subungual malignant epithelial tumors with tricholemmal keratinization have rarely been described as "malignant proliferating onycholemmal cyst" and "onycholemmal carcinoma (OC)." We report an additional case of a slow growing OC occurring on the middle finger of a 58-year-old man, which was unusual as it showed sebaceous-apocrine differentiation, in addition to a nail bed carcinoma with tricholemmal microcysts. We therefore consider the descriptive term of microcystic nail bed carcinoma more appropriate than OC.

Chromatin structural changes around satellite repeats on the female sex chromosome in Schistosoma mansoni and their possible role in sex chromosome emergence.

Background: In the leuphotrochozoan parasitic platyhelminth Schistosoma mansoni, male individuals are homogametic (ZZ) whereas females are heterogametic (ZW). To elucidate the mechanisms that led to the emergence of sex chromosomes, we compared the genomic sequence and the chromatin structure of male and female individuals. As for many eukaryotes, the lower estimate for the repeat content is 40%, with an unknown proportion of domesticated repeats.

Modeling the electrophoresis of highly charged peptides: application to oligolysines.

The "coarse-grained" bead modeling methodology, BMM, is generalized to treat electrostatics at the level of the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation. This improvement makes it more applicable to the important class of highly charged macroions and highly charged peptides in particular. In the present study, the new nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann, NLPB-BMM procedure is applied to the free solution electrophoretic mobility of low molecular mass oligolysines (degree of polymerization 1-8) in lithium phosphate buffer at pH 2.

Studying as fun and games: effects on college students' quiz performance.

We examined college students' participation in a game activity for studying course material on their subsequent quiz performance. Game conditions were alternated with another activity counterbalanced across two groups of students in a multielement design. Overall, the mean percentage correct on quizzes was higher during the game condition than in the no-game condition.

FZD6 encoding the Wnt receptor frizzled 6 is mutated in autosomal-recessive nail dysplasia.

Background: Isolated nail dysplasia is rare and has been reported in only a small number of families.

Objectives: To describe and characterize two Pakistani families with an autosomal-recessive inherited nail dysplasia.

Methods: Genome-wide linkage analysis; mutation screening of candidate genes by Sanger sequencing; cloning of FZD6 and protein analyses; immunohistochemistry.

Onychocytic matricoma presenting as pachymelanonychia longitudinal. A new entity (report of five cases).

Among the tumors of the epidermal appendages, only rare tumors have been proved as differentiating in the direction of the nail. Beside onychomatricoma, we report a new matrical tumor of the nail: onychocytic matricoma (acanthoma of the nail matrix producing onychocytes). The main differential diagnosis of onychocytic matricoma is seborrheic keratosis.

Variability of hydrolysis of β-, αs1-, and αs2-caseins by 10 strains of Streptococcus thermophilus and resulting bioactive peptides.

Milk proteins contain numerous potential bioactive peptides, which may be released by digestive proteases or by the proteolytic system of lactic acid bacteria during food processing. The capacity of Streptococcus thermophilus to generate peptides, especially bioactive peptides, from bovine caseins was investigated. Strains expressing various levels of the cell envelope proteinase, PrtS, were incubated with α(s1)-, α(s2)-, or β-casein.

On the Intramolecular Hydrogen Bond in Solution: Car-Parrinello and Path Integral Molecular Dynamics Perspective.

The issue of the symmetry of short, low-barrier hydrogen bonds in solution is addressed here with advanced ab initio simulations of a hydrogen maleate anion in different environments, starting with the isolated anion, going through two crystal structures (sodium and potassium salts), then to an aqueous solution, and finally in the presence of counterions. By Car-Parrinello and path integral molecular dynamics simulations, it is demonstrated that the position of the proton in the intramolecular hydrogen bond of an aqueous hydrogen maleate anion is entirely related to the solvation pattern around the oxygen atoms of the intramolecular hydrogen bond. In particular, this anion has an asymmetric hydrogen bond, with the proton always located on the oxygen atom that is less solvated, owing to the instantaneous solvation environment.

[The neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, or LCN 2, marker of aggressiveness in clear cell renal cell carcinoma].

Objective: To determine the prognostic significance of the neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and the matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC).

Patients And Methods: NGAL and MMP-9 expression were quantified by immunohistochemistry in clear renal cell carcinoma tissues and in sera by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (Elisa). Results were associated with clinicopathologic data.

[Breast carcinoma metastasis into a renal cell carcinoma].

We report the case of a patient carrying a right breast carcinoma whose imaging exams showed lung and bone metastasic release, and incidentally synchronous right renal tumor. Histologic examination of the renal tumor found a mammary carcinoma metastasis into a clear renal cell carcinoma. This is the second case report of breast cancer with metastasis in a resected renal clear cell carcinoma.

Modeling the electrophoresis of oligolysines.

CE is used to measure the electrophoretic mobility of low molecular mass oligo-L-lysines (n=1-8) in aqueous LiH₂PO₄ buffer, BGE, at pH 2.5 over a range of temperatures (25-50 °C) and ionic strengths (10-100 mM). Mobilities are corrected for Joule heating and under the conditions of the experiment, interaction of the peptides with the capillary walls can be ignored.

Measuring and reducing college students' procrastination.

We examined college students' procrastination when studying for weekly in-class quizzes. Two schedules of online practice quiz delivery were compared using a multiple baseline design. When online study material was made available noncontingently, students usually procrastinated.

Complex selection associated with Hox genes in a natural population of lizards.

Hox genes are recognized for their explanatory power of bilateral development. However, relatively little is known about natural variation in, and the evolutionary dynamics of, Hox genes within wild populations. Utilizing a natural population of sand lizards (Lacerta agilis), we screened HoxA13 for genetic variation and an association with incidence of offspring malformations.

Comparison of tumor response by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) and modified RECIST in patients treated with sorafenib for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: A significant improvement in overall survival (OS) was demonstrated in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who received sorafenib (Sor) in the Sorafenib HCC Assessment Randomized Protocol (SHARP) study, in contrast to a response rate (RR) of 2% assessed according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST). Modified RECIST (mRECIST) were developed to assess the response in patients with HCC, based on measurement of viable tumor with arterial enhancement on a computed tomography (CT) scan. In the current study, mRECIST were evaluated and were compared with RECIST in patients who received Sor for advanced HCC.

Fermented milk containing Bifidobacterium lactis DN-173 010 in childhood constipation: a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial.

Background: Constipation is a frustrating symptom affecting 3% of children worldwide. A fermented dairy product containing Bifidobacterium lactis strain DN-173 010 was effective in increasing stool frequency in constipated women. Our aim was to assess the effects of this product in constipated children.

Stability of capillaries coated with highly charged polyelectrolyte monolayers and multilayers under various analytical conditions--application to protein analysis.

The stability of capillaries coated with highly charged polyelectrolytes under various analytical conditions was studied, as well as their performance for the analysis of proteins by Capillary Electrophoreis (CE) over a wide range of pH (2.5-9.3).

Onychomatricoma in the light of the microanatomy of the normal nail unit.

Onychomatricoma (OM) is an uncommon benign tumor of the nail thought to exhibit differentiation limited toward the nail matrix. Four recent articles from our laboratory have shown, in some respect, a morphological and immunohistochemical homology between the nail unit and the hair follicle at the level of the matrix and isthmus. The purposes of this article are as follows: to investigate whether the sequential pattern of hair keratin expression in the normal nail matrix is maintained in OM, to compare and contrast follicular tumors with matrix differentiation in OM, and to furnish morphological and immunohistochemical markers of the onychogenic capacity of OM.

Novel domains in the hnRNP G/RBMX protein with distinct roles in RNA binding and targeting nascent transcripts.

The heterogenous nuclear ribonucleoprotein G (hnRNP G) controls the alternative splicing of several pre-mRNas. While hnRNP G displays an amino terminal RNA recognition motif (RRM), we find that this motif is paradoxically not implicated in the recruitment of hnRNP G to nascent transcripts in amphibian oocytes. In fact, a deletion analysis revealed that targeting of hnRNP G to active transcription units depends on another domain, centrally positioned, and consisting of residues 186-236.

Travelling in time with networks: Revealing present day hybridization versus ancestral polymorphism between two species of brown algae, Fucus vesiculosus and F. spiralis.

Background: Hybridization or divergence between sympatric sister species provides a natural laboratory to study speciation processes. The shared polymorphism in sister species may either be ancestral or derive from hybridization, and the accuracy of analytic methods used thus far to derive convincing evidence for the occurrence of present day hybridization is largely debated.

Results: Here we propose the application of network analysis to test for the occurrence of present day hybridization between the two species of brown algae Fucus spiralis and F.

Differential RNA-binding activity of the hnRNP G protein correlated with the sex genotype in the amphibian oocyte.

A proteomic approach has enabled the identification of an orthologue of the splicing factor hnRNP G in the amphibians Xenopus tropicalis, Ambystoma mexicanum, Notophthalmus viridescens and Pleurodeles walt, which shows a specific RNA-binding affinity similar to that of the human hnRN G protein. Three isoforms of this protein with a differential binding affinity for a specific RNA probe were identified in the P. walt oocyte.

Interference of vaccination against bluetongue virus serotypes 1 and 8 with serological diagnosis of small-ruminant lentivirus infection.

The effects of the recent vaccinations against bluetongue virus serotype 1 (BTV-1) and BTV-8 in Europe on the reliability of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) currently used for diagnosis of small-ruminant lentivirus (SRLV) infection were examined. Primary vaccination against BTV-8 in goats induced an increase in reactivity that did not exceed 3 months in a whole-virus indirect ELISA and a competitive ELISA based on the gp135 glycoprotein. Subsequent BTV-1/8 vaccination extended the time scale of false-positive reactivity for up to 6 months.

[Antenatal screening for HIV: knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices of pregnant women. Analysis of current practices and the impact of setting up an informative brochure].

Objectives: To assess the impact of an information leaflet on the behavior and knowledge of pregnant women about the risks of HIV infection during pregnancy.

Patients And Methods: Comparative prospective study conducted in two phases from March 1 to September 30, 2007 on patients presenting for the first time in antenatal care at the Maternity Hospital of Tours (n=539). During the first phase, only a self-questionnaire was given during the second an informative brochure has been attached to the questionnaire.