Investigating Europa's Habitability with the Europa Clipper.

The habitability of Europa is a property within a system, which is driven by a multitude of physical and chemical processes and is defined by many interdependent parameters, so that its full characterization requires collaborative investigation. To explore Europa as an integrated system to yield a complete picture of its habitability, the Europa Clipper mission has three primary science objectives: (1) characterize the ice shell and ocean including their heterogeneity, properties, and the nature of surface-ice-ocean exchange; (2) characterize Europa's composition including any non-ice materials on the surface and in the atmosphere, and any carbon-containing compounds; and (3) characterize Europa's geology including surface features and localities of high science interest. The mission will also address several cross-cutting science topics including the search for any current or recent activity in the form of thermal anomalies and plumes, performing geodetic and radiation measurements, and assessing high-resolution, co-located observations at select sites to provide reconnaissance for a potential future landed mission.

Gastrointestinal parasites in captive olive baboons in a UK safari park.

From the safety inside vehicles, Knowsley Safari offers visitors a close-up encounter with captive olive baboons. As exiting vehicles may be contaminated with baboon stool, a comprehensive coprological inspection was conducted to address public health concerns. Baboon stools were obtained from vehicles, and sleeping areas, inclusive of video analysis of baboon–vehicle interactions.

Exploring the Interior of Europa with the Europa Clipper.

The Galileo mission to Jupiter revealed that Europa is an ocean world. The Galileo magnetometer experiment in particular provided strong evidence for a salty subsurface ocean beneath the ice shell, likely in contact with the rocky core. Within the ice shell and ocean, a number of tectonic and geodynamic processes may operate today or have operated at some point in the past, including solid ice convection, diapirism, subsumption, and interstitial lake formation.

Managing vascular compromise of hand and digit replantation following traumatic amputation.

Hands are anatomically complex and have great social, physical and emotional importance. Hand or digit replantation following traumatic partial or complete amputation is a complex injury for nursing staff to understand and manage. The absence of clear guidance, combined with a lack of consensus in the literature gives rise to ambiguity and insufficient understanding of appropriate and effective management.

[Perceived stigma at the end of hospitalization and mentally ill subjects' social reinsertion].

This paper deals with a study carried out in the framework of a course in a medium-term pavilion and in a psychiatric admissions unit. The aim of that study was to look at the effect of psychiatric institutionalization on the way subjects with mental illness perceive the stigmatization they are subjected to in society. The findings permit us to evoke, in that paper, the social reinsertion of these subjects who have sometimes been hospitalized for more than five years.

The association between coeliac disease and cardiovascular disease.

Background: Coeliac disease is more prevalent than was previously thought. The association between coeliac disease and cardiovascular outcome is not clear.

Aim: To investigate whether coeliac disease patients have an increased risk of cardiovascular events.

The utility of the TRUE test in a private practice setting.

Background: Studies suggest that the Thin-Layer Rapid-Use Epicutaneous Test (TRUE Test) may be inadequate to completely diagnose a significant number of patients with allergic contact dermatitis (ACD).

Objective: To study the usefulness of the TRUE Test as a triage tool in a private practice setting.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients who were patch-tested with the TRUE Test between July 1, 2000, and June 30, 2004, in four private dermatology practices was conducted.

Quantifying serum antibody in bird fanciers' hypersensitivity pneumonitis.

Background: Detecting serum antibody against inhaled antigens is an important diagnostic adjunct for hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP). We sought to validate a quantitative fluorimetric assay testing serum from bird fanciers.

Methods: Antibody activity was assessed in bird fanciers and control subjects using various avian antigens and serological methods, and the titer was compared with symptoms of HP.

On the role of correctional officers in prison mental health.

This article discusses the role of correctional line staff in treatment of prison inmates with serious mental illness. The authors assert that many roles and duties traditionally attributed to clinicians can and often should be performed not only by mental health professionals, but by line staff such as correctional officers and nurses. Moreover, the optimal climate for effective treatment is one in which mental health professionals and line staff work collaboratively, especially since line staff alone are in contact with inmates 24 hours per day.

Partial restoration of hair growth in the DEBR model for Alopecia areata after in vivo depletion of CD4+ T cells.

Alopecia areata (AA) is widely believed to be an autoimmune disease. Hair loss is associated with a peri- and intrafollicular inflammatory infiltrate of anagen hair follicles primarily composed of CD4 + and CD8 + cells. A previous investigation involved in vivo depletion of CD8 + cells in the DEBR rat model to examine the cells' potential pathogenic activity in AA.

Diving suit dermatitis: a manifestation of Pseudomonas folliculitis.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes a variety of cutaneous infections. Pseudomonas folliculitis has been associated with a number of activities, particularly bathing in contaminated water and the use of contaminated objects while bathing. We present two unique cases in which the subjects noted Pseudomonas folliculitis after recreational use of diving suits.

Cutaneous necrosis associated with recombinant interferon injection. Report of three cases with interferon beta-1b and review of the literature.

Interferons are cytokines produced by cells in response to stimulation by certain antigens and infectious agents. In recent years, recombinant interferons have been developed, which have antiviral, antiproliferative, and immunomodulatory functions. Several cutaneous reactions have been reported, including cutaneous ulceration at injection sites.

In vivo depletion of CD8+ T cells restores hair growth in the DEBR model for alopecia areata.

Alopecia areata (AA) is a putative autoimmune disease in which anagen hair follicles are the target of immune cell attack. While both CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes are prominent in the infiltrate, their respective roles in the pathogenesis of AA remain unknown. Here we directly investigated the activity of CD8+ cells in the inhibition of hair growth using the Dundee experimental bald rat (DEBR) model for AA.

Parvovirus b19 infection associated with acute hepatitis, arthralgias, and rash.

Human parvovirus B19 is responsible for a wide variety of clinical syndromes, including erythema infectiosum, or fifth disease, polyarthritis, aplastic crisis in patients with hemolytic anemia, and chronic anemia in immunocompromised persons. Liver enzyme abnormalities are an infrequently reported association of parvovirus B19 infection in adults. We present a case of an acute transient hepatitis in the setting of parvovirus B19 infection, associated with arthralgias and an erythematous, edematous rash on the hands and leg.

Expression of plasminogen activators in basal cell carcinoma.

The plasminogen activators, tissue type and urokinase type (tPA and uPA, respectively), have been identified in various malignancies and have been implicated in both local growth and metastatic spread. To characterize plasminogen activator expression more fully in human basal cell carcinoma, the localization of uPA and tPA mRNAs was evaluated by in situ hybridization. Nodular basal cell carcinomas demonstrated uPA expression in most cases, whereas the non-nodular subtypes were negative.

Endocytosis of fluorescent microspheres by human oesophageal epithelial cells: comparison between normal and inflamed tissue.

This paper examines the presence and characteristics of endocytosis by oesophageal epithelial cells. Biopsy specimens from normal and inflamed oesophagus were incubated in organ culture with fluorescent microspheres (0.1 and 0.

C-reactive protein. A clinical marker in community-acquired pneumonia.

Study Objective: To assess the range of plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients presenting with community-acquired pneumonia and to compare the serial changes of this acute-phase protein with clinical outcome.

Design: Prospective hospital-based study, including separate retrospective case series.

Patients: Twenty-eight consecutive patients (mean age, 60 years) admitted to our hospital with community-acquired pneumonia were studied.

An epidermal proliferative reaction associated with a silicone gel breast implant.

A variety of local and systemic adverse reactions has been attributed to silicone prostheses used for augmentation or reconstructive mammoplasty. We present a patient who developed an unusual local cutaneous reaction to a silicone breast implant, which was characterized clinically by macular erythema and focal ulceration and histologically by a basaloid proliferative epidermal reaction. The epidermal changes seen histologically simulated those overlying dermatofibromas and were felt to be reactive secondary to silicone leakage and fibrosis.

Expression of plasminogen activator enzymes in psoriatic epidermis.

The plasminogen activators, tissue type and urokinase type (tPA and uPA, respectively) have been identified in human skin under normal conditions and in various inflammatory dermatoses, including psoriasis. By Northern blot analyses, mRNA for uPA, but not for tPA, has been previously identified in epidermal extracts from normal skin, whereas in psoriasis, mRNA for tPA is readily detected. To further characterize uPA and tPA expression in psoriasis, the localization of uPA and tPA mRNAs was evaluated by in situ hybridization.