Search

The objective of this work was to discover a biochemical pathway to explain the transfer of cadmium, a toxic element, from seawater to cultured mussels. Understanding the intricacies of this transfer is crucial for global mussel crops, as it has the potential to mitigate risks to human health and prevent economic losses in the industry. We focused our investigation on Yal Bay, a typical area with intense mussel aquaculture activity (16,000 t y -1 ) in the inland sea of southern Chile. Seasonal samples of blue mussels (Mytilus chilensis) were collected and analyzed from September 2014 to December 2015 at two integrated depths (0-5 m and 5-10 m). Diurnal and nocturnal seston, seawater, benthic sediments and decanted suspensions from the water column were recorded. Our findings indicate that nocturnal seston satisfactorily explains the presence of cadmium in Mytilus chilensis aquaculture throughout its annual temporal distribution (Spearman r s  = 0.63, p = 0.002)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This paper describes how to implement a low-cost didactic platform designed to teach or reinforce discrete control theory concepts. The controllers used in this work (P, PI, PD, and PID) are suitable for undergraduate students but the same platform could be used to explain and test advanced controllers to graduate students. This document shows, step by step, how to control a DC motor speed and position, along with the most common problems and its solutions, commonly overlooked in the literature. It also explains how to simulate the system behavior and compares the simulations with the real data, showing an average correlation coefficient of ρ=0.983., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Molecular subtype classifications in glioblastoma may detect therapy sensitivities. IHC would potentially allow the identification of molecular subtypes in routine clinical practice., Experimental Design: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor samples of 124 uniformly treated, newly diagnosed patients with glioblastoma were submitted to RNA sequencing, IHC, and immune-phenotyping to identify differences in molecular subtypes associated with treatment sensitivities., Results: We detected high molecular and IHC overlapping of the The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) mesenchymal subtype with instrinsic glioma subtypes (IGS) cluster 23 and of the TCGA classical subtype with IGS cluster 18. IHC patterns, gene fusion profiles, and immune-phenotypes varied across subtypes. IHC revealed that the TCGA classical subtype was identified by high expression of EGFR and low expression of PTEN, while the mesenchymal subtype was identified by low expression of SOX2 and high expression of two antibodies, SHC1 and TCIRG1, selected on the basis of RNA differential transcriptomic expression. The proneural subtype was identified by frequent positive IDH1 expression and high Olig2 and Ki67 expression. Immune-phenotyping showed that mesenchymal and IGS 23 tumors exhibited a higher positive effector cell score, a higher negative suppressor cell score, and lower levels of immune checkpoint molecules. The cell-type deconvolution analysis revealed that these tumors are highly enriched in M2 macrophages, resting memory CD4 + T cells, and activated dendritic cells, indicating that they may be ideal candidates for immunotherapy, especially with anti-M2 and/or dendritic cell vaccination., Conclusions: There is a subset of tumors, frequently classified as mesenchymal or IGS cluster 23, that may be identified with IHC and could well be optimal candidates for immunotherapy., (©2020 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Importance: The expansion of Medicaid sought to fill gaps in insurance coverage among low-income Americans. Although coverage has improved, little is known about the relationship between Medicaid expansion and breast cancer stage at diagnosis., Objective: To review the association of Medicaid expansion with breast cancer stage at diagnosis and the disparities associated with insurance status, age, and race/ethnicity., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study used data from the National Cancer Database to characterize the relationship between breast cancer stage and race/ethnicity, age, and insurance status. Data from 2007 to 2016 were obtained, and breast cancer stage trends were assessed. Additionally, preexpansion years (2012-2013) were compared with postexpansion years (2015-2016) to assess Medicaid expansion in 2014. Data were analyzed from August 12, 2019, to January 19, 2020. The cohort included a total of 1 796 902 patients with primary breast cancer who had private insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid or were uninsured across 45 states., Main Outcomes and Measures: Percent change of uninsured patients with breast cancer and stage at diagnosis, stratified by insurance status, race/ethnicity, age, and state., Results: This study included a total of 1 796 902 women. Between 2012 and 2016, 71 235 (4.0%) were uninsured or had Medicaid. Among all races/ethnicities, in expansion states, there was a reduction in uninsured patients from 22.6% (4771 of 21 127) to 13.5% (2999 of 22 150) (P < .001), and in nonexpansion states, there was a reduction from 36.5% (5431 of 14 870) to 35.6% (4663 of 13 088) (P = .12). Across all races, there was a reduction in advanced-stage disease from 21.8% (4603 of 21 127) to 19.3% (4280 of 22 150) (P < .001) in expansion states compared with 24.2% (3604 of 14 870) to 23.5% (3072 of 13 088) (P = .14) in nonexpansion states. In African American patients, incidence of advanced disease decreased from 24.6% (1017 of 4136) to 21.6% (920 of 4259) (P < .001) in expansion states and remained at approximately 27% (27.4% [1220 of 4453] to 27.5% [1078 of 3924]; P = .94) in nonexpansion states. Further analysis suggested that the improvement was associated with a reduction in stage 3 diagnoses., Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study, expansion of Medicaid was associated with a reduced number of uninsured patients and a reduced incidence of advanced-stage breast cancer. African American patients and patients younger than 50 years experienced particular benefit. These data suggest that increasing access to health care resources may alter the distribution of breast cancer stage at diagnosis.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14907.

Cadmium is present in agricultural soil composition and is assimilated by plants. The mussel industry generates large volumes of calcareous valves as a byproduct of processing in factories. This solid waste is ground, stored and disposed of in the form of agricultural supplies near production areas in almost all regions of the world. Cd content was recorded in these calcareous substrate by-products of industrial processes. In this study, mussel shells were investigated in three areas in the sea of Chile; two areas with high aquaculture activity and one in a non-production area. Mass Spectrometry was used for [Cd] readings. There are no significant differences (p=0.92) in [Cd] between the studied areas. Additionally, the [Cd] observed in valves was also similar relative to different depths. The low [Cd] observed in valves (~0.014±0.0049mgCdkg -1 dry) suggests the potential use of this industrial byproduct in agricultural applications., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling is well known to play a critical role during prenatal brain development; whether it plays specific roles at postnatal stages remains rather unknown. Here, we investigated the role of a key PCP-associated gene scrib in CA1 hippocampal structure and function at postnatal stages. We found that Scrib is required for learning and memory consolidation in the Morris water maze as well as synaptic maturation and NMDAR-dependent bidirectional plasticity. Furthermore, we unveiled a direct molecular interaction between Scrib and PP1/PP2A phosphatases whose levels were decreased in postsynaptic density of conditional knock-out mice. Remarkably, exposure to enriched environment (EE) preserved memory formation in CaMK-Scrib-/- mice by recovering synaptic plasticity and maturation. Thus, Scrib is required for synaptic function involved in memory formation and EE has beneficiary therapeutic effects. Our results demonstrate a distinct new role for a PCP-associated protein, beyond embryonic development, in cognitive functions during adulthood., (© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Mutations in GPSM2 cause Chudley-McCullough syndrome (CMCS), an autosomal recessive neurological disorder characterized by early-onset sensorineural deafness and brain anomalies. Here, we show that mutation of the mouse orthologue of GPSM2 affects actin-rich stereocilia elongation in auditory and vestibular hair cells, causing deafness and balance defects. The G-protein subunit Gα i3 , a well-documented partner of Gpsm2, participates in the elongation process, and its absence also causes hearing deficits. We show that Gpsm2 defines an ∼200 nm nanodomain at the tips of stereocilia and this localization requires the presence of Gα i3 , myosin 15 and whirlin. Using single-molecule tracking, we report that loss of Gpsm2 leads to decreased outgrowth and a disruption of actin dynamics in neuronal growth cones. Our results elucidate the aetiology of CMCS and highlight a new molecular role for Gpsm2/Gα i3 in the regulation of actin dynamics in epithelial and neuronal tissues.

A major gap of knowledge in metalloproteins is the identity of the prefolded state of the protein before cofactor insertion. This holds for molybdoenzymes serving multiple purposes for life, especially in energy harvesting. This large group of prokaryotic enzymes allows for coordination of molybdenum or tungsten cofactors (Mo/W-bisPGD) and Fe/S clusters. Here we report the structural data on a cofactor-less enzyme, the nitrate reductase respiratory complex and characterize the conformational changes accompanying Mo/W-bisPGD and Fe/S cofactors insertion. Identified conformational changes are shown to be essential for recognition of the dedicated chaperone involved in cofactors insertion. A solvent-exposed salt bridge is shown to play a key role in enzyme folding after cofactors insertion. Furthermore, this salt bridge is shown to be strictly conserved within this prokaryotic molybdoenzyme family as deduced from a phylogenetic analysis issued from 3D structure-guided multiple sequence alignment. A biochemical analysis with a distantly-related member of the family, respiratory complex I, confirmed the critical importance of the salt bridge for folding. Overall, our results point to a conserved cofactors insertion mechanism within the Mo/W-bisPGD family.

Uncovering novel growth modulators for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may lead to new therapies for these patients. Previous studies suggest Nit1 suppresses chemically induced carcinogenesis of the foregut in a mouse model. In this study we aimed to determine the role of Nit1 in a transgenic mouse lung cancer model driven by a G12D Kras mutation. Nit1 knockout mice (Nit1-/-) were crossed with KrasG12D/+ mice to investigate whether a G12D Kras mutation and Nit1 inactivation interact to promote or inhibit the development of NSCLC. We found that lung tumorigenesis was suppressed in the Nit1-null background (Nit1-/-:KrasG12D/+). Micro-CT scans and gross tumor measurements demonstrated a 5-fold reduction in total tumor volumes compared to Nit1+/+KrasG12D/+ (p<0.01). Furthermore, we found that Nit1 is highly expressed in human lung cancer tissues and cell lines and use of siRNA against Nit1 decreased overall cell survival of lung cancer cells in culture. In addition, cisplatin response was enhanced in human lung cancer cells when Nit1 was knocked down and Nit1-/-:KrasG12D/+ tumors showed increased sensitivity to cisplatin in vivo. Together, our data indicate that Nit1 may play a supportive role in the modulation of lung tumorigenesis and represent a novel target for NSCLCs treatment., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Purpose: To investigate the potential roles that p16 (CDKN2A) and RB activation have in sensitization to MEK inhibitor in resistant KRAS-mutant non-small cell lung cancer cells (NSCLC) in vitro and in vivo., Experimental Design: Cell viability was measured with MTS assays. Effects of administration of radiation and combination drug treatments were evaluated by clonogenic assay, flow cytometry, and Western blots. DNA repair was assessed using immunofluorescent analysis. Finally, lung cancer xenografts were used to examine in vivo effects of drug treatment and radiation therapy., Results: In this study, we showed that sensitivity to MEK inhibitor correlated to the RB/p16/CDK4 pathway and knockdown of RB induced resistance in cell lines sensitive to MEK inhibitor. Also, overexpression of p16 and inhibition of CDK4 had the ability to sensitize normally resistant cell lines. Our data indicated that the MEK inhibitor (trametinib, GSK112012) cooperated with the CDK4/6 inhibitor (palbociclib, PD0332991) to strongly reduce cell viability of KRAS-mutant NSCLCs that were resistant to the MEK inhibitor in vitro and in vivo. In addition, we report for the first time that resistance of KRAS-mutant NSCLCs to MEK inhibitor is, at least partly, due to p16 mutation status, and we described a drug combination that efficiently reactivates the RB tumor suppressor pathway to trigger radiosensitizing effects, apoptosis, and cell-cycle arrest., Conclusions: Our findings suggest that MEK inhibitor in combination with CDK4/6 inhibitor has significant anti-KRAS-mutant NSCLC activity and radiosensitizing effect in preclinical models, potentially providing a novel therapeutic strategy for patients with advanced KRAS-mutant NSCLCs., (©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Inhibitors of apoptosis (IAPs) limit the effectiveness of radiation in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Debio 1143 (D1143) is an antagonist of IAPs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential of D1143 as a radiosensitizer in NSCLC. MTS assays were performed in two NSCLC cell lines: HCC193 and H460. Extent of apoptotic cell death was characterized by Annexin V assay and Western blot for cleaved caspase-3, -8, and IAPs. TNF-α release was determined by ELISA. Radiosensitivities were compared with dose enhancement ratios (DERs). HCC193 cells D1143 IC50 was 1 μM. HCC193 cells demonstrated noticeable cleaved caspase-3, -8, and a decrease in IAP levels with 2.5 μM D1143; H460 cells, with 10 μM; both in a time-dependent manner. Additionally, HCC193 cells exhibited an increase in TNF-α. D1143 radiosensitized cells: HCC193, 2.5 μM D1143, 24 h incubation, DER of 2.19, p = 0.001; H460 cells, 10 μM D1143, 48 h incubation, DER of 1.29, p = 0.082. Treatment of H460 cells with radiation therapy, TNF-α, and D1143 further radiosensitized the cells (DER of 1.92, p = 0.026). D1143 significantly enhanced the radiosensitization of HCC193 and H460 cells in vitro. TNF-α contributed to the sensitization in the more sensitive cell line (HCC193). More research is warranted to test the mechanism of D1143, and to assess its potential in vivo in the clinical setting.

The appropriate trafficking of glutamate receptors to synapses is crucial for basic synaptic function and synaptic plasticity. It is now accepted that NMDA receptors (NMDARs) internalize and are recycled at the plasma membrane but also exchange between synaptic and extrasynaptic pools; these NMDAR properties are also key to governing synaptic plasticity. Scribble1 is a large PDZ protein required for synaptogenesis and synaptic plasticity. Herein, we show that the level of Scribble1 is regulated in an activity-dependent manner and that Scribble1 controls the number of NMDARs at the plasma membrane. Notably, Scribble1 prevents GluN2A subunits from undergoing lysosomal trafficking and degradation by increasing their recycling to the plasma membrane following NMDAR activation. Finally, we show that a specific YxxR motif on Scribble1 controls these mechanisms through a direct interaction with AP2. Altogether, our findings define a molecular mechanism to control the levels of synaptic NMDARs via Scribble1 complex signaling., (Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Radiotherapy has the widest application to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients. Factors associated with DNA damage repair have been shown to function in cell radiosensitivity. Human positive cofactor 4 (PC4) has a role in nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) and is involved in DNA damage repair. However, the clinical significance and biological role of PC4 in cancer progression and cancer cellular responses to chemoradiotherapy (CRT) remain largely unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential roles of PC4 in the radiosensitivity of ESCC. In this study, we showed that knockdown of PC4 substantially increased ESCC cell sensitivity to ionizing radiation (IR) both in vitro and in vivo and enhanced radiation-induced apoptosis and mitotic catastrophe (MC). Importantly, we demonstrated that silencing of PC4 suppressed NHEJ by downregulating the expression of XLF in ESCC cells, whereas reconstituting the expression of XLF protein in the PC4-knockdown ESCC cells restored NHEJ activity and radioresistance. Moreover, high expression of PC4 positively correlated with ESCC resistance to CRT and was an independent predictor for short disease-specific survival of ESCC patients in both of our cohorts. These findings suggest that PC4 protects ESCC cells from IR-induced death by enhancing the NHEJ-promoting activity of XLF and could be used as a novel radiosensitivity predictor and a promising therapeutic target for ESCCs.

Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is a significant dose limiting complication of thoracic radiation for lung, breast, and esophageal cancer. Strategies for increasing the therapeutic index of radiation involve the use of radiosensitizing agents. We investigated the potential of M867 to sensitize non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to radiation in vivo, while assessing its protective effects in normal lung parenchyma. H460-Luc2 cells were implanted into the mediastinum of athymic nude mice, which were separated into four treatment groups: control, M867, radiation therapy (RT) or combination. H460-Luc2 cell cultures were treated in parallel. Tumor growth was followed using bioluminescence imaging. Immunohistochemistry staining was used to detect phospho-Smad2/3 and cleaved caspase-3 expression. Western blot was done for the detection of cleaved caspase-3 and phospho-Smad2/3. TUNEL assays were used to measure apoptosis. M867+RT group had significantly increased tumor growth inhibition relative to either treatment alone (p=0.02). M867+RT was associated with increased levels of apoptosis (p<0.01), but combination treatment was associated with a decrease in caspase-dependent apoptosis relative to RT alone (p<0.01). We found that this increase in apoptosis in the M867+RT group was due to caspase-independent cell death. Based on early biomarker analyses of phospho-Smad 2/3 and cleaved caspase-3, M867+RT had a radio-protective effect on normal lung parenchyma. M867 may increase the therapeutic ratio of RT by enhancing the radiosensitivity of NSCLC while mitigating RILI. Further research is warranted to examine the late effects of lung injury and to study differences in the mechanism of action of M867 on lung cancer and normal tissue.

The origins of the branches of the subclavian artery are known to be variable. We present the case of a 55-year-old man whose coronary artery bypass surgery necessitated the use of the internal thoracic artery as he lacked other suitable venous conduits. The left internal thoracic artery appeared to be absent on subselective subclavian angiography. Computed tomographic angiography revealed a previously undescribed anomaly: origin of the internal thoracic artery from a thyrocervical trunk arising directly from the aortic arch.

Objectives: Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) is a technique habitually used for the study of head and neck masses. This work evaluates the correlation between the cytological findings of the aspirations and the histological results observed after surgery. In addition, we set out the FNA protocol applied at our department., Material and Method: We have conducted a retrospective study from 1990 to 2005 that includes 192 cases with head or neck masses. The true positives (TP), true negatives (TN), false positives (FP), false negatives (FN), sensitivity, specificity and the positive (PPV), and negative (NPV) predictive values of this test have been calculated., Results: Of the 192 patients included in this study surgery was performed in 172 cases, for whom the cytohistological correlation was determined. The FNA was negative for malignant cells in 107 cases and positive in 60 cases. In 5 of the 172 cases FNA was not indicative. After the surgery, benignancy was confirmed in 104 of the 107 cases thus giving 3 FN and malignancy was confirmed in 58 of the 60 cases, i.e. 2 FP. With these data, the sensitivity obtained was 95.08 %, specificity was 98.11 %, while PPV was 96.67 % and NPV 97.20 %., Conclusions: In the light of the results, FNA is a very useful method in the diagnostic work-up of head and neck masses.

A blue variant of the rainbow trout, which appeared in a French fish farm, displayed an iridescent body color that was cobalt blue on the back, lighter on the undersides, and silvery on the belly and which held up to adult stage. This color was supposed to result from a Tyndall effect involving a structural arrangement of melanin pigments because it disappeared when it was associated with a depigmenting gene. This blue variant appeared to be governed by an autosomal recessive gene. Blue fry survival and body weight were about 25% less than those of wild-type sibs, but no major problem was observed in further breeding performances, including reproduction. These features do not correspond with those of the blue variants previously described in the rainbow trout.

Human speakers modulate the fundamental frequency (F0) of their utterances in order to express different 'prosodic' attitudes such as surprise or curiosity. How are these prosodic attitudes then decoded? The current research addresses the issue of how the temporal structure of F0 can be used in order to discriminate between prosodic attitudes in natural language using a temporal recurrent neural network (TRN) that was initially developed to simulate the neurophysiology of the primate frontostriatal system. In the TRN, a recurrent network of leaky integrator neurons encodes a continuous trajectory of internal states that characterizes the input sequence. The input to the model is a population coding of the continuous, time-varying values of the fundamental frequency (F0) of natural language sentences. We expose the model to an experiment based on one in which human subjects were required to discriminate between different prosodic attitudes (surprise, exclamation, question, etc.). After training, the model discriminates between six prosodic attitudes in new sentences at 82.52% correct, compared to 72.8% correct for human subjects. These results reveal (1) that F0 provides relevant information for prosodic attitude discrimination, and (2) that the TRN demonstrates a categorical sensitivity to this information that can be used for classifying new sentences.

Newly hatched steelhead alevins were obtained from the factorial breeding of 24 male and 10 female steelhead trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. Each set of offspring were in a separate cell. They were tested for resistance to intoxication by methylmercuric chloride (CH3HgCl) in water at a nearly constant mercury concentration of 8 microg l(-1). High mortality (81% of the tested alevins) occurred within 2 weeks. Resistance to intoxication, as measured by the time to death, as well as by the survival rate, shared high paternal and maternal variation with negligible interaction. Heritability of time to death was 0.59 +/- 0.17; heritability of survival (all-or-none trait) was lower (0.26 +/- 0.09). Mercury in dead alevins increased with time to death, exhibiting a large environmental variation and (comparatively) negligible genetic influence. At the end of the bioassay, the mercury content in survivors varied widely (3-21 microg g(-1) wet weight). The content was greater than, but correlated with that of dead alevins from the same cells, and it showed little relation with survival rate. Thus, it seems that resistance to poisoning implies a tolerance to high levels of mercury rather than a limitation of its accumulation.

The current research addresses the hypothesis that certain aspects of sequential cognition have made substantial contributions to the human language processing capability, from a functional neurophysiology perspective. We first describe a cognitive sequence processing model that was developed based on the functional neuroanatomy of primate cortex and basal ganglia. We demonstrate how this model is capable of simulating the behavior of human infants in extracting serial, temporal and abstract structure from language-like sound sequences as revealed in recent psycholinguistic experiments. We then demonstrate how, through training, this model can perform adult level syntactic comprehension, based on dissociated processing streams for open vs. closed class words. The model subsequently predicts: (1) that impaired syntactic processing (as in agrammatic aphasia) will be associated with impairments in corresponding non-linguistic cognitive sequencing tasks, and (2) that neurophysiological processes (as revealed by ERPs) involved in syntactic processing should also be involved in the corresponding non-linguistic cognitive sequencing tasks. Data confirming these predictions are reviewed. We conclude that the study of sequential cognition will provide a new paradigm for the investigation of the neurophysiological bases of language.

The evolution of genetic variability is studied in six successive generations of a population originating from wild Helix aspersa. During the first three generations (G1 to G3), no artificial selection was applied. During the next three generations (G4 to G6), two lines were reared: a control line (C) and a line (S) selected for increased adult weight. Genetic variability is described by genealogical parameters (inbreeding, number of founders, effective number of founders and ancestors, effective number of remaining genomes) and by the additive genetic variance in adult weight. A large decrease in all parameters was observed between G1 and G2, suggesting strong natural selection: additive genetic variance in adult weight (transformed data) decreased from 0.0119 +/- 3.8 x 10(-3) to 0.0070 +/- 1.7 x 10(-3) (P < 0.05) and effective number of ancestors from 97.4 to 67.0. Selection also caused a large decrease during the first generation: additive genetic variance was 0.0079 +/- 2.1 x 10(-3) in G3 and 0.0040 +/- 1.1 x 10(-3) after the first selection cycle (P < 0.02). At the same time, the effective number of ancestors decreased from 59.2 to 29.5 and 24.2. This decrease is consistent with the theory of selection and the Bulmer effect.

A selection experiment for large adult weight based on individual performance was conducted for three generations in Helix aspersa aspersa. A second line was kept as an unselected control line. Direct response measured as deviation from the control line was 3.55 g after three generations of artificial selection, which averaged 13%. Realized heritability was 0.38 +/- 0.04. Correlated responses to selection showed a significant increase in weight after hibernation, mean egg weight and mean weight of newly-hatched snails with selection. For adult age, egg number, and hatching rate, no significant change correlated to selection was found, but this is to be confirmed.

In the paper is presented a localized form of Wegener's granulomatosis. This entity being considered as incipient stage of the disease. Its better knowledge and consequent early diagnosis has contributed to increase the clinic pictures. We report one of these cases sitting on the subglottic space, in a 40-years-old woman, beginning with a serious dyspnea. Several clinic aspects of the disease are emphasized as well the immunologic procedures helping to the diagnosis and to day's classifications. Finally, the better prognosis of localized forms, because its excellent response to immunosuppresants, is stressed.

The aim of this publication is to define the indications of laparoscopically prepared vaginal hysterectomy. Vaginal hysterectomy is for the authors the best way to perform hysterectomy, but unfortunately it is not always possible in benign lesions and may be insufficient for malignant tumors. As from 1992, they have introduced laparoscopy in their therapeutical approach. From January 1992 to February 1995 they have performed 268 hysterectomies and in 34 cases have done a laparoscopically prepared intervention. They precise their indications, surgical techniques, analyze their results and compare their experience to that found in the literature.

The AA. present a report about a patient having a cold tuberculous abscess which symptomatologic manifested through dysphagia and cervico-brachialgia. Comments on the most remarkable aspects of these conditions.

The authors report a case of lupus showed in labour by the presence of generalised convulsions and coma after the crisis. This was followed by labile transitory hypertension, by massive proteinuria which cleared in 15 days, by major hyperthermia (higher than 39.5 degrees) and transitory agranulocytosis. The infant had a purely biological neonatal lupus. Pregnancy in a lupus patient has two risks: the mother's relapses of lupus, it is usual that renal failure is the worst of the prognostic features, but in this patient cerebral complications were much more serious. In the fetus there is a risk of spontaneous abortion linked to the anticardiolipin antibody level, and the risk of disease in the heart due to the anti-SSA (or anti-Ro) factor giving rise to congenital auriculo-ventricular blocks. The therapeutic possibilities are classically treated with immunosuppressants, mainly corticoids, which is added to low doses of aspirin. Plasmaphoresis and immunoglobulin treatments are being tried out.

A low mass eight-color channel photopolarimeter was developed for the Giotto spacecraft. Utilizing the spin of the spacecraft, a multichannel plate photomultiplier, and a unique optical design, the instrument required no moving parts to measure color and linear polarization. The photopolarimeter collected data as the spacecraft passed through the coma of Comet Halley on 13 and 14 Mar. 1986. This instrument's design, calibration, and reduction are discussed and some final results are presented.

The presence, in a same anatomical location, of an aquired melanopathy and a carcinoma squamous, obliges us to stablish a communal etiopathogenic hypothesis that we interpret through a bibliographic review carried out on the theme.