The recent identification of the hepatitis C virus and development of assays to detect antibodies to hepatitis C virus has allowed assessment of the prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in patients with a variety of liver and other diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of hepatitis C virus antibodies and severity of liver injury in patients with porphyria cutanea tarda. Sixty-two patients were studied. Serum samples were analyzed for liver function parameters and markers of hepatitis B virus infection. Frozen serum samples from 34 patients with porphyria cutanea tarda, obtained when patients were seen at the hospital for the first time, were analyzed for hepatitis C virus antibodies with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (first- and second-generation) and a recombinant immunoblot assay. As controls, serum samples from 19,788 blood donors, 40 patients with alcoholic liver disease and 138 hospitalized patients without liver disease were also tested for hepatitis C virus antibodies. Liver biopsy was performed in 42 porphyria cutanea tarda patients. Specimens were evaluated for steatosis, siderosis, fibrosis, severity of inflammation and the presence of cirrhosis. In addition, the degree of necroinflammatory change and fibrosis were quantitated with the histologic activity index described by Knodell et al. The prevalence of hepatitis C virus antibodies in patients with porphyria cutanea tarda (62%) was higher than that in blood donors (0.79%), patients with alcoholic liver disease (17.5%) or hospitalized patients without liver disease (5.8%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

PURPOSE To characterize the diagnostic properties of serial percent-free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in relation to PSA in a multi-ethnic, multi-racial cohort of healthy men. MATERIALS AND METHODS 6,982 percent-free PSA and PSA measures were obtained from participants in a 12 year+ Texas screening study comprising 1625 men who never underwent biopsy, 497 who underwent one or more biopsies negative for prostate cancer, and 61 diagnosed with prostate cancer. Area underneath the receiver-operating-characteristic-curve (AUC) for percent-free PSA, and the proportion of patients with fluctuating values across multiple visits were determined according to two thresholds (under 15% versus 25%) were evaluated. The proportion of cancer cases where percent-free PSA indicated a positive test before PSA > 4 ng/mL did and the number of negative biopsies that would have been spared by percent-free PSA testing negative were computed. RESULTS Percent-free PSA fluctuated around its threshold of < 25% (< 15%) in 38.3% (78.1%), 42.2% (20.9%), and 11.4% (25.7%) of patients never biopsied, with negative and positive biopsies, respectively. At the same thresholds, percent-free PSA tested positive earlier than PSA in 71.4% (34.2%) of cancer cases, and among men with multiple negative biopsies and a PSA > 4 ng/mL, percent-free PSA would have tested negative in 31.6% (65.8%) instances. CONCLUSIONS Percent-free PSA should accompany PSA testing in order to potentially spare unnecessary biopsies or detect cancer earlier. When near the threshold, both tests should be repeated due to commonly observed fluctuation.

Nine of 32 patients were immunosuppressed. The foci of sepsis were variable; in 17 patients, the focus was not identified. Although Neisseria meningitidis was the most common causal agent, several microorganisms were identified. Cutaneous manifestations were an early event in 90.6% of patients. The most common skin signs were purpuric lesions and petechiae. Overall mortality was 28.1%; 65.5% of patients survived without sequelae. Skin biopsies showed thrombi in 100% of cases. Other common findings were inflammatory infiltrate, blood extravasation, and epidermal involvement. Bacteria within the vascular wall were seen in 21.9% of cases and fibrinoid necrosis in 25%. A comparison of ISPs with NISPs disclosed that meningococcemia was more common in the latter group, and the presence of pustules was more common in the former. Histopathology testing revealed that fibrinoid necrosis and bacterial invasion of the vessel wall were more common in ISPs than in NISPs. Conclusions  Several microorganisms can cause septic vasculopathy. Clinical presentation is variable and does not depend on the microorganism or the pathogenic mechanism. Histopathologically, septic vasculopathy is a thrombo-occlusive vasculopathy with variable morphology. Cutaneous lesions are an early event and allow for rapid diagnosis.

A Roman archaeological site in northern Spain (La Maja, province of La Rioja) includes pottery workshops, part of an important ceramic industry that developed from about the first century BC to the first century A D . A geophysical study was planned to determine the extent of the industrial complex in the vicinity of an excavated kiln. Magnetic observations were done on a grid of 30 x 36m, with a sampling interval of I m. Two dipolar-shaped anomalies were found: one in the north-east and the other in the south-west of the area. Low-pass and band-pass filters were used in the Fourier domain to enhance the characteristics of the magnetic data and to remove noise and undesirable shallow features. Three-dimensional polygonal prisms were used to model the magnetic anomalies based on palaeomagnetic measurements performed over an uncovered kiln that helped to constrain the induced and remanent parameters of the magnetizing fields.

Gene expression changes in both the tumour and the tumour microenvironment are an important determinant of treatment outcome in early-stage MF patients. Some proinflammatory factors such as NF-kappaB, inflammatory cytokines and their receptors in addition to TCR-associated molecules could be promising targets for MF treatment.