We had the opportunity to examine a case of fine‐needle aspiration (FNA) of a melanotic variant of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) in a 20‐yr‐old man. The patient presented a single node, hardened and mobile upon deglutition, in the right lobe of the thyroid, for 9 mo, without symptoms of glandular dysfunction. Calcitonin (138 pg/ml), urinary calcium (177 mg/dl), and the carcinoembryonic antigen (341 ng/ml) were increased. The nodular aspirate, drawn by FNA, was represented by pleomorphic cells, with frequent intranuclear cytoplasmic inclusions, sometimes bi‐ or multinucleated, with abundant, finely granular cytoplasm, sometimes containing a brown pigment resembling melanin. An immunohistochemical study using monoclonal antibodies (Dako Corp., Carpinteria, CA) showed that the neoplastic cells were intensely and diffusely positive for calcitonin and chromogranin, and focally positive for HMB45. In view of these findings, the case was characterized as a melanotic variant of medullary carcinoma, a rare type of neoplasia, but having a prognosis similar to the classical variant of MTC. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2001;24:206–208. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

BackgroundRecent studies demonstrated that changes in DNA methylation (DNAm) and inactivation of two imprinted genes (MKRN3 and DLK1) alter the onset of female puberty. We aimed to investigate the association of DNAm profiling with the timing of human puberty analyzing the genome-wide DNAm patterns of peripheral blood leukocytes from ten female patients with central precocious puberty (CPP) and 33 healthy girls (15 pre- and 18 post-pubertal). For this purpose, we performed comparisons between the groups: pre- versus post-pubertal, CPP versus pre-pubertal, and CPP versus post-pubertal.ResultsAnalyzing the methylome changes associated with normal puberty, we identified 120 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) when comparing pre- and post-pubertal healthy girls. Most of these DMRs were hypermethylated in the pubertal group (99%) and located on the X chromosome (74%). Only one genomic region, containing the promoter of ZFP57, was hypomethylated in the pubertal group. ZFP57 is a transcriptional repressor required for both methylation and imprinting of multiple genomic loci. ZFP57 expression in the hypothalamus of female rhesus monkeys increased during peripubertal development, suggesting enhanced repression of downstream ZFP57 target genes. Fourteen other zinc finger (ZNF) genes were related to the hypermethylated DMRs at normal puberty. Analyzing the methylome changes associated with CPP, we demonstrated that the patients with CPP exhibited more hypermethylated CpG sites compared to both pre-pubertal (81%) and pubertal (89%) controls. Forty-eight ZNF genes were identified as having hypermethylated CpG sites in CPP.ConclusionMethylome profiling of girls at normal and precocious puberty revealed a widespread pattern of DNA hypermethylation, indicating that the pubertal process in humans is associated with specific changes in epigenetically driven regulatory control. Moreover, changes in methylation of several ZNF genes appear to be a distinct epigenetic modification underlying the initiation of human puberty.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13148-018-0581-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The purpose of this study is to analyze 70 patients with diabetic foot ulcers admitted as in-patients for treatment in the Triângulo Mineiro School of Medicine, Uberaba, MG. The lesions were evaluated considering the patient's type of diabetes mellitus (DM), the period of time between the diagnosis of DM and the admission, bacterial pathogens commonly found in the culture materials, the type of treatment required and the clinical outcome of the patients. Eightyseven per cent of the patients had type 2 DM. There was no relation to gender and the patients were mainly in the 6 th and 7 th decades of life. The lesions were more frequent in patients with more than 5 years' duration of DM. The most common bacterial pathogens detected in the culture materials were Proteus mirabilis and Staphylococcus sp. The patients were treated with specific antibiotics, daily dressings and debridements whenever needed. Amputation and mortality rates were 61.4% and 15.7%, respectively. The average length of in-hospital stay was 38 days and the causes of death were mainly sepsis. The diabetic foot is a public health problem of significant magnitude. It requires a long-term therapy and may result in drastic changes in the patients' lifestyle. Prevention is still the best

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the age at which puberty begins, age of menarche and anthropometric data of the participants at different stages of puberty. Subjects and me thods: This is a cross-sectional study in which we evaluated 665 girls, a sample representing the female schoolchildren population in Uberaba. Results: We found that thelarche, pubarche, underarm hair and menarche were attained at the age of 9.8 ± 1.4, 10.2 ± 1.4, 10.5 ± 1.5 and 11.7 ± 1.3 years, respectively. The mean interval between thelarche and menarche (ITM) was 1.7 ± 1.3 years. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 31.3% and 95% of the participants began at thelarche between the age of 7 and 12 years. Conclusion: These values indicate a secular tendency to the decrease of the age of menarche and an earlier start of puberty. It is very important to understand these parameters to establish public policies aimed at plans to prevent these early events, especially regarding control of the prevalence of obesity. Arch Endocrinol Metab. 2015;59(2):105-11

Results suggest that the Spiritist "passe" appeared to be effective, reducing anxiety level and the perception of muscle tension, consequently improving peripheral oxyhemoglobin saturation and the sensation of well-being compared to sham and no intervention in cardiovascular inpatients.