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Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a multifactorial chronic inflammatory disease with an incompletely understood etiopathogenesis. With a significant impact on the quality of life of patients, AD has attracted the interest of many research studies aiming to investigate the complex cellular and molecular mechanisms and to identify new therapeutic pathways. Various studies have focused on psycho-immunology, emphasizing the involvement of stress, defined as a general response of the body to external or internal challenges to the AD pathology. Factors like lifestyle and leisure activities may change the behavior of immune cells in AD with a strong impact on the evolution of the disease. Moreover, the poor adherence of AD patient to standard treatment approach has led to the necessity to combine different therapies in the field of complementary and alternative medicine. Although there are still not enough data to conclude that adjuvant therapies are effective in a conventional sense, there are already promising results suggesting that alternative therapeutic strategies could be a main subject of further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are complex interconnections between the nervous system and the skin highlighted by the impact of stress and neuroendocrine factors on various dermatological conditions. We investigated the influence of stress on skin neurogenic inflammation induced by capsaicin. A total of 31 healthy subjects were randomized into two groups: subjects in the stress group underwent a stress-inducing protocol and those in the control group were exposed to indifferent conditions. Subsequently, topical capsaicin cream was administered on the non-dominant anterior forearm of each subject from the two groups. The assessment of the local inflammatory reaction induced by capsaicin was performed by thermography at 25 and 40 min post-application. In both groups the inflammatory reaction induced by capsaicin was evidenced at 25 min and was maintained at 40 min post-application. However, at 40 min post-application the hyperthermal area was larger in subjects from the stress group, suggesting that stress exposure is associated with an amplification of the mechanisms involved in capsaicin-induced skin neurogenic inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Consensus net meeting on dermatoscopy" of 2000 determined a set of significant dermatoscopic features for the diagnosis of pigmented basal cell carcinoma (pBCC). These included small ulcerations, maple leaf-like areas, multiple blue-grey globules, large blue-grey ovoid nests, arborizing telangiectasia, and spoke-wheel structures. The latter have been defined as brown to gray, well circumscribed, radial projections meeting at a darker brown central hub. Spoke-wheel structures have a reported specificity of 100% for pBCC. Because the correlation between dermatoscopy and histology is often difficult owing to the different incidences from which lesions are seen (horizontal in dermatoscopy vs vertical in histology), in this paper we sought to highlight the underpinnings of this particular dermatoscopic feature through in vivo reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) examination. RCM is a non-invasive imaging technique capable of delivering images of en face optical sections at nearly histological resolution, thus facilitating the correlation with dermatoscopy. RCM examination of a pBCC exhibiting spoke-wheel structures revealed flower-shaped bright tumor islands infiltrated by dendritic cells, surrounded by dark areas of clefting at the level of the dermal-epidermal junction and papillary dermis. These tumor islands were connected to the epidermis through several cord-like projections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is a neurotropic virus which causes two distinct syndromes: primary infection presenting as varicella, mainly occurring in children without previous exposure to VZV, and reactivation of the latent VZV in the dorsal root ganglia, causing herpes zoster in adults. Herpes zoster clinically presents as a unilateral, painful, vesicular eruption, usually distributed to one or two adjacent thoracic dermatomes. As it is rarely seen confined to the upper limbs, few reports of herpes zoster involving the ulnar nerve exist in the literature, the majority describing patients who present with segmental zoster paresis of the upper extremity. This paper reports the case of a 73-year-old woman with ulnar and posterior antebrachial cutaneous nerve zoster reactivation and no history of immunosuppressive disorders. Therefore, rare occurrences of herpes zoster, such as the involvement of cervical dermatomes, should also be considered when faced with the differential diagnosis of symptomatic skin rashes of the upper limb, especially in elderly or immunosuppressed patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basal cell carcinoma is a slow growing non-melanoma skin cancer appearing as a non-healing, painless, and sometimes pruriginous sore, usually on sun-exposed areas. Although it rarely metastasizes, BCC diagnosis and treatment should not be delayed due to its local invasive potential. Currently, dermatoscopy is a well propagated and commonly employed tool in clinical practice, providing a fast and handy approach to clinical diagnosis, without the significant financial costs associated with other more sophisticated diagnostic means. Since the very first dermatoscopic descriptions of basal cell carcinoma, the list of dermatoscopic diagnostic criteria has been updated and renewed numerous times. Dermatoscopy significantly augments basal cell carcinoma detection by its capability of discriminating it from other skin lesions and inflammatory skin conditions. Moreover, current evidence suggests that this noninvasive, real-time imaging technique is also valuable in tumor management, seeing that it provides additional information related to histopathological subtype, presence or lack of pigmentation, lateral tumor extension, and tumor response to non-surgical treatments. In this paper, we aim to summarize time-honored as well as current knowledge on the value of dermatoscopy in the diagnosis, classification, and treatment of basal cell carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic cutaneous inflammatory disease, intensely pruritic, presenting frequent relapses, all these characteristics making it difficult to treat. The disease has an important impact on the patients' quality of life. Due to chronic evolution, the treatment requires a long-term perspective. More than 10% of the population has atopic dermatitis, most of them at a very young age. As time passes, the symptoms may disappear or, in some cases, it can take a chronic course, with periods of exacerbation. The complete etiopathology of the atopic dermatitis is yet unknown, the etiology being multifactorial. Recent studies have shown the importance of the genetic components. The most common factors related to atopic dermatitis are: the socio-economic status, the number of family members, polution, soaps and detergents. Moreover, there is a strong correlation between the impairment of the skin barrier functions, the environmental factors and the genetics ones. The diagnosis is based on the presence of some well established major and minor criteria, but the key symptom is the chronic pruritus. The main differential diagnoses that should be taken into consideration are: seborrheic dermatitis, nummular eczema, irritant contact dermatitis.The therapeutic strategies are based on the severity of the disease, a large number of treatment options being available nowadays, topic (wet dressings, occlusive dressings, topical steroids, calcineurin inhibitors) and systemic (cyclosporin, steroids, azathioprine, intravenous immunoglobulin, histaminoglobin vaccine). The moisturizers play an essential role in the treatment strategy, alleviating the pruritus, preventing the relapses and allowing a lower dose of topical steroids to be used. In some cases, phototherapy can be associated. If left untreated, the lesions may persist for an indefinite period of time, but in some cases there are spontaneous remissions, especially during childhood. Some patients may develop asthma or any other type of allergy. Moreover, atopic dermatitis increases the risk of infection of the lesions, which can extend and complicate, sometimes threatening the patients' life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper is focused on bolts failure analysis of a compression press. 8 bolts were used to attach the high speed cylinder cap to the upper ram cylinder of a hydraulic press used to produce forging parts. The bolts had been in service less than one year. Six (6) broken bolts out of eight (8) were submitted for failure analysis. One of the most common failure mechanism for bolts is fatigue. Fatigue cracks initiate and propagate in regions where the strain is most severe. Most fatigue cracks initiate and grow from structural defects. The manner through which the crack propagates through the material gives great insight into the mode of fracture. Incorrect placement of a component or incorrect assembly order can cause high residual stresses or failure to occur. Improper specifications or torque requirements can also cause premature bolts failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Infectio.ro is the property of MEDICHUB MEDIA, S.R.L. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Hidradenitis suppurativa is a chronic inflammatory skin disease, with a poor therapeutic response and a significant impact on the patient's quality of life. The aim of this review-type article is to assess the role of bacterial infections in both the pathogenesis and evolution of the hidradenitis suppurativa, but also to evaluate the convenience of antibiotherapy in the management of the disease. Antibiotherapy plays an important role in its longterm management, mainly due to the anti-inflammatory action of the frequently recommended agents from the schemes of treatment. The therapy's initiation ought to be consistent with the antibiotic sensitivity profile of microorganisms isolated in the laboratory, personalized depending on the disease’s severity, history of antibiotic use, the risk of drug interactions and the patient's comorbidities. Moreover, the association of antibiotics with anti-TNF-α (tumour necrosis factor) biologic therapy represents a valid therapeutic alternative that can significantly enhance the quality of life, of great utility especially in severe disease stages. In order to elucidate the pathogenesis, we propose two main research directions. Firstly, the profile analysis of virulence of microorganisms and its correlation with the host response to bacterial insult. Secondly, the description of the bacterial biofilm communities, both architecturally and physiologically in-depth analyzes of inter-cellular communication mechanisms. These steps are necessary for the discovery of new therapeutic agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale. Psoriasis is a prevalent chronic inflammatory disease with worldwide distribution affecting approximately 2% of the Caucasian population. There have been many population- and family-based studies that agree on the strong genetic component of this disease. Several studies have investigated the relationship between cytokine gene polymorphisms, psoriasis, and the occurrence of comorbidities but their data are conflicting. Objective. This study examines cytokine gene single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the context of psoriasis and metabolic syndrome, with a focus on the occurrence of comorbidities in psoriasis patients. The working hypothesis is that particular SNPs may predispose to an accelerated disease course and more comorbidities in psoriasis patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in 2016 in the Dermatology Department of "Elias" University Emergency Hospital, Bucharest and included 82 psoriasis patients. Several clinical and laboratory parameters were recorded, and the presence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) was noted. Using real-time PCR, we tested for the following SNPs: rs361525, rs1800629, rs1800896, rs610604, rs17782313. Results: Disease severity was not significantly influenced by any of the five studied SNPs. Gene polymorphism of rs17782313 was found to influence the occurrence of psoriatic arthritis. In these patients, rs610604 and rs17782313 polymorphisms were associated with the presence of diabetes mellitus. Furthermore, rs17782313 influenced the presence of obesity, heterozygotes being more at risk. Our data suggested that MetS occurred independently of the five studied SNPs. Discussion. The influence of certain cytokine gene polymorphisms on multiple organ systems is justification enough for further analysis of the genetic and molecular mechanisms of metabolic syndrome development in psoriasis patients. Abbreviations: single-nucleotide polymorphisms - SNPs, metabolic syndrome - MetS.