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PURPOSE To report an ultrastructurally distinct form of paraprotein crystalline keratopathy. METHODS Three corneas submitted from a single patient including one native cornea from each eye and a failed corneal graft from the right eye. Light microscopy, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and transmission electron microscopic examination were performed. RESULTS The transmission electron microscopy showed "immunotactoid" extracellular microtubular deposits measuring >30 nm in diameter with a central lucent core. CONCLUSIONS Immunotactoid keratopathy is a distinct type of paraprotein crystalline keratopathy associated with a monocolonal immunoglobulin G kappa light chain (IgGk) protein. Larger case series are needed to determine the clinical significance of this entity.

Conventional pressure transient testing, using a pressure gauge positioned at a fixed depth in a well, has historically been the main source of permeability and skin estimation in formations. However, if a well is completed as a multi-layer commingled producer, then this conventional approach makes it difficult to measure the permeability and skin of individual layers. Greater Munga field of the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC) in Sudan has several wells that commingle production from the Aradabia, Bentiu-2 and Bentiu-3 formations. These formations are highly variable in terms of the reservoir properties, oil types and pressure regimes. A selective inflow performance (SIP) test was carried out during production logging (PL) jobs in some of these wells and it indicated that the productivity index (P.I.) of the individual layers varies widely, ranging from 1.5 to 15 b/d/psi. This illustrated the need for a method to estimate the permeability and skin of each layer. This information was needed for reservoir model calibration, well productivity prediction, low productivity diagnosis and remedial action selection. Two solutions were proposed to GNPOC; use the conventional technique of isolating each layer and testing it separately or carry out a commingled multi-layer transient (MLT) test with a PL tool. In an MLT test, in addition to the normal PL runs, individual pressure transient stations are also recorded at the top of each contributing layer. The MLT test measures the flow rate and wellbore pressure above each producing layer for different surface flow rates during the infinite-acting phase. These individual layer flow rates and pressure transients are used to calculate the individual layer properties. GNPOC decided to go in for the MLT testing option and two wells were analyzed. In the first well, MLT testing showed that one of the layers had a very high permeability compared to the other layers. It depleted much faster and had early water breakthrough. Consequently a water shut-off job is planned for this layer. In the second well, MLT analysis showed that the upper layer had poorer permeability as compared to the lower layers. However, this layer holds good oil reserves. Hence, this well is a good candidate for future side tracking into the upper layer, in order to exploit the untapped reserves in this layer. In this paper, we will discuss the MLT testing technique, introduce a workflow for the analysis, and then will discuss the results of the analyses for two examples from GNPOC. Based on the success of these cases, multi-layer transient testing is estabilished as a preferred testing technique in this complex reservoir environment.

Background Melanin production in medullary carcinoma is extremely uncommon. Case presentation We report a rare variant of medullary carcinoma of thyroid with melanin production in a 52-year-old woman who presented with swelling in the thyroid of 3 months duration. This tumor recurred thrice in two years after surgery and patient died with metastasis. Microscopic examination showed typical morphology of medullary carcinoma with numerous cells loaded with melanin pigment as confirmed by bleached Fontana-Masson, negative iron and immunohistochemical stains. Tumor cells were diffusely immunopositive for calcitonin, HMB-45, chromogranin, synaptophysin, CEA but showed focal paranuclear dot positivity for cytokeratin. No C-cell hyperplasia was seen in the adjacent thyroid gland. Nature of the pigment was further confirmed on ultra structural examination. Conclusion Melanotic medullary carcinoma is an extremely uncommon entity. There is a need to report more number of cases in the literature for exact categorization and prognostication of this subtype of medullary carcinoma.

Pyomyositis is a primary bacterial infection of striated muscles nearly always caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Development of the intramuscular abscess involving the extra-ocular muscles (EOMs) remains an extremely rare process. We herein present a case of isolated EOM pyomyositis involving superior rectus muscle in a 2-year male child who was referred with complaints of swelling in left eye (LE) and inability to open LE since last 1-month. Orbital computed tomography (CT) scan showed a well-defined, hypo-dense, peripheral rim-enhancing lesion in relation to left superior rectus muscle suggestive of left superior rectus abscess. The abscess was drained through skin approach. We concluded that pyomyositis of EOM should be considered in any patient presenting with acute onset of orbital inflammation and characteristic CT or magnetic resonance imaging features. Management consists of incision and drainage coupled with antibiotic therapy.

Fine-needle aspiration was performed on an orbital mass in a 53-yr-old woman. The cytologic diagnosis was meningioma, which was later confirmed by histologic study of biopsy material. The cytologic features of the aspirated material (nuclear pseudoinclusions, psammoma bodies, and cells arranged in syncytial sheets and whorls) allowed a rapid, reliable, outpatient diagnosis to be formulated. The cytologic features are discussed and the literature is reviewed. Diagn. Cytopathol. 1999;21:402-404.

This article presents the design and realization of an X-band (8.2 GHz) planar balun using microstrip technology. Further, various materials compatible to standard Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process are analyzed, and the optimum process which is combination of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) oxide and high-resistivity wafer is selected for better RF performance. The performance of the balun is optimized by electromagnetic analysis and realized on silicon substrate utilizing CMOS process. The measured results show close agreement with simulation having amplitude imbalance of ±0.35 dB (max.), return loss better than 14 dB (min.), and a maximum phase error of ±0.75° at the designed frequency.

patients (56.2 % female; mean age 58.7 years) were recruited. 400 (41.4%) patients were seropositive for H. pylori (of whom 35.7% were also cagA seropositive) and 213 (22%) patients showed evidence of current infection with this organism by urease test and/or histology. 221 (22.9%) patients showed histological evidence of gastric preneoplastic pathology. In univariate analyses, current endoscopic evidence of H. pylori infection, seropositivity for H. pylori and cagA seropositivity were all individually associated with the presence of preneoplastic pathology (χ2 p

Background: Basal-like breast cancer is a highly aggressive breast tumor subtype associated with an adverse prognosis for which biologic therapies are not available. These tumors have a distinct molecular profile characterized by an absence of estrogen receptor expression, absence of HER2 amplification, and positive expression of EGFR and/or cytokeratin (CK) 5/6. The object of this study was to evaluate the expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Survivin in basal-like breast cancer and compare it with other molecular subtypes. Our laboratory recently identified that post-translational modification of Survivin by acetylation (Ac) at Lys-129 regulates its export from the nucleus and therefore its anti-apoptotic function. In an effort to understand the expression profile of Survivin and Ac-Survivin in breast tumors, we developed an antibody to the Ac Lys-129 residue. Methods: 4 μM sections of 238 consecutive grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma cases, arranged on 15 tissue microarrays were stratified into 67 luminal (ER+), 66 HER2 positive (HER2+), 93 basal-like (ER-, HER2-, CK5/6+ and/or EGFR+), and 12 ER-/HER2-/CK5/6-/EGFR- carcinomas. TMAs were immunostained with a rabbit polyclonal Survivin antibody generated to the Lys-129 acetylated residue, a full-length (FL) rabbit polyclonal Survivin antibody (NB-500-201), or normal rabbit serum control. Tumors were scored semiquantitatively and compared with recurrence-free (RF) and overall survival (OS) and with expression of ER, PR, HER2, CK 5/6, and EGFR. Results: In all breast carcinomas examined, FL-Survivin and Ac-Survivin had a predominantly nuclear localization pattern. Ac-Survivin was also expressed in the nucleus of normal breast epithelium. RF (70%) and OS (90%) for FL-Survivin low tumors was significantly better than for tumors with strong FL-Survivin expression (40% and 70%, respectively) at 10 yrs, p = 0.02. By contrast, strong expression of Ac-Survivin was associated with improved RF (70% vs. 40%) and OS (85% vs. 75%), p = 0.03. Molecular subset analyses showed that FL-Survivin expression was associated with a basal-like expression profile, while Ac-Survivin expression was associated with a luminal-type profile, p Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2272. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-2272

A global epidemic of diabetes has been predicted during the first quarter of the twenty-first century, with a substantial increase in its prevalence in India. Good management of diabetes is a necessary step towards its control and blood glucose testing forms an integral part of this. This study was undertaken to assess the importance of education and occupation in relation to knowledge about good control of diabetes.Perception patterns regarding methods for testing blood glucose and metabolic control were assessed by the direct interview method in 793 patients with type 2 diabetes. Patients' knowledge levels were compared for different educational and occupational categories using the Normal test (z-test) and the Student's t-test.The difference between the mean ages of men and women diabetics was not significant (p0.1). It was found that 46.7% of the subjects were aware of the importance of blood glucose testing. Awareness regarding the importance of microalbuminuria, lipid profile and glycosylated haemoglobin was observed in 24.1%, 15.5% and 7.6% of patients, respectively. A positive impact of education on overall knowledge levels was observed. However, no definite relationship was found between knowledge and occupation.There was a total lack of knowledge regarding self-care of diabetes in all educational and occupational categories (including patients who were qualified doctors). This calls for an urgent need to create greater public awareness. This study may serve as a guideline for developing an educational package for different subsections of the community.