BRAF V600E(+) PTC tended to have larger tumor volumes and higher expression of VEGF. The level of VEGF expression was closely correlated with tumor size, extrathyroidal invasion, and stage. The relatively high levels of VEGF expression may be related to poorer clinical outcomes and recurrences in BRAF V600E(+) PTC.

BACKGROUND: Biological conversion of CO 2 to useful carbonic compounds such as methane is a potentially attractive technology for reducing its concentration in the atmosphere. One of the advantages of this technology over chemical conversion is that it requires much lower energy for reduction of CO 2 . In this article, biological conversion of CO 2 to CH 4 using hydrogenotrophic methanogens was examined in a fixed bed reactor inoculated with anaerobic mixed culture from the anaerobic digestor of a sewage treatment plant. RESULTS:Methane formation commenced on the first day of operation of the fixed bed reactor. CO 2 fed to the reactor was reduced with H 2 by hydrogenotrophic methanogens. The feed ratio of CO 2 to H 2 is an important factor in determining the conversion rate of CO 2 . When the feed ratio is 4, methane is produced at the expected rate according to the chemical equation. The CO 2 conversion rate was 100% when the gas retention time was 3.8 h in the fixed bed reactor. CONCLUSIONS:The results show that the fixed bed reactor employing hydrogentrophic methanogens has the potential to be effective in converting CO 2 to CH 4 with a conversion rate of 100% at 3.8 h retention time.

Normal thyroid epithelial cells lack major histocompatibility complex (MHC) Class II antigen. Oncogenic kinases involved in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) trigger the expression of Class II transactivator and MHC Class II complex. However, the relationship between MHC Class II antigen expression and clinical outcome in PTC is unknown. To investigate the frequency of MHC Class II antigen expression in PTC and to identify the effects of MHC Class II antigen expression on clinical outcomes in PTC patients, the expression of HLA-DR/-DQ antigen was analyzed in surgical specimens from 77 PTCs and 44 benign nodules (23 nodular hyperplasias, 21 follicular adenomas). Of the 77 PTC cases, 36 (46.8%) cases expressed HLA-DR and 41 (53.2%) cases expressed HLA-DQ. Next, we investigated clinicopathological characteristics and found that HLA-DR(1) and/or HLA-DQ(1) PTC tended to present without nodal metastasis. Multivariate analyses clearly showed that HLA-DR (1)

Background: Thyroid cancers account for about 1% of all human malignancies, with papillary thyroid carci-

Background: Fine needle aspiration (FNA) is an accurate and safe method for the diagnosis of thyroid