ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in the treatment of loco-regional, recurrent, and well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma.Materials and MethodsThirty-five recurrent well-differentiated thyroid carcinomas (RTC) in 32 patients were treated with RFA, between March 2008 and October 2011. RTCs were detected by regular follow-up ultrasound and confirmed by biopsy. All patients had fewer than 3 RTCs in the neck and were at high surgical risk or refused to undergo repeated surgery. Average number of RFA sessions were 1.3 (range 1-3). Post-RFA biopsy and ultrasound were performed. The mean follow-up period was 30 months. Pre- and post-RFA serum thyroglobulin values were evaluated.ResultsThirty-one patients with 33 RTCs were treated with RFA only, whereas 1 patient with 2 RTCs was treated with RFA followed by surgery. At the last follow-up ultrasound, 31 (94%) of the 33 RTCs treated with RFA alone completely disappeared and the remaining 2 (6%) RTCs showed decreased volume. The largest diameter and volume of the 33 RTCs were markedly decreased by 93.2% (from 8.1 ± 3.4 mm to 0.6 ± 1.8 mm, p < 0.001) and 96.4% (from 173.9 ± 198.7 mm3 to 6.2 ± 27.9 mm3, p < 0.001), respectively. Twenty of the 21 RTCs evaluated with post-RFA biopsies (95%) were negative for malignancy. One (5%) showed remaining tumor that was removed surgically. The serum thyroglobulin was decreased in 19 of 26 patients (73%). Voice change developed immediately after RFA in 6 patients (19%) and was spontaneously recovered in 5 patients (83%).ConclusionRadiofrequency ablation can be effective in treating loco-regional, recurrent, and well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma in patients at high surgical risk.

BackgroundA key argument in favor of conserving biodiversity is that as yet undiscovered biodiversity will yield products of great use to humans. However, the link between undiscovered biodiversity and useful products is largely conjectural. Here we provide direct evidence from bioassays of endophytes isolated from tropical plants and bioinformatic analyses that novel biology will indeed yield novel chemistry of potential value.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe isolated and cultured 135 endophytic fungi and bacteria from plants collected in Peru. nrDNAs were compared to samples deposited in GenBank to ascertain the genetic novelty of cultured specimens. Ten endophytes were found to be as much as 15–30% different than any sequence in GenBank. Phylogenetic trees, using the most similar sequences in GenBank, were constructed for each endophyte to measure phylogenetic distance. Assays were also conducted on each cultured endophyte to record bioactivity, of which 65 were found to be bioactive.Conclusions/SignificanceThe novelty of our contribution is that we have combined bioinformatic analyses that document the diversity found in environmental samples with culturing and bioassays. These results highlight the hidden hyperdiversity of endophytic fungi and the urgent need to explore and conserve hidden microbial diversity. This study also showcases how undergraduate students can obtain data of great scientific significance.

Thyroid volumes measured using 2D ultrasound or semiautomated 3D CT are substantially close to thyroid specimen volumes measured using the water displacement method. Semiautomated 3D CT thyroid volumetry can provide a more reliable measure of thyroid volume than 2D ultrasound.

Microbial biodiversity provides an increasingly important source of medically and industrially useful compounds. We have isolated 14 actinomycete species from a collection of approximately 300 plant stem samples from the upper Amazonian rainforest in Peru. All of the cultured isolates produce substances with inhibitory activity directed at a range of potential fungal and bacterial pathogens. For some organisms, this activity is very broad in spectrum while other organisms show specific activity against a limited number of organisms. Two of these organisms preferentially inhibit bacterial test organisms over eukaryotic organisms. rDNA sequence analysis indicates that these organisms are not equivalent to any other cultured deposits in GenBank. Our results provide evidence of the untapped biodiversity in the form of biologically active microbes present within the tissues of higher plants.

Self-healing materials have been attracting the attention of the scientists over the past few decades because of their effectiveness in detecting damage and their autonomic healing response. Self-healing materials are an evolving and intriguing field of study that could lead to a substantial increase in the lifespan of materials, improve the reliability of materials, increase product safety, and lower product replacement costs. Within the past few years, various autonomic and non-autonomic self-healing systems have been developed using various approaches for a variety of applications. The inclusion of appropriate functionalities into these materials by various chemistries has enhanced their repair mechanisms activated by crack formation. This review article summarizes various self-healing techniques that are currently being explored and the associated chemistries that are involved in the preparation of self-healing composite materials. This paper further surveys the electronic applications of self-healing materials in the fields of energy harvesting devices, energy storage devices, and sensors. We expect this article to provide the reader with a far deeper understanding of self-healing materials and their healing mechanisms in various electronics applications.

This study was conducted to examine the in vitro activity of antimicrobials against Campylobacter spp. isolates from chicken and human sources and the genetic interrelation among them. During 2004-2008, a total of 173 Campylobacter spp. isolated from chicken meats (60 domestic and 62 imported chicken meats) and humans (n = 51) were tested for susceptibility to nine antimicrobials. Of 173 isolates, 140 (80.9%) showed multidrug resistance (MDR) against three to eight antimicrobials. The most frequent pattern type was MDR to four antimicrobials: ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid, ampicillin, and tetracycline. Over 52.6% (91/173) of the isolates tested were resistant to these four antibiotics simultaneously. Especially, two and five isolates originated from Korea and Brazil showed resistance against all antibiotics tested, except for florfenicol. Further, 95% (57/60) of the isolates originated from domestic chicken showed resistance to ciprofloxacin, the antimicrobial agent of choice for treatment of human campylobacteriosis. Genotypic characterization of all Campylobacter isolates performed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis yielded 74 types among the 173 isolates. Isolates sharing the same or similar genetic clusters were detected in different countries at different times. The pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns of chicken-related isolates were closely related to those of isolates from humans with gastroenteritidis. The results of this study suggest that MDR Campylobacter spp. are widespread and that Campylobacter with similar genotypes are circulating both in humans and in chicken meat in Korea.

BackgroundViruses are exceedingly diverse in their evolved strategies to manipulate hosts for viral replication. However, despite these differences, most virus populations will occasionally experience two commonly-encountered challenges: growth in variable host environments, and growth under fluctuating population sizes. We used the segmented RNA bacteriophage ϕ6 as a model for studying the evolutionary genomics of virus adaptation in the face of host switches and parametrically varying population sizes. To do so, we created a bifurcating deme structure that reflected lineage splitting in natural populations, allowing us to test whether phylogenetic algorithms could accurately resolve this ‘known phylogeny’. The resulting tree yielded 32 clones at the tips and internal nodes; these strains were fully sequenced and measured for phenotypic changes in selected traits (fitness on original and novel hosts).ResultsWe observed that RNA segment size was negatively correlated with the extent of molecular change in the imposed treatments; molecular substitutions tended to cluster on the Small and Medium RNA chromosomes of the virus, and not on the Large segment. Our study yielded a very large molecular and phenotypic dataset, fostering possible inferences on genotype-phenotype associations. Using further experimental evolution, we confirmed an inference on the unanticipated role of an allelic switch in a viral assembly protein, which governed viral performance across host environments.ConclusionsOur study demonstrated that varying complexities can be simultaneously incorporated into experimental evolution, to examine the combined effects of population size, and adaptation in novel environments. The imposed bifurcating structure revealed that some methods for phylogenetic reconstruction failed to resolve the true phylogeny, owing to a paucity of molecular substitutions separating the RNA viruses that evolved in our study.

Approximately 9% to 15% of the cases amyloidosis are localized and amloidosis frequently involves the head and neck. The larynx is the most frequently affected site (61%), followed by the oropharynx (23%), trachea (9%), orbit (4%) and nasopharynx (3%). Although the amyloid deposits are submucosal, the importance of laryngeal amyloidosis lies in its possible diagnostic confusion with glottic cancer. Case ReportA 47-year-old man was transferred from another clinic with a one year history of progressive dyspnea that had recently deteriorated. He was a heavy drinker (1 bottle of whisky/day) and smoker (1 pack/day).On the direct laryngoscopy, polypoid masses with smooth surfaces were found involving both the true and false vocal folds (Fig. 1A). We suspected the man was suffering from vocal cord carcinoma.The CT scan of neck showed diffuse thickening involving both the true and false vocal cords without involvement of the anterior commissure and paraglottic space (Fig. 1B). MRI of the neck was performed using a 1.5T imager, and this showed polypoid soft tissue thickening with hypointensity along the true and false vocal cords on the axial T1 (Fig. 1C) and T2-weighted images (Fig. 1D). After infusion of gadolinium contrast agent, this lesion showed homogenous enhancement (Fig. 1E). There was no evidence of destruction of the underlying thyroid cartilage or that the cervical lymph nodes were enlarged.Biopsy was performed at the true vocal cord lesion. The histopathologic results revealed submucosal amyloid deposition with positive congo red staining. The masses involving the both the false and true vocal cords Amyloidosis is a slowly progressive, benign disease that is characterized by the extracellular deposition of fibrillar proteins in many different tissues and organs throughout the body. Primary amyloidosis can be subdivided into the systemic and localized forms. The localized form is less common than the systemic form and the larynx is the most frequently affected site. The importance of laryngeal amyloidosis lies in its possible confusion with glottic cancer because of the clinical feature. We report here on a case of laryngeal amyloidosis in a 47-year-old man who suffered from progressive dyspnea.