Murine leukemia virus (MLV)-derived vectors are widely used for hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) gene transfer, but lentiviral vectors such as the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) may allow higher efficiency transfer and better expression. Recent studies in cell lines have challenged the notion that retroviruses and retroviral vectors integrate randomly into their host genome. Medical applications using these vectors are aimed at HSCs, and thus large-scale comprehensive analysis of MLV and SIV integration in long-term repopulating HSCs is crucial to help develop improved integrating vectors. We studied integration sites in HSCs of rhesus monkeys that had been transplanted 6 mo to 6 y prior with MLV- or SIV-transduced CD34+ cells. Unique MLV (491) and SIV (501) insertions were compared to a set of in silico-generated random integration sites. While MLV integrants were located predominantly around transcription start sites, SIV integrants strongly favored transcription units and gene-dense regions of the genome. These integration patterns suggest different mechanisms for integration as well as distinct safety implications for MLV versus SIV vectors.

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An analysis of backbone hydrogen bonds has been performed on nine high-resolution protein X-ray crystal structures. Backbone hydrogen-bond geometry is compared in the context of X-ray crystal structure resolution. A strong correlation between the hydrogen-bond distance, R(HO), and the hydrogen-bond angle, theta(NHO), is observed when the X-ray crystal structure resolution is <1.00 A. Ab initio calculations were performed to substantiate these results. The angle and distance limits found in our correlation for the backbone hydrogen-bond geometry can be used to evaluate the quality of protein structures and for further NMR structure refinement.

The severity of acne vulgaris does not correlate with impairment in quality of life.

This study was undertaken to investigate cases of respiratory morbidity seen at SNM hospital, Leh, who did not respond to routine treatment and whose radiological picture resembled pneumoconiosis. There are no mines or industries in any part of Ladakh and therefore exposure to dust from these sources is ruled out. Two factors considered responsible for the development of this respiratory morbidity were: (1) Exposure to dust from "dust storms." In spring dust storms occur in most parts of Ladakh. During these storms the affected villages are covered by a thick blanket of fine dust, and inhabitants are exposed to considerable amounts of the dust for several days. The frequency, duration, and severity of these dust storms vary considerably from one village to another. (2) Exposure to soot. The fuels used for heating and cooking consist of wood from a local bush called "malchung" and the dung of yaks, cows, horses, donkeys, and their interbreeds. Due to severe cold, the ventilation in the houses is usually kept at a minimum. The same fireplace is used for cooking and heating purposes. To conserve fuel during non-cooking periods, the wood is not allowed to burn quickly but is kept smouldering to prolong its slow heating effect. The dwellers are thus exposed to high concentrations of soot.Materials and methods Three villages, Saboo (A), Shey (B), and Chushot (C), situated near Leh town, were selected for the study. The characteristics of these villages are as follows: dust storms are rare in village A, moderate in village B, and severe in village C. Chimneys have been used for over 20 years in all houses in village A, for 10-20 years in most houses in village B, and in few houses and only recently in village C.The total populations of villages A, B, and C were 1045, 1136, and 924 respectively. As most of the cases of pneumoconiosis seen in the hospital were older than 50, only those subjects older than 30 were included in this study. Initially, a list of all villagers older than 30 was prepared and from this list 150 subjects from each village were selected for the study. The list showed that in village A and village B there were more women than men, whereas in village C this 825

Background:Autoimmune blistering diseases are a group of bullous disorders characterized by pathogenic antibodies directed at the target antigens, which are components of the desmosomes or adhesion complex at the dermoepidermal junction. Direct immunofluorescence (DIF) is invaluable in the diagnosis of these lesions.Aim:The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of DIF in immunobullous dermatoses and to study the pattern of DIF. The study also aims to correlate DIF with clinical and histologic findings and to analyze discrepancies.Materials and Methods:Total 100 biopsies received over a period of 2 years in the Department of Pathology were analyzed. DIF, histopathology and clinical data were reviewed.Results:Out of 100, 89 cases showed DIF patterns concordant with clinical/histologic diagnosis. The sensitivity of DIF was 94.44% (51/58) in the pemphigus and 84% (21/25) in the bullous pemphigoid (BP) group, 100% each in dermatitis herpetiformis (2/2) and linear IgA disease (1/1). A total of 11 histologically proven cases of immunobullous lesions were DIF negative-four (three of pemphigus vulgaris and one of BP) due to having no epidermis, three (cases of BP) owing to sampling/technical errors and the remaining four (cases of pemphigus vulgaris) due to being on treatment.Conclusion:Immunofluorescence helps confirm the diagnosis of bullous lesions in which there is clinical and the histopathologic overlap. Sampling errors contributed to false negative (FN) results.

Cancer metastases represent the most devastating aspect of malignancy, since the mortality of cancer patients is mainly related to the metastatic behavior of the primary neoplasm. Skin metastases are usually late events in the course of tumor progression. Excluding melanoma, the most common tumor to metastasize to the skin is breast cancer. Patients who develop cutaneous metastases rarely present with a zosteriform distribution. Herein, we present a 60-year-old female, an undiagnosed case of breast cancer, with zosteriform metastases along her right T2-T3 dermatome.

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