R Bouhaidar | PubMed Health

PubMed2005

Forensic webwatch: Forensic computing.

With the rapid and continuous development of information technology, policing faces new challenges. As computer equipments are becoming cheaper and the internet more readily available, computer crime and criminal exploitation is on the increase. Investigating such crimes requires identification, preservation, analysis and presentation of digital evidence, the key elements of forensic computing. This is helped by the fact that Locard's principle is applicable to this branch of science as much as in other areas of forensic science. This webwatch considers the ever evolving area of Forensic Computing.

Computers↗

PubMed2004

Galectin-3 does not reliably distinguish benign from malignant thyroid neoplasms.

AIMS: To determine whether galectin-3 is a sensitive indicator of thyroid malignancy. It has been suggested as a potential marker for differentiating thyroid carcinoma from benign or non-neoplastic lesions in preoperative fine-needle aspirates (FNAs). METHODS: Galectin-3 protein expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry in formalin-fixed thyroid tissues from 124 patients with histological diagnoses of papillary carcinoma (n = 38), follicular carcinoma (n = 19), follicular adenoma (n = 32) and dominant nodules of multinodular goitre (n = 35). Expression of galectin-3 was also assessed by Western blotting in 24 fresh thyroid tissues. RESULTS: Galectin-3 expression was observed in the majority of carcinomas (papillary 92%; follicular 74%). However, a large proportion of follicular adenomas (72%) and multinodular goitres (57%) also expressed galectin-3. In addition, galectin-3 expression was observed in epithelial cells of normal thyroid tissue and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Galectin-3 immunopositivity was significantly greater in papillary carcinomas than in dominant nodules or follicular adenomas (P < 0.0001, P = 0.0005, respectively). However, galectin-3 expression was no greater in follicular carcinomas than in follicular adenomas (P = 0.8735). Western blotting analysis confirmed both the specificity of the antiserum and expression of galectin-3 in multinodular goitres, follicular adenomas/carcinomas and papillary carcinomas. CONCLUSION: The data demonstrate that galectin-3 is not a reliable immunohistochemical marker to distinguish benign from malignant thyroid follicular lesions.

Adenoma↗