The usefulness of c-Kit in the immunohistochemical assessment of melanocytic lesions

C-Kit (CD117), the receptor for the stem cell factor, a growth factor for melanocyte migra- tion and proliferation, has shown differential immunostaining in various benign and malig- nant melanocytic lesions. The purpose of this study is to compare c-Kit immunostaining in benign nevi and in primary and metastatic malignant melanomas, to determine whether c-Kit can aid in the differential diagnosis of these lesions. c-Kit immunostaining was per- formed in 60 cases of pigmented lesions, including 39 benign nevi (5 blue nevi, 5 intra- dermal nevi, 3 junctional nevi, 15 cases of pri- mary compound nevus, 11 cases of Spitz nevus), 18 cases of primary malignant melanoma and 3 cases of metastatic melanoma. The vast majority of nevi and melanomas examined in this study were posi- tive for c-Kit, with minimal differences between benign and malignant lesions. C-Kit cytoplasmatic immunoreactivity in the intraepidermal proliferating nevus cells, was detected in benign pigmented lesions as well as in malignant melanoma, increasing with the age of patients (P=0.007) in both groups. The patient’s age at presentation appeared to be the variable able to cluster benign and malignant pigmented lesions. The percentage of c-Kit positive intraepidermal nevus cells was better associated with age despite other vari- ables (P=0.014). The intensity and percentage of c-Kit positivity in the proliferating nevus cells in the dermis was significantly increased in malignant melanocytic lesions (P=0.015 and P=0.008) compared to benign lesions (compound melanocytic nevi, Spitz nevi, intradermal nevi, blue nevi). Immunostaning for c-Kit in metastatic melanomas was nega- tive. Interestingly in two cases of melanoma occurring on a pre-existent nevus, the melanoma tumor cells showed strong cytoplas- matic and membranous positivity for c-kit, in contrast with the absence of any immunoreac- tivity in pre-existent intradermal nevus cells. C-Kit does not appear to be a strong immuno- histochemical marker for distinguishing melanoma from melanocytic nevi, if we consid- er c-Kit expression in intraepidermal prolifer- ating cells. The c-Kit expression in proliferat- ing melanocytes in the dermis could help in the differential diagnosis between a superfi- cial spreading melanoma (with dermis inva- sion) and a compound nevus or an intradermal nevus. Finally, c-Kit could be a good diagnostic tool for distinguishing benign compound nevi from malignant melanocytic lesions with der- mis invasion and to differentiate metastatic melanoma from primary melanoma

Promoting Reuse with Active Reuse Repository Systems

Abstract. Software component-based reuse is diÆcult for software de-velopers to adopt because rst they must know what components exist in a reuse repository and then they must know how to retrieve them easily. This paper describes the concept and implementation of active reuse repository systems that address the above two issues. Active reuse repository systems employ active information delivery mechanisms to deliver potentially reusable components that are relevant to the current development task. They can help software developers reuse components they did not even know existed. They can also greatly reduce the cost of component location because software developers need neither to specify reuse queries explicitly, nor to switch working contexts back and forth between development environments and reuse repository systems.

The Science Performance of JWST as Characterized in Commissioning

This paper characterizes the actual science performance of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as determined from the six month commissioning period. We summarize the performance of the spacecraft, telescope, science instruments, and ground system, with an emphasis on differences from pre-launch expectations. Commissioning has made clear that JWST is fully capable of achieving the discoveries for which it was built. Moreover, almost across the board, the science performance of JWST is better than expected; in most cases, JWST will go deeper faster than expected. The telescope and instrument suite have demonstrated the sensitivity, stability, image quality, and spectral range that are necessary to transform our understanding of the cosmos through observations spanning from near-earth asteroids to the most distant galaxies

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

The James Webb Space Telescope mission

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