Paleopathology of the juvenile Pharaoh Tutankhamun—90th anniversary of discovery

Modern paleopathology is a multidisciplinary field of research which involves archaeology, medicine and biology. The most common diseases of Ancient Egypt were traumatic injuries, malaria and tuberculosis. Exemplarily, an internistic and trauma surgery case of that time is reviewed: Pharaoh Tutankhamun (ca. 1330–1324 B.C.). Summarising all findings which have been collected between 1922 and 2010, including computed tomography and molecular pathology, a diversity of disease is verifiable: (1) chronic/degenerative diseases (mild kyphoscoliosis, pes planus and hypophalangism of the right foot, bone necrosis of metatarsal bones II–III of the left foot); (2) inflammatory disease (malaria tropica, verified by PCR analysis) and (3) acute trauma (complex fracture of the right knee shortly before death). The most likely cause of death is the severe acute knee fracture and/or the malaria, while a suspected eighteenth dynasty syndrome cannot be proven.     

Expression of Caspase 14 and Filaggrin in Oral Squamous Carcinoma

Caspase 14 is one of the latter discovered members of the caspase enzyme family and, although sharing sequence homologies with the other caspases, it is not involved in apoptosis. Together with its co-factor filaggrin, it plays an important role in skin barrier formation. It is already known that caspase 14 proteins are reduced during neoplastic dedifferentiation in cervical intraepithelial neoplasms and in invasive cervical carcinomas. Oral squamous carcinoma tissues have not been systematically evaluated for caspase 14 expression yet. Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded samples from oral squamous carcinomas (n = 36 tumours from 34 patients), metastases (n = 15) and controls (leukoplakia, n = 10) were analysed by immunohistochemistry. In carcinomas, human papilloma virus (HPV) infection was tested by PCR. Here we demonstrate that, in oral epithelia, caspase 14 is expressed mainly by cells of the intermediate and superficial cell layers while filaggrin is expressed only in keratinising foci in leukoplakia. Caspase 14 and filaggrin are co-localised. In invasive oral carcinomas, reduced expression of caspase 14 was detectable in 47 % of tumours but was not associated with keratinisation, tumour differentiation or HPV infection. Filaggrin was detectable in a subfraction of tumours (56 %) and was restricted to keratinising areas of the carcinomas. In summary, in contrast to cervical carcinomas, partial loss of caspase 14 is not associated with dedifferentiation in neoplastic lesions of the oral mucosa or HPV infection.     

A case report of a Cerebellopontine angle lipoma revealed by vertigo

Cerebellopontine angle (CPA) lipoma is an extremely rare lesion representing only 0.1% of all the CPA tumors. We present a case of a 56‐year‐old woman with a 6‐month history of vertigo. Cerebral MRI showed a left CPA lipoma. The patient was managed conservatively.     

Molecular Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Tunisia (North Africa) through Several Successive Waves of COVID-19

Documenting the circulation dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 variants in different regions of the world is crucial for monitoring virus transmission worldwide and contributing to global efforts towards combating the pandemic. Tunisia has experienced several waves of COVID-19 with a significant number of infections and deaths. The present study provides genetic information on the different lineages of SARS-CoV-2 that circulated in Tunisia over 17 months. Lineages were assigned for 1359 samples using whole-genome sequencing, partial S gene sequencing and variant-specific real-time RT-PCR tests. Forty-eight different lineages of SARS-CoV-2 were identified, including variants of concern (VOCs), variants of interest (VOIs) and variants under monitoring (VUMs), particularly Alpha, Beta, Delta, A.27, Zeta and Eta. The first wave, limited to imported and import-related cases, was characterized by a small number of positive samples and lineages. During the second wave, a large number of lineages were detected; the third wave was marked by the predominance of the Alpha VOC, and the fourth wave was characterized by the predominance of the Delta VOC. This study adds new genomic data to the global context of COVID-19, particularly from the North African region, and highlights the importance of the timely molecular characterization of circulating strains.     

On the interactions between atmospheric radicals and cloud droplets: a molecular picture of the interface

How gas-phase materials become incorporated with cloud droplets has been an intriguing subject for decades, and considerable work has been done to understand the interactions between closed-shell molecules and liquid water. The interactions between open-shell radical species and liquid-phase cloud droplets, however, are not well understood. To probe these interactions we used quantum chemistry calculations to predict the energetics of the hydroperoxy radical (HO2) in the presence of an (H2O)20 spherical water cage. Our calculations show that it is energetically favorable for the radical to bind to the outside of the cage. This configuration has the hydrogen and the terminal oxygen of the radical as its primary bonding sites. Free-energy calculations suggest that, at atmospheric conditions, there will be a partitioning between HO2 radicals that are surface-bound and HO2 radicals that dissolve into the bulk. This may have important ramifications for our understanding of radical chemistry and may lend insight into the role that clouds and aerosols play in atmospheric chemical processes.