Adult-onset Still's disease and its characteristic rash

Still's disease was originally described as one form of rheumatoid arthritis in children beginning with fever and other systemic symptoms. In rare cases it may also begin in the adult and is then referred to as adult-onset Still's disease. The diagnostic criteria include typical rash, arthralgias, bouts of fever, and leukocytosis, as well as lymphadenopathy or splenomegaly, liver dysfunctions, noninfectious angina, and absence of rheumatoid factor and antinuclear antibodies. We report two adult patients with longstanding disease whose exanthema guided us to the correct diagnosis. The rash is a finding with high sensitivity. It is characterized by red macules with distinct borders and is evanescent. During an acute flare of the rash, gentle friction induces erythematous, isomorphic (Koebner) phenomena, which, as we describe here for the first time, may persist longer than the remainder of the fleeting rash.     

Structural and morphological investigation of magnetic nanoparticles based on iron oxides for biomedical applications

The present work reports the synthesis, characterization and properties of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for biomedical applications, correlating the nanoscale tunabilities in terms of size, structure, and magnetism. Magnetic nanoparticles in different conditions were prepared through thermal decomposition of Fe(acac)₃ in the presence of 1,2 hexadecanodiol (reducing agent) and oleic acid and oleylamine (ligands) in a hot organic solvent. The 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) was exchanged onto the nanocrystal surface making the particles stable in water. Nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Preliminary tests of incorporation of these nanoparticles in cells and their magnetic resonance image (MRI) were also carried out. The magnetization characterizations were made by isothermal magnetic measurements.