Eccrine Angiomatous Hamartoma Occurring on the Nail Bed.

A 71-year-old woman was referred to our clinic with a 2-month history of pain and exudate from her right first toe. Physical examination revealed a subungual nodule that elevated the nail plate and produced distal onycholysis. We performed onychectomy and removed the nodule. A histopathological specimen from the nodule showed hyperkeratosis and acanthosis in the epidermis, papillomatosis and dilated vessels in the superficial dermis, and aggregation of eccrine glands in the mid-dermis. Based on these findings, a diagnosis of eccrine angiomatous hamartoma (EAH) was made. EAH is a rare cutaneous hamartoma that is histologically characterized by proliferation of eccrine glands and vascular components. To our knowledge, EAH occurring in the subungual region has not been reported. The pathogenesis of acquired EAH has not been completely elucidated, but several cases have been reported to be caused by external stimuli. Although the subungual area generally has no sweat glands, our case suggests that a traumatic stimulus can induce EAH anywhere including regions where sweat glands are normally not found.

Direct observation of X-ray induced atomic motion using scanning tunneling microscope combined with synchrotron radiation.

X-ray induced atomic motion on a Ge(111)-c(2 x 8) clean surface at room temperature was directly observed with atomic resolution using a synchrotron radiation (SR)-based scanning tunneling microscope (STM) system under ultra high vacuum condition. The atomic motion was visualized as a tracking image by developing a method to merge the STM images before and after X-ray irradiation. Using the tracking image, the atomic mobility was found to be strongly affected by defects on the surface, but was not dependent on the incident X-ray energy, although it was clearly dependent on the photon density. The atomic motion can be attributed to surface diffusion, which might not be due to core-excitation accompanied with electronic transition, but a thermal effect by X-ray irradiation. The crystal surface structure was possible to break even at a lower photon density than the conventionally known barrier. These results can alert X-ray studies in the near future about sample damage during measurements, while suggesting the possibility of new applications. Also the obtained results show a new availability of the in-situ SR-STM system.