Head And Heck Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma: Clinicopathologic Study Of 173 Cases

Introduction: Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is the most common malignant salivary gland tumor, however few studies have been reported in Brazilian populations. Aim: To report clinical and pathologic data from 173 head and neck MEC treated in the Treatment and Research Center at Hospital do Câncer A. C. Camargo in São Paulo. Study design: Clinical randomized. Material and Method: From 1953 to 1997, 173 cases of MEC were found in the medical files of the center. Data were obtained from the patients' records and histological review of all cases. Results: The mean age of the patients was 44 years and 93 (53.8%) were men; parotid glands were affected in 61 cases (35.2%) and intraoral minor salivary glands in 75 (43.4%). TNM revealed 50.3% of the cases in stages I and II, and histological grading revealed 45.2%, 18.5% and 36.3% low-grade, intermediate-grade and high-grade tumors, respectively. Surgical treatment was employed in 80.3% of the cases, with neck dissection in 52 cases (30.1%), and radiotherapy in 73 (42.2%). Local recurrence, regional and distant metastases were found in 12.7%, 9.8% and 9.2% of the patients, respectively; 5-year and 10-year overall survival rates were 70% and 60%, respectively. Conclusions: MEC affected mainly the parotid gland and the palate of adults, without gender preference. Half of the cases were diagnosed at initial clinical stages and 64% of the tumors were low or intermediate-grade lesions. Surgery was the treatment of choice and prognosis was good.685679684Ellis, G.L., Auclair, P.L., Gnepp, D.R., Surgical Pathology of the salivary glands (1991) Major Problems in Pathology Series, 25. , Philadelphia: WB Saunders CompanyEllis, G.L., Auclair, P.L., Tumors of the Salivary Glands (1996) Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Atlas of Tumor Pathology. 3 rd Series, , Fascicle 17. 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The distance to the Sgr dwarf spheroidal galaxy from the Red Giant Branch Tip

We derived the distance to the central region of the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy from the Red Giant Branch Tip. The obtained distance modulus is $(m-M)_0=17.10\pm0.15$, corresponding to a heliocentric distance $D=26.30\pm1.8$ Kpc. This estimate is in good agreement with the distance obtained from RR Lyrae stars of the globular cluster M~54, located in the core of the Sgr galaxy, once the most accurate estimate of the cluster metallicity and the most recent calibration of the $M_V(RRLy) vs.[Fe/H]$ relation are adopted.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure, Accepted for publication in MNRA

ANATOMIA DO FÍGADO E VIAS BILÍFERAS DO MUÇUÃ (Kinosternon scorpioides)

Twenty livers of adult muçua were analyzed. The samples were obtained through an authorization of IBAMA (license nº 006/02, process nº 0220120011113/2002/81). The animals were anesthetized with xilazine (1mg/Kg/IM) and ketamine (20mg/Kg/IM). After muscular relaxation, they were sacrificed by means of an injection of sodium thiopental at 2.5% in the lethal doses of 60mg/Kg/IV). The coelomatic cavity was opened and the liver dissected with the aid of a magnifying glass. In all the animals the liver was quite voluminous, brown, rectangular in shape, extending through the whole medium portion of the coelomatic cavity, covering the pancreas, duodenum and stomach. External fissures divided the liver in 5 lobes: right lateral and median; square; left lateral and caudate with a papillae process. The liver is maintained in its anatomical position by the pressing of the coelomatic viscera as well as by the following ligaments: hepatogastric (connecting to the stomach); hepatoduodenopancreatic (connecting to the duodenum and pancreas); hepatopulmonar (connecting to the lung); hepatocoelomatic (connecting to the ventral portion of the coelomatic cavity) and hepatopericardic (connecting to the pericardial bursa). In regard to the bile ducts, it is observed that branches originated from the hepatic lobes pull together forming the main right and left ducts, which, together with the cystic duct derived from the gall bladder vesicle, originate the bile duct. According to these observations we concluded that the liver of the muçua is similar to the domestic mammals regarding the shape, number, characterization and bile draining of the hepatic lobe and differs from the ones of the related species such as salamander, snakes and other reptiles.Foram pesquisados 20 fígados de muçuãs (Kinosternon scorpiodes) adultos obtidos mediante autorização do IBAMA (licença nº006/02 e processo nº 022012001113/2002-81). Os animais foram anestesiados com cloridrato de xilazina (1 mg/Kg/IM) e cloridrato de quetamina (20 mg/Kg/IM) e após relaxamento muscular, foram sacrificados através da aplicação de tiopental sódico a 2,5%, na dose letal de 60 mg/Kg/EV. Em seguida prosseguiu-se com a abertura da cavidade pleuroperitoneal e a dissecação do órgão, auxiliada por lupa. Em 100% dos animais estudados aquele órgão apresentase como um fígado bastante volumoso, de formato retangular, coloração marrom, se estendendo por toda a porção média da cavidade pleuroperitoneal, envolvendo o pâncreas, duodeno e o estômago. Apresenta-se dividido, por fissuras externas, em cinco lobos: lateral e medial direitos, quadrado, lateral esquerdo, e caudato, este com o processo papilar. O fígado encontra-se mantido na posição anatômica pela pressão das vísceras pleuroperitoneais e pelos ligamentos, quais sejam, hepatogástrico (ligandoo ao estômago), hepatoduodenopancreático (ligando-o ao duodeno e pâncreas), hepatopulmonar (ligando-o ao pulmão), hepatopleuroperitoneal (ligando-o à porção ventral da cavidade pleuroperitoneal) e hepatopericárdico (ligando-o ao saco pericárdico). Quanto às vias bilíferas, observa-se que são formadas por ramos oriundos dos lobos hepáticos, que se juntam formando os ductos principais direito e esquerdo, os quais, juntamente com o ducto cístico, oriundo da vesícula biliar, formam o ducto colédoco. De acordo com as observações realizadas sobre a morfologia externa, conclui-se que o fígado do muçuã assemelha-se ao dos principais mamíferos domésticos, no que se refere à forma, número, caracterização e drenagem biliar dos lobos hepáticos, diferindo, entretanto, do das espécies mais próximas, como as salamandras, cobras e outros répteis

Horizontal Branch Stars: The Interplay between Observations and Theory, and Insights into the Formation of the Galaxy

We review HB stars in a broad astrophysical context, including both variable and non-variable stars. A reassessment of the Oosterhoff dichotomy is presented, which provides unprecedented detail regarding its origin and systematics. We show that the Oosterhoff dichotomy and the distribution of globular clusters (GCs) in the HB morphology-metallicity plane both exclude, with high statistical significance, the possibility that the Galactic halo may have formed from the accretion of dwarf galaxies resembling present-day Milky Way satellites such as Fornax, Sagittarius, and the LMC. A rediscussion of the second-parameter problem is presented. A technique is proposed to estimate the HB types of extragalactic GCs on the basis of integrated far-UV photometry. The relationship between the absolute V magnitude of the HB at the RR Lyrae level and metallicity, as obtained on the basis of trigonometric parallax measurements for the star RR Lyrae, is also revisited, giving a distance modulus to the LMC of (m-M)_0 = 18.44+/-0.11. RR Lyrae period change rates are studied. Finally, the conductive opacities used in evolutionary calculations of low-mass stars are investigated. [ABRIDGED]Comment: 56 pages, 22 figures. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and Space Scienc