Lupus Vulgaris in a Maltese patient

Introduction The incidence of cutaneous tuberculosis (TB) in the developed world has fallen, in parallel with the decline of other forms of TB. Nevertheless cases still occur and their diagnosis may be difficult. We report a case of lupus vulgaris in a Maltese patient who went on to have an excellent response to antituberculous chemotherapy.peer-reviewe

Solitary fibrous tumour of the nose and nasopharynx

A case of solitary fibrous tumour of the nasal cavity is reported. These tumours, rare in the nose, are believed to be similar to fibrous mesotheliomas of the pleural cavity. The main presenting symptom is that of unilateral nasal obstruction and diagnosis is made on histological examination of the lesion. These tumours have to be distinguished from other spindle-cell tumours of the nasal cavity and sinuses.peer-reviewe

The menstruating bladder, an unusual cause of haematuria

A 39 year old lady presented with flank pain and haematuria. Radiological investigations showed unilateral hydronephrosis and a serum creatinine of 102?mol/l. At cystoscopy, a soft tissue mass was found in the region of the left ureteric orifice and was causing obstruction of the ureter. A resection biopsy of this lesion was taken. A CT scan and DTPA renogram showed a non-functioning left kidney secondary to chronic obstruction by a soft tissue mass at the left vesico-ureteric junction. Histological analysis of the endoscopic resection specimen showed that the mass contained tubal-type epithelium compatible with a diagnosis of endosalpingiosis (a rare variant of Mullerianosis of the urinary tract). In view of persistent symptoms, it was decided to proceed to surgery. A hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and partial cystectomy were performed. The patient has recovered well and is currently asymptomatic. Formal histology of the resection specimen showed the presence of endometriosis.peer-reviewe

Stylistic variation over 200 years of court proceedings according to gender and social class

We present an approach to detect stylistic variation across social variables (here: gender and social class), considering also diachronic change in language use. For detection of stylistic variation, we use relative entropy, measuring the difference between probability distributions at different linguistic levels (here: lexis and grammar). In addition, by relative entropy, we can determine which linguistic units are related to stylistic variation.This research is funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) under grants SFB1102: Information Density and Linguistic Encoding (www.sfb1102.uni-saarland.de) and the start-up grant for research projects from Saarland University

A second vestigial umbilical vein : a case report

A healthy female infant was found to have two umbilical arteries and two umbilical veins at the cut surface of the cord at birth. Detailed inspection of the cord showed the second vein to represent a short segment vestigial vessel that, moreover, was not associated with any other congenital anomaly as is often found in infants with umbilical vein anomalies.peer-reviewe