Scalp reconstruction after wide resection of an angiosarcoma

Introduction: It is difficult to reconstruct the scalp due to its poor elasticity and presence of layers over a rigid convex structure. Different surgical techniques are used to repair defects that may develop due to several etiologies, such as trauma, deformities, and disease sequelae, especially cancer, as noted in the present case. Cutaneous angiosarcoma, a rare and extremely aggressive malignant vascular tumor that mainly develops in elderly individuals, is clinically characterized by the onset of rapidly evolving erythematous purple plaques. The treatment depends on disease extent. Most patients are treated with wide surgical resection and reconstruction. The objective is to report a case of reconstruction of a major scalp defect after an oncologic dissection performed at the Hospital Central do Exército in Rio de Janeiro. Methods: An autologous graft and dermal matrices were applied during two surgical periods till the damaged area was fully covered. Results: Satisfactory results were obtained after performing skin grafting surgery in the resected area. Conclusion: The autologous graft and dermal matrix proved to be a viable option for scalp reconstruction

Anomie and Isolation: The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, Ghost in the Shell, Serial Experiments Lain, and Japanese Consensus Society

The essay explores how the societal effects of Japan’s economic recession during the 1990s are reflected in several cultural texts from that period: Haruki Murakami’s novel The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, the animé film Ghost in the Shell and the animé series Serial Experiments Lain.Faced with sudden job uncertainty due to the recession, Japanese individuals accustomed to the ideology of progress of a society that values uniformity and conformity have fallen into listlessness and withdrawal. Accordingly, the protagonists of these texts all experience a crisis of embodied subjectivity, or shutaisei that is tied to a loss of community and history.They work to reconstitute their shutaisei by first uncovering their personal and collective history in the form of a coherent awareness of their past. Transcending their isolation, they likewise strive to develop bonds with others through reciprocal communication.Particularly because these texts are characterized by elements of the fantastic and narratives of metamorphosis, they can also be seen as allegories of subversion against Japanese consensus society and its ideology of progress