Primary cerebellar glioblastoma multiforme

Glioblastoma multiforme in adults arising in the cerebellum is a rare tumor, well documented in only 13 cases in the literature. We report a fourteenth case, an 80-year-old female, and reassess the clinical and CT aspects of this tumor based on a review of the world's literature. The median age of patients is 53 years with a median survival of three months, which is less than adult cerebral hemisphere malignant gliomas.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45390/1/11060_2004_Article_BF00151226.pd

Astrocytes in brain tumours. Differentiation or trapping

Adult astrocytes have been described in several types of gliomas, being accepted as high differentiated cells. Their presence is specially important concerning the concept of undifferentiated neuroectodermal tumours (PNET). We have studied two series of brain tumors and compared and contrasted them with silver impregnation (89 cases) and GFAP (127 cases). These are our conclusions: these astrocytes show the same morphology not only in neuroectodermal tumours, but also in CNS parenchyma around meningiomas, metastasis and brain lymphomas; many of these astrocytes are mature, normal cells with involutive features, lying among tumoral cells without transitional stages; their presence is directly related to a prominent peritumoral gliosis, a high proliferation rate and an infiltrating growth. On this basis, it is suggested that most of them are astrocytes belonging to the invaded CNS tissue and not true tumoral cells

In vitro differentiation of myxoid liposarcomas maintained in organ culture system

Liposarcoma falls into the differential diagnosis of myxoid malignant mesenchymal tumors. On the other hand, its relation with white or brown fat is controversial. Two cases of liposarcoma have been studied by organ culture, a rnethod which provides cell and tissue redifferentiation in vitro. Both cases developed successively cytoplasmic glycogen granules and lipid droplets as well as a single lipidic vacuole in the late phase of cultivation as a marker of fat differentiation. Our results support the possibility of identifying myxoid liposarcomas as well as their origin from white fat tissue

Reference genome of the color polymorphic desert annual plant sandblossoms, Linanthus parryae

Sandblossoms, Linanthus parryae is a widespread annual plant species found in washes and sandy open habitats across the Mojave Desert and Eastern Sierra Nevada of California. Studies in this species have played a central role in evolutionary biology, serving as the first test cases of the shifting balance theory of evolution, models of isolation by distance, and metrics to describe the genetic structure of natural populations. Despite the importance of L. parryae in the development of landscape genetics and phylogeography, there are no genomic resources available for the species. Through the California Conservation Genomics Project, we assembled the first genome in the genus Linanthus. Using PacBio HiFi long reads and Hi-C chromatin conformation capture, we assembled 123 scaffolds spanning 1.51 Gb of the 1.96 Gb estimated genome, with a contig N50 of 18.7 Mb and a scaffold N50 of 124.8 Mb. This assembly, with a BUSCO completeness score of 88.7%, will allow us to revisit foundational ideas central to our understanding of how evolutionary forces operate in a geographic landscape. In addition, it will be a new resource to uncover adaptations to arid environments in the fragile desert habitat threatened by urban and solar farm development, climate change, and off-road vehicles

Antioxidant and toxicological evaluation of a <i>Tamarindus indica</i> L. leaf fluid extract

<div><p>In the scientific community, there is a growing interest in <i>Tamarindus indica</i> L. leaves, both as a valuable nutrient and as a functional food. This paper focuses on exploring its safety and antioxidant properties. A tamarind leaf fluid extract (TFE) wholly characterised was evaluated for its anti-DPPH activity (IC₅₀ = 44.36 μg/mL) and its reducing power activity (IC₅₀ = 60.87 μg/mL). TFE also exhibited a high ferrous ion-chelating capacity, with an estimated binding constant of 1.085 mol L^− 1 while its influence over nitric oxide production in human leucocytes was irregular. At low concentrations, TFE stimulated NO output, but it significantly inhibited it when there was an increase in concentration. TFE was also classified as a non-toxic substance in two toxicity tests: the acute oral toxicity test and the oral mucous irritability test. Further toxicological assays are needed, although results so far suggest that TFE might become a functional dietary supplement.</p></div