Malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the spermatic cord: a case report and review of the literature

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) is a morphologically ill-defined tumour of the soft tissues and may involve nearly every organ of the body. MFH of the spermatic cord represents an extremely rare entity and reports of it in the literature are limited. We report a 69-year-old man found to have a left spermatic cord MFH and retroperitoneal and mediastinal lymphadenopathy, who was treated with radical orchiectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy. The morphological findings of the spermatic tumour are presented and the literature is reviewed to clarify the potential diagnostic/therapeutic approaches and the prognosis related to spermatic cord MFH

Vampires in the village Žrnovo on the island of Korčula: following an archival document from the 18th century

Središnja tema rada usmjerena je na raščlambu spisa pohranjenog u Državnom arhivu u Mlecima (fond: Capi del Consiglio de’ Dieci: Lettere di Rettori e di altre cariche) koji se odnosi na događaj iz 1748. godine u korčulanskom selu Žrnovo, kada su mještani – vjerujući da su se pojavili vampiri – oskvrnuli nekoliko mjesnih grobova. U radu se podrobno iznose osnovni podaci iz spisa te rečeni događaj analizira u širem društvenom kontekstu i prate se lokalna vjerovanja.The main interest of this essay is the analysis of the document from the State Archive in Venice (file: Capi del Consiglio de’ Dieci: Lettere di Rettori e di altre cariche) which is connected with the episode from 1748 when the inhabitants of the village Žrnove on the island of Korčula in Croatia opened tombs on the local cemetery in the fear of the vampires treating. This essay try to show some social circumstances connected with this event as well as a local vernacular tradition concerning superstitions

Biocompatibility and degradation characteristics of PLGA-based electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds with nanoapatite incorporation.

Item does not contain fulltextThe aim of current study was to evaluate the effect of nano-apatitic particles (nAp) incorporation on the degradation characteristics and biocompatibility of poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA)-based nanofibrous scaffolds. Composite PLGA/poly(varepsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) blended (w/w = 3/1) polymeric electrospun scaffolds with 0-30 wt% of nAp incorporation (n0-n30) were prepared. The obtained scaffolds were firstly evaluated by morphological, physical and chemical characterization, followed by an in vitro degradation study. Further, n0 and n30 in both virgin and 3-week pre-degraded status were subcutaneously implanted in rats, either directly or in stainless steel mesh cages, to evaluate in vivo tissue response. The results showed that the incorporation of nAp yields an nAp amount-dependent buffering effect on pH-levels during degradation and delayed polymer degradation based on molecular weight analysis. Regarding biocompatibility, nAp incorporation significantly improved the tissue response during a 4-week subcutaneous implantation, showing less infiltration of inflammatory cells (monocyte/macrophages) as well as less foreign body giant cells (FBGCs) formation surrounding the scaffolds. Similar cytokine expression (gene and protein level) was observed for all groups of implanted scaffolds, although marginal differences were found for TNF-alpha and TGF-beta at gene level as well as GRO-KC at protein level after 1 week of implantation. The results of the current study indicate that hybridization of the weak alkaline salt nAp is effective to control the in vivo adverse tissue reaction of PLGA materials, which is beneficial for optimizing final clinical application of different PLGA-based biomedical devices.1 oktober 201

Dual growth factor delivery from bilayered, biodegradable hydrogel composites for spatially-guided osteochondral tissue repair

The present work investigated the use of biodegradable hydrogel composite scaffolds, based on the macromer oligo(poly(ethylene glycol) fumarate) (OPF), to deliver growth factors for the repair of osteochondral tissue in a rabbit model. In particular, bilayered OPF composites were used to mimic the structural layers of the osteochondral unit, and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) were loaded into gelatin microparticles and embedded within the OPF hydrogel matrix in a spatially controlled manner. Three different scaffold formulations were implanted in a medial femoral condyle osteochondral defect: 1) IGF-1 in the chondral layer, 2) BMP-2 in the subchondral layer, and 3) IGF-1 and BMP-2 in their respective separate layers. The quantity and quality of osteochondral repair was evaluated at 6 and 12 weeks with histological scoring and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). While histological scoring results at 6 weeks showed no differences between experimental groups, micro-CT analysis revealed that the delivery of BMP-2 alone increased the number of bony trabecular islets formed, an indication of early bone formation, over that of IGF-1 delivery alone. At 12 weeks post-implantation, minimal differences were detected between the three groups for cartilage repair. However, the dual delivery of IGF-1 and BMP-2 had a higher proportion of subchondral bone repair, greater bone growth at the defect margins, and lower bone specific surface than the single delivery of IGF-1. These results suggest that the delivery of BMP-2 enhances subchondral bone formation and that, while the dual delivery of IGF-1 and BMP-2 in separate layers does not improve cartilage repair under the conditions studied, they may synergistically enhance the degree of subchondral bone formation. Overall, bilayered OPF hydrogel composites demonstrate potential as spatially-guided, multiple growth factor release vehicles for osteochondral tissue repair

Coaxially Electrospun Scaffolds Based on Hydroxyl-Functionalized Poly(epsilon-caprolactone) and Loaded with VEGF for Tissue Engineering Applications

Item does not contain fulltextThe aim of this study was to fabricate nanofibrous scaffolds based on blends of a hydroxyl functionalized polyester (poly(hydroxymethylglycolide-co-epsilon-caprolactone), pHMGCL) and poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL), loaded with bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a protein stabilizer and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) as a potent angiogenic factor by means of a coaxial electrospinning technique. The scaffolds were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fluorescence microscopy (FM), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The scaffolds displayed a uniform fibrous structure with a fiber diameter around 700 nm. The release of BSA from the core of the fibers was studied by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and it was shown that the coaxial scaffolds composed of blends of pHMGCL and PCL exhibited faster release than the comparative PCL scaffolds. VEGF was also incorporated in the core of the scaffolds, and the effect of the released protein on the attachment and proliferation of endothelial cells was investigated. It was shown that the incorporated protein preserved its biological activity and resulted in initial higher numbers of adhered cells. Thus, these bioactive scaffolds based on blends of pHMGCL/PCL loaded with VEGF can be considered as a promising candidate for tissue engineering applications