Solitary Adrenal Metastasis from Esophageal Adenocarcinoma: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Introduction. In patients with extra-adrenal malignancy, an adrenal mass necessitates investigating the possibility of metastatic tumor. Curable adrenal metastasis are considered as a rare event. Case report. A 52-year-old male suffering from lower esophageal adenocarcinoma with a solitary left adrenal metastasis is presented herein, who underwent concomitant transhiatal esophagectomy and left adrenalectomy. The patient remains disease-free 18 months later. Discussion. Adrenal metastases mostly occur in patients with lung, kidney, breast, and gastrointestinal carcinomas. Primary esophageal adenocarcinoma gives adrenal metastatic deposits according to autopsy series with an incidence of about 3%–12%. When no other evidence of metastatic disease in cancer patients exists, several authors advocate adrenalectomy with curative intent. Isolated cases of long-term survival after resection of solitary adrenal metastasis from esophageal adenocarcinoma, like in our case, have been reported only as case reports. Conclusion. This study concludes that surgical resection may result in survival benefit in selected patients with solitary adrenal metastasis from esophageal adenocarcinoma

Power-Aware QoS Enhancement in Multihop DS-CDMA Visual Sensor Networks

Abstract-We propose a quality-driven method for network resource allocation with transmission power control in a multihop Direct Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (DS-CDMA) Wireless Visual Sensor Network (WVSN). A multihop WVSN typically consists of source nodes that monitor different areas and relay nodes that retransmit recorded scenes. In order to achieve the best possible video quality at the receiver while consuming the least possible transmission power, we propose a joint optimization scheme that allocates the available resources among the nodes with respect to the imposed constraints. Moreover, we formulate a weighted bi-objective optimization problem and study the tradeoff between video quality and consumed transmission power. The simulation demonstrate that excessive transmission power is used when power control is omitted for a rather small quality gain for certain nodes

Case Report Solitary Adrenal Metastasis from Esophageal Adenocarcinoma: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Introduction. In patients with extra-adrenal malignancy, an adrenal mass necessitates investigating the possibility of metastatic tumor. Curable adrenal metastasis are considered as a rare event. Case report. A 52-year-old male suffering from lower esophageal adenocarcinoma with a solitary left adrenal metastasis is presented herein, who underwent concomitant transhiatal esophagectomy and left adrenalectomy. The patient remains disease-free 18 months later. Discussion. Adrenal metastases mostly occur in patients with lung, kidney, breast, and gastrointestinal carcinomas. Primary esophageal adenocarcinoma gives adrenal metastatic deposits according to autopsy series with an incidence of about 3%-12%. When no other evidence of metastatic disease in cancer patients exists, several authors advocate adrenalectomy with curative intent. Isolated cases of long-term survival after resection of solitary adrenal metastasis from esophageal adenocarcinoma, like in our case, have been reported only as case reports. Conclusion. This study concludes that surgical resection may result in survival benefit in selected patients with solitary adrenal metastasis from esophageal adenocarcinoma

Clinicopathological changes of perinatal mortality during the last 20 years in a tertiary hospital of Greece

Introduction: Perinatal period is the period that includes fetuses weighing > 500 grams (22nd week of gestation) and newborns aged up to seven days. Perinatal mortality is one of the earliest quantitative measurements of quality in obstetric care and affects approximately 0.5% to 1% of all pregnancies. Aim: The purpose of this study was the identification, classification, and frequency of causes of perinatal mortality in premature infants during 20 years (1992-2012) in a tertiary Maternity Hospital in Athens. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study based on Pathology Department record and contains autopsy findings of fetuses, newborns, and membranes of the period 1992-2012 in conjunction with clinical information. The authors excluded pharmaceutical miscarriage and those containing vague variables. The total population birth to the mentioned years in this Hospital was 23,703 and there were 278 deaths. The authors used the classification system of ReCoDe (2005) which best suited the present data. Changes in perinatal death cause were estimated and compared every five years during this period (1993-1997, 1998-2002, 2003-2007, and 2008-2012) and also divided according to the following gestational ages: 22-27, 28-31, 32-36, and 37-43 weeks using the SPSS 19.0. Results: Perinatal mortality was reduced up to 72.3% during these years. The vast majority of stillbirths were in their 22-27 week of gestation. Almost half of the fetal deaths were caused by fetal abnormalities, while in 78% the placenta had a main or secondary role. A detailed description of embryo-membranes and clinical status of the mother was performed. Finally the authors identified 15 newborns who had reached the 28th day of their life, of which 12 (80%) were premature. The majority were females and the mean age of the mothers was 28 years. Seven out of 12 newborns died of fetal problems, while three out of 12 due to intrapartum pathology. Conclusion: Pathogenesis of perinatal mortality is often unclear and associated to multiple causes. Impressive reduction of neonatal mortality has been realized during recent years due to the developments in obstetric and neonatal intensive care, but still many improvements are needed to be done

Comparative effects of ischemic preconditioning and iron chelation in hepatectomy

Purpose/Aim: Major hepatectomies can result in severe ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury of the liver. The aim of this survey is to comparatively evaluate the effects of a surgical and a pharmacological hepatoprotective modality on the liver remnant in a porcine model of hepatectomy. Material and Methods: Twenty-one Landrace pigs were randomly divided into three groups: a control group (CON) (n = 7), an Ischemic Preconditioning (PRE) group (n = 7) and a Desferoxamine (DFX) treated one (n = 7). Animals were subjected to 120 min of liver ischemia with subsequent 75% hepatectomy followed by 24-hr reperfusion. In all animals, continuous intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring was employed. Blood samples were collected at t0, t6, t12, and t24 hrs after reperfusion. Liver remnant specimens were excised for histological examination. Results: In the PRE group, ICP was statistically lower at t6 time point compared to CON group and in comparison with t0. In addition, ICP was significantly lower at all-time points after reperfusion in the DFX group. Finally, with regard to DFX and PRE group correlation, ICP was significantly lower at t0, t12, and t24 time points after reperfusion in the DFX group. In the PRE group, NH3 levels were significantly lower at t12 after reperfusion compared to CON and DFX groups. Histological evaluation elucidated significantly less hepatocellular necrosis, apoptosis, and degeneration in the PRE and DFX groups correlated to CON group. Conclusions: Both hepatoprotective modalities including PRE and DFX administration are associated with lower ICP levels and correlated with attenuated liver remnant injury. © 2015 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Evidence for nonautonomous effect of p53 tumor suppressor in carcinogenesis

Prostate, breast, and probably other epithelial tumors harbor inactivating mutations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene in the stromal cells, implying the nonautonomous action of p53 in carcinogenesis. We have tested this hypothesis by evaluating the tumorigenicity of MCF7 human breast cancer cells in severe combined immunodeficient mice that differ in their p53 status. Our results showed that, indeed, p53 ablation in the hosts reduced the latency for the development of MCF7 tumors. Furthermore, we show that heterozygous hosts frequently undergo loss of heterozygosity at the p53 locus in the tumor stroma tissue by mechanism that resembles the inactivation of p53 in primary tumors. To evaluate the impact of p53 ablation in the stromal fibroblasts, in tumorigenesis, tumors were reconstituted in mice bearing wild-type p53 alleles, by mixing MCF7 cells with fibroblasts isolated from mutant or wild-type p53 mice. Our results suggest that tumors containing p53-deficient fibroblasts developed faster and were more aggressive than their counterparts with wild-type fibroblasts, although their neoplastic component, namely MCF7 mammary carcinoma cells, was identical in both cases. These data strongly support the notion for the operation of a nonautonomous mechanism for p53 action in primary tumors and provide a mechanistic association between p53 mutations in the stromal component of epithelial tumors and carcinogenesis

Power–Aware QoS Enhancement in Multihop DS–CDMA Visual Sensor Networks

Abstract—We propose a quality–driven method for network resource allocation with transmission power control in a multihop Direct Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (DS–CDMA) Wireless Visual Sensor Network (WVSN). A multihop WVSN typically consists of source nodes that monitor different areas and relay nodes that retransmit recorded scenes. In order to achieve the best possible video quality at the receiver while consuming the least possible transmission power, we propose a joint optimization scheme that allocates the available resources among the nodes with respect to the imposed constraints. Moreover, we formulate a weighted bi–objective optimization problem and study the tradeoff between video quality and consumed transmission power. The simulation demonstrate that excessive transmission power is used when power control is omitted for a rather small quality gain for certain nodes