Benign giant cell tumor of bone with pulmonary metastasis- report of two cases and review of literature

Tumors that are metastasizing generally considered as malignant. But there are exceptions. Giant cell tumor of bone is well known for its potential to metastasize without sarcomatous transformation. Potential of benign GCT to metastasize was first reported by Jaffe et al in 1940. Prevalence of pulmonary metastasis in benign GCT is between 1-9%. Factors favoring metastasis include recurrence of tumor, surgical manipulation of initial bone tumor, location of femur etc. Peripheral or basilar portion of pulmonary parenchyma is involved commonly. Eventhough death reported in 16-25% of cases, overall it has a favorable prognosis. Surgical resection is preferred treatment for pulmonary metastasis. In the present study 2 case studies were done. In 1st study 18 year old female, known case of GCT Lt tibia, with history of curetting and cementing presented with pain and swelling at same site and pulmonary metastasis 1 year later. Biopsy from initial as well as recurrent tumor confirmed benign GCT without any features of atypia, mitosis or necrosis. Aspirate from pulmonary lesion showed osteoclastic giant cells. No treatment given to metastatic deposits and is asymptomatic even though size of pulmonary lesions is increasing. And in second study a 22 year old female, with past history of GCT referred to our institution for evaluation of lung lesion detected in X-ray. Patient underwent metastatectomy here and histopathology was similar to that of bone lesion. There was no evidence of sarcomatous transformation both in initial and recurrent lesion. Patient is asymptomatic other wise and doing well

STUDIES ON FLORAL PHENOLOGY IN PONGAMIA PINNATA L., A BIODIESEL PLANT

ABSTRACT: Pongamia pinnata seed oil could be as a source of biofuel from which enormous potential of high seed oil can be produced. The collection of pods with higher seed quality characters is much important for production of elite seedlings at nursery and hence studies related to seed maturation were initiated as matured seed is the basic character of quality seed. To study the steps in obtaining quality seed from the tree, studies were initiated on floral phenology. Randomly selected trees from 23 accessions of Pongamia planted in August, 2005 were selected for the studies conducted in two consecutive years, i.e. 2012-13 and 2013-14. The results revealed that in Pongamia accessions studied, the racemes per branch ranged from 13 to 112, buds per racemes ranged from 25 to 80 and 0-64 total number of flowers opened in a day in the year 2012-13. In the year 2013-14, the racemes per branch ranged from 8 to 246, buds per racemes ranged from 0 to 76 and 14-67 total number of flowers opened in a day. On an average 6.57g and 2.14g fresh and dry biomass, respectively was obtained. These studies will help in further investigation of pod and seed studies

Twisted large cellular fibroma of the ovary with pelvic effusion-revisiting incomplete demons Meigs’ syndrome

Fibromas of the ovary are benign tumours arising from the stromal component of the ovary. They represent 1% of ovarian neoplasms and are generally benign. The cellular subtype accounts for around 10% of these and is a tumour of uncertain malignant potential. Recurrence may occur or it could be associated with peritoneal implants. Usually these are solid tumours, sometimes with small areas of cystic degeneration. Occasionally, large fibromas may undergo torsion causing acute abdominal pain and generally tends to occur in post-menopausal women. The solid areas, ORADS and ascites simulated a malignant ovarian tumour on both MRI, USG and gross pathologic examination. Here we present a case of a postmenopausal woman presented with abdominal pain and postprandial vomiting with a large twisted ovarian fibroma leading to diagnostic and therapeutic challenges masquerading as a malignant ovarian neoplasm

IFN-γ receptor and STAT1 signaling in B cells are central to spontaneous germinal center formation and autoimmunity.

Spontaneously developed germinal centers (GCs [Spt-GCs]) harbor autoreactive B cells that generate somatically mutated and class-switched pathogenic autoantibodies (auto-Abs) to promote autoimmunity. However, the mechanisms that regulate Spt-GC development are not clear. In this study, we report that B cell-intrinsic IFN-γ receptor (IFN-γR) and STAT1 signaling are required for Spt-GC and follicular T helper cell (Tfh cell) development. We further demonstrate that IFN-γR and STAT1 signaling control Spt-GC and Tfh cell formation by driving T-bet expression and IFN-γ production by B cells. Global or B cell-specific IFN-γR deficiency in autoimmune B6.Sle1b mice leads to significantly reduced Spt-GC and Tfh cell responses, resulting in diminished antinuclear Ab reactivity and IgG2c and IgG2b auto-Ab titers compared with B6.Sle1b mice. Additionally, we observed that the proliferation and differentiation of DNA-reactive B cells into a GC B cell phenotype require B cell-intrinsic IFN-γR signaling, suggesting that IFN-γR signaling regulates GC B cell tolerance to nuclear self-antigens. The IFN-γR deficiency, however, does not affect GC, Tfh cell, or Ab responses against T cell-dependent foreign antigens, indicating that IFN-γR signaling regulates autoimmune, but not the foreign antigen-driven, GC and Tfh cell responses. Together, our data define a novel B cell-intrinsic IFN-γR signaling pathway specific to Spt-GC development and autoimmunity. This novel pathway can be targeted for future pharmacological intervention to treat systemic lupus erythematosus

Does Lateral Transmission Obscure Inheritance in Hunter-Gatherer Languages?

In recent years, linguists have begun to increasingly rely on quantitative phylogenetic approaches to examine language evolution. Some linguists have questioned the suitability of phylogenetic approaches on the grounds that linguistic evolution is largely reticulate due to extensive lateral transmission, or borrowing, among languages. The problem may be particularly pronounced in hunter-gatherer languages, where the conventional wisdom among many linguists is that lexical borrowing rates are so high that tree building approaches cannot provide meaningful insights into evolutionary processes. However, this claim has never been systematically evaluated, in large part because suitable data were unavailable. In addition, little is known about the subsistence, demographic, ecological, and social factors that might mediate variation in rates of borrowing among languages. Here, we evaluate these claims with a large sample of hunter-gatherer languages from three regions around the world. In this study, a list of 204 basic vocabulary items was collected for 122 hunter-gatherer and small-scale cultivator languages from three ecologically diverse case study areas: northern Australia, northwest Amazonia, and California and the Great Basin. Words were rigorously coded for etymological (inheritance) status, and loan rates were calculated. Loan rate variability was examined with respect to language area, subsistence mode, and population size, density, and mobility; these results were then compared to the sample of 41 primarily agriculturalist languages in [1]. Though loan levels varied both within and among regions, they were generally low in all regions (mean 5.06%, median 2.49%, and SD 7.56), despite substantial demographic, ecological, and social variation. Amazonian levels were uniformly very low, with no language exhibiting more than 4%. Rates were low but more variable in the other two study regions, in part because of several outlier languages where rates of borrowing were especially high. High mobility, prestige asymmetries, and language shift may contribute to the high rates in these outliers. No support was found for claims that hunter-gatherer languages borrow more than agriculturalist languages. These results debunk the myth of high borrowing in hunter-gatherer languages and suggest that the evolution of these languages is governed by the same type of rules as those operating in large-scale agriculturalist speech communities. The results also show that local factors are likely to be more critical than general processes in determining high (or low) loan rates

Discovery of anaerobic lithoheterotrophic haloarchaea, ubiquitous in hypersaline habitats

Hypersaline anoxic habitats harbour numerous novel uncultured archaea whose metabolic and ecological roles remain to be elucidated. Until recently, it was believed that energy generation via dissimilatory reduction of sulfur compounds is not functional at salt saturation conditions. Recent discovery of the strictly anaerobic acetotrophic Halanaeroarchaeum compels to change both this assumption and the traditional view on haloarchaea as aerobic heterotrophs. Here we report on isolation and characterization of a novel group of strictly anaerobic lithoheterotrophic haloarchaea, which we propose to classify as a new genus Halodesulfurarchaeum. Members of this previously unknown physiological group are capable of utilising formate or hydrogen as electron donors and elemental sulfur, thiosulfate or dimethylsulfoxide as electron acceptors. Using genome-wide proteomic analysis we have detected the full set of enzymes required for anaerobic respiration and analysed their substrate-specific expression. Such advanced metabolic plasticity and type of respiration, never seen before in haloarchaea, empower the wide distribution of Halodesulfurarchaeum in hypersaline inland lakes, solar salterns, lagoons and deep submarine anoxic brines. The discovery of this novel functional group of sulfur-respiring haloarchaea strengthens the evidence of their possible role in biogeochemical sulfur cycling linked to the terminal anaerobic carbon mineralisation in so far overlooked hypersaline anoxic habitats.</p

Social Media, Gender and the Mediatisation of War: Exploring the German Armed Forces’ Visual Representation of the Afghanistan Operation on Facebook

Studies on the mediatisation of war point to attempts of governments to regulate the visual perspective of their involvements in armed conflict – the most notable example being the practice of ‘embedded reporting’ in Iraq and Afghanistan. This paper focuses on a different strategy of visual meaning-making, namely, the publication of images on social media by armed forces themselves. Specifically, we argue that the mediatisation of war literature could profit from an increased engagement with feminist research, both within Critical Security/Critical Military Studies and within Science and Technology Studies that highlight the close connection between masculinity, technology and control. The article examines the German military mission in Afghanistan as represented on the German armed forces’ official Facebook page. Germany constitutes an interesting, and largely neglected, case for the growing literature on the mediatisation of war: its strong antimilitarist political culture makes the representation of war particularly delicate. The paper examines specific representational patterns of Germany’s involvement in Afghanistan and discusses the implications which arise from what is placed inside the frame of visibility and what remains out of its view