Primary solitary retro-clival amyloidoma.

Amyloidosis encompasses a group of disorders sharing the common feature of intercellular deposition of amyloid protein by several different pathogenetic mechanisms. Primary solitary amyloidosis, or amyloidoma, is a rare subset of amyloidosis in which amyloid deposition is focal and not secondary to a systemic process or plasma cell dyscrasia.This 84-year-old female presented with history of multiple syncopal episodes, dysphagia, and ataxia. Motor strength was 3+/5 in the right upper extremity. Rheumatoid factor, cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP), and anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) were normal. Serum and urine immune-electrophoresis detected no abnormal bands. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated a non-enhancing soft-tissue mass extending from the retro-clivus to C2 posteriorly, eccentric to the right with severe mass effect on the upper cervical medullary junction. Endoscopic trans-nasal debulking of the retro-clival mass was performed with occiput to C5 posterior instrumentation for spinal stabilization.Primary solitary amyloidosis, unlike other forms of amyloidosis, has an excellent prognosis with local resection. Diagnosis requires special stains and a degree of suspicion for the disease. This is the first report to document an endoscopic trans-nasal approach for removal of a primary solitary amyloidosis of the retro-clivus. Management of vertebral amyloidoma involves aggressive local resection of the tumor when feasible and spine stabilization as the degree of tumor involvement mandates. Complete evaluation for the diagnosis of systemic amyloidosis is essential for the management and prognostication. Surgeons encountering such lesions must maintain high suspicion for this rare disease and advise pathologists accordingly to establish the correct diagnosis

No Excuses Charter Schools: A Meta-Analysis of the Experimental Evidence on Student Achievement

While charter schools differ widely in philosophy and pedagogical views, the United States’s most famous urban charter schools typically use the No Excuses approach. Enrolling mainly poor and minority students, these schools feature high academic standards, strict disciplinary codes, extended instructional time, and targeted supports for low-performing students. The strenuous and regimented style is controversial amongst some scholars, but others contend that the No Excuses approach is needed to rapidly close the achievement gap. We conduct the first meta-analysis of the achievement impacts of No Excuses charter schools. Focusing on experimental studies, we find that No Excuses charter schools significantly improve math scores and reading scores. We estimate gains of 0.25 and 0.16 standard deviations on math and literacy achievement, respectively, as the effect of attending a No Excuses charter school for one year. Though the effect is large and meaningful, we offer some caveats to this finding and discuss policy implications for the United States as well as other countries

Differences in stress tolerance and brood size between a non-indigenous and an indigenous gammarid in the northern Baltic Sea

Differences in stress tolerance and reproductive traits may drive the competitive hierarchy between nonindigenous and indigenous species and turn the former ones into successful invaders. In the northern Baltic Sea, the non-indigenous Gammarus tigrinus is a recent invader of littoral ecosystems and now occupies comparable ecological niches as the indigenous G. zaddachi. In laboratory experiments on specimens collected between June and August 2009 around Tva¨rminne in southern Finland (59°500N/23°150E), the tolerances towards heat stress and hypoxia were determined for the two species using lethal time, LT50, as response variable. The brood size of the two species was also studied and some observations were made on maturation of juveniles. Gammarus tigrinus was more resistant to hypoxia and survived at higher temperatures than G. zaddachi. Brood size was also greater in G. tigrinus than in G. zaddachi and G. tigrinus matured at a smaller size and earlier than G. zaddachi. Hence, there are clear competitive advantages for the non-indigenous G. tigrinus compared to the indigenous G. zaddachi, and these may be further strengthened through ongoing environmental changes related to increased eutrophication and a warming climate in the Baltic Sea region

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]

Editorial

EditorialGreen Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Structural Design & Mechanic

Glass engineering!

EditorialGreen Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Structural Design & Mechanic

Glass and the energy crisis

Civil Engineering & GeosciencesArchitectural Technolog

Challenging glass

EditorialGreen Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Structural Design & MechanicsApplied Mechanic

Glass performance

Structural Design & Mechanic

A connected glass community

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Structural Design & Mechanic