Neuromatch Academy: a 3-week, online summer school in computational neuroscience

Neuromatch Academy (https://academy.neuromatch.io; (van Viegen et al., 2021)) was designed as an online summer school to cover the basics of computational neuroscience in three weeks. The materials cover dominant and emerging computational neuroscience tools, how they complement one another, and specifically focus on how they can help us to better understand how the brain functions. An original component of the materials is its focus on modeling choices, i.e. how do we choose the right approach, how do we build models, and how can we evaluate models to determine if they provide real (meaningful) insight. This meta-modeling component of the instructional materials asks what questions can be answered by different techniques, and how to apply them meaningfully to get insight about brain function

Blue Ear Cyst: A Rare Eccrine Hidrocystoma of the Ear Canal and Successful Endoscopic Excision

Aims. Hidrocystomas are benign cystic growths of the apocrine and eccrine sweat glands. These cystic lesions have been well documented on the face, head, and neck, but rarely in the external auditory canal. Presentation of Case. A 67-year-old woman presented with a bluish cystic mass partially occluding the external auditory canal and interfering with hearing aid use. Lesion was excised completely via a transcanal endoscopic approach with excellent cosmetic results, no canal stenosis, and no recurrence at 1-year follow-up. Discussion. We present a rare eccrine hidrocystoma of the external auditory canal and successful excision of this benign lesion. We describe the surgical management using a transcanal endoscopic approach and follow-up results. An eccrine gland cyst that presents as a mass occluding the external auditory canal is quite rare. There are only a few such cases reported in the literature. These masses can be mistaken for basal cell carcinomas or cholesterol granulomas but can be easily differentiated using histopathology. Conclusion. Eccrine hidrocystoma is a cystic lesion of sweat glands, rarely found in the external auditory canal. A characteristic bluish hue aids in diagnosis and surgical excision using ear endoscopy provides excellent control

The Role of Vitamin D as a Prognostic Marker in Papillary Thyroid Cancer

The role of vitamin D in modulating several cancer-related pathways has received an increasing amount of attention in the past several years. Previous literature has found an abundance of evidence of vitamin D exerting an anti-proliferative, anti-inflammatory, and pro-differentiation effect in various types of cancers including breast, colon, prostate, and pancreatic cancer. Although the link between vitamin D and thyroid cancer remains controversial, both biochemical evidence and clinical studies have attempted to establish a link between papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and vitamin D status. Furthermore, the use of vitamin D as a prognostic marker has received increased attention, both in regards to clinical outcomes and cancer staging. In this review, we briefly discuss the metabolism and proposed mechanism of action of vitamin D in the context of PTC, and explore links between modulators in the vitamin D pathway and progression of PTC. We provide evidence from both clinical studies as well as molecular studies of metabolic targets, including vitamin D receptor and activating enzymes exerting an effect on PTC tissue, which indicate that vitamin D may play a significant prognostic role in PTC