Primary Omental Myxoid Leiomyosarcoma: Report of a Case and a Review of the Literature

A 41-year-old Japanese woman who presented with right lower abdominal pain underwent partial omental resection with tumor excision, leaving no residual tumor. The tumor was diagnosed as a myxoid leiomyosarcoma that apparently originated in the greater omentum. A recurrent omental tumor was excised at 4.5 months after the first operation, and then at 5.5 months after this, CT revealed metastatic sarcoma at the surface of the liver (S7) and the left upper abdomen. She died 20 months after the last operation despite treatment of the metastases with MAID therapy (mesna, adriamycin, ifosfamide, dacarbazine). A literature review revealed that this tumor mainly occurs in the uterus, soft tissue, and cardiovascular system, with a preponderance among middle-aged to elderly women. The present report is the first description of primary omental myxoid leiomyosarcoma

Creating drag and lift curves from soccer trajectories

Trajectory analysis is an alternative to using wind tunnels to measure a soccer balls aerodynamic properties. It has advantages over wind tunnel testing such as being more representative of game play. However, previous work has not presented a method that produces complete, speed -dependent drag and lift coefficients. Four high-speed cameras in stereo-calibrated pairs were used to measure the spatial co-ordinates for 29 separate soccer trajectories. Those trajectories span a range of launch speeds from 9.3 m/s to 29.9 m/s. That range encompasses low-speed laminar flow of air over a soccer ball, through the drag crises where air flow is both laminar and turbulent, and up to high-speed turbulent air flow. Results from trajectory analysis were combined to give speed-dependent drag and lift coefficient curves for the entire range of speeds found in the 29 trajectories. Average root mean square error between measured and modelled trajectory was 0.028 m horizontally and 0.034 m vertically. The drag and lift crises can be observed in the plots of drag and lift coefficients respectively

Atypical Carcinoid Tumor of the Lung: Report of a Case with Intrapulmonary Metastasis

A 71-year-old man was noted to have a nodular opacity in S8 of the right lung. Thirteen months later, the chest CT showed a lesion "gloved finger shape " with focal calcification, and a small nodular opacity appeared in right S7. A right lower lobectomy was performed under video-assisted thoracic surgery. The tumor filled the S8 bronchus, with invasion into the pulmonary parenchyma and S7 metastasis. Mitotic figures were seen in 5 of 10 high power fields. Positive staining for chromogranin A and synaptophysin led to the diagnosis of atypical carcinoid. The patient has been disease-free without treatment for 9 months

Increased vascular permeability by a specific agonist of protease-activated receptor-2 in rat hindpaw

The present study examined the effect of intraplantar (i.pl.) administration of a selective agonist of protease-activated receptor (PAR)-2, SLIGRL-NH(2)(PP6-NH(2)), on vascular permeability in rat hindpaw. PP6-NH(2), administered i.pl. at 10–100 nmol per paw, enhanced vascular permeability and caused oedema formation in rat hindpaw. SLIGRL (PP6-OH) and trypsin, by i.pl. administration, also elicited an increase in vascular permeability, although i.pl. administration of the mixture of constituent amino acids of PP6-OH at an equivalent dose did not. The PP6-NH(2)-induced increase in vascular permeability was abolished by repeated pretreatment with compound 48/80 to deplete bioactive amines in mast cells. These findings suggest that the activation of PAR-2 induces acute inflammation, at least partially, via mast cell degranulation in rat hindpaw