Anti-Angiogenic Treatment (Sunitinib) for Disseminated Malignant Haemangiopericytoma: A Case Study and Review of the Literature

Introduction: A meningeal haemangiopericytoma (HP) is a mesenchymal tumour that makes up less than 1% of all CNS tumours. HPs arise from pericytes and present high rates of recurrence and distant metastasis. The primary treatment option is surgery. When the disease is disseminated, chemotherapy produces a weak and short-lived response; therefore, new drugs are needed. Case Presentation: We describe the case of a 65-year-old woman with a 13-year history of recurrent HP. After local treatment with radiotherapy, she developed metastases that required systemic treatment, and treatment with sunitinib, an oral inhibitor of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor and the platelet-derived growth factor receptor, was initiated. As a result, radiological stabilisation of the systemic disease was maintained for over 12 months. Conclusions: Anti-angiogenic agents can be useful for treating disseminated HP, but further studies are needed to confirm their possible role in controlling metastatic disease

Tunnelling in quantum superlattices with variable lacunarity

Quantum fractal superlattices are microelectronic devices consisting of a series of thin layers of two semiconductor materials deposited alternately on each other over a substrate following the rules of construction of a fractal set, here, a symmetrical polyadic Cantor fractal. The scattering properties of electrons in these superlattices may be modeled by using that of quantum particles in piecewise constant potential wells. The twist plots representing the reflection coefficient as function of the lacunarity parameter show the appearance of black curves with perfectly transparent tunnelling which may be classified as vertical, arc, and striation nulls. Approximate analytical formulae for these reflection-less curves are derived using the transfer matrix method. Comparison with the numerical results show their good accuracy.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Sensing with coupled-core optical fiber Bragg gratings

[EN] Sensitive bending and vibration sensors based on a coupled-core optical fiber with Bragg gratings are proposed and demonstrated. The interrogation of such sensors is cost effective without comprising the sensors performance.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under projects No. PGC2018-101997-B100 and RTI2018-0944669-BC31 and the Universitat Politècnica de València with the scholarship PAID-01-18.Flores-Bravo, JA.; Madrigal-Madrigal, J.; Zubia, J.; Margulis, W.; Sales Maicas, S.; Villatoro, J. (2021). Sensing with coupled-core optical fiber Bragg gratings. Optica Publishing Group. 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1364/FIO.2021.FM2C.21

Setas urticantes en tarantulas de Uruguay: ¿defensa activa o pasiva?

Most of the New World tarantulas feature specialized setae as a defense mechanism. Two mechanisms of defense have been proposed for the urticating setae (US): active defense against potential predators, and passive defense against other arthropods by incorporating the US to the molting mat and egg sacs. Uruguayan tarantulas present three different US morphological types named: types I, III and IV. It has been proposed that type I is used in passive defense whereas type III serves its purpose in active defense. There are drastic differences of biological characteristics between adult females and males. Females live most of their entire life inside their burrows, while males wander when they reach adulthood, looking for females during the reproductive season. Considering these differences, diverse defense strategies should be expected. To assess the possible role of US in active/ passive defense strategies we have counted the number of US in the abdomen of individuals of four species while making comparisons between sexes. Significant differences were found between males and females of all sampled species, with females showing a predominance of types I (except subtype Ic) or IV setae over other types or subtypes, suggesting these type of US takes part in passive defense.La mayoría de las tarántulas del nuevo mundo presentan setas especializadas como defensa. Dos mecanismos de defensa han sido propuestos para las setas urticantes (US): defensa activa contra potenciales depredadores y defensa pasiva contra otros artrópodos mediante la incorporación de US a las telas de mudas u ootecas. Las tarántulas uruguayas presentan tres tipos morfológicos de US llamados: I, III y IV. Se ha propuesto que el tipo I se utiliza principalmente en defensa pasiva mientras que el tipo III en defensa activa. Hembras y machos adultos presentan diferencias drásticas en su biología. Las hembras permanecen la mayor parte de su vida en sus cuevas mientras que los machos, una vez que se hacen adultos, salen y buscan activamente hembras durante la época reproductiva. Considerando estas diferencias se presumen diferentes estrategias defensivas entre los sexos. Para conocer el uso de los diferentes tipos de US en defensa activa o pasiva se estudiaron las dotaciones de US en individuos de cuatro especies de tarántulas de Uruguay, comparando machos y hembras. Se encontraron diferencias sexuales en todas las especies, las hembras muestran predominancia de US de los tipos I (excepto subtipo Ic) o IV sobre otros tipos y subtipos de US, lo que sugiere su participación en defensa pasiva