Scrotal metastases from colorectal carcinoma: a case report

A 72-year-old man presented with a two month history of rectal bleeding. Colonoscopy demonstrated synchronous lesions at 3 cm and 40 cm with histological analysis confirming synchronous adenocarcinomata. He developed bilobar hepatic metastases while undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Treatment was complicated by Fournier's gangrene of the right hemiscrotum which required surgical debridement. Eight months later he re-presented with an ulcerating lesion on the right hemiscrotum. An en-bloc resection of the ulcerating scrotal lesion and underlying testis was performed. Immunohistological analysis revealed metastatic adenocarcinoma of large bowel origin. Colorectal metastasis to the urogenital tract is rare and here we report a case of rectal carcinoma metastasizing to scrotal skin

Monitoring international migration flows in Europe. Towards a statistical data base combining data from different sources

The paper reviews techniques developed in demography, geography and statistics that are useful for bridging the gap between available data on international migration flows and the information required for policy making and research. The basic idea of the paper is as follows: to establish a coherent and consistent data base that contains sufficiently detailed, up-to-date and accurate information, data from several sources should be combined. That raises issues of definition and measurement, and of how to combine data from different origins properly. The issues may be tackled more easily if the statistics that are being compiled are viewed as different outcomes or manifestations of underlying stochastic processes governing migration. The link between the processes and their outcomes is described by models, the parameters of which must be estimated from the available data. That may be done within the context of socio-demographic accounting. The paper discusses the experience of the U.S. Bureau of the Census in combining migration data from several sources. It also summarizes the many efforts in Europe to establish a coherent and consistent data base on international migration. The paper was written at IIASA. It is part of the Migration Estimation Study, which is a collaborative IIASA-University of Groningen project, funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). The project aims at developing techniques to obtain improved estimates of international migration flows by country of origin and country of destination

Correction to: Clinical recommendations for cardiovascular magnetic resonance mapping of T1, T2, T2* and extracellular volume: A consensus statement by the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (SCMR) endorsed by the European Association for Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI).

CORRECTION TO: J CARDIOVASC MAGN RESON (2017) 19: 75. DOI: 10.1186/S12968-017-0389-8: In the original publication of this article [1] the "Competing interests" section was incorrect. The original publication stated the following competing interests

Low surface energy polymeric films from partially fluorinated photocurable solventless liquid oligoesters

We have recently shown that low surface energy polymeric films can be readily obtained from partially fluorinated hydroxyl-end-capped solventless liquid oligoesters by thermal curing [1]. Photocurable liquid oligoesters can be prepared by further substituting the remaining hydroxyl end groups with acrylic double bonds. A conventional photoinitiator containing 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone was used to cure the liquid oligoesters. As the fluorine content increases from 0 to about 1.57 wt %, the surface energy decreases by about 14 mN/m. The fluorine level in the outer few nanometers is significantly greater than that in the bulk, as revealed by XPS studies. The driving force for the surface segregation of fluorinated species comes from the large difference in surface energy between the oligoesters and their fluorinated counterparts

Low surface energy films based on partially fluorinated isocyanates: the effects of curing temperature

Self-stratification strategy can be used to prepare films in which both bulk and surface properties can be optimized. By using this approach, only a very small quantity of fluorinated species is needed to generate a surface with low surface energy. When cross-linking is involved during film formation, we are dealing with a competition behavior between the diffusion of fluorinated species and the formation of cross-linked network. In this study low surface energy polymeric films were prepared on the basis of partially fluorinated polyisocyanates, in combination with hydroxyl-end-capped three-armed solventless liquid oligoesters and modified hyperbranched polyesters. At a fluorine concentration of only 0.5 wt.%, contact angles of water and hexadecane can reach 120° and 80°, respectively. A surface energy as low as 10¿15 mN/m can be obtained upon the addition of less than 1 wt.% of fluorine in the films. It was shown, from real time ATR-FTIR and contact angle measurements, that the curing temperatures demonstrated significant effects on the cross-linking rate as well as on the wettability of the films

Low surface energy films based on partially fluorinated isocyanates: the effects of curing temperature

Self-stratification strategy can be used to prepare films in which both bulk and surface properties can be optimized. By using this approach, only a very small quantity of fluorinated species is needed to generate a surface with low surface energy. When cross-linking is involved during film formation, we are dealing with a competition behavior between the diffusion of fluorinated species and the formation of cross-linked network. In this study low surface energy polymeric films were prepared on the basis of partially fluorinated polyisocyanates, in combination with hydroxyl-end-capped three-armed solventless liquid oligoesters and modified hyperbranched polyesters. At a fluorine concentration of only 0.5 wt.%, contact angles of water and hexadecane can reach 120° and 80°, respectively. A surface energy as low as 10¿15 mN/m can be obtained upon the addition of less than 1 wt.% of fluorine in the films. It was shown, from real time ATR-FTIR and contact angle measurements, that the curing temperatures demonstrated significant effects on the cross-linking rate as well as on the wettability of the films

Low surface energy polymeric films from novel fluorinated blocked isocyanates

To obtain films with a well-defined F-content, a hydroxyl-functionalized oligoester was treated with with 2 different isocyanates: a novel fluorinated blocked isocyanate (FnB-NCO, F(CF2)n-CH2CH2-O-CO-(CH2)5-NH-CO-NCL, NCL = N-substituted caprolactam, n = 6, 8) and a conventional blocked polyisocyanate (Desmodur BL-3272). The ratio of FB-NCO and BL-3272 was varied to adjust the F-content. The crosslinking reactions were monitored by attenuated total reflectance FTIR. The F-enrichment in the top surface of the films was examd. by contact angle measurements and XPS. Temp. effects on both crosslinking and film wettability were investigated. Polymeric films with surface energies as low as 10 mN/m were prepd. The curing temp. not only demonstrated a dramatic effect on the reaction rate but also showed a significant effect on the wettability of the films. A higher curing temp. led to a less significant surface enrichment of F, due to the fast immobilization of the crosslinked networks. The mixts. had excellent stability below the deblocking temp. (.apprx.140 Deg) of the blocked isocyanates. [on SciFinder (R)

Low surface energy polymeric films from novel fluorinated blocked isocyanates

Polymeric films with surface energies as low as 10 mN/m were prepd. from a mixt. of a hydroxyl-end-capped solventless liq. oligoester (SLO), a blocked polyisocyanate, and a novel fluorinated blocked isocyanate (FB-NCO). In the well-defined FB-NCO the ratio of the fluorinated tail and the caprolactam blocking group was 1:1. Low amts. of fluorine were needed for obtaining very low surface energies via the surface segregation of fluorinated species. The low wettability of films was manifested by high contact angles of water (125 Deg) and hexadecane (80 Deg), by adding less than 5 wt % of fluorine. The pronounced enrichment of fluorinated species at the surface was verified by XPS. The curing temp. not only demonstrated a dramatic effect on the reaction rate but also showed a significant effect on the wettability of the films. A higher curing temp. led to a less significant surface enrichment of fluorine, due to the fast immobilization of the cross-linked networks. The mixts. had excellent stability below the deblocking temp. (.apprx. 140 DegC) of blocked isocyanates, while the well-defined FB-NCO enabled an easy adjustment of fluorine concn., both making this approach practically attractive and efficient to prep. low surface energy films by using small amts. of fluorine. [on SciFinder (R)

Low surface energy polymeric films from novel fluorinated blocked isocyanates

To obtain films with a well-defined F-content, a hydroxyl-functionalized oligoester was treated with with 2 different isocyanates: a novel fluorinated blocked isocyanate (FnB-NCO, F(CF2)n-CH2CH2-O-CO-(CH2)5-NH-CO-NCL, NCL = N-substituted caprolactam, n = 6, 8) and a conventional blocked polyisocyanate (Desmodur BL-3272). The ratio of FB-NCO and BL-3272 was varied to adjust the F-content. The crosslinking reactions were monitored by attenuated total reflectance FTIR. The F-enrichment in the top surface of the films was examd. by contact angle measurements and XPS. Temp. effects on both crosslinking and film wettability were investigated. Polymeric films with surface energies as low as 10 mN/m were prepd. The curing temp. not only demonstrated a dramatic effect on the reaction rate but also showed a significant effect on the wettability of the films. A higher curing temp. led to a less significant surface enrichment of F, due to the fast immobilization of the crosslinked networks. The mixts. had excellent stability below the deblocking temp. (.apprx.140 Deg) of the blocked isocyanates. [on SciFinder (R)