A bronchogenic cyst, presenting as a retroperitoneal cystic mass

Bronchogenic cysts are mostly benign, congenital abnormalities originating from the remnants of the primitive foregut. A retroperitoneal location is rare. Due to the mostly asymptomatic behavior and the historical confusion regarding histology, an exact prevalence is not known. We present here a case report of a retroperitoneal bronchogenic cyst. A literature review was performed for cases of retroperitoneal bronchogenic cysts written in English. Anatomopathological criteria for inclusion were pseudo stratified, ciliated, columnar epithelium together with the presence of at least one of the following: cartilage, smooth muscle or seromucous glands. In addition, the embryology, pathogenesis, radiological, clinical and suggested treatment modalities are reviewed. We report the surgical excision of a retroperitoneal bronchogenic cyst that presented as a non-functioning left adrenal mass. Our review of literature revealed only 62 potential cases of retroperitoneal bronchogenic cysts. After applying the strict anatomopathological criteria, only 30 cases of true retroperitoneal bronchogenic cysts could be identified. Retroperitoneal location of a bronchogenic cyst is rare. Despite the rarity of this pathologic entity, bronchogenic cysts should be considered in the differential diagnosis of retroperitoneal cystic lesions. Only histology can confirm definitive diagnosis. Surgery remains the recommended treatment of choice

Temporal variability and effect of environmental variables on airborne bacterial communities in an urban area of Northern Italy

Despite airborne microorganisms representing a relevant fraction of atmospheric suspended particles, only a small amount of information is currently available on their abundance and diversity and very few studies have investigated the environmental factors influencing the structure of airborne bacterial communities. In this work, we used quantitative PCR and Illumina technology to provide a thorough description of airborne bacterial communities in the urban area of Milan (Italy). Forty samples were collected in 10-day sampling sessions, with one sessionper season.Themeanbacterialabundancewasabout104 ribosomal operons perm3 of air andwas lower inwinter than in the other seasons. Communitieswere dominated by Actinobacteridae, Clostridiales, Sphingobacteriales and fewproteobacterial orders (Burkholderiales, Rhizobiales, Sphingomonadales andPseudomonadales).Chloroplastswere abundant in all samples. Ahigher abundanceof Actinobacteridae,which are typical soil-inhabiting bacteria, and a lower abundance of chloroplasts in samples collected on cold days were observed. The variation in community composition observed within seasons was comparable to that observed between seasons, thus suggesting that airborne bacterial communities showlarge temporal variability, even between consecutive days. The structure of airborne bacterial communities therefore suggests that soil and plants are the sources which contribute most to the airborne communities of Milan atmosphere, but the structure of the bacterial community seems to depend mainly on the source of bacteria that predominates in a given period of time

Vascular endothelial growth factor receptors VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3 are localized primarily to the vasculature in human primary solid cancers.

PURPOSE: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling is key to tumor angiogenesis and is an important target in the development of anticancer drugs. However, VEGF receptor (VEGFR) expression in human cancers, particularly the relative expression of VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3 in tumor vasculature versus tumor cells, is poorly defined. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: VEGFR-2- and VEGFR-3-specific antibodies were identified and used in the immunohistochemical analysis of human primary cancers and normal tissue. The relative vascular localization of both receptors in colorectal and breast cancers was determined by coimmunofluorescence with vascular markers. RESULTS: VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3 were expressed on vascular endothelium but not on malignant cells in 13 common human solid tumor types (n > 400, bladder, breast, colorectal, head and neck, liver, lung, skin, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, renal, stomach, and thyroid). The signal intensity of both receptors was significantly greater in vessels associated with malignant colorectal, lung, and breast than adjacent nontumor tissue. In colorectal cancers, VEGFR-2 was expressed on both intratumoral blood and lymphatic vessels, whereas VEGFR-3 was found predominantly on lymphatic vessels. In breast cancers, both receptors were localized to and upregulated on blood vessels. CONCLUSIONS: VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3 are primarily localized to, and significantly upregulated on, tumor vasculature (blood and/or lymphatic) supporting the majority of solid cancers. The primary clinical mechanism of action of VEGF signaling inhibitors is likely to be through the targeting of tumor vessels rather than tumor cells. The upregulation of VEGFR-3 on tumor blood vessels indicates a potential additional antiangiogenic effect for dual VEGFR-2/VEGFR-3-targeted therapy

Introduction : are Asia's thinkers accommodating China's rise?

In 1998, Professor Lucian Pye made famous scathing remarks about East Asia’s chronic memory-blockage and the consequent identity malaise muting any East Asian claims to global leadership. At the height of the Asian Financial Crisis and merely a decade after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Pye deemed neither China nor Japan capable of rising above their own parochialisms and cultural self-absorption to find an appropriate global idiom with which to envision an alternative East Asian world order. Pye was not even sure China, despite its economic promise, fitted at all into the dominant nation-state world order, being as it was a ‘civilisation pretending to be a nation state’