A Cardiac Rhabdomyoma in a Guinea Pig

A guinea pig (9-week-old) that had been placed in a control group for a pharmacological test was found to have a single nodule on the surface of the right ventricular wall. In a transverse section of the heart after fixation, a whitish mass was found that extended from the subendocardium to the subepicardium of the right ventricular wall. Histopathological examination revealed a spongy network consisting of vacuolated spaces in the myocardium of the right ventricle extending to the myocardium and subepicardium of the right atrium. The vacuolated space was PAS-positive. Immunohistochemical examinations revealed that the lesions contained striated fibers that were positive for anti-desmin and anti-myoglobin. Electron micrographs revealed the lesions resulting in affected striated muscle fibers and accumulations of many glycogen granules. Based on the findings, the lesions were diagnosed as a cardiac rhabdomyoma. This is the first report of application of immunohistochemical examinations to diagnosis of cardiac rhabdomyoma in the guinea pig

Pressure-induced phase transition for single crystalline LaO0.5F0.5BiSe2

We have demonstrated a pressure-induced phase transition from a low-Tc phase to a high-Tc phase in a single crystal of the superconductor LaO0.5F0.5BiSe2. The high-Tc phase appears at 2.16 GPa and the maximum superconducting transition temperature (Tc) is observed at 6.7 K under 2.44 GPa. Although the anisotropy ({\gamma}) for the low-Tc phase is estimated to be 20, it is reduced by around half (9.3) in the high-Tc phase. This tendency is the same for the BiS2 system. The Tc of LaO0.5F0.5BiSe2 has continued to increase up to the maximum pressure of this study (2.44 GPa). Therefore applied further pressure has the potential to induce a much higher Tc in this system.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure