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

Falsification Of The Atmospheric CO2 Greenhouse Effects Within The Frame Of Physics

The atmospheric greenhouse effect, an idea that many authors trace back to the traditional works of Fourier (1824), Tyndall (1861), and Arrhenius (1896), and which is still supported in global climatology, essentially describes a fictitious mechanism, in which a planetary atmosphere acts as a heat pump driven by an environment that is radiatively interacting with but radiatively equilibrated to the atmospheric system. According to the second law of thermodynamics such a planetary machine can never exist. Nevertheless, in almost all texts of global climatology and in a widespread secondary literature it is taken for granted that such mechanism is real and stands on a firm scientific foundation. In this paper the popular conjecture is analyzed and the underlying physical principles are clarified. By showing that (a) there are no common physical laws between the warming phenomenon in glass houses and the fictitious atmospheric greenhouse effects, (b) there are no calculations to determine an average surface temperature of a planet, (c) the frequently mentioned difference of 33 degrees Celsius is a meaningless number calculated wrongly, (d) the formulas of cavity radiation are used inappropriately, (e) the assumption of a radiative balance is unphysical, (f) thermal conductivity and friction must not be set to zero, the atmospheric greenhouse conjecture is falsified.Comment: 115 pages, 32 figures, 13 tables (some typos corrected

Superhydrophobic polyethylene films by catalytic ethylene polymerization

Polyethylene films were grown on a flat silica surface modified by the bis(imino)pyridyl iron(II) catalyst during ethylene polymerization in an organic solvent. The resulting films show under certain polymerization conditions superhydrophobic properties. The development of the nascent polymer morphology which leads to the superhydrophobic behaviour depens strongly on the polymerization conditions, especially the solvent and the polimerization temperature. Advancing water contact angle as high as 169° and sliding angles as low as 2° for a 10ì droplet are obtained on these films. SEM images reveal special surface structures of these films containing micrometer-sized inlands, submicrometer particles on the islands, and stress nanofibers between the islands, which - in combination - render superhydrophobicity on the polyethylene surfaces

Visualization of local ethylene polymerization activity on a flat CrOx/SiO2/Si(100) model catalyst

Flat model catalysts give access to fundamental aspects of olefin polymerization over heterogeneous catalysts. They are especially suited for the investigation on the early stages of polymer film growth employing scanning probe and electron microscopy. The polymerization centers are confined to a well defined two dimensional plane that remains constant during the polymerization. Using the Phillips (CrO x /SiO2) catalyst as an example we demonstrate how this approach can be used do visualize the lateral distribution of polymerization activity in the initial stages of polymer growt

Well-defined polycaprolactone precursors for low surface-energy polyurethane films

For the purpose of developing model coating systems, it is important to use well-defined coating precursors. In this work, polyester oligomers were synthesized by controlled ring-opening polymerization of -caprolactone and 4-tert-butyl--caprolactone via an activated monomer mechanism. These well-defined oligomers, including 3-armed hydroxyl-functionalized polyesters and perfluoroalkyl-end-capped linear polyesters, have been obtained with controlled functionality and low-molecular weight polydispersity and without the formation of cyclic structures, as demonstrated by MALDI-ToF MS analyses. The polymer architecture and functionality can be tuned by using different initiating alcohols. These oligomers have been used as precursors to prepare model low surface-energy polyurethane coatings. Upon the addition of about 1 wt % of fluorine in the polyurethane films, the advancing contact angles for water and hexadecane have been increased to 105° and 78°, respectively; the surface enrichment of fluorinated species has been confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Surface model for gas-phase polymerizations of ethylene and propylene using supported metallocene/methylalumoxane catalysts

In order to obtain more detailed information about supported metallocene/methylaluminoxane catalysts, 2 catalysts are supported onto a flat silicon wafer by spin-coating impregnation. These model catalysts are characterized by SEM and EDX showing a film of metallocene catalyst dispersed inside the methylaluminoxane matrix, as well as regions of a localized increased concn. of the catalyst. Applying these model catalysts in a gas-phase polymn. reactor results in rather homogeneous films of polyethylene and polypropylene, resp. In addn., crater-like and spherical polymer structures can be obsd., probably formed by inhomogeneous catalyst distribution