Giant cell leiomyosarcoma of the spermatic cord: a report

Presentation of the case of one patient with a leiomyosarcoma of the spermatic cord with presence of numerous giant cells, a remarkably unusual finding. Presence of this type of cells, as well as their positivity for histiocytic markers in immunohistochemical staining, raise considerable problems for the differential diagnosis of this neoplasia with malignant fibrous histiocytomas, which probably requires a different, more aggressive therapeutical approach.     

Modulation of motor behaviour by NMDA- and cholecystokinin-antagonism

Motor behaviour relies on complex neurochemical interactions in the basal ganglia, in particular the striatum. Antagonistic influences in this region are exerted by afferent projections from, on the one hand, the ventral mesencephalon, utilizing dopamine as a transmitter, and, on the other hand, from the cerebral cortex, signalling by the excitatory amino acid glutamate. The activity in both these neuronal populations appears to be regulated by the neuropeptide cholecystokinin. This article concentrates on interactions between cholecystokinin and glutamate, summarizing some recent morphological, biochemical and behavioural findings. It is suggested that cholecystokinin, acting via the cholecystokininB receptor, potentiates the glutamatergic excitatory input to the striatum.     

Posterior fossa epidural hematomas: a review and synthesis

The authors report three patients with posterior fossa epidural hematomas and analyze 80 additional cases in the accessible literature. They occur in the younger age groups with a clear male predominance (3.6 to 1). The loss of consciousness at the time of impact and just before surgical intervention have both proved to be factors indicating a poor prognosis. The clinical symptoms and signs were classified in three general types: increased intracranial pressure, brainstem dysfunction, and cerebellar disturbances. A fracture of the occipital bone was seen in 84.2% of the patients. The source of bleeding often remained undetermined, although a tear of the dural sinuses was a most frequent finding. An associated intracranial lesion was found in 39.7% of the cases, this being another factor indicating a poor prognosis. The overall mortality was 26.5%, while the surgical mortality was only 11.5%. Excellent results were achieved in 65% of the cases.     

Heterogeneous pipelined square-root Kalman Filter algorithm for the MMSE-OSIC problem

This paper describes a pipelined parallel algorithm for the MMSE-OSIC decoding procedure proposed in V-BLAST wireless MIMO systems, for heterogeneous networks of processors. It is based on a block version of the square-root Kalman Filter algorithm that was initially devised to solve the RLS problem. It has been parallelized in a pipelined way obtaining a good efficiency and scalability. The optimum load balancing for this parallel algorithm is dynamic, but we derive a static load balancing scheme with good performance.     

Relationships between landforms,soils and vegetation in the River Plate coastal plain,Argentina

The River Plate coastal plain is a 160‐km‐long, 3–10‐km‐wide strip, located to <5 m a.s.l. on the right bank of the estuary. It is formed by sediments and landforms generated by the littoral transport and marine ingressions and regressions during the Holocene. The coastal plain faces heavy pressures from Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area, with about 13 million inhabitants, industrial, mining and rural activities. Here, we analyse the relations existing between landforms, soils and vegetation. Despite the anthropogenic influence, the natural landscape is more or less preserved in some areas, such as patches of the southernmost gallery forest in the world in natural levees, the xerophytic forests located in well‐drained soils of beach ridges and other units such as Inland and Coastal Mudflats with wetland soils and vegetation, Tidal Flats with contrasting soils and plant communities among others.     

Approach to TiO2-light interaction in heterogeneous photocatalysis.

Photocatalysis can be a useful tool in the treatment of some recalcitrant and toxic pollutants. In fact, it is being applied today in several industrial processes. However some problems arise in the modelling of photocatalytic systems, most of them related to the radiation field. In this work, some methods are presented which can be powerful tools in the evaluation of the radiation absorbed by the photocatalyst, which is the energy really useful in promoting the photocatalytic process. All these methods are based on actinometric procedures carried out in different experimental conditions and using different photoreactors.     

Structural and mechanical characterization of lithium-ion battery electrodes via DEM simulations

Electrode structural stability and mechanical integrity is of major importance regarding not only lithium-ion battery performance but also safety aspects. The goal of this study is to design a simulation procedure to reproduce the microstructural and mechanical properties of such lithium-ion battery electrodes. Taking into consideration the particulate state of these electrodes, a discrete element method (DEM) approach is proposed, which comprises a procedure to reproduce real electrode structures and the application of a proper contact model to capture the bulk mechanics. This is accomplished by considering particle interactions as well as the performance of the binder. Three different electrodes are manufactured with the aim of calibrating and validating the Hertzian-bond contact model. Experimental nanoindentation measurements prove to be in good agreement with the simulation outcome, concluding that the method constitutes a valuable physical and mechanical basis for further applications.