The rare mediastinal lipoma: a postmortem case report.

Mediastinal lipomas are extremely rare, so there are few reported cases. We report a postmortem case of this rare intrathoracic lipoma in a 79-year old female cadaver. The gross features of the tumor and histopathological findings confirmed the diagnosis of a massive simple benign lipoma. To our knowledge, this is the first case to be reported at such an advanced age and the second postmortem case found during comprehensive review of literature.

The role of medical museums in contemporary medical education.

From the early 19th century until the most recent two decades, open-space and satellite museums featuring anatomy and pathology collections (collectively referred to as "medical museums") had leading roles in medical education. However, many factors have caused these roles to diminish dramatically in recent years. Chief among these are the great advances in information technology and web-based learning that are currently at play in every level of medical training. Some medical schools have abandoned their museums while others have gradually given away their museums' contents to devote former museum space to new classrooms, lecture halls, and laboratories. These trends have accelerated as medical school enrollment has increased and as increasing interest in biological and biomedical research activities have caused medical schools to convert museum space into research facilities. A few medical schools, however, have considered the contents of their museums as irreplaceable resources for modern medicine and medical education and the space these occupy as great environments for independent and self-directed learning. Consequently, some medical schools have updated their medical museums and equipped them with new technologies. The Anatomical Museum of Leiden University Medical Center in The Netherlands and the Medical Museum of Kawasaki Medical School in Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan, are two examples of such upgraded museums. Student surveys at Leiden University have indicated that all students (100%) found audio-guided museum tours to be useful for learning and majorities of them found guided tours to be clinically relevant (87%). However, 69% of students felt that museum visits should be optional rather than compulsory within the medical training curriculum.

Histidine-rich Ca binding protein: a regulator of sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium sequestration and cardiac function.

Defects in the pathways that regulate cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) calcium (Ca) cycling represent prime targets for driving the deterioration of function and progression to heart failure. We hypothesized that the histidine-rich Ca binding protein (HRC) in the SR may be involved in SR Ca cycling and that alterations in HRC levels would result in abnormal cardiac Ca homeostasis. In order to test this hypothesis, we generated transgenic mice with cardiac overexpression (3-fold) of HRC. Increased cardiac HRC levels were associated with impaired SR Ca uptake rates (35%) and attenuated cardiomyocyte Ca transient decay (38%), without alterations in peak Ca transients or SR Ca load. The depressed SR Ca sequestration was associated with attenuated rate of Ca extrusion via Na-Ca exchange. Triadin protein expression levels and L-type Ca channel current density were increased, while the channel inactivation kinetics were not altered. Impaired SR Ca uptake and delayed Ca decline rates triggered hypertrophy and compromised the heart's responses to increased stress by either hemodynamic overload or the aging process. By 18 months of age, cardiac remodeling deteriorated to congestive heart failure in transgenic mice. Collectively, these data suggest that HRC may be an integral regulatory protein involved in cardiac muscle SR Ca uptake and Ca homeostasis.

Production of fertile transgenic wheat plants by laser micropuncture.

A modified, non-damaging, protocol for the production of fertile transgenic wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cultivar Giza 164) plants by laser micropuncture was developed. The new homemade setup secures the transformation of as many as 60 immature embryo-derived calli (10000 cells each) in less than one hour using a UV excimer laser with two dimensional translation stages, a suitable computer program and a proper optical system. Five-day-old calli were irradiated by a focused laser microbeam to puncture momentarily made self-healing holes ( approximately 0.5 microm) in the cell wall and membrane to allow uptake of the exogenous DNA. The plant expression vector pAB6 containing bar gene as a selectable marker for the herbicide bialaphos resistance and GUS (uidA) gene as a reporter gene was used for transformation. No selection pressure was conducted during the four-week callus induction period. Induced calli were transferred to a modified MS medium with 1 mg l(-1) bialaphos for regeneration, followed by selection on 2 mg l(-1) bialaphos for rooting. Three regenerated putative transgenic events were evaluated for the integration and stable expression of both genes and results indicated that this modified procedure of laser-mediated transformation can be successfully used in transforming wheat.

The use of rectal misoprostol as active pharmacological management of the third stage of labor.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of rectal Misoprostol versus combined intramuscular oxytocin and ergometrine (O-E) in the management of the third stage of labor. METHODS: Low-risk women in 3rd stage of labor were allocated to receive either rectal Misoprostol [200micrograms (n = 25), 400 micrograms (n = 45)] or 5-units oxytocin and 0.2 mg ergometrine intramuscularly (n = 75). Clinical and hematological parameters were compared using t and chi-square tests. RESULTS: Both groups were well matched and had similar duration of the 3rd-stage of labor. Misoprostol users had lower 3rd-stage estimated blood loss and needed less further ecbolics compared to O-E group. Postpartum Hb and Hct levels were significantly lower in O-E group than Misoprostol group. Postpartum hypertension occurred more in O-E group. Subjects in Misoprostol group had more shivering. Subjects receiving 200 micrograms and 400 microgram Misoprostol had similar outcome variables. CONCLUSION: Rectal Misoprostol may be used safely in the management of the third stage of labor.