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Inflammatory pseudotumor (IPT) is a quasineoplastic lesion that most commonly involves the lung and the orbit; kidney involvement is rare. We report a case of inflammatory pseudotumor of the kidney. The patient was a 61-year-old man who presented with no symptoms. Nonenhanced computed tomography (CT) demonstrated an ill-defined, isodensity mass measuring 3.5 cm in the lower portion of the left kidney. Contrast-enhanced CT showed that branches of the renal artery without encasement penetrated the tumor; there was a little enhancement in the mass on the arterial phase and homogeneous enhancement on the venous phase. On magnetic resonance imaging the mass showed intermediate signal intensity on T1-weighted images (T1WIs) and low signal intensity on T2WIs. Most IPTs of the kidney appear as an ill-defined, hypovascular, homogeneous tumor on CT images, with variable signal intensity on MRI T1WIs and low signal intensity on T2WIs. Our case had the same imaging findings, with branches of the renal artery penetrating the tumor. If the renal tumor has these radiological findings, the tumor may be IPT.

Transurethral bladder neck collagen injection therapy was performed in a patient with retrograde ejaculation. The phenomenon of retrograde ejaculation and its correction after the therapy were clearly demonstrated by color Doppler ultrasonography. To our knowledge this is the first report showing successful observation of retrograde ejaculation using color Doppler ultrasonography.

Clinical use of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) is hampered by the technical limitations of their expansion. Here, we developed a chemically synthetic culture substrate for human pluripotent stem cell attachment and maintenance. The substrate comprises a hydrophobic polyvinyl butyral-based polymer (PVB) and a short peptide that enables easy and uniform coating of various types of cell culture ware. The coated ware exhibited thermotolerance, underwater stability and could be stored at room temperature. The substrate supported hPSC expansion in combination with most commercial culture media with an efficiency similar to that of commercial substrates. It supported not only the long-term expansion of examined iPS and ES cell lines with normal karyotypes during their undifferentiated state but also directed differentiation of three germ layers. This substrate resolves major concerns associated with currently used recombinant protein substrates and could be applied in large-scale automated manufacturing; it is suitable for affordable and stable production of clinical-grade hPSCs and hPSC-derived products.

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