Objective: The aim was to demonstrate a diagnostic challenge of sclerosing mesenteritis initially considered as liposarcoma. Clinical Presentation and Intervention: A 45-year-old man was admitted with a painful abdominal mass. Abdominal computed tomography demonstrated a well- demarcated tumor in his left hemiabdomen, with a large fat component and areas of soft tissue attenuation suggestive of liposarcoma. Intraoperative findings showed a tumor arising from the greater omentum. The tumor was completely removed, and histopathology confirmed a pseudotumorous type of sclerosing mesenteritis with dominant mesenteric lipodystrophy. Conclusion: This case showed that a pseudotumorous type of sclerosing mesenteritis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of the mesenteric tumors.

The importance of the extracellular matrix (ECM) glycoprotein tenascin-C (TnC) and the ECM degrading enzymes, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) -2 and -9, in cerebellar histogenesis is well established. This study aimed to examine whether there is a functional relationship between these molecules in regulating structural plasticity of the lateral deep cerebellar nucleus. To this end, starting from postnatal day 21, TnC- or MMP-9-deficient mice were exposed to an enriched environment (EE). We show that 8 weeks of exposure to EE leads to reduced lectin-based staining of perineuronal nets (PNNs), reduction in the size of GABAergic and increase in the number and size of glutamatergic synaptic terminals in wild-type mice. Conversely, TnC-deficient mice showed reduced staining of PNNs compared to wild-type mice maintained under standard conditions, and exposure to EE did not further reduce, but even slightly increased PNN staining. EE did not affect the densities of the two types of synaptic terminals in TnC-deficient mice, while the size of inhibitory, but not excitatory synaptic terminals was increased. In the time frame of 4-8 weeks, MMP-9, but not MMP-2, was observed to influence PNN remodeling and cerebellar synaptic plasticity as revealed by measurement of MMP-9 activity and colocalization with PNNs and synaptic markers. These findings were supported by observations on MMP-9-deficient mice. The present study suggests that TnC contributes to the regulation of structural plasticity in the cerebellum and that interactions between TnC and MMP-9 are likely to be important for these processes to occur.

Associative memory (AM) reflects the ability to remember and retrieve multiple pieces of information bound together thus enabling complex episodic experiences. Despite growing interest in the use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for the modulation of AM, there are inconsistent evidence regarding its benefits. An alternative to standard constant tDCS could be the application of frequency-modulated tDCS protocols, that mimic natural function-relevant brain rhythms. Here, we show the effects of anodal tDCS oscillating in theta rhythm (5 Hz; 1.5 ± 0.1 mA) versus constant anodal tDCS and sham over left posterior parietal cortex on cued recall of face-word associations. In a crossover design, each participant completed AM assessment immediately following 20-min theta-oscillatory, constant, and sham tDCS, as well as 1 and 5 days after. Theta oscillatory tDCS increased initial AM performance in comparison to sham, and so did constant tDCS. On the group level, no differences between oscillatory and constant tDCS were observed, but individual-level analysis revealed that some participants responded to theta-oscillatory but not to constant tDCS, and vice versa, which could be attributed to their different physiological modes of action. This study shows the potential of oscillatory tDCS protocols for memory enhancement to produce strong and reliable memory-modulating effects which deserve to be investigated further.

No abstract

Amitraz has become a signifi cant cause of acute poisoning because of its wide use in veterinary medicine during the last decade. The majority of published cases of amitraz poisoning have dealt with children, while severe life-threatening poisoning in adults is very rare. In this report, the clinical and laboratory features in a case of acute poisoning by amitraz and xylene in an adult are presented. A 72-year-old man accidentally swallowed about 40 g of Mitac 20, a commercial formulation of amitraz dissolved in xylene. The ingested dose was estimated to be about 10 g of amitraz and 35 g of xylene. Initial symptoms were dizziness and nausea, followed by coma, respiratory insuffi ciency, miosis, and hyperglycemia. As an α 2 -adrenergic agonist, amitraz usually causes bradycardia, but the present patient showed atrial fi brillation with rapid ventricular response, which was successfully treated by digoxin. Amitraz itself and xylene metabolites were confi rmed in his blood and urine, respectively, by instrumental analysis. Supportive and symptomatic measures were taken over 3 days, and the patient recovered fully despite the signifi cant ingested amounts of amitraz and xylene.