Myopericytoma of the Parotid and Molecular Profiling: Report of a Rare Case and Review of the Literature

Myopericytomas are uncommon tumors defined by their round to spindle shaped cells often arranged in a concentric pattern of perivascular growth. They are typically well-circumscribed, nodular, slow-growing lesions that occur in the soft tissue of the extremities. Here, we present a 30-year-old female with a 2.4 cm myopericytoma occurring in the deep lobe of the parotid gland. The diagnosis was made with detailed histopathologic and immunohistochemical findings and positive identification of the specific mutation for PDGFRβ p.Asp666Lys by next generation sequencing (NGS). This is the first case report of a parotid myopericytoma with a genetic testing that shows a particular mutation that has been linked to myopericytomatosis.

Ca’ Granda, Hortus simplicium: Restoring an Ancient Medicinal Garden of XV–XIX Century in Milan (Italy)

This work is based on the study of 150 majolica vases dated back to the mid XVII century that once preserved medicinal remedies prepared in the ancient Pharmacy annexed to the Ospedale Maggiore Ca’ Granda in Milan (Lombardy, Italy). The Hortus simplicium was created in 1641 as a source of plant-based ingredients for those remedies. The main objective of the present work is to lay the knowledge base for the restoration of the ancient Garden for educational and informative purposes. Therefore, the following complementary phases were carried out: (i) the analysis of the inscriptions on the jars, along with the survey on historical medical texts, allowing for the positive identification of the plant ingredients of the remedies and their ancient use as medicines; (ii) the bibliographic research in modern pharmacological literature in order to validate or refute the historical uses; (iii) the realization of the checklist of plants potentially present in cultivation at the ancient Garden, concurrently with the comparison with the results of a previous in situ archaeobotanical study concerning pollen grains. For the species selection, considerations were made also regarding drug amounts in the remedies and pedoclimatic conditions of the study area. Out of the 150 vases, 108 contained plant-based remedies, corresponding to 148 taxa. The remedies mainly treated gastrointestinal and respiratory disorders. At least one of the medicinal uses was validated in scientific literature for 112 out of the 148 examined species. Finally, a checklist of 40 taxa, presumably hosted in the Hortus simplicium, was assembled.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a Tool for Positive Identification from Frontal Sinus Radiographs

Frontal sinus radiographs are frequently used to identify human remains. However, the method of visually comparing antemortem (AM) to postmortem (PM) cranial radiographs has been criticized for being a subjective approach that relies on practitioner experience, training, and judgment rather than on objective, quantifiable procedures with published error rates. The objective of this study was to explore the use of ArcMap and its spatial analysis tool, Similarity Search, as a quantifiable, reliable, and reproducible method for identifying frontal sinus matches from cranial radiographs. Using cranial radiographs of 100 individuals from the William M. Bass DonatedSkeletal Collection, the frontal sinuses were digitized to create two-dimensional polygons. Similarity Search was evaluated on its ability to identify the correct AM radiograph using three variables: the number of scallops and the area and perimeter values of the polygons. Using all three variables, Similarity Search correctly identified the true match AM polygon in 58% of the male groups and in 62% of the female groups. These results indicate that ArcMap can be used with frontal sinus radiographs. However, further analysis of the three variables revealed that scallop number did not provide sufficient information about frontal sinus shape to increase the accuracy of Similarity Search, and area and perimeter only captured the size of the frontal sinus polygons, not shape. This research is a first step in developing a user-friendly, quantifiable frontal sinus comparison method for the purpose of positive identification.

Both German and Russian: Second-Generation Russian-German Identities in Germany

This essay presents the results of a qualitative interview study with young people of Russian-German origin born in Germany, i. e., the descendants of resettlers (Spätaussiedler) from the successor states of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Using poststructuralist theories that understand the linguistic practices and discursive attribution of social categories as modes of constituting subjectivity and corresponding identities, this study focuses on processes of natio-ethnocultural identity formation among the second generation of Spätaussiedler and their experiences of being externally ascribed to certain natio-ethnocultural categories. In the existing literature, this topic has been extensively addressed with regard to the first generation of Spätaussiedler, but not the second generation, whose conditions for identity formation in Germany are quite different due to their relative inconspicuousness, i. e., the invisibility of their migration background. For the first generation of Spätaussiedler, the dual exclusion as German in Russia and Russian in Germany was the cause of a persistent identity uncertainty, especially given that the labeling as “Russian” by supposed fellow Germans was perceived as a hurtful mis-ascription. The second generation, in contrast, is not subject to this dual exclusion. Surrounding society generally perceives them as German, thus reinforcing their corresponding self-identification as German. At the same time, there is a limited but positive identification with the category of Russian as well, which is less often activated by external ascriptions and rather fed by the presence of customs in the family context that are perceived as Russian. Members of the second generation are thus able to identify satisfactorily as both “German” and “Russian”. For this generation, the evasive intermediate category “Russian-German” therefore becomes obsolete as a source of identification, while it served and still serves as a first-generation strategy for coping with dual exclusion and the resulting inability to identify as either German or Russian. At the same time, a semantic emptying and a conflation of the category “Russian-German” with the category “Russian” takes place, which results from the second generation never having perceived its own cultural otherness both as non-Russian (before migration) and non-German (after migration), but only as Russian in Germany.

“These murals give life”: revalorization of public space, history and identity in mural art, Martín Fierro Festival, San Martín, Argentina.

The purpose of this article is to analyze a muralism festival organized by the municipality of San Martin, based on the theme of Martin Fierro and the notion of “Encounters at the border”. This study is based on qualitative research carried out between 2017 and 2020. We seek to understand the ways in which the themes of the Muralism festival are interpreted and resignified by Latin American artists. We also examine how these artistic practices transform a deteriorated public space, and how the Muralism festival, which is part of the Program San Martin Pinta Bien, constitutes a vehicle to de-stigmatize the neighborhoods, and generate a positive identification with the history and memories of the space.

Evolution of VIM-1-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolates from a Hospital Outbreak Reveals the Genetic Bases of the Loss of the Urease-Positive Identification Character

Evolution of multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens occurs at multiple scales, in the patient, locally in the hospital, or more globally. Some mutations or gene acquisitions, for instance in response to antibiotic treatment, may be restricted to a single patient due to their high fitness cost.

National identity exploration attenuates the identification–prejudice link

Social identity exploration is a process whereby individuals actively seek information about their group membership and show efforts to understand its meaning. Developmental theory argues that exploration-based ingroup commitment is the basis for outgroup positivity. We tested this notion in relation to national identity and attitudes towards immigrants. The results of five experimental studies among German adolescents and early adults ( N = 1,146; 16–25 years) and one internal meta-analysis suggest that the positive identification–prejudice link is weaker when participants are instructed to explore the meaning of their identity (Study 1). This is not mediated via self-uncertainty (Study 2), but via a reduction in intergroup threat (Study 3) and an increase in deprovincialization (Study 4). In addition, identity exploration enabled strong identifiers to oppose descriptive ingroup norms (Study 5). We conclude that identity exploration can contribute to a further understanding of the identification–prejudice link.

Early land plant phytodebris

Historically, phytodebris (often considered a type of non-pollen palynomorph - NPP) has played a prominent role in research into the fossil record of early land plants. This phytodebris consists of cuticles and cuticle-like sheets, various tubular structures (including tracheids and tracheid-like tubes), and sundry other enigmatic fragments. Initial research focussed on elucidating their morphology, attempts to identify them in situ in plant megafossils, and comparisons with potentially homologous structures in extant plants. The fragmentary nature of these remains, and associated difficulties in positively identifying their presence in fossil/extant plants, resulted in vigorous debate regarding what many of these microfossils actually represented and their relevance to early land plant studies. More recently a wider array of analytical techniques has been applied (e.g. ultrastructural analysis, geochemistry and taphonomic experiments). However, positive identification of the affinities of at least some of these enigmatic fossils remained elusive. Ongoing investigations based on exceptionally preserved material from Lagerstätten (charcoalified and silicified) seem to have finally demonstrated that the more enigmatic of these remains derive from nematophytes that probably represent fungi and possibly also lichenised fungi.