A reconciled estimate of ice-sheet mass balance.

We combined an ensemble of satellite altimetry, interferometry, and gravimetry data sets using common geographical regions, time intervals, and models of surface mass balance and glacial isostatic adjustment to estimate the mass balance of Earth's polar ice sheets. We find that there is good agreement between different satellite methods--especially in Greenland and West Antarctica--and that combining satellite data sets leads to greater certainty. Between 1992 and 2011, the ice sheets of Greenland, East Antarctica, West Antarctica, and the Antarctic Peninsula changed in mass by -142 ± 49, +14 ± 43, -65 ± 26, and -20 ± 14 gigatonnes year(-1), respectively.

Nitric oxide regulates tumor cell cross-talk with stromal cells in the tumor microenvironment of the liver.

Tumor progression is regulated through paracrine interactions between tumor cells and stromal cells in the microenvironment, including endothelial cells and myofibroblasts. Nitric oxide (NO) is a key molecule in the regulation of tumor-microenvironment interactions, although its precise role is incompletely defined. By using complementary in vitro and in vivo approaches, we studied the effect of endothelial NO synthase (eNOS)-derived NO on liver tumor growth and metastasis in relation to adjacent stromal myofibroblasts and matrix because liver tumors maintain a rich, vascular stromal network enriched with phenotypically heterogeneous myofibroblasts.

Asymptomatic pseudoaneurysm of the ascending aorta diagnosed due to accompanying infection of a right atrial embolus.

We present a case of a large pseudoaneurysm of the ascending aorta, originating from the purse-string suture of the cardioplegia line which was essentially asymptomatic but was diagnosed during patient follow up for fever and elevated white blood count of unknown origin. During intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography, a free floating tumor was localized in his right atrium which after removal appeared to be an infected embolus with excessive neutrophils and monocytoid cells interspersed with cell debris and fibrin. Material send for culture was positive for streptococci, whereas tissues cultures from the pseudoaneurysm were essentially negative.