The innate signaling of dangers and the dangers of innate signaling

The innate immune system of mammals has been forged by coevolution with microbes in response to the double constraint of preserving a symbiotic interaction with commensal flora and eliminating intrusion of those commensals or invasion by pathogens. Thus, a 'sensing' network, accompanied by or lacking inflammatory responses, is controlled by elaborate mechanisms of regulation that maintain balance in the basal state. A growing number of non-Toll-like innate immune receptors is recognized as part of this surveillance network.     

The handedness of Michelangelo Buonarroti

The handedness of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564), one of the greatest artists of all time, is still controversial. Although there is no doubt that almost all of his well‐attributed drawings were drawn with the right hand, the hatch marks of the shading going downward from right to left; it has been often neglected in the literature that he was an innate left‐hander. An unfairly unknown autobiography of Raffaello da Montelupo stated that Michelangelo, a natural left‐hander, trained himself from a young age to become right‐handed. The same biography also underlined that Michelangelo restricted the use of his left hand only to works requiring force such as hammering, carving, and chiseling marble. The sign of the wooden crucifix donated to Santo Spirito in 1492 and two autographic sketches by Michelangelo—one left alongside a poem in 1509, and the other in the dress of the Vittoria Colonna sketch in 1525—are useful tools for analyzing the artist's evolution from left to right handedness when drawing, writing, and painting. Clin. Anat. 31:645–647, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

An international study of human handedness: The data

Human handedness has been the subject of systematic study since 1646, but there is no agreement among researchers as to who can be considered a left-hander, what is the etiology of left-handedness, or what the proportion of left-handedness is in the world's population. This article reports the results of a handedness survey administered to 12,000 subjects in 17 countries, the largest handedness survey attemped. The paper discusses methods for determining handedness, the probability of a genetic component for handedness, and the relationship of sex, birth order, multiple birth, and first-degree relative's handedness on subject's handedness. A hypothesis for the etiology of left-handedness is presented.     

The dangers of dog bites

This report describes an unusual case of endocarditis caused by Capnocytophaga canimorsus as a result of dog bite. The diagnosis could be established only by molecular techniques after amplification of bacterial DNA from the infected cardiac valve. The epidemiology and management of Capnocytophaga infections is discussed, as well as the role of prophylactic antibiotics in preventing these infections after dog bites.     

The myofibroblast: one function, multiple origins

The crucial role played by the myofibroblast in wound healing and pathological organ remodeling is well established; the general mechanisms of extracellular matrix synthesis and of tension production by this cell have been amply clarified. This review discusses the pattern of myofibroblast accumulation and fibrosis evolution during lung and liver fibrosis as well as during atheromatous plaque formation. Special attention is paid to the specific features characterizing each of these processes, including the spectrum of different myofibroblast precursors and the distinct pathways involved in the formation of differentiated myofibroblasts in each lesion. Thus, whereas in lung fibrosis it seems that most myofibroblasts derive from resident fibroblasts, hepatic stellate cells are the main contributor for liver fibrosis and media smooth muscle cells are the main contributor for the atheromatous plaque. A better knowledge of the molecular mechanisms conducive to the appearance of differentiated myofibroblasts in each pathological situation will be useful for the understanding of fibrosis development in different organs and for the planning of strategies aiming at their prevention and therapy.     

Sex differences in cognition: the role of handedness

Women typically outperform men on episodic memory and verbal fluency tasks, whereas men tend to excel on visuospatial tasks. As the vast majority of individuals are right-handed (RH), sex differences in the cognitive literature reflect laterality-specific patterns for RH individuals. We examined the magnitude of cognitive sex differences as a function of hand dominance in samples of RH and non-RH individuals. Results showed the expected sex differences in the RH group, whereas these differences were unreliable in the non-RH group. These results are discussed in terms of earlier findings of a more bilateral representation of language functions in non-RH men, possibly affecting their visuospatial performance negatively and their verbal performance positively, thereby reducing cognitive sex differences.