Cerebral asymmetry in word-object matching by appearance and by function

Subjects were asked to say whether a word presented monaurally to the right or left ear matched a presented object. Analysis of vocal response latencies indicated that words relating to the function of the object were responded to more quickly when presented to the left ear and, by inference, the right hemisphere. Words relating to a physical characteristic of the object (e.g. color) were responded to more quickly when presented to the right ear and, by inference, the left hemisphere.     

Changes in the hamster liver after experimental infection with Schistosoma intercalatum. An ultrastructural study.

Syrian hamsters were exposed to cercariae of Schistosoma intercalatum. After 70 days, their livers were fixed by vascular perfusion and samples of liver tissue were studied by the electron microscope. Lesions consisted predominantly of mature egg granulomas, with some in earlier stages of development. The cells involved in both types of lesion are described together with their relation to the egg and the surrounding liver tissue. Only minor abnormalities were seen in the tissue distant from the eggs. These consisted mainly of (a) pigment accumulation, both in Küpffer and endothelial cells; (b) probably aspecific ultrastructural changes in the hepatocytes; (c) occasional slight fibrosis around portal veins. The Schistosoma pigment was compared with malaria pigment induced by infection of a hamster with Plasmodium berghei. The regular, crystalloid hemozoin particles in malaria infection were easily distinguishable from the coarser and irregular pigment deposits in schistosoma infection.     

Autogenous leukocyte migration in human malignancies.

The leukocyte migration test (L.M.T.) was utilized for in vitro study of cell-mediated immunity in human malignancies. Tumor cells and autogenous peripheral blood leukocytes from 35 patients with various malignancies, who were not receiving any therapy, were studied. There was inhibition of the migration of the autogenous leukocytes in 18 of 20 patients with resectable tumors who had no evidence of hematogenous metastasis or widespread disease, whether the local lymph nodes were involved or not. However, the migration of autogenous leukocytes from patients with hematogenous metastasis or widespread disease was not inhibited in 14 of 15 patients whether the tumor cells were obtained from the primary or metastatic sites. The utilization of fresh, frozen-thawed (dead) tumor cells, or tumor cell extracts gave almost the same results. This could indicate that localized tumors were recognized as antigenic by the presensitized autogenous leukocytes, resulting in the inhibition of the migration. This state seemed to disappear in the presence of hematogenous metastasis. Normal tissues did not inhibit the migration of the autogenous leukocytes, presumably because these had not been recognized as foreign or antigenic.     

Adjuvant immunotherapy in melanoma: a new approach.

Patients with metastatic cutaneous melanoma to two or more regional lymph nodes have an extremely poor prognosis despite radical lymphadenectomy. In an attempt to improve the survival and to determine the safety of a new method of tumor specific adjuvant immunotherapy in such a high risk group of patients, nine patients were studied. Three to four weeks after regional lymphadenectomy, each of them received a single intradermal injection of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin. Three weeks later, they were immunized by allogenic melanoma cells obtained from live donors with distant metastases. Each patient received three vaccinations, each from a different donor (except in one), to avoid development of HLA response, but maintaining exposure to melanoma antigens. No cultured melanoma cells were used. Each vaccine consisted of mitomycin-C treated tumor cells mixed with purified protein derivative (PPD) of tuberculin given intradermally once per month for 3 months. The patients were then observed with no further treatment. Utilizing the leukocyte migration inhibition test, there was some in vitro evidence of tumor specific cell mediated response which seemed to disappear 1-2 months postimmunization. At 5 years, five of the nine patients (55%) were alive free of disease. No autoimmune diseases were detected in any of the immunized patients. A major hindering factor for such an approach was the limited availability of the allogenic melanoma cells.