Laterality, torque and personality

Evidence accumulating from a variety of methodological approaches suggests that unusual laterality is often a concomitant feature of emotional pathology. In the present study both torque and a multifaceted measure of laterality were examined with respect to personality variables measured by the 16 PF in a normal population. Interestingly, a pattern of emotionality for subjects with a more confused laterality was revealed in a normal population which is notably similar to reported aberrant personality factors and laterality in more pathological groups. The existence of a cohesive continuum of emotional expression in relation to confused laterality is suggested. In addition, both torque and the multifactored measure of laterality are critiqued as research measures and for their clinical potential.     

Patterns of calcifications and cholangiographic findings in hepatobiliary tuberculosis

The radiologic findings on conventional examinations (plain films and cholangiograms) in a large group of patients with proven hepatobiliary tuberculosis are reviewed. The plain film findings of large chalky and confluent hepatic calcifications or nodal-type calcifications along the course of the common bile duct are suggestive of hepatobiliary tuberculosis. Small, discrete, scattered calcifications may be mimicked by histoplasmosis but can be differentiated from hepatobiliary tuberculosis. Obstructing defects seen on cholangiography are indicative of tuberculosis when adjacent calcifications are present. The patterns of liver calcifications could provide a clue to the diagnosis of hepatobiliary tuberculosis and its differentiation from liver calcifications of various other etiologies.     

Cytogenetic effects of methylmercury in embryos of the killifish,Fundulus heteroclitus

Fertilized eggs of the killifish,Fundulus heteroclitus, were exposed experimentally to methylmercury (MeHg) to evaluate whether this compound induced cytogenetic effects expressed in the embryos. An additional objective was to assess cytogenetically whetherFundulus embryos from groups that were determined to be more susceptible to the teratogenic effects of MeHg were also more susceptible to its mutagenic effects. Embryos exposed to 0.05 mg/L MeHg for 1 and 7 days post-fertilization were preserved in 10% formalin for cytological examination, while unfixed embryos from the same clutches were evaluated for teratogenic effects. Untreated embyros from each clutch served as controls. Cytogenetic-cytological analyses of fixed treated susceptible embryos that exhibited teratogenic effects revealed decreased mitotic counts (5.0-fold), and increased chromosomal aberrations (2.5-fold) when compared to their controls. There were also decreased mitotic counts (1.5-fold) and increased chromosomal aberrations (2-fold) in embryos from resistant groups when compared to their controls. Exposure to MeHg also retarded development. Forty to fifty percent of the susceptible and resistant control embryos reached the tail-bud stage, but only 28% of the treated resistant and none of the treated susceptible embryos reached this stage. There was also a significant correlation (P < 0.05) between teratogenic and mutagenic effects of MeHg in early stages ofFundulus.     

Resistance of Drosophila to cadmium: biochemical factors in resistant and sensitive strains

With regard to cadmium toxicity, Drosophila strains v;bw and Austin represent extremes in resistance and sensitivity, respectively. Both strains produced metallothionein (MT) in response to Cd ions in their diet. Austin produced more metallothionein than v;bw at Cd ion levels below 0.2 mM, when both strains were allowed lifetime development on Cd2+-containing media. When the rate of MT appearance was measured for 4 days in young adults the results showed no clear trend with time within a strain or between strains. The plot of LC50 vs. MT levels for identical developmental conditions revealed that for v;bw small increases in MT corresponded to large increases in resistance whereas for the sensitive Austin even large increases in MT had comparatively little effect on increasing LC50. Results given here suggest that differences in total MT content do not explain the genetically demonstrable difference in Cd2+-resistance between v;bw and Austin. However, since two MT genes are identified in Drosophila, differences in resistance could be reflective of greater relative amounts of one "more important" MT in the resistant fly.     

基于"WD倒谱"法分析人体脾组织的超声散射微结构特征

本文提出了一种对超声散射信号分析的新方法--“WD倒谱”法,并利用该方法对人体正常脾和脾增生组织的回波信号进行了分析,对软组织中散射子的平均间距进行了估计,结果表明：两种脾组织散射子的平均同距明显不同;“WD倒谱”能有效的反映软组织的微观结构特征,说明“WD倒谱”是软组织超声散射信号分析与软组织散射子平均间距定征的一种有效方法。     

Visual cortex ablation and thresholds for successively presented stimuli in rhesus monkeys: II. Hue

Summary Rhesus monkeys were trained to discriminate successively presented hues. The smallest difference they could reliably detect was determined before and after either inferotemporal ablation, or a lesion intended to remove as much as possible of prestriate area V4 (Zeki, 1973).As a group, the animals with lesions of V4 showed good but not perfect retention of their preoperative performance, and their thresholds were unaltered. The inferotemporal group showed no retention of the simplest successive task, red versus green, but after relearning their thresholds too were unaltered. It appears that animals without inferotemporal cortex can form precise internal representations of hues, and that the basis of the inferotemporal learning impairment may depend upon the nature of the stimuli to be discriminated.     

DHPLC screening of cystic fibrosis gene mutations

Denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) using ion-pairing reverse phase chromatography (IPRPC) columns is a technique for the screening of gene mutations. In order to evaluate the potential utility of this assay method in a clinical laboratory setting, we subjected the PCR products of 73 CF patients known to bear CFTR mutations to this analytic technique. We used thermal denaturation profile parameters specified by the MELT program tool, made available by Stanford University. Using this strategy, we determined an initial analytic sensitivity of 90.4% for any of 73 known CFTR mutations. Most of the mutations not detected by DHPLC under these conditions are alpha-substitutions. This information may eventually help to improve the MELT algorithm. Increasing column denaturation temperatures for one or two degrees above those recommended by the MELT program allowed 100% detection of CFTR mutations tested. By comparing DHPLC methodology used in this study with the recently reported study based on Wavemaker 3.4.4 software (Transgenomic, Omaha, NE) [Le Marechal et al., 2001) and with previous SSCP analysis of CFTR mutations [Ravnik-Glavac et al., 1994] we emphasized differences and similarities in order to refine the DHPLC system and discuss the relationship to the alternative approaches. We conclude that the DHPLC method, under optimized conditions, is highly accurate, rapid, and efficient in detecting mutations in the CFTR gene and may find high utility in screening individuals for CFTR mutations. Hum Mutat 19:374-383, 2002. Published 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.