T cells in patients with chronic Tγ lymphocytosis: Morphology,cytochemistry, ultrastructure and immunological characteristics

Summary We have studied the morphology and cytochemistry in relation to the immunological phenotyping and functional properties of T cells from eight patients with chronic T lymphocytosis. At the light microscopic level the morphology of the patients' lymphocytes was similar to that described for large granular lymphocytes. Ultrastructurally, a division into two groups could be made on differences in the amount of cytoplasm and the location and the more irregular form of the nuclei. The lymphocytes of one group (five patients) had in common the phenotype Fc+, T3+, T4–, T8+, Ia–, M1– and demonstrated (with the exception of one patient) the same functions: presence of K-cell activity, absence of NK, helper and suppressor cell activities. In the other group (three patients), the lymphocytes of one patient showed the same phenotype and functions as those indicated above. The other two patients both lacked the T8 antigen on their lymphocytes but were different with regard to other surface markers. In addition, their cells were functionally identical: both demonstrated NK- and K-cell activity. Thus in this group of eight patients with chronic T lymphocytosis, the immunological and functional subdivision paralleled in part a morphological division at the ultrastructural level.     

When do combinatorial mechanisms apply in the production of inflected words?

A central question for theories of inflected word processing is to determine under what circumstances compositional procedures apply. Some accounts (e.g., the dual-mechanism model; Clahsen, 1999 Clahsen, H. 1999. Lexical entries and rules of language: A multidisciplinary study of German inflections. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22: 991–1060. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) propose that compositional processes only apply to verbs that take productive affixes. For all other verbs, inflected forms are assumed to be stored in the lexicon in a nondecomposed manner. This account makes clear predictions about the consequences of disruption to the lexical access mechanisms involved in the spoken production of inflected forms. Briefly, it predicts that nonproductive forms (which require lexical access) should be more affected than productive forms (which, depending on the language task, may not). We tested these predictions through the detailed analysis of the spoken production of a German-speaking individual with an acquired lexical impairment resulting from a stroke. Analyses of response accuracy, error types, and frequency effects revealed that combinatorial processes are not restricted to verbs that take productive inflections. On this basis, we propose an alternative account, the stem-based assembly model (SAM), which posits that combinatorial processes may be available to all stems and not only to those that combine with productive affixes.     

Micro-CT evaluation of bone defects: Applications to osteolytic bone metastases,bone cysts,and fracture

Bone defects can occur in various forms and present challenges to performing a standard micro-CT evaluation of bone quality because most measures are suited to homogeneous structures rather than ones with spatially focal abnormalities. Such defects are commonly associated with pain and fragility. Research involving bone defects requires quantitative approaches to be developed if micro-CT is to be employed. In this study, we demonstrate that measures of inter-microarchitectural bone spacing are sensitive to the presence of focal defects in the proximal tibia of two distinctly different mouse models: a burr-hole model for fracture healing research, and a model of osteolytic bone metastases. In these models, the cortical and trabecular bone compartments were both affected by the defect and were, therefore, evaluated as a single unit to avoid splitting the defects into multiple analysis regions. The burr-hole defect increased mean spacing (Sp) by 27.6%, spacing standard deviation (SpSD) by 113%, and maximum spacing (Sp_max) by 72.8%. Regression modeling revealed SpSD (β = 0.974, p < 0.0001) to be a significant predictor of the defect volume (R² = 0.949) and Sp_max (β = 0.712, p < 0.0001) and SpSD (β = 0.271, p = 0.022) to be significant predictors of the defect diameter (R² = 0.954). In the mice with osteolytic bone metastases, spacing parameters followed similar patterns of change as reflected by other imaging technologies, specifically bioluminescence data which is indicative of tumor burden. These data highlight the sensitivity of spacing measurements to bone architectural abnormalities from 3D micro-CT data and provide a tool for quantitative evaluation of defects within a bone.     

From Gesture to Sign Language: Conventionalization of Classifier Constructions by Adult Hearing Learners of British Sign Language

There has long been interest in why languages are shaped the way they are, and in the relationship between sign language and gesture. In sign languages, entity classifiers are handshapes that encode how objects move, how they are located relative to one another, and how multiple objects of the same type are distributed in space. Previous studies have shown that hearing adults who are asked to use only manual gestures to describe how objects move in space will use gestures that bear some similarities to classifiers. We investigated how accurately hearing adults, who had been learning British Sign Language (BSL) for 1–3 years, produce and comprehend classifiers in (static) locative and distributive constructions. In a production task, learners of BSL knew that they could use their hands to represent objects, but they had difficulty choosing the same, conventionalized, handshapes as native signers. They were, however, highly accurate at encoding location and orientation information. Learners therefore show the same pattern found in sign-naïve gesturers. In contrast, handshape, orientation, and location were comprehended with equal (high) accuracy, and testing a group of sign-naïve adults showed that they too were able to understand classifiers with higher than chance accuracy. We conclude that adult learners of BSL bring their visuo-spatial knowledge and gestural abilities to the tasks of understanding and producing constructions that contain entity classifiers. We speculate that investigating the time course of adult sign language acquisition might shed light on how gesture became (and, indeed, becomes) conventionalized during the genesis of sign languages.     

Pillars in the colon

A case of Crohn's colitis with unusual endoscopic and morphologic appearances is reported. The colitis was asymptomatic and discovered incidentally. Histologic confirmation was obtained following segmental colectomy.     

Age and the architecture of oral mucosa

Age changes affect the oral mucosa (the protective lining of the oral cavity), but few of these have been studied objectively. The aim of this study was to quantitatively analyse a number of morphometric parameters of the ageing oral mucosa. The fractal dimension of the epithelial connective tissue interface (ECTI) was estimated in 42 samples of normal buccal mucosa to correlate any changes in their irregularity to the age of the individuals. Morphometric parameters extracted from theoretical cell areas computed programatically were also analysed. Results showed no significant change in ECTI complexity associated with age; however, there was indication that epithelial cells tended to become larger and flatter with age. Interestingly, while some parameters did not show significant differences case wise, cluster analysis showed that the data clustered the cases into three main age groups: one representing the first two decades of life, another group represents adult life (21–50 years) and the last group representing the ageing population (50–90 years).     

基于MRI的成人正常膝关节软骨形态学测量

目的：了解正常膝关节软骨分布及股骨髁承重区的软骨厚度特点,为膝关节病变早期诊断和动态观察提供依据。方法：选取100名成人志愿者,男、女各50名,年龄20—30岁,平均25．3岁,膝关节均行MRI扫描。应用MIMICS软件对图像进行处理,在矢状位窗面上测量膝关节各部位软骨最大厚度。选择膝关节正常运动时的承重区,测量承重区域软骨的最大厚度并与其他区域进行比较。基于MRI图像行膝关节软骨三维重建,观察膝关节软骨的三维形态特征。结果：膝关节各部位的最大软骨厚度如下。胫骨外侧平台3．19mm,胫骨内侧平台3．07mm,股骨外侧髁2．93mm,股骨内侧髁3．19mm,股骨滑车软骨3．57mm,髌软骨3．75mm。不同性别与左右侧之间的软骨厚度差异无统计学意义（P〉0．05）。胫股关节承重区软骨厚度大于其他区域,有统计学差异（P〈0．05）。结论：成人正常膝关节各区域软骨厚度不同,胫股关节承重区软骨厚度大于非承重区域。基于MRI可以准确地测量膝关节各部软骨的厚度及重建膝关节软骨的三维形态。