Rats with mammary cancer treated with toremifene and interferon: Morphometry and needle aspiration biopsy for determination of ATP and14C-fluorodeoxyglucose content

The combined and separate action of the antiestrogen toremifene (TOR) and recombinant rat gamma interferon (RIF) was studied in rat mammary cancer induced by dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA). The content of ATP and 14C-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) was also determined from fine needle aspiration biopsies (FNAB). RIF alone had no antitumor activity, when measured as the average number of new tumors appearing in RIF and control animals (2.4 vs 2.4 new tumors per animal), while TOR and TOR + RIF had a significant effect (1.2, P less than 0.05 and 0.6, P less than 0.01). Morphometrically, there was a significant decrease in the amount of epithelium in the tumors of the RIF + TOR animals (65% vs 82% in the controls, P less than 0.05); there was conversely an increase in the stromal component (25% vs 14%, NS). It appears that an increase of the stromal compartment is part of the healing process. The feasibility of the FNAB-technique was shown by the finding that there was a close correlation between FDG and ATP content in almost all the groups before and after treatment. Thus, FDG and ATP measure the same phenomenon, i.e., energy content. There was a large variation in the contents of ATP and FDG within and among the groups, which invalidated considerations regarding the predictive value of ATP and FDG content in tumors subject to treatment.     

Prevalence of vertebral fractures in an urban population in Croatia aged fifty and older

Summary AIM OF THE STUDY: To establish the prevalence of vertebral fractures according to age groups, sex and vertebral level in a sample of a Croatian urban population aged 50. We also tried to establish how many people had been diagnosed with osteoporosis by their family physician. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Lateral thoracic and lumbar spinal radiographs were obtained in 425 ambulatory people (156 men and 269 women) aged 50 and living in the community as a random sample of the City of Zagreb (Croatia) population. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain information on prior traumatic vertebral fractures and whether the person had been diagnosed with osteoporosis. Vertebral fractures in the population sample were defined using the morphometric method proposed by McCloskey et al., and normal values of the ratios of dimensions in non-fractured vertebrae with the iterative algorithm described by Melton et al. RESULTS: The prevalence of individuals with vertebral fractures was 11.8% (15.8% of men and 9.7% of women), ranking Zagreb mid-scale among other European cities. The prevalence of individuals with vertebral fractures rose with age. Sixty-nine (1.24%) of 5525 analysed vertebrae had been fractured. The most common fractures were those of lower thoracic and upper lumbar vertebrae. The elderly tend to sustain multiple fractures. Forty-one (9.6%) people had been previously diagnosed as having osteoporosis. Extrapolation to the Croatian population implies that approximately 90,000 men and 77,000 women aged 50 have vertebral fractures. CONCLUSION: Vertebral osteoporotic fractures are common in the Croatian population aged 50; however, awareness of osteoporosis appears to be low.     

Ultrastructural investigations on the question of mechanical activation of blood platelets

Summary The present study addresses the question whether platelets are activated by mechanical stresses as they occur in pathologically accelerated blood flow. Their potential mechanoreceptive properties were tested by subjecting human platelets to defined fluid mechanical forces for periods of milliseconds. Platelet activation was assessed by quantitative morphology, revealing besides activated platelets, irreversibly ballooned, lytic platelets. However, this morphometrically documented shear activation of platelets can be suppressed almost completely by the addition of enzyme-substrate systems, capable of removing adenosine diphosphate from the suspending medium. This is in keeping with a recent study from our laboratory [27] showing that the behaviour of lactic dehydrogenase as marker for platelet lysis and -thromboglobulin as release marker refuted earlier data, suggesting a direct activation of platelets by shear. It is concluded that former evidence of shear induced platelet activation must be interpreted as the consequence of lytic damage to a small proportion of platelets.     

Ideal screw entry point and projection angles for posterior lateral mass fixation of the atlas: an anatomical study

Although various posterior insertion angles for screw insertion have been proposed for C1 lateral mass, substantial conclusions have not been reached regarding ideal angles and average length of the screw yet. We aimed to re-consider the morphometry and the ideal trajections of the C1 screw. Morphometric analysis was performed on 40 Turkish dried atlas vertebrae obtained from the Department of Anatomy at the Medical School of Ankara University. The quantitative anatomy of the screw entry zone, trajectories, and the ideal lengths of the screws were calculated to evaluate the feasibility of posterior screw fixation of the lateral mass of the atlas. The entry point into the lateral mass of the atlas is the intersection of the posterior arch and the C1 lateral mass. The optimum medial angle is 13.5 ± 1.9° and maximal angle of medialization is 29.4 ± 3.0°. The ideal cephalic angle is 15.2 ± 2.6°, and the maximum cephalic angle is 29.6 ± 2.6°. The optimum screw length was found to be 19.59 ± 2.20 mm. With more than 30° of medial trajections and cephalic trajections the screw penetrates into the spinal canal and atlantooccipital joint, respectively. Strikingly, in 52% of our specimens, the height of the inferior articular process was under 3.5 mm, and in 70% was under 4 mm, which increases the importance of the preparation of the screw entry site. For accommodation of screws of 3.5-mm in diameter, the starting point should be taken as the insertion of the posterior arch at the superior end of the inferior articular process with a cephalic trajection. This study may aid many surgeons in their attempts to place C1 lateral mass screws.     

一日龄高原牦牛肺泡组织结构特征

目的 探讨1日(d)龄高原牦牛肺泡组织结构特点及其与高原低氧适应性的关系. 方法 1d龄高原牦牛和1d龄平原黄牛各5头,HE染色、光镜、透射电镜观察和形态测量学分析. 结果 1d龄高原牦牛肺泡较同日龄平原黄牛扩张充分,肺组织中有大量类似肺泡囊的囊状结构,囊内可见大量 "芽"状结构,同日龄平原黄牛肺组织中少见此种结构;高原牦牛肺泡中Ⅱ型肺泡细胞数量较多,肺泡腔内可见大量排出的板层小体.高原牦牛单位面积内的肺泡数(MAN)较1d龄平原黄牛少(P<0.05),但单个肺泡的面积(MSAA)、肺泡隔厚度(MAST)和单位面积内的肺泡面积(SA)均大于平原黄牛的相应值(P<0.05);高原牦牛气-血屏障的算术平均厚度较平原黄牛大(P<0.05),但气-血屏障调和平均厚度两者差异不显著(P>0.05). 结论 1d龄高原牦牛的肺泡发育较平原黄牛完善.高原牦牛肺泡数将以"芽生"的形式快速增加.高原牦牛出生时肺泡相对完善的发育和肺泡数的快速增加以及肺泡隔相对较厚且厚薄不均等组织学特点是高原牦牛能很好适应高原低氧环境的组织学基础.     

Offering to Share: How to Put Heads Together in Autism Neuroimaging

Data sharing in autism neuroimaging presents scientific, technical, and social obstacles. We outline the desiderata for a data-sharing scheme that combines imaging with other measures of phenotype and with genetics, defines requirements for comparability of derived data and recommendations for raw data, outlines a core protocol including multispectral structural and diffusion-tensor imaging and optional extensions, provides for the collection of prospective, confound-free normative data, and extends sharing and collaborative development not only to data but to the analytical tools and methods applied to these data. A theme in these requirements is the need to preserve creative approaches and risk-taking within individual laboratories at the same time as common standards are provided for these laboratories to build on.     

Morphometric and ultrastructural analyses of melanocytes,nevus cells,and melanoma cells

Summary Cytological atypia, revealed in the course of routine light microscopy, is considered a valuable indicator of malignancy in melanocytic lesions. A clear definition of the term cytological atypia, however, is lacking. Therefore, by morphometric analysis of ultrathin sections of 11 malignant melanomas (7 invasive, 3 in situ, and 1 lentigo maligna melanoma) and 10 compound nevi, we evaluated the discriminating power of the various facets of cytological atypia, i. e., nuclear area, area of the nucleolus, area of the total cell, and nuclear irregularity. In each case, at least 50 intraepidermal melanocytic cells were examined.The two-sided U-test showed significant differences between intraepidermal nevus and melanoma cells, with regard to the mean values (x) and standard deviations (s) of the nuclear area (x and s, p=0.00011), area of the nucleolus (x, p=0.00043; s, p=0.00011), and area of the total cell (x, p=0.00011; s, p=0.00093). However, only the mean values and standard deviations of the nuclear area allowed a clear distinction in each individual case.The area of the nucleus can be estimated in the course of routine histology. We therefore think that the size and variation of the nuclear area should be considered in the histological differential diagnosis between malignant melanomas and benign nevi.Presented in part at the 12th Colloquium of the Society for Ultrastructural Research and the 6th International Dermatopathology Colloquium, 17–20 April 1985, Florence, Italy     

THE IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY AND QUANTITATIVE MORPHOMETRIC STUDY OF MUCOSA ASSOCIATED LYMPHOID TISSUE (MALT) LYMPHOMA IN STOMACH

Objective: To invetigate the Immunohistochemistry characters and quantitative nmorphometric significance for the mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma of stomach in 14 patients. Methods: The routine paraffin slides were cut, stained with H.E., and immunochemically by ABC method. The morphologic appearance of nuclei of lymphoma cells were measured with HPIAS-1000 color pathology picture analysis system. Results of the 14 cases, 9 was centrocyte like (CCL) cell lymphoma, 2 CCL with large cell lymphoma, 1 small no cleaved cell lymphoma, 1 large no cleaved cell lymphoma, 1 T immunoblastic malignant lymphoma. The morphologic measurement results showed that there were great significant differences (P<0.001) for the 15 items of morphology parameters between the nuclei of MALT lymphoma cells and those of normal control lymphocytes in stomach. There were great significance differences (P<0.001) or significance (P<0.05) for the most of the 15 items of morphologic parameters of nuclei among the 5 types of MALT lymphoma. Especially, that the values of area, circumference, equivalent diameter, area volume, circumference volume, long diameter, short diameter, practical area were increasing as the malignant degree of classification was rising, which reflect the increasing malignancy of the tumor. Conclusion: It was suggested that with the quantitative morphology measurement method, man could make accurate diagnosis for MALT lymphoma. It offered us a new method to make the diagnosis, so that it had significance. It might be also practicable with morphology measurement method to make the sub classification of MALT lymphoma.     

Morphometric evidence from C-synapses for phased Nissl body response in α-motoneurones retrogradely intoxicated with diphtheria toxin

Diphtheria toxin (DTX) kills cells by inactivating ribosomal translocation and when used to retrogradely intoxicate cat intercostal motoneurones produces marked morphological alterations in Nissl bodies, including those specifically sited postsynaptic to C-type axon terminals. Here, qualitative examinations of ‘intoxicated’ postsynaptic Nissl bodies reveal a progressive structural alteration marked by rER dilatation, rER lamellae fragmentation but retention of both the highly ordered multilamellate organization and ribosomal attachment until final stages of Nissl body dissolution. Morphometric results identified 3 broad phases to the postintoxication response which differed in the degree of rER cisternal dilation, and the numerical and spatial relationships between rER-lamellae, rER-bound ribosomes and rER-associated polyribosomes. These phases reflect the known molecular basis of diphtheritic toxicity and contrast with the fast developing Nissl body reaction associated with the neurotoxin ricin which also invokes ribosomal dysfunction and has been used to mimic certain features of motor neurone disease. The cytopathology of DTX and ricin are compared in the Discussion.