Reaction of different functional zones in mouse thymus and spleen lymphoid tissue to γ-irradiation

It is shown that immune organs respond to single γ-radiation of 6.9 Gy in a cyclic manner. Acute reaction characterized by spontaneous lymphocyte lysis in the thymus and spleen develops on day 1 postirradiation and takes 3 and 7 days, respectively. This is followed by enhancement of thymocyte mitotic activity and migration of young cells to the thymic cortex and splenic lymphoid tissue. Twenty-one day postirradiation lymphoid cell populations in the thymus and spleen recover to 70–90 and 55–70%, respectively. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 125, No. 4, pp. 381–384, April, 1998     

Management of lower urinary tract fibroepithelial polyps in children

IntroductionFibroepithelial polyps (FEP) of the lower urinary tract are relatively common in adults but rare in children, with fewer than 250 cases reported in the literature to date.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to address the experience of FEP management in children.Study designA retrospective multicenter review was undertaken in children with defined FEP of the lower urinary tract managed between 2008 and 2018. The data at 18 pediatric surgery centers were collected. Their demographic, radiological, surgical, and pathological information were reviewed.ResultsA total of 33 children (26 boys; 7 girls) were treated for FEP of the lower urinary tract at 13 centers. The most common presentation was urinary outflow as hematuria (41%), acute urinary retention (25%), dysuria (19%), or urinary infections (28%). A prenatal diagnosis was made for three patients with hydronephrosis. Almost all of the children (94%) underwent ultrasound imaging of the urinary tract as the first diagnostic examination, 23 (70%) of them also either had an MRI (15%), cystourethrography (25%), computerized tomography (6%), or cystoscopy (45%). Two of these children (6%) had a biopsy prior to the surgery. The median preoperative delay was 7.52 (range: 1–48) months. Most of the patients were treated endoscopically, although four (12.1%) had open surgery and two (6.1%) had an additional incision for specimen extraction. The median hospital stay was 1.5 (range: 1–10) days. There were no recurrences and no complications after a median follow-up of 13 (range: 1–34) months.DiscussionThe main limitation of our study is the retrospective design, although it is the largest one for this pathology.ConclusionThis series supports sonography as the most suitable diagnosis tool before endoscopy to confirm the diagnosis and to perform the resection for most FEP in children. This report confirms the recognized benign nature in the absence of recurrences.Level of EvidenceLevel V.     

The assessment of left ventricular filling dynamics using an online automatic border detection algorithm: comparison with cineventriculography

An echocardiographic system has been developed that performs automatic endocardial border detection and instantaneously calculates and displays a waveform of left ventricular cavity area versus time. The purpose of this study was to compare measurements of left ventricular filling dynamics from automatic border detection echocardiography with similar measurements from cineventriculography. Thirty-three patients undergoing cardiac catheterization had automatic border detection echocardiography performed within 45 minutes of cineventriculography. Ten patients had normal catheterization findings and 23 had cardiac disease. The automatic border detection waveforms generated from two echocardiographic views were measured to determine the fraction of filling occurring during the early diastolic rapid filling phase and during the filling phase resulting from atrial contraction. Similar fractions were derived from curves generated from frame-by-frame measurements of cineangiographic volumes. Results were analyzed by correlating echocardiographic and cineventriculographic results, and by a limits of agreement analysis (limits of agreement were +/- 2 standard deviations of the mean difference between echocardiography and cineventriculography). There were significant correlations between echocardiography and cineventriculography for each of the parameters studied. The best results were obtained for the apical four-chamber view (rapid filling fraction r = 0.72, P < 0.0001, atrial filling fraction r = 0.56, P < 0.001). Differences in filling patterns between normal and abnormal patient groups detected by cineventriculography were also detected by automatic border detection echocardiography. However, broad limits of agreement were observed, that may limit the ability of the automatic border detection system to reliably predict cineventriculographic results in an individual patient. Automatic border detection echocardiography can provide information about left ventricular filling dynamics that is similar to that obtained from frame-by-frame analysis of cineventriculograms. However, the variability in the results may limit the application of the technique in individual patients.     

Response of immune system and lymphoid tissue of respiratory and gastrointestinal organs to space flight factors

The studies demonstrated that gamma-radiation drastically enhanced destructive processes and suppressed the mitotic activity of lymphocytes in the thymus and spleen. This resulted in the altered morphological picture of immune organs: the inversion of layers occurred in the thymus, the splenic white pulp increased by three times, lymphoid nodules with germinating centers disappeared, the marginal area became thinner. Following gamma-radiation, restorative processes in the thymus and spleen were noticeable just on day 3 and 7, respectively. However, the cell composition of murine immune organs failed to achieve control values by day 60 after exposure. Examining the responses of respiratory and digestive lymphoid tissue to acetaldehyde and drinking water organisms indicated that as the concentration of an acting agent and the time of exposure increased, there was lymphocytopoietic inhibition in the lymphoid formations whereas its small doses activated a local immune response.     

Family beyond parents? An exploration of family configurations and psychological adjustment in young adults with intellectual disabilities

This research explores the family configurations of young adults with intellectual disability. Based on a sample of 40 individuals interviewed two times in a year, we found as many as four types of family configurations, with distinct compositions, and different types of social capital. This diversity is not without consequences for individual psychological adjustment. The results are discussed in the light of the configurational approach to families.