Mast cell cholangiopathy: another cause of sclerosing cholangitis

A 75-year-old woman with known systemic mastocytosis presented with abdominal pain, ascites, and bile duct thickening on computed tomography and ultrasonography. A liver biopsy specimen showed infiltration with mast cells. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiography showed ductal changes compatible with those found in primary sclerosing cholangitis. Brush cytology of the intrahepatic bile ducts confirmed mast cell infiltration. Systemic mastocytosis can infiltrate the biliary system, producing a cholangiopathy radiographically similar to primary sclerosing cholangitis.     

Anti-endothelial cell antibodies: another cause for pregnancy loss?

Mastitis due to Prototheca zopfii was diagnosed in three of 28 cows in a dairy herd. As two cows continued to shed algae after 45 days they were slaughtered and organs were examined by cultivation, histology, immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. Algae were restricted to the mammary glands and regional lymph nodes in which a granulomatous inflammation was seen. Algae were predominantly seen in macrophages but neutrophils also contained organisms. In macrophages both sporangiospores and sporangia were found, suggesting that intracellular proliferation may be responsible for the failure to overcome the infection. Serum samples from all cows were assayed for antibodies against P. zopfii in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Although the highest titre was found in an infected cow the difference between the mean values of the titre in infected and non-infected cows was not significant.     

Amianthoid myofibroblastoma of the soft tissues

Myofibroblastoma (MF) is an uncommon, usually benign, mesenchymal tumor infrequently described in soft tissues. We report here on the clinicopathologic findings of a soft tissue MF (STMF) presenting in the neck of a 90-year-old man as a slowly growing and non-painful nodule, 4 cm in greatest diameter. Histology revealed a circumscribed lesion constituted of monomorphous bipolar spindle cells arranged in swirling fascicles with intervening broad bands of hyalinized collagen and well formed "amianthoid" fibers. Immunohistochemistry showed the spindle cells to be immunoreactive for vimentin, smooth muscle actin and muscle specific actin and, focally, for desmin; immunostaining for cytokeratin, epithelial membrane antigen, S-100 protein, factor VIII-related antigen, and CD34 was negative. Based on the present case and on those previously reported in the literature, STMF is characterized by: 1) exclusive incidence in the male sex; 2) variable immunoreactivity of the neoplastic cells for desmin, probably reflecting an origin from a peculiar subset of myofibroblasts, or, alternatively, a further myoid differentiation; 3) variable abundance of (hyalinized) collagen; 4) presence of amianthoid fibers. The combination of desmin immunoreactivity, frequently observed in MF of the breast, and amianthoid fibers, the main feature of MF of the lymph nodes, has never been observed in soft tissue MF. It is important to recognize STMF as a specific clinicopathologic entity to avoid confusion with other types of spindle cell proliferation and to differentiate it from other types of myofibromatosis.     

宽厚板连铸动态轻压下工艺

在工业试验的基础上,对宽厚板连铸机实施动态轻压下后连铸坯中心偏析严重的原因进行了探讨与分析。研究发现：扇形段辊缝实测值与位移传感器测量值之间存在差值,且每个位置差值的偏差较大,导致压下量的实际执行量存在较大偏差,是产生严重中心偏析的重要原因。通过扇形段开口度测量与标定方法的优化改进,将每个扇形段不同位置的辊缝实际值与位移传感器测量值的差值保持在标准差值a,连铸机扇形段的辊缝得到了精确控制,动态轻压下工艺参数得到了精确执行,连铸坯内部质量得到了较大改善。     

Ultrasonographic characteristics of lipoma of the soft tissues

This study includes 72 subjects with 90 soft tissue lipomas examined with high-resolution US. Forty-one lipomas were found in subcutaneous fat tissue, 29 in superficial muscles, 1 in the inguinal channed and 1 in the retroperitoneum. All the lesions were studied for: site, position in the body, number, shape, outline, size, echotexture, echogenicity and US beam transmission beyond the lesion. Sixty-seven lipomas were slightly ovalar (93%), 53 had regular margins (73.6%) and 21 exhibited a poorly- or well-defined capsule (29.2%). Twenty-two per cent of lipomas was homogeneous, 54.2% was slightly inhomogeneous and the extant 23.6% was inhomogeneous. Forty-five lesions were hypoechoic (62.5%), 13 hyperechoic (18.1%), 10 isoechoic (13.9%) and 4 exhibited a mixed echostructure (5.5%). In 24 cases (33.3%) sound was transmitted better through lipoma than through surrounding soft tissues. Posterior US beam attenuation was observed in one case (1.4%). Fifty-one lipomas (70.9%) exhibited the typical "striped" pattern, i.e., inner hyperechoic bands parallel to the skin. The clinical diagnosis of lipoma is based on patients' clinical history and on the palpation of a soft, well-defined and mobile mass. The US findings of an ovalar, well-defined, sometimes capsulated and, most important, "striped" mass, suggest the diagnosis of lipoma. Indeed, in our opinion, this pattern is characteristic of lipoma and represents the US appearance of its fibrous stroma. Therefore, we recommend US as the first-step method in the study of lipomas.     

Multiple organ insufficiency in destruction of soft tissues

The most important methodological problems of modern medicine, such as sociobiological relationships, the methodological and social aspects of teaching of normalcy, health, and diseases, physiological/pathological ratios, determinism, casualty and etiology, a part and the whole, regional and systemic in the light of the systems approach, diagnosis in the light of conception, etc. To solve these problems is inseparably linked with the assessment and analysis of general theoretic and methodological issues outlined in the "General Human Pathology" (the 2nd edition) by D. S. Sarkisov, M. A. Paltsev, and N. K. Khitrov (Moscow, 1997). The work is a peculiar unit of a paper and a review.     

When one cause casts doubt on another: A normative analysis of discounting in causal attribution.

The question of whether lay attributors are biased in their discounting of 1 cause given an alternative cause has not been resolved by decades of research, largely due to the lack of a clear standard for the rational amount of discounting. The authors propose a normative model in which the attributor's causal schemas and discounting inferences are represented in terms of subjective probability. The analysis examines Kelley's (1972b) proposed causal schemas and then other schemas for multiple causes (varying in assumptions about prior probability, sufficiency, correlation, and number of causes) to determine when discounting is rational. It reveals that discounting is implied from most, but not all, possible causal schemas, albeit at varying amounts. Hence, certain patterns of discounting previously interpreted as biases may, in fact, reflect coherent inferences from causal schemas. Results of 2 studies, which measured causal assumptions and inferences, support this interpretation (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interrelations of soft and hard tissues for osseointegrated implants

Success in using osseointegrated dental implants-optimal function, esthetics, and phonetics-requires selection of the treatment modality that is optimal for the patient, protection of tissue blood supply, and adherence to a plan based on a thorough analysis of all deviations from the normal anatomy. The options for correction of hard-tissue deficiencies are mechanical modification of the implants and reconstructive surgery. Mechanical approaches reduce the time needed for reconstruction but direct the occlusal forces in unnatural directions. Surgical reconstruction is preferable. Any bone graft must be precisely fitted to the recipient site to facilitate revascularization. Restoration of hard-tissue dimensions usually requires soft-tissue coverage and augmentation. There are two basic options: (1) flaps with or without inlay or onlay grafts and (2) controlled tissue expansion. An onlay graft can help restore soft-tissue height and width. Inlay grafts have greater vascularity than onlay grafts, and the color matching is better. Controlled tissue expansion creates "like" tissue without a secondary defect, and fewer tissue transfers are needed. However, the technique is difficult, and the patient must make multiple visits to the office. For implant placement to be successful, the patient's expectations must be understood, and the benefit-to-risk ratio should be extremely high.     

Clinical evaluation of pulsed ND:YAG dental laser applied on oral soft tissues

This investigation was conducted to evaluate the pulsed Nd: YAG dental laser, as a surgical tool for many of the oral surgical procedures. Gingivoplasty, minor gingivectomy, operculectomy excision of pedunculated tumors, frenectomy, incision and drainage of oral abscesses, control of oral bleeding and many other procedures were included in the study. The results presented here suggest that the pulsed Nd: YAG laser can be used to cut efficiently through vascular tissues, necrotic tissues and thin pedunculated masses. So it could be considered selective but not conclusive in surgery of the oral soft tissues.     

Venous hypertension associated with a posterior fossa dural arteriovenous fistula: another cause of bithalamic lesions on MR images

We report a case of a posterior fossa arteriovenous fistula (AVF) with bithalamic hyperintensity of MR images. The thalamic abnormality improved after surgery, suggesting reversible venous hypertension as the pathogenesis of the finding, as opposed to infarction. This manifestation of a posterior fossa AVF should be considered in the differential diagnosis of bilateral thalamic disease.     

Cryostat tissue printing: an improved method for histochemical and immunocytochemical localization in soft tissues

A modification of a previously described tissue print technique has been developed in which soft tissues are frozen and sectioned in a cryostat prior to direct collection on nitrocellulose or nylon membranes. The inexpensive embedding technique described here allows accurate orientation of specimens prior to mounting, and mounted material may be stored easily after initial sectioning for future reexamination. Standard hand tissue prints of soft specimens exhibit tissue distortion and uneven delivery of material to the membrane, which limits resolution and makes interpretation difficult. Cryostat sections retain tissue fragments in their original arrangement relative to each other during printing and deliver a consistent and quantitative amount of material from all parts of the specimen. The cryostat tissue print technique is applied here to immature floral buds, demonstrating the tissue-level histochemical localization of beta-glucuronidase in transgenic plants and immunolocalization of a novel protein present only in mutant plants. This modified technique is applicable for examining both plant and animal tissues.     

Fibromyxoma of the retropharyngeal space: MR appearance with pathologic correlation

A 19-year-old woman reported difficulties in swallowing and breathing. A submucosal mass, shown by MR imaging in the retropharyngeal space, was the cause of her symptoms. Histologically, the mass proved to be a fibromyxoma. The oval well-delineated lesion appeared hypointense relative to muscle and strongly enhanced after injection of contrast material on T1-weighted images; on T2-weighted images, it appeared hyperintense, and was seen to contain fibrous septa, which were hypointense on all sequences. This case delineates the characteristic MR features of a fibrous component within a rare benign tumor of the retropharyngeal space.     

The pipette aspiration applied to the local stiffness measurement of soft tissues

The prevalence and development of adult worms in the lungs of mice and gerbils infected with Schistosoma mansoni was investigated. All infected BALB/c mice harbored the schistosomes in their lungs at 10-12 weeks post-infection, showing the distinct relocation of adult worms to the lungs, from the hepatic portal system. The male and female flukes from lungs of BALB/c mice were significantly smaller than those from livers. The percentage of gravid females in lungs was considerably lower than that in the livers. The number of eggs recovered from lungs of BALB/c mice and gerbils having lung female worms, however, was higher than that from animals without lung females, indicating egg deposition of lung females. The number of eggs detected in the brains correlated well with the number of eggs from the lungs in BALB/c and ICR mice. Out of 119 infected gerbils at 8 weeks post-infection, only two animals had egg-emboli in the brain vessels, although many eggs embolized in the lungs of those animals. These data suggest that transfer of worms to the lungs from livers involves reduction of worm recovery from the portal circulation, and also pulmonary pathology of the disease.     

Biorheological features of some soft tissues under a surgical tissue expansion procedure

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a surgical tissue expansion procedure on the biomechanical features of the expanded soft tissues. In this procedure a silicone balloon "expander" is surgically inserted into a tissue and inflated. The tissue mass increases under the stretch of the expander. The increased tissue can then be used as an autologous source for the surgical reconstruction of organs. In this article, dog saphenous neurovascular bundle was used. Expanded saphenous nerves, arteries and veins were harvested and their biomechanical features and ultrastructural, histological changes were studied. The stress relaxation features, the continuous spectrum of relaxation time, and the stress-strain relationship of expanded and control specimens were measured. Results show that within two or three weeks after placement of the expanders, the biomechanical properties of expanded saphenous nerves, arteries and veins began to deviate from those of their controls, and the differences between them were proportional to the volume of inflation; but when the expanding period was 15 weeks or longer, the properties of expanded specimens and their controls became close again. Histological study showed that the content of collagenous fibers in blood vessel walls decreased after expansion. The content of elastic fibers in blood vessel walls first increased, then returned to normal, and finally decreased. Ultrastructural studies showed that when elongated by 25-40%, the expanded nerves had well preserved axons and showed fewer smooth myelin sheaths only in the middle and distal part of the expansion.