Cystic adventitial disease of the popliteal artery: an argument for the developmental theory

Cystic adventitial disease is a rare non-atheromatous cause of popliteal artery disease. We report a case of a 54-year-old patient with claudication of the right calf caused by cystic adventitial disease. Intra-operatively, a communication between the adventitia and the knee joint was identified. Connections between the adventitial cyst and the nearby joint have been reported in the literature that support the developmental theory. This theory suggests that cystic adventitial disease is a developmental manifestation of mucin-secreting cells derived from the mesenchyme of the adjacent joint. This case is the first, to our knowledge, in which a communication between joint and adventitia has been clearly documented by operative findings.

Hip2Norm: an object-oriented cross-platform program for 3D analysis of hip joint morphology using 2D pelvic radiographs

We developed an object-oriented cross-platform program to perform three-dimensional (3D) analysis of hip joint morphology using two-dimensional (2D) anteroposterior (AP) pelvic radiographs. Landmarks extracted from 2D AP pelvic radiographs and optionally an additional lateral pelvic X-ray were combined with a cone beam projection model to reconstruct 3D hip joints. Since individual pelvic orientation can vary considerably, a method for standardizing pelvic orientation was implemented to determine the absolute tilt/rotation. The evaluation of anatomically morphologic differences was achieved by reconstructing the projected acetabular rim and the measured hip parameters as if obtained in a standardized neutral orientation. The program had been successfully used to interactively objectify acetabular version in hips with femoro-acetabular impingement or developmental dysplasia. Hip(2)Norm is written in object-oriented programming language C++ using cross-platform software Qt (TrollTech, Oslo, Norway) for graphical user interface (GUI) and is transportable to any platform.

Influence of the developmental state of valvular lesions on the antimicrobial activity of cefotaxime in experimental enterococcal infections

Cefotaxime has little antimicrobial activity in vitro against most strains of enterococci, as measured by conventional MICs and MBCs. However, the MICs of cefotaxime against many enterococci are markedly reduced by the addition of serum to the test medium. To assess the relevance of this observation in vivo, we examined the efficacy of cefotaxime in experimental Streptococcus faecalis endocarditis. Since response to antimicrobial agents may vary with the degree of vegetation development, therapeutic efficacy was assessed both in rabbits with newly formed vegetations and in rabbits with well-developed endocardial lesions. Peak serum levels of cefotaxime (50.1 +/- 20.0 micrograms/ml) exceeded the MIC in medium supplemented with serum (4 micrograms/ml), but not in Mueller-Hinton broth alone (greater than 64 micrograms/ml). After 4 days of therapy, animals with newly formed lesions (therapy initiated 1 h after infection, transvalvular catheters removed) had lower mean vegetation bacterial titers than did untreated controls. Among animals with mature vegetations (therapy initiated 12 h after infection, catheters indwelling), the rate of mortality was significantly reduced by cefotaxime therapy. However, no difference in vegetation titers was observed. Thus, cefotaxime demonstrated antienterococcal activity within newly formed vegetations, but did not inhibit bacterial proliferation within well-established vegetations.

Bildgebende Diagnostik der Hüftdysplasie [Imaging in developmental dysplasia of the hip]

Modern imaging techniques are an invaluable tool for assessing pathomorphological changes of the hip. Thorough diagnostic analysis and therapeutic decision making mainly rely on correct interpretation of conventional radiographic projections as well as more modern techniques, including magnetic resonance arthrography. This article gives an overview of the imaging techniques that are routinely used for assessing pathological conditions of the hip, with a special focus on diagnostic findings in developmental dysplasia of the hip as well as in femoroacetabular impingement.

Developmental alveolarization of the mouse lung

Postnatal lung development is not well characterized in mice, especially the time point when alveolarization is completed. Using the total length and the length density of the free septal edge as measured for the formation of new septa, we followed alveolarization throughout postnatal lung development (days 2-125). Furthermore, the alveolar surface area was estimated. The formation of new septa was observed until day 36. Approximately 10% of the septa present in adult mice were formed prenatally by branching morphogenesis, approximately 50% were generated postnatally before and approximately 40% after maturation of the alveolar microvasculature. Approximately 5% of the alveolar surface area present during adulthood was present before alveolarization started, approximately 55% was formed during alveolarization (days 4-36) and approximately 40% afterward due to growth processes. We conclude that alveolarization continues until young adulthood and that the maturation of the alveolar microvasculature does not preclude further alveolarization.

Phenotyping, functional characterization, and developmental changes in canine intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes

Little is currently known about the lymphocyte populations in the normal and diseased canine gut. The aim of this study was thus the phenotypical and functional characterization of canine intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL). IEL were isolated from full-thickness biopsies of 15 adult Swiss Beagle dogs (mean age 8.2 +/-2.8 years) and compared to mesenteric lymph node cells. The phenotypical characterization by multi-parameter flow cytometry revealed that canine IEL differ substantially from lymph node T cells, and consist of various unconventional lymphocyte subsets, unique to mucosal surfaces. These include gammasigma T cells, and CD4(-)CD8(-) and CD8alphaalpha(+) T cells. IEL populations in adult dogs were also compared to those isolated from neonatal Beagle dogs. Analysis revealed a high frequency of undifferentiated CD4(-)CD8(-) T cells in newborn dogs whereas mature CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells predominate in adult dogs, indicating maturation of the intestinal immune system during development. As IEL in other species are thought to exhibit regulatory functions, we investigated the role of IEL on the activation-induced proliferation of lymph node T cells. While IEL alone did not show activation-induced proliferation, they significantly inhibited the proliferation of activated lymph node T cells in a cell number-dependent manner. These findings are the first to demonstrate that canine intestinal IEL have an immunoregulatory phenotype, which may contribute to the maintenance of intestinal immune homeostasis and may, therefore, be lost in canine chronic enteropathies.

Context-Oriented Programming

Context-dependent behavior is becoming increasingly important for a wide range of application domains, from pervasive computing to common business applications. Unfortunately, mainstream programming languages do not provide mechanisms that enable software entities to adapt their behavior dynamically to the current execution context. This leads developers to adopt convoluted designs to achieve the necessary runtime flexibility. We propose a new programming technique called Context-oriented Programming (COP) which addresses this problem. COP treats context explicitly, and provides mechanisms to dynamically adapt behavior in reaction to changes in context, even after system deployment at runtime. In this paper we lay the foundations of COP, show how dynamic layer activation enables multi-dimensional dispatch, illustrate the application of COP by examples in several language extensions, and demonstrate that COP is largely independent of other commitments to programming style.

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) neuromast: promising biological endpoint linking developmental and toxicological studies

Aquatic toxicology is facing the challenge to assess the impact of complex mixtures of compounds on diverse biological endpoints. So far, ecotoxicology focuses mainly on apical endpoints such as growth, lethality and reproduction, but does not consider sublethal toxic effects that may indirectly cause ecological effects. One such sublethal effect is toxicant-induced impairment of neurosensory functions which will affect important behavioural traits of exposed organisms. Here, we critically review the mechanosensory lateral line (LL) system of zebrafish as a model to screen for chemical effects on neurosensory function of fish in particular and vertebrates in general. The LL system consists of so-called neuromasts, composed of centrally located sensory hair cells, and surrounding supporting cells. The function of neuromasts is the detection of water movements that is essential for the fish's ability to detect prey, to escape predator, to socially interact or to show rheotactic behaviour. Recent advances in the study of these organs provided researchers with a broad area of molecular tools for easy and rapid detection of neuromasts dysfunction and/or disturbed development. Further, genes involved in neuromasts differentiation have been identified using auditory/mechanosensory mutants and morphants. A number of environmental toxicants including metals and pharmaceuticals have been shown to affect neuromasts development and/or function. The use of the LL organ for toxicological studies offers the advantage to integrate the available profound knowledge on developmental biology of the neuromasts with the study of chemical toxicity. This combination may provide a powerful tool in environmental risk assessment.