Classification of cervical smears with discordance between the cytologic and/or histologic ratings

The problems of diagnostic variability between certified cytotechnologists was studied. Three cytology laboratories submitted a total of 28 cervical smears that had a discordance between the cytologic and/or histologic ratings. Eight independent cytotechnologists provided blind readings on each slide, expressed as "absence of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN)" to "CIN III." The median rating was absence of CIN or CIN I for 8 slides, CIN II for 5 and CIN III for 15. With a kappa value greater than 0 reflecting agreement beyond chance expectation and a value of 0.40 indicating fair agreement, the kappa value for 8 X 28 ratings was 0.36 (P = .0001), with a 90% confidence interval (CI) between 0.34 and 0.37. The kappa value was 0.14 (P = .10), with a 90% CI between 0.10 and 0.18, on a subsample of nine smears with two or more positive cytology diagnoses but a negative histology. Sixteen of the 28 slides represented cases of histologically proven cancer. Treating cytologic diagnoses of CIN II and CIN III as positive, the sensitivity of the cytologist with reference to histology varied between 71% and 86% while the specificity ranged from 18% to 62%. The positive predictive value was 1/2.5 to 1/1 and the negative predictive value was 1/6 to 1/1. The predictive power (true positives/false positives) ranged from 1.0 to 2.2. The cytodiagnosis of these cervical smears from cases of discordance thus exhibited limited reliability. Standardization of the relevant cytologic knowledge and its routine application is needed to improve the level of performance.     

Determination of small quantities of sulfate (0-12 nmol) in serum, urine, and cartilage of the mouse

The colorimetric benzidine method of K. S. Dodgson and B. Spencer (1953, Biochem. J. 55, 436-440) for the measurement of inorganic sulfate can be scaled down about 100 times by using disposable 96-well microplates instead of individual cuvettes. Ten-microliter samples of serum and urine, derived from mice, can be analyzed in a simple, rapid, and reliable way without sacrificing the animals. Without prior isolation of sulfated glycosaminoglycans, ester sulfate in mouse patellar cartilage is liberated quantitatively as inorganic sulfate upon acid hydrolysis in 3 M HCl for 16 h at 80 degrees C. To this end the articular cartilage layer of the patella must be separated in toto from the underlying bone. Subsequent hydrolysis in polypropylene tubes gives accurate results. In contrast, hydrolysis in borosilicate glass vials is useless, since nanomoles of sulfate added cannot be recovered adequately. The thin patellar cartilage layer obtained from 10-week-old male mice contains about 5 nmol of sulfate, an amount easily measured with the developed microplate benzidine method.     

Local movements and population size of European eels,Anguilla anguilla,in a small lake in southwestern Spain

Synopsis Radio telemetry was used to study the movements of European eels,Anguilla anguilla, in a small (1.2 ha) lake in southwestern Spain in March and April, 1985. Observations were taken on the locations of 7 eels at least once each 2 h for a combined total of 1713 h. The size of individual activity regions varied from 2700 to 1300 m². Eels covered a larger area at night than during the day, with an average of 23% and 42% of the activity region used during the day and night respectively. Average distance moved between observations was significantly greater at night than in the day. Eels tracked during rainy and cloudy weather were more active during the day and used a larger total area than did those tracked during drier, more stable weather. The standing crop of eels was estimated to be about 77 kg ha^–1.     

Circumferential analysis of digitalized gamma angiocardiography by assessment of regional left ventricular contraction

After acquisition of a digital equilibrium gamma-angiocardiographie, circumferential analysis of end-diastolic and end-systolic frames gives 120 points diastolic and systolic curves. Their difference represents systolic volume and leads to regional left ventricular ejection fraction assessment at the considered radius level. The circumferential analysis evolute gives the regional left ventricular ejection fraction representative curves which allows especially differential diagnosis between left ventricular akinesia and dyskinesia.     

Homology between antigenic determinants of bovine clathrin and clathrin from the brown alga Laminaria digitata

Coated vesicles, essential organelles of intracellular membrane traffic, have been extensively studied in animal and higher plant cells. In the algae, cytological studies only have been performed which demonstrate the presence of such coated vesicles with their surrounding clathrin lattice. The present work has been carried out on coated vesicles isolated for the first time from the brown algae Laminaria digitata. For comparison of the antigenic characteristics of clathrin prepared from the Bovine brain or adrenocortical cells and the clathrin prepared from algae, polyclonal antibodies have been raised to a purified Bovine brain clathrin in Goat and to Bovine adrenocortical clathrin in Rabbit. The positive immunological responses of the coated vesicles and the clathrin from Algae to these antibodies, evidence an homology between antigenic determinants of clathrin from animal and vegetal cells.     

Karyometry and histometry of renal-cell carcinoma

In an attempt to more objectively predict the outcome of renal cancers, karyometric and histometric studies were performed using an interactive computer-based system for the quantitative analysis of tissue sections. Analysis showed a significant relationship between patient survival and metastases and the histometric parameters of nuclear elongation, nuclear crowding and mitotic density, as well as tumor grade. Patients who died tended to have a high mitotic density, elongated and crowded nuclei and high-grade tumors. Ploidy showed no significant correlation with prognosis while nuclear elongation and crowding did. Differences in histologic grade were significantly associated with several histometric variables, including nuclear area, shape, crowding, elongation and mitotic density.     

Evaluation of structural and secretory glycoconjugates in normal human jejunum by means of lectin histochemistry

Summary The labelling pattern of eight lectins was studied in jejunal samples from ten normal subjects, in order to define the normal distribution of structural and secretory glycoconjugates in the small bowel.The following lectins were studied by means of a peroxidase technique on formalin-fixed samples: Arachis hypogaea, Ricinus communis, Canavalia ensiformis, Lens culinaris, Phaseolus vulgaris, Triticum vulgaris, Ulex europaeus, Dolichos biflorus. Phaseolus vulgaris reacted with goblet cell mucus throughout the villus-crypt axis.Conversely Ulex europaeus, Dolichos biflorus and Triticum vulgaris lectin labelling of globet cells appeared to be confined to the upper part of the villi. This finding suggests that during cell migration from crypt to villus tip, the continuing maturation of goblet cells is associated with the differentiation of secretory carbohydrates, which probably parallels the cell maturation cycle. Lectin histochemistry appears to be a reliable tool for the study of structural and secretory glycoconjugates in the jejunal mucosa, and might be of value in the study of diseases in which the cell-maturation cycle in the small bowel is altered.     

A quantitative and qualitative cytochemical analysis of glycosaminoglycan content in the zona pellucida of hamster ovarian follicles

Summary In this study the amount of neutral and acidic glycosaminoglycans in the zona pellucida and antrum of primary, preovulatory, and atretic follicles was analyzed. Serial sections of preovulatory hamster follicles were stained with PAS or alcian blue to estimate the content of neutral and acidic glycosaminoglycans, respectively. The amount of hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate and sialic acid was determined using enzyme digestion procedures followed by alcian blue staining. Microdensitometric analyses showed that the strongest PAS staining was in the zona pellucida of atretic follicles, less staining in preovulatory follicles but more than in the antrum of preovulatory follicles. No hyaluronic acid was found in the zona pellucida of any follicular type, but there was a measurable amount in the antrum of preovulatory follicles. Chondroitin sulfate was present in the zona pellucida of primary and atretic follicles, as well as in the antrum of prevulatory follicles. Sialic acid was present in the antrum and zona pellucida of all follicular types. Sialic acid plays a role in receptor recognition and its presence may reflect the role of the zona pellucida in sperm recognition and fertilization.     

Effect of collidine (2,4,6-trimethylpyridine) on the osmiophilia and chromaffin reaction in the synaptic vesicles of rat pineal nerves

Summary Rat pineal nerve endings contain a population of small and of large synaptic vesicles that are either electron lucent or have electron-dense cores. It has been reported that their osmiophilia is elminated when collidine buffer is used in the fixation procedure. We investigated this effect and found that osmium tetroxide and potassium dichromate reactivity were abolished when excised pineal glands were briefly incubated with collidine buffer before glutaraldehyde-cacodylate fixation. Such an effect was not observed when collidine was applied after fixation. Glands that had been fixed in glutaraldehyde or osmium tetroxide buffered with collidine exhibited a peripheral zone containing reactive synaptic vesicles and a deeper, central zone where such reactivity was absent. These results indicate that the effect of collidine is due to depletion of monoamines rather than to chemical blockage of their reactivity, and further suggest that collidine has a higher rate of penetration into tissues than the tested fixatives.