Presence Of Crystalline Inclusions Research Articles

Features of diagnostics of fungal ball of paranasal sinuses of iatrogenic genesis

Introduction: There are various theories of the origin of areas with high radiation density in the fungal ball of the paranasal sinuses: X-ray contrast dentist filling material; accumulation of zinc due to enzymes of the metalloproteinase group; formation of osteophytes, etc. The purpose of the study: to study the chemical composition of areas of fungal balls that have high radiological density. Methods and materials: The results of research of 26 samples of fungal bodies by scanning electron microscopy and spectrometry removed from maxillary sinuses in patients with fungal sinusitis (4 – nonodontogenic, 22 – odontogenic origin) are presented. In addition, 5 types of material most commonly used for endodontic treatment were studied. The results: It was found that fungal bodies of odontogenic origin have a heterogeneous structure with the presence of crystalline inclusions, the elemental composition of which has the characteristics of materials for endodontic treatment (Ba, Zr, W, Co), or increased content in the fungal ball of trace elements (Ti, Al and Zn), in quantities that are not characteristic of organic compounds. Conclusions: Scanning electron microscopy in combination with spectrometry can be used to identify foreign bodies of the maxillary sinus of exogenous (iatrogenic) origin and determine their role in the development of the fungal ball.

Effect of strain rate and crystalline inclusions on mechanical properties of bulk glassy and partially crystallized Zr52.5Cu17.9Ni14.6Al10Ti5 alloy

The mechanical properties of the Zr52.5Cu17.9Ni14.6Al10Ti5 alloy were presented, with an emphasis on the strain rate effect and presence of crystalline inclusions on the deformation and fracture mechanisms. X-ray diffraction studies indicated fully amorphous alloy structures with lower oxygen contents and partial crystalline structures at higher oxygen levels; however, completely different compressive deformation behaviour was observed. Uniaxial compression tests of the fully amorphous alloy showed elastic deformation, followed by yielding, distinct plastic deformation and serration flow behaviour. An increase in strain rate from 1×10–4 to 1×10–2 s–1 did not affect the yield strength; however, it decreased the compressive fracture strength and reduced the plastic strain. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis showed that the intermetallic CuZr2 phase was present even in the low oxygen content alloy, leading to lower fracture strength and ductility loss. For the high oxygen level samples, the presence of the dendritic Zr51Cu28Al21 phase was confirmed, leading to fracture strength impairment. The difference between ductile and brittle samples has been reflected on the fracture surfaces. The higher the plastic strain was, the higher the density of shear bands forming during deformation manifested by a serration flow behaviour on stress–strain curves.

A New Species of Orthonectida That Parasitizes Xenoturbella bocki: Implications for Studies on Xenoturbella.

Orthonectida is a phylum of marine invertebrates known to parasitize many invertebrate animals. Because of its simple body plan, it was suggested that it belong to Mesozoa, together with Dicyemida, and that it represent the evolutionary step between unicellular organisms and multicellular animals. Recent studies, including analyses of its genomes, have clarified its phylogenetic position as a member of the Protostomia, but details such as the species diversity within the phylum and how it infects the host remain unknown. Here we report orthonectids discovered from the marine worm Xenoturbella bocki. Orthonectids were found from sections of four xenoturbellid specimens, collected eight years apart. Live females were also discovered on three separate occasions. These recurring instances of orthonectids found from Xenoturbella show that they are parasitic to the animal and not just chance contaminations. Based on morphological characters such as the presence of sexual dimorphism, the arrangement of oocytes within the female body, and the presence of crystalline inclusions in the male epidermal cells, we regard this orthonectid as a new species, Rhopalura xenoturbellae sp. nov. Since orthonectids are present within the xenoturbellid adult body, caution is needed when interpreting morphological, molecular, and experimental data from X. bocki. Further studies on R. xenoturbellae will yield important information on the fundamental biological details of orthonectids that remain unknown.

English

The presence of crystalline inclusions in plasma cell myeloma is a rare phenomenon and cases have been reported with rod, needle, and rectangular shaped crystals in the bone marrow. Here, we present a case of plasma cell myeloma with intracellular crystalline eosinophilic inclusions and extracellular crystal depositions in the bone marrow. Since crystal depositions can be seen in many other clinical conditions, this case invites consideration of plasma cell myeloma in the differential diagnosis of patients with crystalline deposition in the

Os gêneros Chaetomorpha Kütz. nom. cons. e Rhizoclonium Kütz. (Chlorophyta) do litoral do Estado da Bahia, Brasil

O presente trabalho refere-se ao estudo taxonomico dos generos Chaetomorpha e Rhizoclonium ocorrentes no litoral da Bahia. As especies foram delimitadas com base no habito, presenca ou ausencia de rizoides laterais, tipo de celula basal, forma e dimensoes celulares. A presenca de inclusoes cristalinas nas celulas tambem foi verificada. Foram identificadas nove especies, sete para o genero Chaetomorpha (C. aerea (Dillwyn) Kutz., C. antennina (Bory) Kutz., C. brachygona Harv., C. clavata Kutz., C. crassa (C. Agardh) Kutz., C. minima Collins & Herv. e C. nodosa Kutz.) e duas para o genero Rhizoclonium (R. africanum Kutz. and R. riparium (Roth) Kutz. ex Harv.). Chaetomorpha crassa, C. minima e C. nodosa sao novas adicoes para o litoral nordeste do Brasil e C. aerea, C. clavata e R. africanum sao adicoes para o litoral da Bahia. Tres tipos de cristais foram encontrados: 1. cristais de silica, em forma de finas agulhas agrupadas, presentes em C. aerea, C. antennina, C. brachygona, C. clavata e C. crassa; 2. cristais de oxalato de calcio, em forma de octaedros, encontrados em C. antennina e C. clavata e, 3. cristais de carbonato de calcio, em forma de cones formando agregados globosos, observados em C. clavata. Talos ferteis de C. antennina, C. clavata, C. nodosa, R. africanum e R. riparium sao ilustrados pela primeira vez para o Brasil. Descricoes detalhadas das estruturas vegetativas e reprodutivas das especies e comparacoes com taxons afins sao apresentadas.

Presence of crystalline inclusions in the peripheral nerve of a patient with IgA lambda monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance

Association of a peripheral neuropathy with an IgA monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) is not commonly observed and is sometimes considered as coincidental. We present a case in which the nerve biopsy revealed the presence of crystalline inclusions in the endoneurium, a very unusual finding. A 75-year-old man complained of paresthesiae in both feet and unsteady gait for 6 months. He had no weakness, but deep tendon reflexes were absent and vibratory sensation distally diminished in both legs. An IgA lambda MGUS was evidenced in his serum at 10.2 g/L with 7% plasma cells in his bone marrow and no lytic lesion at skeletal examination. A superficial peroneal nerve biopsy was performed and showed numerous crystalline inclusions in the endoneurium. These were located in the cytoplasm of macrophagic histiocytes or free in the vicinity of nerve fibers. There was also a marked loss of myelinated nerve fibers and several "onion bulb" formations surrounding either isolated remyelinating fibers or small clusters of remyelinating fibers. Such crystalline inclusions have mainly been observed in the cytoplasm of plasma cells in cases of multiple myeloma, and correspond to non-secreted IgA or IgG immunoglobulins with a kappa or rarely lambda light chain. Such inclusions have also been reported in the cytoplasm of the epithelial cells from corneal fragments, in patients with multiple myeloma or IgG MGUS, and in the tubular cells from the kidney of patients with multiple myeloma and a nephrotic syndrome. In the literature, there is only one very briefly mentioned case of neuropathy associated with a myeloma and with crystalline inclusions present in the epineurium. Thus, in dysglobulinemic neuropathy, nerve fibers can be damaged by three kinds of interstitial deposits, easily identified by immunohistochemistry and at ultrastructural examination: the well known amyloid fibrils, granulo-fibrillar deposits and also crystalline inclusions.

Dual-Chamber Plasma Co-Deposition of Nanoparticles in Amorphous Silicon Thin Films

AbstractThe production of hydrogenated amorphous silicon films containing silicon nanocrystal-line inclusions (a/nc-Si:H) is demonstrated using a new deposition process. Crystalline Si nanoparticles around 5 nm in diameter are generated in a flow-through plasma reactor, and are introduced into a downstream capacitively-coupled plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition reactor where the particles are “co-deposited” with the amorphous phase of the film. Transmis-sion electron microscopy confirms the presence of crystalline inclusions in these films, as well as providing confirmation that the crystalline particles are indeed produced in the flow-through re-actor and not in the capacitive plasma. Electrical measurements indicate an improvement in the dark conductivity of the intrinsic a/nc-Si:H films as the particle concentration is increased, sug-gesting that the particles have a doping effect on the films charge transport properties.

Expression of a cry2Aa gene in an acrystalliferous Bacillus thuringiensis strain and toxicity of Cry2Aa against Helicoverpa armigera

In the recent past research has been mainly focused on the expression of cry1 genes of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) to engineer lepidopteran insect resistance in plants. Search for structurally different toxins is necessary for the management of resistance development in insects. The intact cry2Aa operon (3.95 kb) of a new isolate of Bt, 47-8, was subcloned into a Bt shuttle vector, pHT3101 (6.7 kb). Recombinant pHT3101 containing the cry2Aa operon of Bt strain 47-8 was named as pTN2Aa and used to transform acrystalliferous Bt strain 4Q7 by electroporation. Phase contrast microscopic observation revealed the presence of crystalline inclusions in the transformants of Bt strain 4Q7 harbouring pTN2Aa. SDS–PAGE of a spore–crystal mixture prepared from transformants of acrystalliferous Bt strain 4Q7 harbouring pTN2Aa showed a single band of about 65 kDa alone confirming the expression of the cloned cry2Aa. Bioassay with Helicoverpa armigera showed 71.4% mortality caused by the proteins encoded by the newly cloned cry2Aa gene (at the concentration of 2.3 μg/μl) on the seventh day and all the survivors that escaped from Cry2Aa toxicity showed severe (81–99%) inhibition in larval growth.

Decalin-induced nephrotoxicity: Light and electron microscopic examination of the effects of oral dosing on the development of kidney lesions in the rat

Male and female Fischer 344 rats were given decalin by oral gavage for 5 or 12 consecutive days in order to determine whether oral dosing would result in light microscopically evident renal effects that were comparable to those that have been observed after inhalation exposure. Decalin (in corn oil vehicle) was administered at doses of 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 or 2.0 g/kg body weight to male rats, and 0, 1.0, 1.5, 1.75 or 2.0 g/kg to female rats. Biopsies of the kidneys of selected control and high-dose male rats were taken for examination by electron microscopy. Sections of kidneys from all control and treated rats were examined by light microscopy. The kidneys of all male control rats contained minimal levels of hyaline droplets within the cytoplasm of proximal convoluted tubule (PCT) epithelial cells. Decalin-induced alterations in the kidneys of male rats included an exacerbation of the hyaline droplet/globule levels found in controls and the formation of granular casts in the outer zone of the renal medulla. The exacerbated formation of hyaline droplets was characterized light microscopically by a marked dose-related increase in the number and size of individual droplets/globules and ultrastructurally by a marked increase in the size range of, and the presence of crystalline inclusions in, the PCT epithelial cell phagolysosomal populations. No other ultrastructural alterations occurred that differentiated treated male rats from control males. The formation of granular casts was dose and time related, occurring in 60% of male rats given 0.5 g decalin/kg for 12 days and in 100% of those given 1.0 g decalin/kg for 12 days. Light microscopy revealed no differences between the kidneys of control and decalin-treated female rats, and no hyaline droplets or granular casts were observed in the kidneys of any female rat killed after 5 or 12 days. These results were in agreement with those of inhalation studies and provide additional evidence that the formation of hyaline droplets in response to exposure to volatile hydrocarbons may be unique to the male rat.

Neutron activation analysis for provenance studies of archaeological artifacts

Differences in composition of archaeological artifacts may only in distinct cases be interpreted in terms of provenance differences. This point is discussed with examples: the large number of elements analyzed with precision and the relative lack of sensitivity of many of them to the presence of crystalline inclusions, made of NAA the method most commonly used for provenance studies of ceramics.

Chilling of tissue before glutaraldehyde fixation preserves fragile inclusions of several plant viruses

Glutaraldehyde—osmium fixation showed the presence of crystalline inclusions of brome mosaic virus (BMV), turnip yellow mosaic virus (TYMV) [and its protein], and potato virus X (PVX) in host tissues provided the tissue was vacuum-infiltrated with buffer and chilled a minimum of 2 hr before chilled glutaraldehyde was allowed to diffuse in. Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) inclusions could only be preserved if osmium tetroxide postfixation was omitted. Cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) crystalline inclusions were not observed with this method. Glutaraldehyde did not fix gelatin at concentrations below 2.5% unless the protein was first gelled at 5°C. Bovine serum albumin was not crosslinked by glutaraldehyde at concentrations of less than 3% at 5°C or of 4% at 25°C. Attempted fixation of low concentrations of gelatin and bovine serum albumin by glutaraldehyde at 5 or 25°C paralleled preservation or nonpreservation, respectively, of viral crystalline inclusions of TYMV, BMV, PVX, and TMV in expanded leaf tissue. The inability of glutaraldehyde to crosslink low concentrations of protein has consequences for the interpretation of the intracellular ultrastructural location of virus or virus-related products in expanded leaf tissues. It is proposed that a minimum protein concentration is required for glutaraldehyde to fix cells and that this minimum protein concentration decreases with decreases in temperature.