This paper reports the histological observation on PAS-positive granular cells in epididymal epithelium from rat, bull, swine and ram. Caput, corpus and cauda of epididymis from these animals (10～14 for each species) were taken, routine fixed and embeded, 6 ?m section, PAS stained and observed under light microscope. There is a kind of PAS positive granular cell existed in epithelium of all segments of epididymis from all these animals. These PAS positive granules are proved to be neutral polysaccharide and an apocrine secretion pattern is suggested. The so-called clear cell in HE stained slides might be PAS-positive granular cell which has already discharged its contents. Besides, this kind of cells are occasionally located in the vas deferens as well.

During spermatogenesis, lysine-rich histones in spermatogenic cells are progressively replaced by arginine-rich protamine. In this study, the nucleoprotein transition in spermatogenic cells of Wistar rat was investigated using aniline blue staining, PTA staininig (both to demonstrate lysine-proteins) and NQS (1, 2-naphthoquinone4-sodium sulfonate) staining (to demonstrate arginine-protein). Under light microscope, the nuclei of spermatogonia and spermatocytes were intensely aniline blue positive and the nuclei of young spermatids moderately positive, while the nuclei of late elongated spermatids and spermatozoa were aniline blue negative. The nuclei of spermatogonia and young spermatids were basicallyy NQS negative and there were a few granules of weak NQS positive in the nuclei of primary spermatocytes, while the nuclei of late elongated spermatids and spermatozoa were NQS positive. Under the electron microscope, the PTA positive chromatin in the nuclei of early spermatids with round nucleus (steps 1 to 8)was fibrillar or granular in appearance. Along with the condensation of nuclei of spermatids(steps 9 to 13), the nuclear stain ability increased. The positive chromatin in the nuclei of spermatids (steps 14, 15) was disappeared progressively, in the direction from cranial to caudal along with the further condensation of nuclei. The nuclei of late spermatids with elongated nucleus (steps 18, 19) and spermatozoa were PTA negative. These observations suggest that the nucleoprotein transition from histones to protamine (S_1) occur during spermiogenesis and that this process could be divided into two consecutive steps, i. e. from histones through an intermediate phase of transition proteins to protamine.

Nocardiosis is a collective term for tissue and organ damage caused by Nocardia infection. Solid organ transplant recipients (SOTR) are at an increased risk of various pathogen infections, including Nocardia infection, due to immunosuppressive therapy which weakens their immune function. The diagnosis of nocardiosis has been challenging in the past. With the advent of molecular biology and other diagnostic methods, the diagnostic rate has significantly improved. Nocardia not only prone to cause necrotic pulmonary lesions but also invade other organs and tissues, such as intracranial infections and skin soft tissue infections, and can develop into systemic disseminated infections. For SOTR, nocardiosis is a potentially fatal disease with a fatality as high as 30%. Therefore, this article reviews the clinical characteristics of common nocardiosis in SOTR, new diagnostic technologies, and different anti-infective treatment strategies, aiming to provide a reference for the prevention and treatment of nocardiosis in clinical SOTR.

Objective:To summarize the patient profiles and therapeutic efficacies of ABO-incompatible living-related kidney transplantations at 19 domestic transplant centers and provide rationales for clinical application of ABOi-KT.Methods:Clinical cases of ABO-incompatible/compatible kidney transplantation (ABOi-KT/ABOc-KT) from December 2006 to December 2009 were collected. Then, statistical analyses were conducted from the aspects of tissue matching, perioperative managements, complications and survival rates of renal allograft or recipients.Results:Clinical data of 342 ABOi-KT and 779 ABOc-KT indicated that (1) no inter-group differences existed in age, body mass index (BMI), donor-recipient relationship or waiting time of pre-operative dialysis; (2) ABO blood type: blood type O recipients had the longest waiting list and transplantations from blood type A to blood type O accounted for the largest proportion; (3) HLA matching: no statistical significance existed in mismatch rate or positive rate of PRA I/II between two types of surgery; (4) CD20 should be properly used on the basis of different phrases; (5) hemorrhage was a common complication during an early postoperative period and microthrombosis appeared later; (6) no difference existed in postoperative incidence of complications or survival rate of renal allograft and recipients at 1/3/5/10 years between ABOi-KT and ABOc-KT. The acute rejection rate and serum creatinine levels of ABOi-KT recipients were comparable to those of ABOc-KT recipients within 1 year.Conclusions:ABOi-KT is both safe and effective so that it may be applied at all transplant centers as needed.