Kniest dysplasia: neonatal death with necropsy

We describe a premature female infant with Kniest dysplasia, who died shortly after birth. This appears to be the first autopsy performed in this condition. Manifestations included neonatal respiratory distress, large head, midface hypoplasia, flat nasal bridge, short nose, micrognathia, cleft palate, short neck, micromelia, and mildly bowed limbs. Roentgenologic findings included short, slightly bowed tubular bones with metaphyseal flare; mild platyspondyly, with vertical clefts of vertebral bodies; small iliac bones with increased acetabular angles; and inadequate ossification of pubic rami. Histopathologic findings of cartilage included focal "Swiss-cheese" pattern; disorganized physeal growth zone; and PAS-positive, diastase-resistant intracytoplasmic inclusions, which corresponded to finely granular material accumulated in dilated cisterns of rough endoplasmic reticulum.

Short rib-polydactyly syndrome, Majewski type

A term infant had dwarfism with characteristic skeletal and extraskeletal changes of the short rib-polydactyly syndrome type 2 (Majewski). The skeletal changes included extremely short horizontal ribs, extreme micromelia with disproportionately short ovoid tibiae, and pre- and post-axial polydactyly. Microscopically, cartilage showed markedly stunted and disorganized endochondral ossification. Extraskeletal manifestations were hydrops, cleft lip, malformed larynx with hypoplastic epiglottis, pulmonary hypoplasia, glomerular and renal tubular cysts, ambiguous genitalia, pachygyria and small cerebellar vermis. Parental consanguinity supports the hypothesis of autosomal recessive inheritance of the condition.

Multiwavelength rainbow holographic interferometry

Although the two-step rainbow holographic process of Benton [S. A. Benton, J. Opt. Soc. Am. 50, (1969)] offers a significant improvement in holographic displays, its scientific applications are somewhat limited. It is primarily due to the awkardness of the two-step process. We have demonstrated [H. and F. T. S. Yu, Opt. Lett. 2, 85 (1978)] a one-step process which greatly simplifies the procedure in making rainbow holograms. In this paper, the applications of the one-step process to holographic interferometry is demonstrated. A unique multiwavelength holographic interferometric technique is also introduced. This multiwavelength process enables the study and comparison of more than one physical effect. The holographic interference fringe patterns due to different effects can be displayed individually, or together different colors. This capability further extends the usefulness and versatility of holographic interferometry.

H-Y antigen-positive male pseudohermaphroditism with 45,X/46,XYq-mosaicism

A 42-year-old male had short stature, microphallus, hypospadias, a bifid scrotum, abdominal undifferentiated testes, a uterus, bilateral fallopian tubes, and 45,X/46,XYq-mosaicism in his blood, skin, and germinal tissue and tissue surrounding the tests as determined by means of G-, Q-, and C-banding. An H-Y antigen assay on skin fibroblasts was positive, indicating that the locus for this antigen is not located in the brightly fluorescent region of the Y chromosome.

Omphalocele and partial trisomy 1q syndrome

A male infant with partial trisomy 1q syndrome (46,XY,der(21),t(1;21)(q25;q22)pat) is described. Clinical findings include small for gestational age, hypoglycemia, ocular hypertelorism, microphthalmia, coloboma of the iris, low-set ears, beak nose, micrognathia, micropenis, cryptorchidism, presacral dimple, flexion contractures of the fingers, bifid thumb, Simian crease, and overriding toes. In addition, he had a large omphalocele not previously seen in trisomy 1q. Postmortem findings include underdeveloped cerebellum, a thymus with moderate depletion of thymocytes, a large PDA, ASD, small adrenal, and fatty change of the liver. The grandfather, father, and a male sibling have translocation t(1;21)(q25;q22). A family history of repeated spontaneous abortions is present.

Development of a laboratory EXAFS facility

The EXAFS technique is a powerful new structural tool, particularly useful for studies of disordered or otherwise complex materials for which x-ray diffraction techniques are difficult or unfeasible. At the present time, most EXAFS experiments are carried out at a synchrotron facility because of the larger fluxes available. We have developed an in-laboratory apparatus utilizing a focusing crystal technique which increases available fluxes two to three orders of magnitude over previous laboratory facilities, so that EXAFS measurements can be carried out quickly and accurately in the laboratory. We will discuss the principles of the focusing monochromator and we will also illustrate the experimental method with examples, including studies of chemical solutions, defect crystalline solids, and high-temperature superconductors.

White-light pseudocolor density encoder

A simple technique utilizing a white-light processing system for the pseudocolor encoding of photographic materials by density is presented. Pseudocolored output of many different color codes is obtained by selectively spatial filtering the dispersed colors of the various high-diffraction orders of a halftone input. Besides permitting a large variety of color codes, this white-light technique would also eliminate all coherent artifact noises that plague coherent systems. Experimental results are presented, and comparison with the coherent technique is provided.

Color blur of the rainbow hologram

The color blur of the rainbow hologram is calculated from first-order holographic theory. The result is applicable to most of the rainbow holographic processes, including the one-step recording technique. Horizontal color blur approaches zero if the rainbow hologram image is near the optical axis of the hologram aperture.

Double aneuploidy: partial trisomy 21 and XO/XXX in a family with 12/21 translocation

A female patient with mild mental retardation with spatial perceptual difficulties, microcephaly, depressed nasal root, receding chin, webbed neck, low hairline, shield chest, cubitus valgus, scoliosis and dermatoglyphic findings not characteristic of Down's syndrome is reported. In addition to X/XXX, she had a partial trisomy 21 of the short arm-centromere-proximal long arm segment due to maternal t(12;21) translocation. Two phenotypically normal siblings carried the balanced translocation.

A developmental assessment chart for non-institutionalized Down syndrome children

This prospective study was undertaken to present a test form utilizing the same test items as the Denver Developmental Screening Test in categories of personal-social, fine motor-adaptive, language, and gross motor attainment comparing the performance of an individual Down Syndrome child with that of similar children on whom the items were standardized. A developmental assessment chart was constructed based on 96 consecutive home-reared Down syndrome children (2 months to 8 years). This chart can be easily administered and the developmental status of a particular Down syndrome child evaluated.

A severe infantile micromelic chondrodysplasia which resembles Kniest disease

This paper describes 3 infants with a severe, generalized chondrodysplasia with short limbs, shortness of stature, relative micrognathia and neonatal respiratory distress in all cases, cleft palate in two and dislocation of lenses in one. They died at 7 and 10 weeks and at 17 months respectively. No autopsy was performed on any of the 3 patients. Roentgenological manifestations include short, broad tubular bones with metaphyseal widening, bowing of leg, thigh and forearm bones, neonatal accelerated carpal bone maturation, short, broad pelvis with wide, flared iliac wings, many gross vertebral abnormalities including most prominently coronal clefts of almost any vertebral body, and short ribs with flared anterior ends. Roentgenographically the condition has some similarities with Kniest disease, or more correctly, the Kniest chondrodysplasia. However, we think that the clinical and roentgenological manifestations are sufficiently unique to permit delineation of the condition of our 3 patients as a "new" entity different from the Kniest chondrodysplasia. Similar cases have been described by Rolland et al. from France and by Dinno et al. from the U.S.A. The later case and our 3 patients were sporadic cases, but the former had a probably affected sibling, suggesting that this disorder is an autosomal recessive trait.

Familial partial trisomy 6q syndromes resulting from inherited ins (5;6) (q33;q15q27)

Two cases are reported of familial partial trisomy 6q syndrome due to segregation of ins(5;6) (q33;q15q27) in three generations. The common clinical features include growth and mental retardation, feeding difficulty during infancy, microcephaly with downward slanting palpebral fissures, flattened nasal bridge with anteverted and flared nares, long philtrum, high arched palate, partially opened and protruding mouth with receding chin, deep transverse creases of the ears, three creases on the 4th fingers, clinodactyly of the 5th fingers with a single crease, and other dermatoglyphic findings. These characteristic features of two patients appear to make partial trisomy 6q a clinically recognizable syndrome.