The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA): Maintaining and Operating a Public Information Repository

The National Institutes of Health have placed significant emphasis on sharing of research data to support secondary research. Investigators have been encouraged to publish their clinical and imaging data as part of fulfilling their grant obligations. Realizing it was not sufficient to merely ask investigators to publish their collection of imaging and clinical data, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) created the open source National Biomedical Image Archive software package as a mechanism for centralized hosting of cancer related imaging. NCI has contracted with Washington University in Saint Louis to create The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA)—an open-source, open-access information resource to support research, development, and educational initiatives utilizing advanced medical imaging of cancer. In its first year of operation, TCIA accumulated 23 collections (3.3 million images). Operating and maintaining a high-availability image archive is a complex challenge involving varied archive-specific resources and driven by the needs of both image submitters and image consumers. Quality archives of any type (traditional library, PubMed, refereed journals) require management and customer service. This paper describes the management tasks and user support model for TCIA.     

Surface engineering of artificial heart valve disks using nanostructured thin films deposited by chemical vapour deposition and sol-gel methods

Pyrolytic carbon (PyC) is widely used in manufacturing commercial artificial heart valve disks (HVD). Although PyC is commonly used in HVD, it is not the best material for this application since its blood compatibility is not ideal for prolonged clinical use. As a result thrombosis often occurs and the patients are required to take anti-coagulation drugs on a regular basis in order to minimize the formation of thrombosis. However, anti-coagulation therapy gives rise to some detrimental side effects in patients. Therefore, it is extremely urgent that newer and more technically advanced materials with better surface and bulk properties are developed. In this paper, we report the mechanical properties of PyC-HVD, i.e. strength, wear resistance and coefficient of friction. The strength of the material was assessed using Brinell indentation tests. Furthermore, wear resistance and coefficient of friction values were obtained from pin-on-disk testing. The micro-structural properties of PyC were characterized using XRD, Raman spectroscopy and SEM analysis. Also in this paper we report the preparation of freestanding nanocrystalline diamond films (FSND) using the time-modulated chemical vapour deposition (TMCVD) process. Furthermore, the sol-gel technique was used to uniformly coat PyC-HVD with dense, nanocrystalline-titanium oxide (nc-TiO₂) coatings. The as-grown nc-TiO₂ coatings were characterized for microstructure using SEM and XRD analysis.     

Compositional and metabolic heterogeneity of alpha 2- and beta-very-low-density lipoproteins in subjects with broad beta disease and endogenous hypertriglyceridemia

The catabolism of alpha 2- and beta-very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) was studied in normolipidemic and hyperlipidemic subjects to determine whether differences in the catabolism of these subfractions are due to their composition. alpha 2-VLDL (cholesterol/triglyceride ratio, 00.18 +/- 0.06; and apoprotein E/C ratio, 0.27 +/- 0.22, n = 4) and beta-VLDL (cholesterol/triglyceride ratio, 0.67 +/- 0.13; and apoprotein E/C ratio, 1.05 +/- 0.52, n = 4) were isolated from subjects with broad beta disease, iodinated, and injected in five normolipidemic subjects, six with broad beta disease, and five with endogenous hypertriglyceridemia. VLDL, intermediate (IDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) apoprotein (apo)-B radioactivity (tetramethylurea insoluble) following injection of 125I-labeled alpha 2- and beta-VLDL decayed biphasically in all subjects, and this decay in normolipidemic subjects was more rapid than in subjects with broad beta disease (P = 0.004) or endogenous hypertriglyceridemia (P = 0.004 for alpha 2- and P = 0.010 for beta-VLDL). The residence times, however, for the delipidation chain in alpha 2-VLDL were similar in all the subjects and varied from three to six hours. The decay of radioactivity in beta-VLDL in subjects with broad beta disease was much slower (residence time, 36.9 +/- 24.4 hr, n = 7) than in normolipidemic subjects (residence time, 7.56 +/- 4.6 hr, n = 5) or in subjects with endogenous hypertriglyceridemia (residence time, 10.6 +/- 4.65, n = 4). The residence time for alpha 2-VLDL was longer than for beta-VLDL in all subjects, suggesting that alpha 2-VLDL is a precursor to beta-VLDL. To test this directly, iodinated alpha 2-VLDL was injected into a subject with broad beta disease and the radioactivity in the subfractions was followed. The radioactivity from alpha 2-VLDL was transferred into beta-VLDL supporting, the notion that alpha 2-VLDL generated some beta-VLDL. Nicotinic acid treatment of a subject with broad beta disease accelerated the catabolism of alpha 2- and beta-VLDL without changing the VLDL composition.     

北京生物医药产业的跨越式发展:问题与对策

背景:生物医药产业是21世纪全球公认的最具有发展前景的国际化高技术产业之一,也是世界贸易增长最快的朝阳产业之一。目的:分析北京生物医药产业的发展现状,指出北京生物医药产业跨越式发展中存在的问题及相应的解决对策。方法:应用计算机检索百度文库、中国知网及手工检索学校图书馆内书籍2005至2014年间的文献,分析了北京生物医药产业目前的发展现状和存在的问题,并针对这些问题提出对北京生物医药企业实现跨越式发展有指导意义的观点与结论。结果与结论:近年来,北京生物医药产业发展迅速并取得了良好成果,但在实施跨越式发展过程中也存在着诸多问题,如产业基础较薄弱、企业创新主体地位还未显现、缺乏足够的资金投入等。针对这些问题,提出了不断优化调整产业结构、进一步优化所有制结构、加强技术创新、建设以企业为主体的研发体系、实施品牌扩展战略5方面对策,实现北京生物医药产业由战略产业向主导产业的跨越式发展,成为世界重要的研发中心、高端制造基地和市场中心。     

Obtaining reliable intraoral digital scans for an implant-supported complete-arch prosthesis: A dental technique

This article describes a technique for obtaining an accurate complete-arch digital scan for an edentulous patient. To achieve this, an auxiliary polymeric device that simulates a denture is designed, fabricated, and placed in the mouth. This device, having the geometry of a typical dental arch, facilitates the digitalization of the edentulous complete arch. This is because the change in radius of the curvature (change of geometry) enables the scanner to perform a more accurate alignment. Initially, the necessary location of the implants is acquired, and then the soft tissue is added. This technique can achieve accurate complete-arch digital scans. Distances between implants are closer to the gold standard when using this auxiliary geometry piece than those obtained without using it.     

Finite Element Analysis: A Maxillofacial Surgeon’s Perspective

The science of finite element analysis (FEA) is purely a mathematical way of solving complex problems in the universe. In medical field, this is an innovation in biomedical research and development, as it gives easier mathematical solution to biological problems. This article deals with the understanding of various basic material properties of bone like Young’s modulus, yield strength, Bulk modulus, shear modulus, Poisson’s ratio and density from a maxillofacial surgeon’s perspective. Basic concepts in FEA, its application, advantages, disadvantages, and limitations in the field of maxillofacial surgery have been discussed. The importance of surgical fraternity to be in coordination with evolving technologies has been emphasized for the future of evidence based practice of oral and maxillofacial surgery.     

心、肺、脑非接触监测研究进展

近年来,生物医学领域非接触监测研究不断发展与进步.对心、肺、脑非接触监测手段的研究现状进行综述.重点分析电容心电图、磁感应、雷达3种非接触式心、肺监测以及非接触式脑部监测相关技术.电容心电图监测心、肺活动利用电极间电容变化效应;磁感应监测心、肺活动利用麦克斯韦原理;雷达监测心、肺活动利用多普勒效应;非接触式脑部监测采用磁感应断层成像技术.在分析各监测原理的基础上,介绍了国内外相应的研究成果,并总结了这些监测手段的优缺点;并对未来新型非接触心、肺、脑监测设备作出了展望.     

中层取水防钉螺扩散技术研究进展

钉螺是日本血吸虫的唯一中间宿主,阻断钉螺扩散能有效防止血吸虫病传播和流行。基于钉螺在水体中的生存条件和迁移特点,"中层取水"技术能有效地防止钉螺扩散。本文参考国内相关文献,从钉螺消长与扩散趋势、钉螺迁移扩散特点、"中层取水"理论基础及其应用等方面进行综述。