Screening for alcoholism

Alcoholism is one of the largest public health problems of the nation and is a significant cofactor in such ubiquitous diseases as hypertension, developmental abnormalities, heart failure, liver failure, and many other conditions. The cost to the nation's health is immense. One strategy for reducing morbidity and cost has been to establish methods for screening in order to increase recognition rates leading to increased rates of therapeutic intervention. In this article, the rationale for two methods of alcohol screening, brief interviews and biological markers of excessive drinking, the relevant statistical issues bearing on this problem, and the current research on screening exams are reviewed and summarized. Finally, some of the newer approaches toward alcoholism screening as well as the consequences to the medical care system should alcohol screening eventuate on a large scale are briefly described.     

Scintigraphic diagnosis of sacral fractures

The H- or butterfly-pattern of uptake in the sacrum on Tc-99m-methylene diphosphonate bone scintigraphy is typical of fractures of the body of the sacrum that involve the sacral alae. This report describes four patients with a focal linear or curvilinear pattern of uptake in sacral fractures without alae involvement. This pattern differs from that associated with metastases in the sacrum, which typically has a random pattern. Recognition of this scintigraphic linear dot pattern of uptake in horizontal fractures in the inferior body of the sacrum is useful for detecting fractures without alae involvement that are not readily apparent on radiographs.     

Pneumothorax and other lung diseases: effect of altered resolution and edge enhancement on diagnosis with digitized radiographs

Prior studies have shown that pneumothorax is one of the more difficult entities to diagnose with digitized radiography. This study was designed to test whether increasing resolution from 1.25 to 2.5 line pairs per millimeter (lp/mm) and image processing (edge enhancement from unsharp masking) would increase accuracy and confidence in the diagnosis of pneumothorax, as well as normal cases and other forms of lung disease. Conventional radiographs were digitized with use of a laser reader and then reformatted as film hard copy. Eleven observers read 35 cases reformatted in three different ways (1.25 lp/mm, 2.5 lp/mm, 1.25 lp/mm unsharp mask). The images with finer resolution (2.5 lp/mm) and unsharp mask images were superior to those with coarser resolution (1.25 lp/mm) for the diagnosis of pneumothorax. There was no difference in diagnostic accuracy for normal patients. For abnormalities other than pneumothorax, the unsharp mask images were significantly worse. Confidence in the diagnosis of pneumothorax and other abnormalities was highest with the finest resolution (2.5 lp/mm).     

Neuropathic bone and joint disease

The pathogenesis of the neuropathic joint has been a subject of controversy for many years. Two main theories of pathophysiologic pathways have evolved: (1) the neurotraumatic, which states that the changes result from mechanical trauma and repetitive injuries to an insensitive extremity or joint and (2) the neurovascular, which states that the changes result from a neurally initiated vascular reflex that leads to hyperemia, angiogenesis, and very active bone resorption by osteoclasts. Through clinical, radiographic, and pathologic observation, it appears evident that both pathways contribute to neuropathic bone and joint disease. Initially, the alteration of sympathetic control triggers a persistent hyperemia, leading to active bone resorption. There may or may not be associated pathologic fractures and subsequent repair. This depends upon the degree of joint insensitivity and whether or not it is subjected to continued weightbearing. If so, the neurotraumatic mechanisms come into play, but only secondarily.     

导数光谱系数倍率法测定多组分体系感冒清胶囊中盐酸吗啉胍的含量

This paper provides a basic principle and experimental technique of derivative signal multiplier spectrophotometry in multicomponent mixture. A microcomputer was used to process the spectral data measured on a manual spectrophotometer (UV-7520) for the determination of moroxydine hydrochloride in Gan Mao Qing capsules. Quantitative analysis of multicomponent mixture can be done without sample separation. The selection of optimal wavelength pairs is performed through the program with a computer. The method needs no special spectrophotometer and is simple, rapid and easy to operate. The mean recovery was 99.98 +/- 0.53% (n = 12).