Image processing in digital radiography

Image processing is a critical part of obtaining high-quality digital radiographs. Fortunately, the user of these systems does not need to understand image processing in detail, because the manufacturers provide good starting values. Because radiologists may have different preferences in image appearance, it is helpful to know that many aspects of image appearance can be changed by image processing, and a new preferred setting can be loaded into the computer and saved so that it can become the new standard processing method.Image processing allows one to change the overall optical density of an image and to change its contrast. Spatial frequency processing allows an image to be sharpened, improving its appearance. It also allows noise to be blurred so that it is less visible. Care is necessary to avoid the introduction of artifacts or the hiding of mediastinal tubes.     

Storage phosphor digital mammography

Digital mammography using storage phosphor CR is still in the investigational stage. It is the only digital mammography system that has been tested in preliminary clinical trials with promising early results. Further clinical studies are needed to assess the impact of the limited spatial resolution of storage phosphor technology on its application as a digital screening mammography system. Further studies also are needed to determine the optimum image processing parameters needed in digital mammography.     

Immunological effects of tumor vaccines: II. T cell responses directed against cellular antigens in the viral oncolysates

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with epithelial adenocarcinoma of the ovary treated in vivo with tumor vaccines administered as viral oncolysates (VO) exhibited significant proliferative responses in vitro to VO as well as to cellular oncolysates (CO). These responses were dependent on the concentration of VO or CO. VO consisted of lysates from the same ovarian tumor cell lines 2774 and CaOV3 infected in vitro with the avirulent strain of influenza virus A/PR8/34. CO were lysates from the same ovarian tumor cell lines without virus. Depletion experiments with the OKT3 monoclonal antibody plus complement demonstrated that these proliferative responses are T cell specific and under the control of the HLA-D region. Furthermore, these T cell responses are directed against both tumor tumor cellular components and tumor HLA class I molecules. These responses can be detected as early as two weeks after the first intraperitoneal injection of VO and reach a maximum 12-16 weeks after the first application of VO for treatment. PBMC from ovarian patients that received in vivo VO exhibited insignificant proliferative responses to CO prepared from human fibroblasts or tumor cell lines of hematopoietic origin. In contrast, they exhibited significant proliferative responses to CO prepared from a human cervix tumor cell line. These results demonstrate systemic T cell activation by antigens in the tumor vaccines in patients with epithelial ovarian carcinoma after in vivo intraperitoneal administration of VO.     

Review article: the use of biotherapeutic agents in the prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal disease

There is presently a lack of well conducted clinical trials demonstrating any significant benefits of probiotics in humans. With the exception of diarrhoea due to rotavirus infection in children there is little evidence from randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies that bacterial probiotics have a significant beneficial action in preventing diarrhoea of any cause. The yeast Saccharomyces boulardii has been shown to be of benefit in the prevention of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea but not in preventing infection with Clostridium difficile . S. boulardii may also be of benefit in preventing relapse of C. difficile infection. Because of the simplicity of in vitro systems and some animal models, beneficial characteristics of probiotics such as the ability of bacteria to bind to epithelial surfaces are not always transferable to humans. Thus any postulated benefit from consumption of probiotic bacteria should only be accepted as fact after testing in clinical studies.
This review outlines our present knowledge of the mode of action of probiotics and presents the data from clinical trials on their use.     

Vesicular pityriasis rosea: response to erythromycin treatment

Pityriasis rosea (PR) is a relatively common disease although its aetiology has not yet been identified. It occurs worldwide and there is no racial susceptibility factor. It usually affects teenagers and young adults between 10 and 35 years of age. Typical PR is much easier to diagnose than the rare atypical forms. We report a rare case of vesicular PR in a black woman who had vesicular lesions limited to her palms and soles in addition to regular typical lesions. We devised an efficient oral erythromycin treatment for this patient.     

Detection of wheat gliadin contamination of gluten-free foods by a monoclonal antibody dot immunobinding assay

Unfractionated wheat gliadin was used to produce murine monoclonal antibodies to gliadin. A dot immunobinding assay, using these antibodies, was developed to detect possible gliadin contamination of nominally gluten-free flour, using dilute ethanol extracts spotted onto nitrocellulose membranes. The sensitivity of the assay was less than 10 micrograms/ml of unfractionated gliadin which permitted the detection of trace amounts of gliadin present in certain wheat starch based 'gluten-free' products. The assay detected not only wheat gliadin, but also prolamine extracts of rye, barley and oats; maize, soya and potato extracts as well as the control proteins casein and ovalbumin, gave negative results. The assay is of value as a simple and rapid method of screening foods for their suitability for consumption by patients with coeliac disease.     

Herpes zoster ophthalmicus with delayed cerebral infarction and meningoencephalitis

Herpes zoster ophthalmicus can be complicated by a delayed ipsilateral cerebral angiitis which may cause infarction and a smoldering meningoencephalitis. We describe such a case treated successfully with steroids and acyclovir. It is important to consider the diagnosis of this disorder early since therapeutic intervention may prevent an otherwise high morbidity and mortality. Steroids may have to be continued for some time after clinical resolution, using the ESR as a guideline for decreasing dosages.