The role of strain gauge plethysmography in the assessment of patients with suspected deep vein thrombosis.

Suspicion of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a common reason for medical referral to hospital. Clinical signs and symptoms are notoriously unreliable, hence there is the need for objective testing. Strain gauge plethysmography (SGP) has been marketed as a technique for excluding lower limb DVT. We therefore set out to evaluate this screening tool. Over a 2 year period, 437 consecutive patients referred with suspected DVT were assessed using both plethysmography and Doppler ultrasound. When the two techniques were compared, plethysmography was found to have a negative predictive value of 90%. We conclude that strain gauge plethysmography has a role in the screening of patients with suspected DVT but should not be used as the sole method in patient assessment.

Exploratory data analysis groupware for qualitative and quantitative electrophoretic gel analysis over the Internet-WebGel.

Many scientists use quantitative measurements to compare the presence and amount, of various proteins and nucleotides among series of one- and two-dimensional (1-D and 2-D) electrophoretic gels. These gels are often scanned into digital image files. Gel spots are then quantified using stand-alone analysis software. However, as more research collaborations take place over the Internet, it has become useful to share intermediate quantitative data between researchers. This allows research group members to investigate their data and share their work in progress. We developed a World Wide Web group-accessible software system, WebGel, for interactively exploring qualitative and quantitative differences between electrophoretic gels. Such Internet databases are useful for publishing quantitative data and allow other researchers to explore the data with respect to their own research. Because intermediate results of one user may be shared with their collaborators using WebGel, this form of active data-sharing constitutes a groupware method for enhancing collaborative research. Quantitative and image gel data from a stand-alone gel image processing system are copied to a database accessible on the WebGel Web server. These data are then available for analysis by the WebGel database program residing on that server. Visualization is critical for better understanding of the data. WebGel helps organize labeled gel images into montages of corresponding spots as seen in these different gels. Various views of multiple gel images, including sets of spots, normalization spots, labeled spots, segmented gels, etc. may also be displayed. These displays are active and may be used for performing database operations directly on individual protein spots by simply clicking on them. Corresponding regions between sets of gels may be visually analyzed using Flicker-comparison (Electrophoresis 1997, 18, 122-140) as one of the WebGel methods for qualitative analysis. Quantitative exploratory data analysis can be performed by comparing protein concentration values between corresponding spots for multiple samples run in separate gels. These data are then used to generate reports on statistical differences between sets of gels (e.g., between different disease states such as benign or metastatic cancers, etc.). Using combined visual and quantitative methods, WebGel can help bridge the analysis of dissimilar gels which are difficult to analyze with stand-alone systems and can serve as a collaborative Internet tool in a groupware setting.

Visualization of brain iron by mid-field MR.

Brain iron was visualized on a mid-field (0.5 T) scanner using a spin-echo pulse sequence. Methemoglobin was hyperintense on T1- and T2-weighted images. Deoxyhemoglobin, hemosiderin, and ferritin were seen as decreased intensity on T2-weighted images. The spin-echo pulse sequences were improved for identification of deoxyhemoglobin, hemosiderin, and ferritin by prolonging the TR to 3000 msec and the TE to 80-120 msec. Phase-encoding artifacts at the level of the sylvian fissures caused increased noise, obscuring the brain iron in the lentiform nuclei with the TE of 120 msec. This artifact was substantially reduced or eliminated by lowering the TE to 80 msec, changing the phase-encoding gradient to the Y axis, or using additional pulsing in the slice and read gradients. Use of either the improved spin-echo or gradient-echo pulse sequences on a mid-field MR scanner provides improved evaluation of brain iron.

Reducing motion artifacts in two-dimensional Fourier transform imaging.

The effects of motion in two-dimensional Fourier transform imaging (2DFT) are considered. Specific calculations describing the case of periodic motion are presented. The results predict the commonly seen artifact of image replication, sometimes referred to as ghosting. Expressions for both position and amplitude of these ghosts are derived. Simulated examples illustrate the image degradation for pulsatile flow and in plane motion. Several methods of reducing motion artifacts are then suggested. These include: randomization of views, averaging views, matching repeat times to the respiratory period, hybrid imaging, ROPE and COPE. The latter two methods reorder the data acquisition to destroy the coherence of the motion. They do not increase the data acquisition time and promise to be part of the standard approach to remove motion artifacts. The final step in actually recovering ideal resolution can be accomplished by using a model of the motion and a generalized transform inversion technique.

Relationship of state educational criteria and demographic variables to school-system prevalence of mental retardation.

A survey of state departments of education revealed wide variations in mental retardation terminology, definition, and classification variables. The relationship of survey variables and demographic characteristics of states with school-system prevalence of mental retardation was analyzed. Survey variables such as mental retardation definition, adaptive behavior measurement, and IQ cutoff score were largely unrelated to school-system prevalence. Demographic characteristics based on summary data for states on variables such as per capita income, educational level, and rate of illiteracy were highly related to school-system prevalence. Caution was recommended in interpretation of results based on ecological correlations, i.e., correlations based on group summaries rather than individual data. The results were seen as further indication of the relative, social-system nature of mild mental retardation.