Breast volume and anthropomorphic measurements: normal values

Fifty-five consecutive female volunteers were evaluated. Linear measurements of the breast and nipple position were determined to fixed points on the chest wall. Volume determination was done by a standard chest-wall casting technique. A highly significant difference was found between left and right breasts in the axilla-to-nipple distance and nipple-to-midline measurements. A significant difference was also found in the distance from the lowest point of the breast (patient upright) to the nipple. Analysis of the volumetric difference between right and left breasts did not achieve statistical significance.     

Breast reconstruction using an inflatable breast implant with detachable reservoir

An inflatable breast implant having a detachable filling reservoir is described. Once in position, the implant can be filled under controlled conditions postoperatively. The implant functions either as a tissue expander or as a delayed-filling implant in the initial stages of the procedure. Once the desired breast size is achieved, the reservoir is removed, leaving the filled implant in position. This implant has been used successfully in various types of breast reconstructive procedures, including both primary and secondary reconstruction following modified mastectomy, immediate reconstruction following subcutaneous mastectomy, secondary reconstruction following radical mastectomy combined with the latissimus dorsi flap, and following the removal of silicone gel implants with associated capsular contracture. A total of 23 patients, representing 34 breasts, are reported on. The results have been encouraging over a period of 20 months of follow-up.     

Breast volume assessment based on 3D surface geometry: verification of the method using MR imaging

Differences in breast volume and contour are subjectively estimated by surgeons. 3D surface imaging using 3D scanners provides objective breast volume quantification, but precision and accuracy of the method requires verification. Breast volumes of five test individuals were assessed using a 3D surface scanner. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reference volumes were obtained to verify and compare the 3D scan measurements. The anatomical thorax wall curvature was segmented using MRI data and compared to the interpolated curvature of the posterior breast volume delimitation of 3D scan data. MRI showed higher measurement precision, mean deviation (expressed as percentage of volume) of 1.10+/-0.34% compared to 1.63+/-0.53% for the 3D scanner. Mean MRI [right (left) breasts: 638 (629)+/-143 (138) cc] and 3D scan [right (left) breasts: 493 (497)+/-112 (116) cc] breast volumes significantly correlated [right (left) breasts: r=0.982 (0.977), p=0.003 (0.004)]. The posterior thorax wall of the 3D scan model showed high agreement with the MRI thorax wall curvature [mean positive (negative) deviation: 0.33 (-0.17)+/-0.37 cm]. High correspondence and correlation of 3D scan data with MRI-based verifications support 3D surface imaging as sufficiently precise and accurate for breast volume measurements.     

Orbital volume measurements in enophthalmos using three-dimensional CT imaging

The purpose of this study was to investigate enophthalmos by measuring the volume of various orbital structures using off-line computer techniques on images generated by a CT scanner. Eleven patients with enophthalmos had CT scans of the orbits consisting of 30 to 40 adjacent 1.5-mm slices. The data from the scans were analyzed on a Nova 830 stand-alone computer system using software programs that allowed measurement of total bony orbital volume, total soft-tissue volume, globe volume, orbital fat volume, neuromuscular tissue volume, and apex-to-globe distance in the horizontal plane. These data were analyzed comparing the volumes in the normal eye with the volumes in the enophthalmic eye in each patient. The analysis demonstrated a statistically significant increase in bony orbital volume in the enophthalmic eye, but the total soft-tissue volume, fat volume, neuromuscular tissue volume, and globe volume were the same as in the normal eye. The apex-to-globe distance, a measure of the degree of enophthalmos, was less in the enophthalmic eye than in the normal eye. These results suggest that in the majority of patients, the cause of posttraumatic enophthalmos is increased bony orbital volume rather than by soft-tissue loss or fat necrosis. (Several patients showed no volume discrepancies, and it is likely that cicatricial contracture is responsible for the enophthalmos in these cases.) This study suggests that the objective of surgery for correction of enophthalmos in patients with a volume discrepancy should be to decrease the volume of the bony orbit and to increase the anterior projection of the globe.     

pParse: a method for accurate determination of monoisotopic peaks in high-resolution mass spectra

Determining the monoisotopic peak of a precursor is a first step in interpreting mass spectra, which is basic but non-trivial. The reason is that in the isolation window of a precursor, other peaks interfere with the determination of the monoisotopic peak, leading to wrong mass-to-charge ratio or charge state. Here we propose a method, named pParse, to export the most probable monoisotopic peaks for precursors, including co-eluted precursors. We use the relationship between the position of the highest peak and the mass of the first peak to detect candidate clusters. Then, we extract three features to sort the candidate clusters: (i) the sum of the intensity, (ii) the similarity of the experimental and the theoretical isotopic distribution, and (iii) the similarity of elution profiles. We showed that the recall of pParse, MaxQuant, and BioWorks was 98-98.8%, 0.5-17%, and 1.8-36.5% at the same precision, respectively. About 50% of tandem mass spectra are triggered by multiple precursors which are difficult to identify. Then we design a new scoring function to identify the co-eluted precursors. About 26% of all identified peptides were exclusively from co-eluted peptides. Therefore, accurately determining monoisotopic peaks, including co-eluted precursors, can greatly increase peptide identification rate.     

MalariaCount: an image analysis-based program for the accurate determination of parasitemia

Malaria is a serious global health problem and rapid, precise determination of parasitemia is necessary for malaria research and in clinical settings. Manual counting by light microscopy is the most widely used technique for parasitemia determination but it is a time-consuming and laborious process. The aim of our study was to develop an automated image analysis-based system for the rapid and accurate determination of parasitemia. We have developed, for the first time, a software, MalariaCount, that automatically generates parasitemias from images of Giemsa-stained blood smears. The potential application and robustness of MalariaCount was tested in normal and drug-treated in vitro cultures of Plasmodium falciparum. The results showed a tight correlation between MalariaCount and manual count parasitemia values. These findings suggest that MalariaCount can potentially be used as a tool to provide rapid and accurate determination of parasitemia in research laboratories where frequent, large-scale, efficient determination of parasitemia is required.     

Sex determination of African Penguins Spheniscus demersus using bill measurements: method comparisons and implications for use

African Penguins Spheniscus demersus are sexually dimorphic; on average, males are larger than females but measurements overlap making sex determination difficult through observations alone. We developed a discriminant function, using bill length and depth from a sample of birds sexed from gonad visualisation during post-mortem, which correctly classified 93% of the individuals. Cross-validation correctly assigned 90% of DNA-sexed birds and 91% of birds sexed by partner measurement comparisons. The use of discriminant function score cutpoints, while leaving 16% and 29% of birds unclassified, improved accuracy of birds sexed by DNA to 97% and of those sexed by partner comparison to 99%. Bill depth was found to be a discriminating variable. However, two techniques for measuring bill depth are currently in use for African Penguins. While these measurements are correlated (r = 0.85), they differ on average by 1.4?mm hindering accuracy of sex determination when using a discriminant function developed from the other bill depth measurement. Exploration of adult bill morphology of birds sexed from DNA at different colonies suggests the discriminant functions can be applied throughout the African Penguins’ South African range.     

Blood flow measurements by the reference sample method with microsphere injection in to the aorta: an accurate and easy approach.

The validity of hemodynamic measurements by the reference sample method with microspheres injection into the aorta, via a carotid artery catheter, was evaluated in rats and compared with the results obtained after left ventricle injection. In the aorta injection group, a good mix of microspheres was observed in 83% of the animals. Moreover, a symmetrical distribution of microspheres was observed in 10 out of 12 rats (83%). An excellent correlation between right and left kidney-testes blood flows was observed (r = 0.93 and 0.96, respectively; P less than 0.01). Mean arterial pressure was not modified during microspheres injection into the aorta. Cardiac output (104 +/- 26 vs 101 +/- 23 ml/min, NS) and portal blood flow (14.2 +/- 3.3 vs 13.5 +/- 2.2 ml/min, NS) were similar after aorta and left ventricle injections series, respectively. Our results indicate that the injection of microspheres into the aorta is an adequate and easy approach to systemic and splanchnic hemodynamic measurements. This approach could be a good alternative to left ventricle injection of microspheres in experimental studies in rats.     

k-Space image correlation spectroscopy: a method for accurate transport measurements independent of fluorophore photophysics

We present the theory and application of reciprocal space image correlation spectroscopy (kICS). This technique measures the number density, diffusion coefficient, and velocity of fluorescently labeled macromolecules in a cell membrane imaged on a confocal, two-photon, or total internal reflection fluorescence microscope. In contrast to r-space correlation techniques, we show kICS can recover accurate dynamics even in the presence of complex fluorophore photobleaching and/or "blinking". Furthermore, these quantities can be calculated without nonlinear curve fitting, or any knowledge of the beam radius of the exciting laser. The number densities calculated by kICS are less sensitive to spatial inhomogeneity of the fluorophore distribution than densities measured using image correlation spectroscopy. We use simulations as a proof-of-principle to show that number densities and transport coefficients can be extracted using this technique. We present calibration measurements with fluorescent microspheres imaged on a confocal microscope, which recover Stokes-Einstein diffusion coefficients, and flow velocities that agree with single particle tracking measurements. We also show the application of kICS to measurements of the transport dynamics of alpha5-integrin/enhanced green fluorescent protein constructs in a transfected CHO cell imaged on a total internal reflection fluorescence microscope using charge-coupled device area detection.     

A simple, accurate, and sensitive assay method of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate: application for quantitative determination in human breast cyst and duct fluids

Radioimmunoassay (RIA) is the most prevalent method for measuring small amounts of hormones, peptides, and other compounds in human body fluids. The method, however, has several problems, such as cross reactions or non-specific reactions of the antibody used. In order to establish an improved method for assaying dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) and cholesterol, which are the largest components of human breast cyst and duct fluids, we describe a simple, accurate, and sensitive method using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The samples were treated with cholesterol oxidase for quantitation of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and free cholesterol, and the respective oxidized substances, 4-androstene-3,17-dione and 4-cholesten-3-one, were extracted with n-hexane. The extracts were analyzed by straight phase HPLC. Effluents were monitored by measuring absorption at 240 nm, where a newly introduced chromophoric group, an alpha,beta-unsaturated ketone, showed intense absorption (epsilon = 16,000). When the total amount of DHEA (DHEAS plus DHEA) was measured, the sample had been solvolyzed by sulfatase beforehand. The amounts of DHEAS were quantified by comparing the amounts of DHEA before and after solvolysis. Levels of free cholesterol, DHEAS, and DHEA in human breast cyst fluids (n = 30) were 1.77 +/- 1.12 mmol/dl, 8.27 +/- 10.24 micromol/dl, and 0.02 +/- 0.02 micromol/dl (means +/- SD), respectively. The levels of sterol and steroid measured in breast duct fluids that were turbid, brown, dark green, or milky in color (n = 9) (mean levels, 3.20 +/- 2.97 mmol/dl for free cholesterol and 14.77 +/- 13.75 micromol/dl for DHEAS) were significantly (P < 0.01) higher than the levels in clear or serous breast fluids (n = 21) (mean levels, 0.14 +/- 0.13 mmol/dl for free cholesterol and 0.04 +/- 0.07 micromol/dl for DHEAS).     

BatAlign: an incremental method for accurate alignment of sequencing reads

Structural variations (SVs) play a crucial role in genetic diversity. However, the alignments of reads near/across SVs are made inaccurate by the presence of polymorphisms. BatAlign is an algorithm that integrated two strategies called ‘Reverse-Alignment’ and ‘Deep-Scan’ to improve the accuracy of read-alignment. In our experiments, BatAlign was able to obtain the highest F-measures in read-alignments on mismatch-aberrant, indel-aberrant, concordantly/discordantly paired and SV-spanning data sets. On real data, the alignments of BatAlign were able to recover 4.3% more PCR-validated SVs with 73.3% less callings. These suggest BatAlign to be effective in detecting SVs and other polymorphic-variants accurately using high-throughput data. BatAlign is publicly available at https://goo.gl/a6phxB.     

Simple and accurate determination of methylpyrazines in biofluids using high-performance liquid chromatography

The determination of six methylpyrazines was performed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Methylpyrazines were simultaneously extracted and injected onto a silica gel column with a syringe-type minicolumn packed with diatomaceous earth granules. The extraction—injection solvent used was dichloromethane and the mobile phase solvent for HPLC was dichloromethane containing 0.08% of 1.65 M ammonia solution and 0.5% of methanol. Methylpyrazines were detected using an ultraviolet detector set at 275 nm. Linear relationships between the amount of sample and peak height were confirmed from 50 ng/ml to 10 μg/ml of the biofluids. When an aliquot of 10 μl of biofluid was introduced to the minicolumn, the detection limit of methylpyrazines was as low as 30 ng/ml with each pyrazine derivative. The method is simple and accurate and is thus applicable to pharmacokinetic studies which are performed on animals. The results showed that the possible pharmacological effects of methylpyrazines might be evaluated pharmacokinetically using this newly developed technique.     

An accurate dihydrouracil/uracil determination using improved high performance liquid chromatography method for preventing fluoropyrimidines-related toxicity in clinical practice

An accurate and improved HPLC method was set up to measure both dihydrouracil (UH2) and uracil (U) in plasma, and to assess their ratio. Analytes retention time, separation and peak purity were greatly optimized with a Hypercarb column and a diode array detector. U and UH2 limits of quantification were 1.25 and 0.625 ng/mL. U and UH2 within-day precisions were 0.9-2.3% and 0.7-5.6%. Between-day precisions were 1.3-5.3% and 1.3-7.1%. Accuracy was 0.1-6.1%. UH2/U ratio between-day variability was low, but ratio decreased from 02:00 p.m. This method is now used in practice to detect patients at risk of fluoropyrimidine toxicity and to individually adapt the dosage.     

Indirect intracranial volume measurements using CT scans: clinical applications for craniosynostosis.

This paper describes a method for obtaining indirect intracranial volume measurements using CT scans with CTpak, a software package for quantitative analysis of CT scan data. The validity of this technique was confirmed by comparing direct measurement of the intracranial volume of five dry skulls with axial scans at 1.5- and 4-mm slice intervals to determine indirect volume. The indirect intracranial volume measurement technique was then used to compare preoperative and postoperative intracranial volume in 30 patients with craniosynostosis who underwent cranial vault and orbital osteotomies with reshaping and advancement. Our findings show that the suture release and simultaneous reshaping procedures usually carried out are, in fact, associated with increased intracranial volume. The observed intracranial volume gain is attributable to a combination of factors, including the surgical procedure carried out and ongoing growth. These factors are further modified by the diagnosis, age of the patient, and time interval between CT scans.