New capacities of X-ray diagnosis in detection of small intestine pathology

The paper based on the data of more than 200 studies of the small bowel with the new agent Entero-VU specially designed for X-ray study of the bowel gives an objective evaluation of this agent. The authors of the paper analyze the capacities of Entero-VU in diagnosing 38 cases of Crohn's disease, tuberculosis and tumors of the small bowel. Moreover, as a separate section the paper provides an assessment of the agent in mapping the X-ray standards of the small bowel. In the authors' opinion, the use of this agent as though fills the existing gap in the X-ray study of the small bowel.     

Collenchyma in Araceae: trends and relation to classification

Collenchyma, a common mechanical tissue of Araceae, was surveyed in leaves and petioles of 108 of 109 genera. The tissue is either absent or present in several configurations including peripheral bands, interrupted bands and separate strands. 'Banded' collenchyma is present in the bisexual-flowered genera and throughout the Philodendroideac. 'Stranded' forms, where collenchyma strands are found on the same radii as vascular bundles, but not directly associated with them, are almost exclusive to the Aroideae. Two trends of specialization are postulated, one positionally related to vascular bundle fibre caps and one independent of lignified mechanical tissues. The results are compared with a classification that reflects the topology of a cpDNA.     

New trends in CLL treatment

We review here results obtained from the various treatment modalities that have been used in CLL patients: chemotherapy; radiotherapy; splenectomy; leukapheresis; monoclonal antibodies and other immunomodulating agents. We conclude that it is still unclear whether patients in stage A (good prognosis) should be treated; intermediate forms of the disease (stage B) should, in most cases, be treated, but a better treatment than chlorambucil has not emerged; results from the Cooperative Group on CLL of Société Fran?aise d'Hématologie indicate that significant progress in the therapy of the advanced stage (stage C) has been achieved with the introduction of the CHOP regimen, using low doses of adriamycin; radiotherapy, splenectomy and immunomodulators such as levamizol, interleukins or interferons, and possibly monoclonal antibodies, are now being actively tested; the results are not yet conclusive.     

New trends in microbial technology

Microbial technology includes not only the production of materials in bioreactors, or the production of new catalysts by genetic engineering but extends to aspects of both human and animal health care, waste and pollution management, enhanced oil recovery, mineral leaching, advanced plant breeding, diagnostics and analytical equipment, biosensors, bioelectronics and renewable energy system based on biomass feedstocks. National strategies of industrialized countries are being developed which identify microbial technology as a substantial factor in the attainment of industrial and economic goals. Although extremely promising microbial technology is not a quick fix and its application will only arise as a result of systematic programme of research and development. Such programme requires a broad base of disciplinary underpinning in molecular biology, genetics and bioengineering. The development of expertise of this kind in the tertiary educational institutions is the essential starting point. It should be developed by appropriate programmes and networking systems.     

Neuroendocrine neoplasms of the gastroenteropancreatic system: pathology and classification

Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NEN) appear homogeneous in terms of morphology, but constitute a very heterogeneous group of tumors in terms of biological and clinical features. NEN may occur in any organ, but are most commonly observed in the lung and the gastroenteropancreatic system (GEP). The European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (ENETS) developed guidelines in the last 5 years to standardize and improve the diagnosis and therapy of GEP-NEN. Taking these guidelines into account, the TNM classification of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) was introduced in 2009. The new GEP-NEN classification of the World Health Organization (WHO) was presented 1 year later. According to the guidelines of the ENETS, the UICC, and the WHO, the pathology classification of NEN of GEP consists of several basic components: (1) evidence of the neuroendocrine nature of the tumor, (2) histological distinction between well and poorly differentiated tumors, (3) proliferation-based grading. (4) TNM staging (including data about vascular invasion and resection margins), (5) with reference to the clinical question: evidence of hormones and biogenic amines, and (6) optional, especially in cases of initial diagnosis of NEN: expression of the somatostatin receptor type 2A. Based on these criteria, a standardized prognostic stratification of GEP-NEN can be performed in combination with other clinical parameters. The novel classifications constitute the basis for selecting the procedures of molecular and metabolic imaging as well as for tumor-specific treatments and permit comparisons of larger tumor populations. Close interdisciplinary cooperation is a prerequisite.     

New processes and actual trends in biotechnology

Abstract: A survey of immobilization techniques with special emphasis on alginate entrapment and micro hollow spheres is presented. The advantages and disadvantages of immobilization are discussed. Industrial applications of immobilization are demonstrated, especially biosensors and production of acrylamide. The fundamentals of bioprocesses with reduced water content and application as well as process examples are presented.     

Perspectives,potentials and trends of ex vivo and in vivo optical molecular pathology

It is pivotal for medical applications, such as noninvasive histopathologic characterization of tissue, to realize label‐free and molecule‐specific representation of morphologic and biochemical composition in real‐time with subcellular spatial resolution. This unmet clinical need requires new approaches for rapid and reliable real‐time assessment of pathologies to complement established diagnostic tools. Photonic imaging combined with digitalization offers the potential to provide the clinician the requested information both under in vivo and ex vivo conditions. This report summarizes photonic approaches and their use in combination with image processing, machine learning and augmented virtual reality that might solve current challenges in modern medicine. Details are given for pathology, intraoperative diagnosis in head and neck cancer and endoscopic diagnosis in gastroenterology.      

Recent trends in platelet antigen/antibody detection

The detection of platelet antigens and platelet antibodies has always been difficult. Recent technical achievements are due to the availability of more specific and sensitive reagents (i.e. F(ab)2 fragments; higher specific activity of labels; monoclonal antibodies directed against platelet membrane constituents etc.) and the application of advanced immunological assays to platelet immunology (i.e. blotting assays, "capture"-ELISA's and radioimmunoprecipitation in conjunction with SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis). These techniques have permitted the definition and immuno-chemical characterization of new platelet allo- and autoantigens, have assisted in clinical diagnosis and promoted our understanding of pathogenic mechanisms. Illustrative examples are presented and discussed.     

Early detection of voice diseases via a web-based system

Voice is the result of the coordination of the whole pneumophonoarticulatory apparatus. The analysis of the voice allows the identification of the diseases of the vocal apparatus and currently is carried out from an expert doctor through methods based on the auditory analysis. The paper presents a web-based system for the acquisition and automatic analysis of vocal signals. Vocal signals are submitted by the users through a simple web-interface and are analyzed in real-time by using state-of-the art signal processing techniques, providing first-level information on possible voice alterations. The system offers different analysis functions to the doctors that may analyze suspected cases in detail. The system is currently being tested in the otorhinolaryngologist setting to carry out mass prevention via screening at a regional scale.     

The detection and classification of membrane-spanning proteins

Discriminant analysis can be used to precisely classify membrane proteins as integral or peripheral and to estimate the odds that the classification is correct. Specifically, using 102 membrane proteins from the National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF) database we find that discrimination between integral and peripheral membrane proteins can be achieved with 99% reliability. Hydrophobic segments of integral membrane proteins can also be distinguished from interior segments of globular soluble proteins with better than 95% reliability. We also propose a procedure for determining boundaries of membrane-spanning segments and apply it to several integral membrane proteins. For the limited data available (such as on transplantation antigens), the residues at the boundaries of a membrane-spanning segment are predictable to within the error inherent in the concept of boundary. As a specific indication of resolution, seven membrane-spanning segments of bacteriorhodopsin are resolved with no information other than sequence, and the predicted boundary residues agree with the experimental data on proteolytic cleavage sites. Several definitive but yet to be tested predictions are also made, and the relation to other predictive methods is briefly discussed. A computer program in FORTRAN for prediction of membrane-spanning segments is available from the authors.     

SuperPartitions: detection and classification of orthologs

The proper detection of orthologs is crucial for evolutionary studies of genes and species. Despite large efforts to solve this problem the methodological situation appears unsettled to a large extent and the “quest for orthologs” is still an ongoing task in large-scale genome comparisons.Here, we introduce a simple operational framework for the detection of orthologs and their classification. The operational framework relies on well-established principles, optimizing their implementation for the considered purposes, and chaining components in coherent procedures: 1) We take advantage of the efficiency and simplicity of the Reciprocal Best Hit (RBH) detections, remedying (by design) the drawback concerning the limitations in terms of 1:1 detections. The procedure is based on the partitioning of Reciprocal Best Hits, with the further merging of partitions including members of the same paralogous classes (“SuperPartition of Orthologs” (SPOs)). 2) We then resort to the conservation profiles of the obtained clusters, allowing simple detection of SPOs containing duplicated members. Based on accepted evolutionary principles, such members can be further tagged as in-paralogs (co-orthologs) or out-paralogs.The method is illustrated and validated by extensive genomic analyses. The performances of the overall approach are characterized in global terms for three sets of species (Chlamydiae, Mycobacteria, Aspergilli), showing that at least 75% of the sets of orthologs contain at most one protein from a given species. The sets including more than one protein from a given species are shown to contain in-paralogs in proportions varying from 28% to 58%. The characterizations also show that the large majority of SPOs are associated with ancestral motifs, and accordingly not prone to chaining effects that might be triggered by multi-domain proteins. Further the SPO formulation is compared to other similarity based ortholog detection methods. Beyond core common results, significant differences are observed between various methods, which can be accounted for to a large extent on conceptual grounds, relative to the different merging schemes involved. Such comparisons highlight a major advantage of the SPO approach concerning the proper clustering of associated paralogs, which appear to be often dispatched spuriously into distinct orthologous classes.Finally the perspectives for future applications and elaborations of SPO-based compositional analyses are discussed.     

New chemical trends in ganglioside research

A report is given of recent progress in the methodology for isolation of gangliosides from natural sources, for the preparation of molecular species of gangliosides homogeneous in both the oligosaccharide and ceramide portions of the molecule, for chemical manipulation and derivatization of gangliosides, and for the preparation of gangliosides radiolabelled in different parts of the molecule. Particular emphasis has been given to: high performance liquid chromatographic procedures capable to separate gangliosides on the basis of their oligosaccharide or ceramide moieties and yielding completely homogeneous compounds, that is gangliosides with a single oligosaccharide, a single long chain base and a single fatty acid; two-dimensional thin-layer chromatographic procedures, provided with a fully computerized quantification system, particularly suitable to identifying gangliosides containing alkali-labile linkages, including ganglioside lactones; chemical procedures of high yield for reducing gangliosides at the double bond of long chain base, for selective removal of the fatty acyl moiety and replacement with a novel fatty acid, and for the synthesis of ganglioside lactones; chemical procedures for inserting fluorescent, paramagnetic or photoreactive probes at the fatty acyl part of the ganglioside molecule; procedures for chemical isotopic radiolabelling of gangliosides at the level of sialic acid acetyl group and at the fatty acid moiety. Examples are provided evidencing the significance and potential use of a variety of ganglioside derivatives in the study of ganglioside metabolism and functional implications.