Document recognition and XML generation of tabular form discharge summaries for analogous case search system.

OBJECTIVES: This paper discusses and develops a document image recognition, keyword extraction and automatic XML generation system to search analogous cases from paper-based documents. In this paper, we propose the document structure recognition method and automatic XML generation method for the tabular form discharge summary documents. This paper also develops the prototype system using the proposed method. Evaluation experiments using actual documents are done to discuss the effectiveness of the developed system. METHODS: The developed system consists of the following methods. Paper-based summary documents are scanned by a scanner using 300 dpi first. Noise and tilt of the image are reduced by pre-processing, and the table structures are identified. Characters in the table are recognized and converted to text data by the OCR engine. XML documents are automatically generated using obtained results. RESULTS: In this paper, patient discharge summary documents archived at Mie University Hospital were used. The results show that XML documents can be automatically generated when standard tabular form documents are input into the developed system. In this experiment, it takes about 20 seconds to generate an XML document using the general personal computer. This paper also compares the developed system with a commercial product to discuss the effectiveness of the present system. Experimental results also show that the accuracy of table structure recognition is high and it can be used in a practical situation. CONCLUSIONS: This paper showed the effectiveness of the proposed method to recognize the tabular form document images to generate XML documents.

Superovulation induction in Japanese Black cattle by a single intramuscular injection of hMG or FSH dissolved in polyvinylpyrrolidone.

The efficacy of a single intramuscular dose of 450 or 600 international units (IU) of human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG) or 30 mg of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), each dissolved in 30% polyvinylpyrrolidone K-30 (PVP), for superovulation treatment was compared to that of superovulation induction by administration of a total dose of 600 IU hMG given in declining doses twice daily over a 3-day period. A total of 48 Japanese Black cows were used for the investigation. Oestrus was observed within 60 h after PGF2alpha administration in all cows in the hMG groups. In the hMG group that received a single dose of 600 IU hMG (n = 12), oestrus was observed less than 36 h after treatment in one cow. In contrast, oestrus was not observed in 3 of the 12 cows (25%) in the FSH group. Neither the average number of recovered ova/embryos nor the number of transferable embryos per collection differed significantly among the hMG groups. However, the average number of transferable embryos was not significantly higher in cows treated with a single dose of 600 IU of hMG than in cows treated with a single 30 mg dose of FSH (7.5+/-4.5 vs. 2.1+/-2.8). The number of cows from which more than three excellent grade embryos were collected was highest in the group that received a single dose of 600 IU hMG (9/12, 75%) and lowest in the group that received a single 30 mg dose of FSH (2/9, 22%). The differences between groups in the percentages of cows with three or more excellent embryos between treatments were not statistically significant. The proportion of recovered ova/embryos classified as excellent was highest in the group that received 600 IU hMG in declining doses and lowest in the group that received a single 30 mg dose of FSH (55.2% vs. 30.2%; P < 0.05). The recovery rate of unfertilized ova was lowest in the group that received a single dose of 600 IU hMG and highest in the group received a single 30 mg dose of FSH (18.3% vs. 48.8%; P < 0.05). Although the differences in recovery results between the groups were not statistically significant, the recovery rates in hMG groups were higher than that the FSH group. These findings suggest that superovulation can be induced adequately in Japanese Black cows using one injection of 450 to 600 IU hMG dissolved in PVP.

Changes in the number of Merkel cells with the hair cycle in hair discs on rat back skin.

BACKGROUND: Hair discs are known to contain a large number of Merkel cells and are ideal for investigating Merkel cell biology. Hair follicles, which are important elements of hair discs, undergo unique cyclical morphological and biological changes. OBJECTIVES: To define the relationships between the number and the morphology of Merkel cells within the hair disc in association with the hair cycle on rat back skin. METHODS: Merkel cells in hair discs were observed three-dimensionally using immunohistochemistry. Epidermal sheets were incubated with monoclonal murine antibody to CK20. As a result, Merkel cells in hair discs were clearly demonstrated as whole shapes and were counted under a light microscope. RESULTS: Merkel cells in hair discs increased during the early to middle phase of anagen and decreased during the middle phase of anagen to catagen and telogen in perinatal and postnatal rat back skin. We observed the morphological variation of Merkel cells in hair discs of rat back skin, and consequently divided them into two subtypes at the light microscopic level: the oval type and the dendritic type. The number of oval-type Merkel cells was not markedly affected by the hair cycle. In contrast, the number of dendritic-type Merkel cells markedly changed with the hair cycle. CONCLUSIONS: This difference of the hair cycle dependency between oval and dendritic-type Merkel cells suggests some functional differences, such as a secretory function, related to the hair cycle.

Endocrine profiles and embryo quality in Japanese black cattle superovulated with human menopausal gonadotrophin and porcine follicle stimulating hormone.

Induction of superovulation using human menopausal gonadotriphin (hMG) in Japanese Black cattle can result in the recovery of a higher percentage of high quality embryos compared with that using porcine follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). In order to clarify the endocrinological mechanism involved in this discrepancy, 30 superovulation sessions of 17 Japanese Black cattle were studied. Fifteen cattle were super-stimulated with hMG (total 600 IU), and the remaining 15 cattle were given FSH (total 20 mg). The plasma profiles of LH, estradiol-17beta (E2) and progesterone (P4) were correlated, and the embryo quality was investigated. The total number of ova recovered and the number of transferable embryos tended to be larger in the hMG-treated group than in the FSH-treated group. The percentage of excellent embryos tended to be higher in the hMG-treated group than in the FSH-treated group (54.3 and 28.7%, respectively, p < 0.10). The E2 level increased during the first 3 days after the initial administration of either hMG or FSH and was higher in the hMG-treated group than in the FSH-treated group (p < 0.05). During this period, the E2 level could be categorized into one of the following three types according to whether it increased or decreased and according to the degree of increase or decrease: (1) increase by a factor of 1.2 or more (quick increase type) (2) slight increase by a factor less than 1.2 (slow increase type), and (3) no increase (unstable increase type). In the group treated with hMG, 66.7% of the animals (10 of 15 cattle) showed a quick increase in the E2 level. However, in the FSH-treated group, 40% (six of 15) of the animals showed a slow increase in the E2 level. The plasma LH level increased dramatically 8 h prior to the peak level in both the hMG- and FSH-treated groups, and then it returned to the basal level 12 h later. After the administration of prostaglandin (PG)F2alpha, the LH peak level was attained within 44 h in 80% of the animals in the hMG-treated group, whereas in the FSH-treated group, the LH peak level tended to be reached later. The P4 level did not increase during the period of hMG or FSH treatment and decreased drastically following administration of PGF2alpha. After the onset of oestrus, the P4 level was higher in the hMG group than in the FSH group, and 5 to 7 days after oestrus, the level remained higher in the hMG group than in the FSH group (p < 0.05). After the first 3 days of hMG administration, the E2/P4 ratio was higher than that after FSH administration. Furthermore, on the day following PGF2alpha administration, the ratio was significantly higher in the hMG group than in the FSH group (p < 0.05). These results indicate that superovulation in cattle given hMG results in a significant increase in plasma E2 during the first 3 days and that the increase in the plasma P4 level is larger a few days after oestrus and thereafter compared with FSH-induced superovulation. Therefore, such plasma level profiles may be related to the increased recovery rate of high quality embryos.