Development of automatic surveillance of animal behaviour and welfare using image analysis and machine learned segmentation technique.

In this paper the feasibility to extract the proportion of pigs located in different areas of a pig pen by advanced image analysis technique is explored and discussed for possible applications. For example, pigs generally locate themselves in the wet dunging area at high ambient temperatures in order to avoid heat stress, as wetting the body surface is the major path to dissipate the heat by evaporation. Thus, the portion of pigs in the dunging area and resting area, respectively, could be used as an indicator of failure of controlling the climate in the pig environment as pigs are not supposed to rest in the dunging area. The computer vision methodology utilizes a learning based segmentation approach using several features extracted from the image. The learning based approach applied is based on extended state-of-the-art features in combination with a structured prediction framework based on a logistic regression solver using elastic net regularization. In addition, the method is able to produce a probability per pixel rather than form a hard decision. This overcomes some of the limitations found in a setup using grey-scale information only. The pig pen is a difficult imaging environment because of challenging lighting conditions like shadows, poor lighting and poor contrast between pig and background. In order to test practical conditions, a pen containing nine young pigs was filmed from a top view perspective by an Axis M3006 camera with a resolution of 640 × 480 in three, 10-min sessions under different lighting conditions. The results indicate that a learning based method improves, in comparison with greyscale methods, the possibility to reliable identify proportions of pigs in different areas of the pen. Pigs with a changed behaviour (location) in the pen may indicate changed climate conditions. Changed individual behaviour may also indicate inferior health or acute illness.

Positive effects of anabolic steroids, vitamin D and calcium on muscle mass, bone mineral density and clinical function after a hip fracture. A randomised study of 63 women.

A total of 63 women who had an operation for a fracture of the hip was randomly allocated to one year of treatment either with anabolic steroids, vitamin D and calcium (anabolic group) or with calcium only (control group). The thigh muscle volume was measured by quantitative CT. The bone mineral density of the hip, femur and tibia was assessed by quantitative CT and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and of the heel by quantitative ultrasound. Quantitative CT showed that the anabolic group did not lose muscle volume during the first 12 months whereas the control group did (p<0.01). There was less bone loss in the proximal tibia in the anabolic group than in the control group. The speed of gait and the Harris hip score were significantly better in the anabolic group after six and 12 months. Anabolic steroids, even in this moderate dose, given in combination with vitamin D and calcium had a beneficial effect on muscle volume, bone mineral density and clinical function in this group of elderly women.

[Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. Demyelinating viral disease--common complication of AIDS]. / Progressiv multifokal leukoencefalopati. Demyeliniserande virussjukdom--vanlig komplikation till aids.

PML is a chronic, progressive, fatal disease in the CNS of humans. Characteristic pathologic features are spotty demyelination, enlarged oligodendrocytes with nuclear inclusions, and transformed astrocytes. It is caused by the polyoma virus JCV, which has worldwide distribution and usually is harmless. In some individuals with impaired cell-mediated immunity, most commonly in aids, virus changes into a pathogenic form. Hence, PML is a slow, viral, opportunistic infection. The infection is productive in astrocytes and destructive in oligodendrocytes. Lysis of the latter causes demyelination. The discovery of PML in 1958 opened the door to extensive research in several fields of biomedicine.

MR imaging of primary, secondary, and mixed forms of lymphedema.

PURPOSE: To describe the pathological features and assess the diagnostic information of different MR sequences in patients with primary, secondary, and mixed (phlebo-, lipophlebo-, or lipolymphedema) forms of lymphedema of the lower leg. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In 26 patients with clinical diagnoses of primary (n=10), pure secondary (n=4), mixed (n=9) and combined secondary and mixed forms of lymphedema (n=3), MR imaging was performed with coronal and axial T1 SE, T2 TSE, fat-suppressed (SPIR) T2 sequences and axial T1 SE after i.v. injection of Gd-DTPA. RESULTS: In 24 patients there was a honeycomb pattern in the subcutis with a signal intensity corresponding to fluid (n=11), fibrosis (n=3), or both (n=10). Five patients with primary lymphedema showed subfascial fluid accumulation. Dermal edema was noted in 23 patients. Fat or edema components in the muscles were mostly seen in patients with phlebolymphedema. The honeycomb pattern was best seen on coronal T1 images, and fluid accumulations on axial SPIR-T2 images. Fibrosis was only assessible from the T2 TSE sequence. Gd-DTPA did not improve the diagnostic information. CONCLUSION: For evaluation of lymphedema and its mixed forms, an axial T2-weighted SPIR sequence in conjunction with a coronal T1 SE sequence are sufficient.

Role of us in the preoperative evaluation of patients with anterior shoulder instability.

PURPOSE: To assess the value of ultrasonography (US) in the preoperative evaluation of patients with anterior shoulder instability. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-two patients with one-sided anterior shoulder instability were examined with US by using three dynamic scanning approaches: two frontal and one axillary. The anterior labrum, the anterior ligamental-capsular complex, and the presence of humeral head and glenoid rim fractures were evaluated. Arthroscopy or arthrotomy was subsequently performed in all patients and was considered the standard. RESULTS: US correctly depicted the presence (n = 20) or absence (n = 1) of humeral head fractures and the presence (n = 10) or absence (n = 9) of glenoid rim fractures. All 22 patients had anterior labral tears; 21 tears were correctly depicted with US. The labral tear was seen as a hypoechoic zone larger than 2 mm (n = 15), labral movement (n = 10), a degenerated labrum (n = 6), or a vacuum phenomenon (n = 3). The anterior ligamental-capsular complex was correctly evaluated in 14 patients. The use of multiple approaches helped to prevent misinterpretation, but there were no substantial differences among the approaches in the depiction of the anterior shoulder structures. CONCLUSION: The high accuracy in the depiction of labral tears and associated fractures indicates that US can provide useful preoperative information in patients with anterior shoulder instability.

Early response of breast cancer bone metastases to chemotherapy evaluated with MR imaging.

PURPOSE: To compare T1-weighted spin-echo and fat-suppressed long echo time inversion recovery turbo spin-echo (long TE IR-TSE) MR images in the evaluation of early response of breast cancer bone metastases to chemotherapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Eighteen breast cancer patients with known bone metastases were investigated prospectively by MR, using T1-weighted and long TE IR-TSE sequences on the sternum, spine, pelvis and proximal femora, before and after a median of 6 courses of chemotherapy. Therapeutic response evaluation with MR was based on change in tumor size assessed quantitatively by measuring all focal metastases, and change in pattern and signal intensity (SI) of the metastases, assessed visually. Combined response evaluation based on clinical findings, conventional radiography, and scintigraphy was used as reference. RESULTS: Progressive disease (2 patients) and no change (4 patients) were assessed equally well on both MR sequences. Long TE IR-TSE demonstrated partial response with higher accuracy than T1-weighted images, 58% (7/12 patients) vs. 17% (2/12 patients). In patients without progression there was an SI increase in or around the metastases in 6 patients on T1-weighted images and in 7 patients on long TE IR-TSE images. CONCLUSION: The long TE IR-TSE sequence demonstrated early partial response of breast cancer bone metastases to chemotherapy more accurately than the T1-weighted sequence.

An independent evaluation of a new method for automated interpretation of lung scintigrams using artificial neural networks.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a new automated method for the interpretation of lung perfusion scintigrams using patients from a hospital other than that where the method was developed, and then to compare the performance of the technique against that of experienced physicians. A total of 1,087 scintigrams from patients with suspected pulmonary embolism comprised the training group. The test group consisted of scintigrams from 140 patients collected in a hospital different to that from which the training group had been drawn. An artificial neural network was trained using 18 automatically obtained features from each set of perfusion scintigrams. The image processing techniques included alignment to templates, construction of quotient images based on the perfusion/template images, and finally calculation of features describing segmental perfusion defects in the quotient images. The templates represented lungs of normal size and shape without any pathological changes. The performance of the neural network was compared with that of three experienced physicians who read the same test scintigrams according to the modified PIOPED criteria using, in addition to perfusion images, ventilation images when available and chest radiographs for all patients. Performances were measured as area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. The performance of the neural network evaluated in the test group was 0.88 (95% confidence limits 0.81-0.94). The performance of the three experienced experts was in the range 0.87-0.93 when using the perfusion images, chest radiographs and ventilation images when available. Perfusion scintigrams can be interpreted regarding the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism by the use of an automated method also in a hospital other than that where it was developed. The performance of this method is similar to that of experienced physicians even though the physicians, in addition to perfusion images, also had access to ventilation images for most patients and chest radiographs for all patients. These results show the high potential for the method as a clinical decision support system.

Desire for information about drugs. A multi-method study in general medical inpatients.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate patients' drug information preferences using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. Patient interviews (n = 299) were conducted on general medical wards in three London teaching hospitals. The purpose was to refine and validate a quantitative 12-item scale, the Intrinsic Desire for Information (IDI), by interfacing quantitative and qualitative data, and to explore the relationship between this scale score and patient demographics. The IDI-scale was subjected to factor analysis. Two secondary factors were found in the IDI scale; a 5-item factor describing the extent of information desired and a weaker 3-item factor describing an inhibited desire for knowledge about illness/drugs. Reliability analysis and multiple regression analysis were undertaken. Responses to open answer questions during the qualitative interviews were transcribed at the bedside and imported into QSR NUD*IST software program for coding and analysis. The methodology employed in this study involved importing quantitative, summative data into a qualitative data base and re-analysing both the quantitative and qualitative data to validate the scale. Age was a predominant factor associated with patient desire for information, although the data suggest that educational and socio-economic status are also influential. Factor 1, the extent of information desired, may have value in targeting receptive patients, or in identifying those who may be refractory to drug information. The refined tool could help health services to effectively target information provision based on evidence, rather than supposition.

Analysis of epsilon germline transcripts and IL-4 mRNA expression in the adenoids suggests local IgE switching.

BACKGROUND: We have previously observed more frequent occurrence of IgE+ and FcepsilonRI+ cells in adenoids of atopic than nonatopic children. To investigate the hypothesis that the adenoids are involved in IgE production, we analyzed the levels of epsilon germline (epsilonGL), IL-4, and IFN-gamma transcripts in the adenoids in relation to atopy and presence of ear disease. METHODS: Adenoidectomy was performed on 19 atopic and 18 nonatopic children (median age 5 years, range 2-12 years) suffering from otitis media with effusion (OME) (n = 16) or obstructive adenoids hyperplasia (AH) (n = 21). The levels of epsilonGL transcripts, IL-4, and IFN-gamma mRNA were analyzed by competitive reverse transcriptase-PCR. RESULTS: EpsilonGL transcript levels in the adenoids were found to be dependent on IL-4 mRNA expression (P < 0.01) and serum IgE levels (P < 0.05) (R2 = 0.32, n = 37). IL-4 mRNA expression was associated with epsilonGL transcript levels (rs = 0.32, P = 0.05, n = 37), especially among patients with AH (rs = 0.53, P = 0.01, n = 21). No significant differences in IL-4 and IFN-gamma mRNA levels were observed between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports an IL-4-induced class switch to IgE production in the adenoids that might be of importance for inflammatory reactions in the upper respiratory tract.

Automated interpretation of ventilation-perfusion lung scintigrams for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism using artificial neural networks.

The purpose of this study was to develop a completely automated method for the interpretation of ventilation-perfusion (V-P) lung scintigrams used in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. An artificial neural network was trained for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism using 18 automatically obtained features from each set of V-P scintigrams. The techniques used to process the images included their alignment to templates, the construction of quotient images based on the ventilation and perfusion images, and the calculation of measures describing V-P mismatches in the quotient images. The templates represented lungs of normal size and shape without any pathological changes. Images that could not be properly aligned to the templates were detected and excluded automatically. After exclusion of those V-P scintigrams not properly aligned to the templates, 478 V-P scintigrams remained in a training group of consecutive patients with suspected pulmonary embolism, and a further 87 V-P scintigrams formed a separate test group comprising patients who had undergone pulmonary angiography. The performance of the neural network, measured as the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, was 0.87 (95% confidence limits 0.82-0.92) in the training group and 0.79 (0.69-0.88) in the test group. It is concluded that a completely automated method can be used for the interpretation of V-P scintigrams. The performance of this method is similar to others previously presented, whereby features were extracted manually.

A new radiographic method for evaluating the degree of sliding in devices used in hip-fracture surgery.

PURPOSE: To find a practical method for estimating the degree of sliding that occurs in screw-plate devices used in hip-fracture surgery. Greater understanding of the sliding mechanisms in different fracture types should improve surgical technique and reduce the failure rate. METHODS AND RESULTS: In dynamic screw-plate devices, the lag screw slides inside the barrel of the plate. A recent innovation allows the barrel-plate to slide inside a side-plate, thus making possible a combined fracture compression along the neck and the shaft of femur. The lengths of the different parts and the angle of a device in vivo, measured on a radiograph, depend on the position of the femur relative to the photographic film and the roentgen source. We obtained these measurements with a ruler and a protractor from sequential a.p. radiographs of the hip and implemented them in a special computerized program that used the principles of the scaled orthographic and the central projection models. These calculations provided the correct amount of sliding by the lag screw and by the barrel-plate within the side-plate. CONCLUSION: The method presented here can establish the real degree of sliding in screw-plate devices from standard a.p. radiographs independently of the position of the hip.

CT-guided transsternal core biopsy of anterior mediastinal masses.

Computed tomography-guided transsternal biopsy was successful in 10 anterior mediastinal masses in 10 patients, with use of a coaxial length-matched bone biopsy system comprising an outer cannula and an inner eccentric drill bit. No complications occurred in nine of 10 biopsies (eight performed with an automatic cutting needle, two with a fine needle), with less discomfort than was caused by injection of anesthetic.

Automatic biopsy instruments used through a coaxial bone biopsy system with an eccentric drill tip.

Twenty-eight consecutive CT (n = 23) or ultrasonographically (n = 5) guided biopsy procedures were performed on musculoskeletal lytic lesions covered (n = 13) or not covered (n = 15) with intact bone. Specimens were obtained by means of Biopty techniques (n = 27), i.e. Biopty and Monopty instruments, through different cannulas with normal or shortened needle-throws. Four out of 5 bone penetrations were successful with an Ostycut needle, and all 8 bone penetrations by a coaxial bone biopsy system with an eccentric drill. The eccentric drill makes a hole in the cortical bone larger than the diameter of the outer cannula of this system, making it easy to anchor the cannula and then coaxially insert a Biopty-Gun needle for example. The overall histopathological diagnostic accuracy of the Biopty techniques was 25/27 (92.6%).

The development of neuropathology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Few institutions have shaped neuropathology as a discipline as profoundly as Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School. Their fascination over many decades is due to a unique accumulation of excellent, intellectually stimulating neurologists with a sincere interest in the morphologic and pathogenetic basis of nervous system diseases. Their approach was strictly case oriented and clinico-pathological conferences were developed to the highest standard. In this review, the foundations of neuropathology in Boston are recounted.

Early pathological changes in progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy: a report of two asymptomatic cases occurring prior to the AIDS epidemic.

Serial sections of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded blocks from two asymptomatic, non-AIDS cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) were stained with a double-label immunocytochemical method for detection of glial fibrillary acidic protein and JC virus (JCV) capsid proteins and with luxol fast blue/hematoxylin-eosin. In case 1 small, rounded lesions of about 1-mm diameter were seen within a restricted area in the posterior part of the superior frontal gyrus of both cerebral hemispheres, suggesting an early manifestation of the disease. Fully developed demyelinated lesions of the classical type with JCV-infected oligodendrocytes appeared in the white matter and along its border with the cortex. Less-well-developed lesions, believed to be precursors to the fully developed ones, were seen in the gray and white matter. Of special interest were areas which contained small collections of enlarged, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive astrocytes without capsid antigen and which seemed to lack destruction of myelin as judged from the appearance of matching serial sections stained for myelin. Large lesions in the brain of case 2 showed the well-known features of advanced PML. The close relation between some astrocytes and oligodendrocytes with viral antigen raises the possibility of early intercellular passage of virus. Vacuolation, seen within or near lesions in both cases, has previously been noted in the CNS infected by HIV, but not in PML. It is suggested that PML, a disease of both oligodendrocytes and astrocytes, may actually begin in astroglial cells which, under the influence of a restricted JCV infection, become reactive, express GFAP and pass on virus to the more highly susceptible oligodendrocytes with which they are in contact.

CT-guided bone biopsy performed by means of a coaxial biopsy system with an eccentric drill.

Thirty-seven consecutive bone biopsies guided with computed tomography were performed in 32 patients by use of three different techniques to penetrate cortical bone and gain access to the lesion. The following instruments were used: a thin bone biopsy needle (12 biopsies), a conventional drill with an outer cannula (six biopsies), and a coaxial biopsy system that consists of a drill with an eccentric tip and an outer cannula (19 biopsies). This eccentric drill makes a hole in the bone larger than the diameter of the cannula and thereby makes it easy to advance the cannula over the drill until the cannula is anchored in the bone. One can then obtain multiple samples through the cannula. The thin bone biopsy needle could not penetrate thick (8 mm thick) cortical bone. The outer cannula was not anchored in the bone when the conventional drill was used. In 16 biopsies, the new coaxial biopsy system penetrated cortical bone with a thickness of 1-8 mm and was anchored there, and lesion samples were obtained through the anchored cannula.

The early development of the neopallial wall and area choroidea in fetal rats. A light and electron microscopic study.

The telencephalic wall was studied by light and electron microscopy in 11-13 day old fetal rats (E11-13). A few specimens from E14-16 were also included for comparisons. Two areas were selected: the dorso-lateral convexity of the hemispheric vesicles, called the neopallial wall, and the area choroidea, the posterior part of the telencephalic roof which unites the two hemispheres. Our observations and a review of the literature have shown that on E11-12 the neopallial wall, the telencephalic roof, and the hippocampal anlage between them form a continuous, nonstratified, cohesive monolayer of columnar and mitotic cells, which essentially is similar to epithelial monolayers elsewhere in the body. This simple structure is modified late on E12 or early in E13 in the neopallial wall when postmitotic neurons appear and migrate in order to form the cortical plate. However, bipolar radially oriented cells, which span the entire width of the wall, still predominate. These cells, now called radial glial cells, increase greatly in number and length during the period of neuronal migration. The cuboidal cells in the neural tube, the columnar cells in the early neopallial wall, and the radial glial cells in the period of neuronal migration have the same basic structure. They are axially polarized epithelial cells which are characterized by the following basic features. They have an elongated bipolar shape which is maintained by a cytoskeleton of longitudinally oriented microtubules. Opposite ends are different structurally and functionally. Thus, the apical ends, connected by tight junctions, face the fluid-filled cavity while the outer ends, covered by a basal lamina, face mesenchymal tissue including blood vessels. A polarization of cytoplasmic organelles is also evident, e.g. the Golgi apparatus has always a supranuclear position. During the early development of the telencephalon this basic epithelial structure is maintained but is modified locally in order to serve various functions. The columnar/radial glial cells in the neopallial wall are elongated and slender, have a narrow Golgi apparatus, profiles of RER and vesicles, relatively few ribosomes, and show a few examples of micropinocytosis. These cells grow continuously in length during development. On the other hand, the cells in the area choroidea have a low columnar or cuboidal shape, which does not change during development. The inner portion (between the nucleus and the ventricle) contains a voluminous Golgi apparatus, many mitochondria, RER cisternae which contain electron-dense material, SER, and many vesicles. The inner ends of the cells project into the ventricular cavity as bulbous or apical protrusions which contain many organelles, especially MVBs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

A simple neuron servo.

A simple servo controller built from components having neuronlike features is described. This VLSI servo controller uses pulses for control and is orders of magnitude smaller than a conventional system. The basic circuit elements are described. A key element is a component and neuronlike capability that takes voltages as inputs and generates a pulse train as the output. It is shown how the circuits are combined to a proportional and derivative controller. The advantages of using a pulsed output representation to improve slow-speed operation of a friction-limited system is demonstrated. The utility of exploiting parallelism, aggregation, and redundancy to improve system-level performance given imprecise low-level components is discussed. Experimental results illustrate the properties of the system compared with conventional controllers.

Preparation of fetal rat brains for light and electron microscopy.

To study cellular shapes, growth patterns, and fine structure during early stages of CNS development in rat embryos, preparative procedures were evaluated and modified to meet two criteria: 1) Coronal semithin sections should reveal undeformed telencephalic hemispheres that were symmetrically expanded on both sides of midline structures and were surrounded by contiguous mesenchyme. 2) In electron micrographs, cells should have intact, undistorted surface membranes, evenly distributed nucleoplasm and well preserved cytoplasmic organelles. To meet these criteria, 378 fetuses with a gestational age of 11-20 days (E11-E20) were used to test and modify procedures for anesthesia, embryo removal and handling, dissection, fixation, dehydration, and embedding of the embryonic CNS. Most specimens were in an early stage of development (E11-E13), which, in case of the neopallial wall, is the preneural period. The tests produced methods that met the above criteria and identified the most common artifacts and their causes. Deformities of the cerebral hemispheres and separations between the brain and its coverings were usually caused by trauma during embryo removal and during handling before fixation. Changes in cellular volumes, especially swelling during fixation and dehydration, were the most important causes of histological artifacts. The procedures and methods that consistently produced the best light and electron microscopic preservation of the E11-E13 rat CNS are described. Fixation was best when the brains were treated with glutaraldehyde and s-collidine buffer, followed by osmium tetroxide in s-collidine buffer. A surprisingly beneficial effect of sodium chloride in the dehydrating alcohol was noted.