Two algorithms for use with an orthogonal-view coded-aperture system

ohe goal of single photon emission computerized tomography is to map out a three-dimensional distribution of a radionuclide that is concentrated in a structure of interest. There are a number of imaging modalities that achieve this goal with varying degrees of success. In this study, computer simulation is used to explore a novel imaging modality, orthogonal-view coded-aperture imaging. Furthermore, a comparison is made between two reconstruction algorithms, one being an iterative back-projection algorithm and the other a Monte Carlo algorithm. Finally, evidence is presented suggesting that a deficiency in the projection data due to multiplexing is less disturbing than that due to limited angular range.

Inhibition of transplanted carcinomas in mice by retinoids but not by vitamin C

A squamous cell carcinoma (ASB XIII) and a large cell carcinoma (ASB XIV) induced from mouse lung cells by chrysotile asbestos were established in serial transplant in BALB/c mice. New hosts were treated with retinoids by ip injection at 10 mg/kg 5 days/week. Growth inhibition of ASB XIII was 58%-64% (P less than 0.005) after treatments with all-trans retinoic acid, 52% after trimethylmethoxyphenyl analog, ethyl ester, 26% (not significant) after 13-cis retinoic acid. Growth inhibition of ASB XIV was 39% (P less than 0.02) after injections of all-trans retinoic acid, and 33% (P greater than 0.05) after trimethylmethoxyphenyl analog, ethyl ester. After daily oral administration of 10 mg/kg of all-trans retinoic acid in feed, there was 61%-81% inhibition (P less than 0.005) of ASB XIII. Growth of ASB XIII was not significantly inhibited by daily im injections of 200 mg/kg of vitamin C.

Gold levels produced by treatment with auranofin and sodium aurothiomalate

Sixty-three patients with rheumatoid arthritis were randomly divided into 3 groups, and treated with either sodium aurothiomalate (Myocrisin), auranofin, or placebo. Gold levels in whole blood, plasma, and haemolysate were measured serially along with clinical and laboratory parameters of efficacy. Auranofin produced a higher ratio of haemolysate to plasma gold than Myocrisin, and it appears that the affinity of the red cell for gold is reduced during therapy with auranofin. Gold levels did not correlate with changes in the pain score, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein, nor with the development of toxicity. In the Myocrisin group the haemolysate gold level achieved was dependent on the number of cigarettes smoked. In the auranofin group there was no such correlation, but the haemolysate gold level was higher for smokers than non-smokers. The likely action of gold is discussed.

Radon transform and bandwidth compression

A bandwidth-compression scheme for two-dimensional data is presented that incorporates the Radon transform. There are three advantages to this approach: only one-dimensional operations are required, the dynamic range requirements of the compression are reduced by a filtering step associated with the inverse Radon transform, and the technique is readily adaptive to the data structure. A rectilinear object is compressed to demonstrate the algorithm.

A randomized trial comparing pharmacists and technicians as dispensers of prescriptions for ambulatory patients

This article describes a study on the impact of utilizing technicians in the dispensing of prescriptions for ambulatory patients. The two hypotheses were 1) there is no difference in error rate for prescriptions dispensed by pharmacists versus technicians, and 2) there is no change in the amount of time pharmacists spend counseling patients after technicians begin dispensing prescriptions. Power analysis indicated that a sample size of 900 prescriptions would need to be randomized into each group to adequately compare error rates. Results showed that there was no significant difference in error rate between pharmacists (5.17 per cent) versus technicians (4.17 per cent), supporting the first null hypothesis. Pharmacists did spend significantly more time counseling patients (p less than 0.001), leading to a rejection of the second null hypothesis. Since the number of staff did not change during the study, it is calculated that, based on annual salary plus fringe benefits, +20,080 in additional pharmacists' time was freed up for patient counseling when technicians were dispensing the prescriptions.

Reconstruction of objects from coded images by simulated annealing

A new Monte Carlo reconstruction procedure is presented for retrieval of objects from their coded images. The reconstruction process is modeled as an optimization problem whose cost function is related to how well the coded image constraints are satisfied. Reduction of the cost function is achieved by an annealing process analogous to the cooling of a melt to produce an ordered crystal. The method is demonstrated by reconstructing two two-dimensional objects from their one-dimensional coded images.

Serum copper and erythrocyte superoxide dismutase in rheumatoid arthritis

Serum copper and thiol levels an caeruloplasmin activity were determined and compared with measurements of articular index, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and zinc and haemoglobin levels in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Superoxide dismutase activity, thiol, zinc, and copper levels of haemolysate were measured and compared with each other and to the above parameters. In serum, caeruloplasmin activity increased and thiol levels decreased, whereas in the haemolysate superoxide dismutase activity decreased and thiol levels increased. It is suggested that the changes in copper levels and in the activities of process which may be copper-dependent between plasma and cytosol in patients with rheumatoid arthritis reflect a change in oxidative status of the blood which may have implications in the pathogenesis of the disease.

Assessing whether a clinical pharmacy program is meeting its goals

An assessment of whether the clinical pharmacy program at Memorial Hospital Medical Center (MHMC), Long Beach CA, was meeting its goals is presented. MHMC is a 858-bed, nonprofit teaching hospital that initiated a clinical pharmacy program in 1967. The program's three foremost goals were to: (1) establish cohesive and standardized clinical services, (2) promote the acceptance of the roles and functions of clinical pharmacists by physicians and nurses, and (3) assure the provision of good quality care. The evaluation data were collected over a six-week period using questionnaire surveys of approximately 28 pharmacists, 146 physicians, and 389 nurses; pharmacist service reports from 5991 drug monitorings; 228 medical record audits for six drugs; 68 guideline compliance records for three drugs; interviews with 131 users of the drug information services; abd logs of 3946 pharmacist encounters with other health-care providers. Generally, the clinical pharmacy program was found to be meeting its goals. Most of the monitorings (81.6%) were initiated by pharmacists, and 20% resulted in changes in drug therapy. The pharmacists adhered to the pharmacy department's monitoring and dosing guidelines. There was unanimous satisfaction among users of the drug information service with the response received from pharmacists, and 99% satisfaction with the promptness of response and accuracy of the information. Sixty-eight percent of the pharmacists reported discussing general issues with physicians, and 72% answered patient-specific questions from physicians. The physicians (96%) and nurses (97%) thought that there was an improvement in the quality of patient care as a result of pharmacist involvement. Pharmacists at MHMC are providing useful clinical services.

A conceptual model for evaluating a pharmacist's clinical practice in the hospital setting

Evaluation and documentation of pharmacists' clinical services in the hospital setting are important for the continued development and implementation of these services. The conceptual model discussed here was designed for use by hospital personnel in evaluating a clinical pharmacy program or a specific clinical service in a hospital. Hospital management's decision to implement clinical services deserves the validation of the expected patient benefits of the services. This conceptual model has been used at Memorial Hospital Medical Center since 1977. The results of studies there are reviewed by the P&T Committee when existing or new clinical services are discussed. This study results have become an important part of the committee's and the hospital management's support for the continuation of clinical pharmacy services.

Altered thiol status in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

The thiol status of patients with rheumatoid arthritis is significantly different from that of controls. Plasma thiol levels are lower, albumin thiol reactivity is altered and intracellular thiol levels measured after hemoglobin precipitation are increased. These variations correlate with other indices of disease severity and are one measure of a disturbance in the degree of oxidation of the blood. Penicillamine, in common with other effective therapeutic agents, produces an increase in serum thiol concentration. It causes a greater effect on serum thiol reactivity than other drugs and in particular it increases 'fast reacting' thiol levels without significantly altering the 'slow reacting' thiol level.

Chemotherapeutic trials with hamster mesothelioma 10-24: responses to azacitidine, aziridinylbenzoquinone, cisplatin, and PCNU

Asbestos-induced peritoneal mesothelioma 10-24 serially transplanted in Syrian golden hamsters was used to test responses to seven drugs as single agents. Compared to saline-treated controls, the average survival time increased 51%-85% with azactitidine, 42%-60% with aziridinylbenzoquinone, 43% with cisplatin, and 35%-45% with PCNU. No cures were achieved. Therapeutic responses were not observed with dactinomycin, dianhydroxyanthracenedione, or DTIC.

An experimental model for treatment of mesothelioma

A peritoneal mesothelioma was induced by asbestos in a hamster, and was established in serial transfer to new hosts by injection of peritoneal effusion containing tumor cells. Biologically and histopathologically, this tumor is similar to its human counterpart. Three drugs were tested for efficacy using this model. Survival time was used as the only parameter of response and was compared with survival time of controls. Survival time increased 25 to 50% after short regimens of doxorubicin or 5-fluorouracil. Survival time increased up to 308% after long-continued treatments with cyclophosphamide. No cures were achieved.

Total serum copper and ceruloplasmin levels following administration of copper aspirinate to rats and guinea-pigs

Total serum copper and ceruloplasmin oxidase activities have been measured over a 24-h period in rats and guinea-pigs treated with 100 mg/kg body weight of copper (II) aspirinate. In the rat, administration s.c. produced higher total serum copper levels than oral administration at all time intervals studied, whereas in the guinea-pig, oral administration produced the higher level after 1 h and s.c. administration the higher level after 5 h. In both species, the rate of elimination of the additional copper was faster following oral administration. Ceruloplasmin oxidase activity appeared to be inhibited in certain cases but rose in all cases except for orally treated rats after 24 h. The initial rise in serum copper was due mainly to copper present on albumin. The increased albumin copper was detected directly by electrophoresis of serum samples and subsequent determination of the copper level in the portions of the strip which contained proteins. After s.c. administration to the rat, the amount of ultrafilterable copper was raised by a detectable amount. 7 h after s.c. or oral administration of copper aspirinate, the thiol concentration of the serum was reduced in both rats and guinea-pigs. The relationship of these levels to the anti-inflammatory action of copper (II) aspirinate in rats and guinea-pigs is discussed.

The pharmacy service of Memorial Hospital Medical Center

This article identifies the scope of activities, needs and subjects of a clinical pharmacy service program in a progressive community hospital. Even after ten years of constant effort, a comprehensive hospital clinical pharmacy program still requires continual review, changes, and improvements.

Antiinflammatory effects of some copper complexes

Copper complexes of a range of ligands have been prepared and evaluated for antiinflammatory activity and irritancy after oral, subcutaneous, and local administration in rats and guinea pigs. The antiinflammatory activities were found to depend on the species used and the route of administration. When nonantiinflammatory ligands were used, the response was generally dose dependent. With D-penicillamine and when the ligands were themselves antiinflammatory in animal models of inflammation--as was the case with flufenamic acid, levamisole, aspirin, L-histidine, and 2-amino-2-thiazoline--differences in antiinflammatory activity were observed between the copper complexes and the free ligands. In some cases, the copper complexes were the more effective. There was a weak correlation between local (subplantar) irritation and the dose of copper but, for four compounds studied in more detail, the response in the local subplantar test and degree of antiinflammatory activity were not related, suggesting that the action of copper is not solely by a counterirritant mechanism. No obvious differences between the activities of copper(I) and copper(II) compounds were observed, suggesting that a common metabolite may be involved in the antiinflammatory action of copper.