Clinical significance of 99mTc-N-pyridoxyl-5-methyltryptophan (99mTc-PMT) in the diagnosis of intrahepatic masses

Hepatobiliary scintigraphy with 99mTc-N-pyridoxyl-5-methyltryptophan (99mTc-PMT) was carried out on 48 patients with intrahepatic masses, 44 with hepatocellular carcinoma and one each of hepatocellular adenoma, focal nodular hyperplasia, cholangiocellular carcinoma, and adenoid cystic carcinoma. Scans were performed twice, early scan (30 min post i.v.) and delayed scan (2.5 h post i.v.), and the delayed scan was used for assessing the accumulation of 99mTc-PMT in the intrahepatic masses. In the hepatocellular carcinoma group, based on individual patients, 17 out of 44 (38.6%) showed accumulation of 99mTc-PMT in various degrees; and based on individual masses, accumulation was noted in 21 out of 55 masses (38.2%). However, only the cases which had not received transarterial infusion of anti-cancer drugs (TAI) and/or blocking agents (TAE) were taken into consideration, 9 out of 18 patients (50%) and 12 out of 25 masses (48.0%) were found capable of picking up 99mTc-PMT. A case of hepatocellular adenoma showed a strong accumulation of 99mTc-PMT in the mass which was depicted as a defect on the 99mTc-colloid scan and did not show a significant accumulation of 67Ga. In a case of focal nodular hyperplasia, there were two space-occupying lesions (SOLs), one of which showed a clear-cut defect on the 99mTc-colloid scan and the other which showed only a distorted uptake pattern. However, both masses were strongly positive with 99mTc-PMT. 99mTc-PMT scintigraphy is useful in connection with 99mTc-colloid scan and sometimes with 67Ga-citrate in the diagnosis of intrahepatic masses originating from hepatocytes.     

Abnormal hepatobiliary clearance of 99mTc-N-(2,6-diethylphenylcarbamoylmethyl)iminodiacetic acid in the altered state of thyroid--by an analysis of deconvolution method

Hepatobiliary clearance of 99mTc-EHIDA was investigated in cases with altered thyroid function by deconvolution method. The results indicated that mean hepatic transit time of all control subjects revealed less than 10 minutes. On the other hand, mean hepatic transit time of cases with altered thyroid function revealed prolonged more than 13 minutes. Cases especially showing an elevated serum concentration of TSH compared with normal range (4.6 microU/ml) had a tendency of a high incidence of markedly prolonged mean hepatic transit time. These results suggest that thyroid hormone may influence on the hepatic metabolism of hepatobiliary radiopharmaceuticals. This phenomenon also could partly explain the cause of liver dysfunction seen in subjects with altered states.     

Evaluation of gallbladder emptying in patients with chronic liver disease by 99mTc-EHIDA hepatobiliary scintigraphy

Gallbladder emptying after intramuscular injection of cerulein was investigated by 99mTc-EHIDA hepatobiliary scintigraphy in 23 patients with biliary disease, 55 patients with chronic liver disease, and 21 normal controls. The mean gallbladder ejection fraction in patients with gallstones and liver cirrhosis was significantly reduced compared with normal controls. (gallstones: 56.3 +/- 21.3%, LC with gallstones: 50.8 +/- 29.6%, LC without gallstones: 55.9 +/- 26.7%, vs. normal controls: 74.4 +/- 12.9%, p less than 0.01). The mechanism for sluggish gallbladder emptying in liver cirrhosis is unknown, however impaired emptying with bile stasis provides a potential pathophysiologic basis for the high frequency of pigment stones.     

Evaluation of left atrial function by 99mTc gated blood pool scan

99mTc gated blood pool scans were studied to assess the left atrial function. Relationship between filling time and rapid emptying time was y = 0.695 x + 109 (r = 0.761, p less than 0.05, n = 14) in LAO and LPO projections. On the other hand, relationship between slow filling and rapid emptying time was good closely (y = 0.846 x + 16.9 (p less than 0.01, r = 0.975, n = 8] in standard and retrograde acquisition. To assess the left atrial function by standard acquisition in LAO projection should be available for clinical use.     

On the possibility to improve the performance of flow injection analysis by deconvolution of spectrophotometric data

The concentration profile of chemical species pumped through a tubular system of 0.5-mm inner diameter is found to be trapezial shaped, as described theoretically by including the spatial resolution of the instrument, friction and diffusion. By applying the theory, which is based on the concept of segment flow, to experiments, it is shown that an injected segment of solute is diluted predominantly at the front and at the tail proportion of the segment in motion. A double-peaked structure in experiments of flow-injection analysis (FIA) was identified and by including all the data of the experimentally measured responses, it was possible to obtain an improvement of the sensitivity by a factor of 22 and obtain almost a factor of three times improvement on the standard deviation.     

An evaluation of predicting postoperative residual liver function using 99mTc tin colloid

The rate of clearance (K value) of 99mTc tin colloid in the liver differentiates normal subjects from liver cirrhosis patients; so 99mTc tin colloid is as useful as 198Au colloid as a marker of liver function. There are several reports concerning volume estimation using liver scintigraphy. Our original method was devised to measure the effective liver volume by scintigraphy. By combining the K value with effective liver volume, a predictive index was obtained in order to predict the residual liver function before hepatic resection. The index in 24 patients with liver diseases was investigated before hepatic resection. Three of them died due to hepatic failure after hepatic resection. The indices were between 0.40 and 0.45 in two of these three patients and 0.338 in one. Among the patients without hepatic failure, the indices showed more than 0.45 in 19 patients and between 0.40 and 0.45 in two. These results indicate that the limitation of hepatic resection is between 0.40 and 0.45 of the predictive index.     

Noise filtering and deconvolution of XPS data by wavelets and Fourier transform

In experimental sciences, the recorded data are often modelled as the noisy convolution product of an instrumental response with the ‘true’ signal to find. Different models have been used for interpreting x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra. This article suggests a method of estimate the ‘true’ XPS signal that relies upon the use of wavelets, which, because they exhibit simultaneous time and frequency localization, are well suited to signal analysis. First, a wavelet shrinkage algorithm is used to filter the noise. This is achieved by decomposing the noisy signal into an appropriate wavelet basis and then thresholding the wavelet coefficients that contain noise. This algorithm has a particular threshold related to frequency and time. Secondly, the broadening due to the instrumental response is eliminated through a deconvolution process similar to that developed in the previous paper in this series for the analysis of HREELS data. This step mainly rests on least‐squares and on the existing relation between the Fourier transform, the wavelet transform and the convolution product. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of thermal analysis experimental data

The possibilities of the THERMOKIN software package for evaluation of experimental data of solid state thermal decomposition are described. The software package makes it possible to simulate the solid state reactions, to evaluate the results of various thermal analysis methods such as TG/DTG, DSC., evolved gas analysis etc. The software enabled us to choose the adequate model of solid state reactions, to calculate the parameters of reactions and the errors of the parameters. Using this software package the interpretation of the results obtained by various methods of thermal analysis as well as the determination of the optimal experimental conditions for the studied substances can be made.

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Zusammenfassung Die Möglichkeiten des Softwarepaketes THERMOKIN zur Auswertung experimenteller Daten von thermischen Feststoffzersetzungen werden beschrieben. Das Softwarepaket ermöglicht die Simulation von Feststoffreaktionen, die Auswertung der Ergebnisse von verschiedenen thermoanalytischen Methoden, wie z.B. TG/DTG, DSC., Analyse der entstehenden Gase usw. Durch das Softwarepaket wurde es ermöglicht, ein adäquates Modell für die Feststoffreaktion auszuwählen und die Reaktionsparameter sowie deren Fehler zu berechnen. Unter Anwendung dieses Softwarepaketes können einerseits die Ergebnisse aus den verschiedensten thermoanalytischen Verfahren interpretiert und andererseits die optimalen Reaktionsbedingungen für die jeweiligen untersuchten Substanzen ermittelt werden.

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Dedicated to Prof. Dr. H. J. Seifert on the occasion of his 60^th birthday     

Comprehensive analysis of yeast metabolite GC x GC-TOFMS data: combining discovery-mode and deconvolution chemometric software

The first extensive study of yeast metabolite GC x GC-TOFMS data from cells grown under fermenting, R, and respiring, DR, conditions is reported. In this study, recently developed chemometric software for use with three-dimensional instrumentation data was implemented, using a statistically-based Fisher ratio method. The Fisher ratio method is fully automated and will rapidly reduce the data to pinpoint two-dimensional chromatographic peaks differentiating sample types while utilizing all the mass channels. The effect of lowering the Fisher ratio threshold on peak identification was studied. At the lowest threshold (just above the noise level), 73 metabolite peaks were identified, nearly three-fold greater than the number of previously reported metabolite peaks identified (26). In addition to the 73 identified metabolites, 81 unknown metabolites were also located. A Parallel Factor Analysis graphical user interface (PARAFAC GUI) was applied to selected mass channels to obtain a concentration ratio, for each metabolite under the two growth conditions. Of the 73 known metabolites identified by the Fisher ratio method, 54 were statistically changing to the 95% confidence limit between the DR and R conditions according to the rigorous Student's t-test. PARAFAC determined the concentration ratio and provided a fully-deconvoluted (i.e. mathematically resolved) mass spectrum for each of the metabolites. The combination of the Fisher ratio method with the PARAFAC GUI provides high-throughput software for discovery-based metabolomics research, and is novel for GC x GC-TOFMS data due to the use of the entire data set in the analysis (640 MB x 70 runs, double precision floating point).     

Band deconvolution analysis of the absorption and magnetic circular dichroism spectral data of a planar phthalocyanine dimer

The electronic absorption and magnetic circular dichroism spectral data of a phthalocyanine dicopper complex that is deduced to be very planar and to share a common benzene ring have been studied by band deconvolution analysis. The results were compared with those of the molecular orbital (MO) calculations within the framework of the Pariser-Parr-Pople (PPP) approximation. The results of the band deconvolution analysis are in good agreement with those of the PPP calculations, allowing many bands to be reasonably assigned on the basis of the MO calculations. The validity of the PPP method for the MO calculation of large molecules is also emphasized.     

Crystallization monitoring by quantitative image analysis

Crystals have well defined geometric characteristics. A geometry-based algorithm has been developed to study images of crystals and to calculate their macroscopic structural characteristics. The procedure has been applied to single monocrystals and crystal populations for which shape distributions can be determined and used to quantify the shape homogeneity of a crystallizer production.     

Determination of dissociation constants of weak acids by deconvolution of proton binding isotherms derived from potentiometric data

Potentiometric titration of six carboxylic acid analytes were measured in aqueous and semiaqueous solvents to determine the effect of the solvent composition on the dissociation constants of the acids. The analytes studied were monoprotic (formic acid, acetic acid), diprotic (maleic and succinic acid) and triprotic (1, 2, ranging in composition from 0 to 80% by volume dioxane. The methodology used to assess the acidity constants was deconvolution of the proton binding isotherm of each analyte in each of the solvents. The dissociation constants agreed with those reported in the literature for titration in water. In the presence of the organic component, correlations relating the acidity constants with properties of the media were also found. In particular, affinity distributions derived from potentiometric titration data were used to assess the solvent media for resolving dissociation constants of weak acids and bases.     

Evaluation of epifluorescence image analysis of biofilm growth on stainless steel surfaces

Biofilm growth of Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas fragi, Pediococcus inopinatus and Listeria monocytogenes was studied on stainless steel surfaces at room and low temperatures to evaluate the results of traditional hygiene measures. The results were compared with those of image analysis of stainless steel surfaces in an epifluorescence microscope. Statistical analyses were carried out to determine the variations between the conventional cultivation swab method, the glycocalyx amount obtained using swabbing, and the values of the areas of the biofilm, slime and cells. As a general rule, old biofilms showed total counts at approximately the same levels as the young biofilm. The results showed that temperature affected the results for all strains except B. subtilis. The strains of Pe. inopinatus and Ps. fragi showed increased attachment at 6°C and L. monocytogenes at 25°C. The biofilm slime was more easily detached than the cells. The results indicated that the traditional swab method is not reliable for the measurement of biofilm formation on surfaces.     

Optical properties of a mesogen by image analysis

An image analysis technique in conjunction with polarising optical microscopy (POM) is proposed for assessment of the thermo-optical properties of homogeneously aligned chiral ester liquid crystals of the type ((S)-(-)-2-methylbutyl 4′-(4″-n-alkanoyloxybenzoyloxy) biphenyl-4-carboxylates, where n?=?16 or 18. Chiral ester textures are recorded as a function of temperature using POM provided with a hot-stage and a high-resolution colour camera. Temperature-dependent optical parameters, or thermo-optical properties such as optical transmission, degree of polarisation, absorption coefficient and birefringence are computed for chiral esters by analysing the texture of samples using MATLAB software. This is a simple experimental technique for observing how the optical parameters of liquid crystals change with temperature.     

Extraction of local hydrogen exchange data from HDX CAD MS measurements by deconvolution of isotopic distributions of fragment ions

Hydrogen/deuterium exchange (HDX) coupled to protein fragmentation either in solution (by means of proteolysis) or in the gas phase (using collisional activation of protein ions) and followed by mass spectral measurements of deuterium content of individual fragments has become one of the major experimental tools to probe protein structure and dynamics. One difficulty, which often arises in the course of interpretation of HDX MS data, is a need to separate deuterium contribution to the observed isotopic patterns from that of naturally occurring isotopes. Another frequently encountered problem, especially when HDX in solution is followed by protein ion fragmentation in the gas phase, is a need to determine the deuterium content of an internal protein segment based on the measured isotopic distributions of overlapping fragments. While several algorithms were developed in the past several years to address the first problem, the second one did not enjoy as much attention. Here we report a new algorithm based on a maximum entropy principle, which is capable of extracting local exchange data form the isotope distribution of overlapping fragments, as well as subtracting the background due to the presence of natural isotopes and residual deuterium in exchange buffers. The new method is tested with several proteins and appears to generate stable solutions even under unfavorable circumstances, e.g., when the resolving power of a mass analyzer is not sufficient to avoid signal interference or when the isotopic distributions of individual fragments are complex and cannot be approximated with simple binomial distributions. The latter feature makes the algorithm particularly useful when the exchange in solution is correlated or semicorrelated, paving the way to precise structural characterization of non-native protein states in solution.     

Tracking juniper berry content in oils and distillates by spectral deconvolution of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry data

The complex nature of botanicals and essential oils makes it difficult to identify all of the constituents by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) alone. In this paper, automated sequential, multidimensional gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-GC/MS) was used to obtain a matrix-specific, retention time/mass spectrometry library of 190 juniper berry oil compounds. GC/MS analysis on stationary phases with different polarities confirmed the identities of each compound when spectral deconvolution software was used to analyze the oil. Also analyzed were distillates of juniper berry and its oil as well as gin from four different manufacturers. Findings showed the chemical content of juniper berry can be traced from starting material to final product and can be used to authenticate and differentiate brands.