[The incidence of visually impaired drivers seen in ophthalmologic consultation].

On the basis of a critical review by Dr. rer. nat.

Segmentation of stained blood cell images measured at high scanning density with high magnification and high numerical aperture optics.

In hematological morphology, it is necessary to resolve and analyze the smallest possible cellular details appearing in the light microscope. A prerequisite for computer-aided analysis of subtle morphological features is measuring the cells at a high scanning density with high magnification and high numerical aperture optics. Contrary to visual observations, the information content in a measured picture can be increased by setting the condensor's numerical aperture (NA) greater than the objective's NA.

[Significance of endoscopy in inflammatory bowel diseases in childhood].

Endoscopy makes an essential contribution as diagnostic tool in the clarification of unspecific inflammatory bowel disease in childhood. Important advantages of this method are detection of early lesions, classification of the type of inflammation, sight-guided biopsies and no exposure to X-rays. In 36 patients the diagnosis of Crohn's disease was proven by endoscopy alone in 66.

[Ulcerative colitis in childhood and its differential diagnosis].

Ulcerative colitis occurs before the age of 15 years in 20% and before 20 years in 40% of all patients involved. The frequency of this disease in patients at the University Children's Hospital of Munich has clearly risen over the past years. In many patients we found characteristic differences in history, clinical picture and laboratory results as compared with Crohn's disease.

Leukemia-related morphological features in blast cells.

This paper investigates the use of image-processing methods to detect leukemia-related morphological differences in mononuclear blast cells. Routinely prepared Pappenheim-stained blood smears were scanned in a high-resolution color TV-microscope system. Eleven blast-cell classes (OMSBC, T-ALL, OMS, ALL, LBL, IBL, AUL, AML, AMOL, AMMOL, and CML) were analyzed with the nonparametric statistical software program "Classification and Regression Trees" (CART).

Analysis for nonextractable (bound) residues of pentachlorophenol in plant cells using a cell wall fractionation procedure.

When plant cell cultures or aseptically grown wheat plants were treated with [14C]-pentachlorophenol (PCP) a major part of the label was found in a nonextractable or "bound" residue fraction. Soluble polar conjugates participated in the formation of these residues which were mainly located in the plant cell walls. By a sequential fractionation procedure using enzymatic and chemical methods, 90 to 95% of the bound radioactivity could be attributed to individual cell wall components.

The fluorescent immunosorbent test for IgG gliadin antibodies and the leucocyte migration inhibition test in coeliac disease; comparison of diagnostic value.

The diagnostic value of the fluorescent immunosorbent test for IgG gliadin antibodies (FIST) has been investigated in comparison with the LIF test--the competence of the gluten subfractions B2 and B3 in releasing lymphokines from peripheral lymphocytes in vitro--in 96 patients with coeliac disease (CD) under various dietary conditions. In untreated children with CD during their first 2 years of life, the FIST showed 100% sensitivity with 95% specificity, whilst the LIF test showed only 70% sensitivity and 73% specificity. Therefore it can be concluded that the FIST as a screening test is superior to the LIF.

Deoxyribonucleic acid homologies among 96 strains of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria.

DNA of 96 strains of the genera Nitrosomonas, Nitrosococcus, Nitrosospira, Nitrosolobus, and Nitrosovibrio was isolated and analysed spectrophotometrically. Percentages of guanine plus cytosine (G + C) content, genome sizes, and DNA-DNA homologies were determined. The results indicated the presence of eight Nitrosomonas species, three or four Nitrosococcus species, five Nitrosospira species, and two species of both Nitrosolobus and Nitrosovibrio.

Computer-based cytophotometric classification of thyroid tumors in imprints.

This study of 14 follicular adenomas, 10 papillary carcinomas and 11 follicular carcinomas of the human thyroid gland demonstrates the possibility of a cytological tumor classification using digital picture processing. Routinely prepared, HE-stained imprints of surgical specimens were scanned under a light microscope at high resolution with a colour TV camera. The cell nuclei were segmented and analysed with an image processing system.

Application of a high-resolution TV-microscope system to estimate the sequence of centromere separation in muntjak chromosomes.

The sequence of centromere separation in muntjak fibroblasts was studied using a high-resolution TV-microscope system. Computer programs that identify the chromosomes as well as measure the centromere separation are described. Important prerequisites for this study are the high sampling rate and the digital processing of the two images from the red and green channel of a color TV-camera.

[Ophthalmological experiences with automobile drivers with inadequate vision].

A total of 369 ophthalmological practices were asked to report the number of patients seen within one test week who drove their cars but did not satisfy minimum legal requirements for diurnal visual acuity applicable for applicants for a West German Class 3 driver's license. There were 471 such patients. From this number it can be calculated that approximately 570 000 individuals (+/- 9%) drive cars in the Federal Republic of Germany with inadequate visual acuity.

Calcium metabolism and cystic fibrosis: mitochondrial abnormalities suggest a modification of the mitochondrial membrane.

A disorder of calcium (Ca2+) metabolism may be central to the pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis (CF). Average cellular Ca2+ levels in fibroblasts derived from patients with CF (ages, 14-25 yr; n = 25) were 36-77% higher than in matched controls depending on age of cell culture (9.0-10.

Comparison of digital focus criteria for a TV microscope system.

Existing focusing methods, such as standard deviation of gray values, gradients, information content of the image and the lateral inhibition function, were compared, and a new combination criterion was developed. This combined method consists of using the standard deviation of the image for coarse focusing followed by a modified form of the lateral inhibition for the fine focus. The lateral inhibitor model of the eye is a recursive filter that can be simplified to a nonrecursive filtering algorithm, as postulated by Rechenberg.

Estimation of sampling errors in a high-resolution TV microscope image-processing system.

The basic postulate of this paper is that the commonly accepted sampling density of 2-4 pixels/micron in a high-resolution TV microscope system is too low to digitize exactly and analyze the complex cellular detail found in stained cell images. Depending on the specific microscope system, the required sampling density is much higher, lying between 15 and 30 pixels/micron. This sampling density is derived from the aliasing error, the resolution loss, and computational limitations.

[Evaluation of surgical methods for chronic glaucoma].

In the light of personal experience, the present author repeats the call for generally applicable rules for classifying findings and criteria for evaluating them; this demand was originally made by Leydhecker . Taking a comparison of various surgical procedures for chronic glaucoma as an example, the need for such rules and criteria is illustrated in detail, and concrete proposals for formulating them are made.

The antidepressant agents desipramine, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine and norzimelidine inhibit uptake of [3H]noradrenaline and [3H]5-hydroxytryptamine in slices of human and rat cortical brain tissue.

The stability of uptake of [3H]noradrenaline and [3H]5-hydroxytryptamine in rat neocortical brain slices, prepared up to 4-5 h after decapitation, was established. Subsequently, monoamine uptake inhibition by 4 antidepressant agents: desipramine, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine and norzimelidine was compared in human post-mortem neocortical brain slices vs rat neocortical brain slices. In both species, desipramine exhibited considerable selectivity for noradrenaline uptake, while fluoxetine, fluvoxamine and norzimelidine showed varying degrees of selectivity for 5-hydroxytryptamine uptake.

[Severe protracted diarrhea in infancy ("intractable diarrhea")].

In most cases, protracted diarrhea in infants is due to lack of human breast milk, and iatrogenic malnutrition. Damage to the mucosa of the small intestine maintained by cow's milk proteins and malnutrition constitute main parts of a vicious circle interrupted by completely parenteral nutrition for some time, and slow reintroduction of human breast milk. This kind of therapy reduced mortality significantly.

A reliable screening test for childhood celiac disease: fluorescent immunosorbent test for gliadin antibodies. A prospective multicenter study.

The diagnostic value of gliadin antibody determination using the fluorescent immunosorbent test was examined in a prospective multicenter study comprising 251 children with malabsorptive disorders. Antibodies to gliadin were found in all 72 patients (100%) with active celiac disease (29 children with celiac disease proved by challenge, 43 with probable celiac disease). All children up to the age of 7 years had antibodies in high titers.

[The usefulness of the Chrispin-Norman score in the evaluation of pulmonary status in patients with cystic fibrosis].

Its objectivity and reproducibility having been checked by for independent researchers, the Chrispin-Norman score has proved to be a useful yardstick for evaluating pulmonary changes in cystic fibrosis. The correlation to arterial pO2 was r = 0.68, and to the Schwachman-Kulczycki score, r = 0.

Computer analysis of chromatin arrangement and nuclear texture in follicular thyroid tumours.

The differentiation of the thyroid glands follicular neoplasias into adenomas and carcinomas is currently done using the histological criteria recommended by WHO. This pilot study of 10 human follicular carcinomas and 10 folliculars adenomas demonstrates the possibility of a cytological classification using digital picture processing of high resolution cell images. Giemsa stained paraplast sections were scanned with a Colour-TV-camera, different channels were used with respect to staining and analyzing methods and computed with an image processing system.

Evidence for non-random sequence of centromere separation in muntjak chromosomes by high resolution TV-microscopy.

The sequence of separation of sister centromeres in the chromosomes of the muntjak was analysed using a high resolution TV-microscope-system. Computer programs which permit the identification of the individual chromosome pairs and the measurement of the distances between the sister centromeres are described. The study demonstrates that the centromeres do not separate in a random sequence.

The effects of beta-adrenoceptor blocking drugs on non-esterified fatty acid release from adipocytes.

A review is presented of the effects of beta-adrenoceptor blocking agents on lipolysis in adipose tissue. Considerable species differences appear to exist between the pharmacological characteristics of beta-adrenoceptors in adipocytes of rat, guinea pig, dog, cat, swine and man. Human adipocyte beta-adrenoceptors probably consist of two subtypes; insufficient data are available to ascertain whether they represent "classical" beta 1- and beta 2-adrenoceptors or atypical receptors similar but not identical to those in the rat.

[Cow's milk protein sensitive enteropathy].

Cow's milk protein sensitive enteropathy (CMPSE) is characterized by the following items: 1. The great majority of affected infants have not been breast fed or only for a few days. Additional risks are immaturity, preceding enteritis, trisomy 21, and abdominal operation in the newborn.

Comparative colorimetry in cytophotometric measurements of azure B-eosin Y-stained and Giemsa-stained blood cell smears.

The advantages of the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) color measurements and the use of the standardizable purified azure B-eosin Y stain, as compared to the commonly used commercial Giemsa stain, were studied. Color measurement and analysis according to the CIE standards allows the comparison of color measurements from different slides stained by either the same or different procedures. Moreover, measurements from different cytophotometric systems can be compared.