Characterization of novel furan compounds on the basis of their radical scavenging activity and cytoprotective effects against glutamate- and lipopolysaccharide-induced insults.

There is increasing evidence indicating that free radicals and oxygenases such as cyclooxygenase (COX) and lipoxygenase (LOX) are related to the onset and development of neurodegenerative diseases. In order to prevent and/or delay these diseases, the use of radical-scavenging antioxidants and inhibitors against oxygenases has received much attention. In the present study, we examined the radical-scavenging activity and cytoprotective effects of some novel furan compounds with potent inhibitory activity against oxygenases such as COX-1, COX-2, and 5-LOX.

Detection of simulated pulmonary nodules by single-exposure dual-energy computed radiography of the chest: effect of a computer-aided diagnosis system (Part 2).

Objective: To evaluate the performance of the computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) scheme on the detection of pulmonary nodules (PNs) in single-exposure dual-energy subtraction computed radiography (CR) images of the chest, and to evaluate the effect of this CAD scheme on radiologists' detectibilaties.

Methods And Material: We compared the detectability by the CAD scheme with the detectability by 12 observers by using conventional CR (C-CR) and bone-subtracted CR (BS-CR) images of 25 chest phantoms with a low-contrast nylon nodule.

Results: Both in the CAD scheme and for the observers, the detectability of BS-CR images was superior to that of C-CR images (P<0.

Computerized detection of pulmonary nodules by single-exposure dual-energy computed radiography of the chest (part 1).

Objective: To clarify the usefulness of computerized detection of pulmonary nodules (PNs) in single-exposure dual-energy subtraction computed radiography (CR) images of the chest.

Methods And Material: Our scheme uses bone-subtracted CR (BS-CR) images, and consists of a contrast-adaptive filter for detection of the candidates for PNs and a vessel-enhancing filter for elimination of vessel opacities in the candidates for PNs. For the evaluation, 12 clinical cases with multiple PNs were used, and four radiologists participated in this study.