Histopathology of thymectomy specimens from the MGTX-trial: Entropy analysis as strategy to quantify spatial heterogeneity of lymphoid follicle and fat distribution.

The thymectomy specimens from the "thymectomy trial in non-thymomatous myasthenia gravis patients receiving prednisone therapy" (MGTX) underwent rigid and comprehensive work-up, which permits analysis of the spatial distribution of histological and immunohistological features. This analysis revealed strong intra- and inter-case variability. While many histological features (e.

Merging carbohydrate chemistry with lectin histochemistry to study inhibition of lectin binding by glycoclusters in the natural tissue context.

Recognition of glycans by lectins leads to cell adhesion and growth regulation. The specificity and selectivity of this process are determined by carbohydrate structure (sequence and shape) and topology of its presentation. The synthesis of (neo)glycoconjugates with bi- to oligo-valency (glycoclusters) affords tools to delineate structure-activity relationships by blocking lectin binding to an artificial matrix, often a glycoprotein, or cultured cell lines.

Comparative study between quantitative digital image analysis and fluorescence in situ hybridization of breast cancer equivocal human epidermal growth factor receptors 2 score 2(+) cases.

Background: Optimization of workflow for breast cancer samples with equivocal human epidermal growth factor receptors 2 (HER2)/neu score 2(+) results in routine practice, remains to be a central focus of the on-going efforts to assess HER2 status. According to the College of American Pathologists/American Society of Clinical Oncology guidelines equivocal HER2/neu score 2(+) cases are subject for further testing, usually by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) investigations. It still remains on open question, whether quantitative digital image analysis of HER2 immunohistochemistry (IHC) stained slides can assist in further refining the HER2 score 2(+).

Human osteoarthritic knee cartilage: fingerprinting of adhesion/growth-regulatory galectins in vitro and in situ indicates differential upregulation in severe degeneration.

The apparent connection of galectin-3 to chondrocyte survival and osteoarthritis-like cartilage modifications in animal models provided incentive for the mapping of seven members of this family of adhesion/growth-regulatory proteins in human cartilage specimens. Starting with work in vitro, RT-qPCR analyses and immunocytochemistry revealed gene transcription and protein presence in cultured OA chondrocytes, especially for galectin-1, galectin-3 and galectin-8. Immunohistochemistry in clinical specimens with mild and severe cartilage degeneration detected galectins in chondrocytes-with upregulation, especially of galectin-1 in areas of severe degeneration-accompanied by α2,6-sialylation in the pericellular matrix.

Introduction to glycopathology: the concept, the tools and the perspectives.

Unlabelled: Analyzing the flow of biological information is a fundamental challenge for basic sciences. The emerging results will then lend themselves to the development of new approaches for medical applications. Toward this end, the products of protein/lipid glycosylation deserve special attention.

Diagnostic pathology in 2013: facts, thoughts, and perspectives.

Unlabelled: Herein we analyze the development of the open access, peer reviewed journal Diagnostic Pathology (http://www.diagnosticpathology.org) during the past year and try to forecast its perspectives in 2014.

The history of pathology informatics: A global perspective.

Pathology informatics has evolved to varying levels around the world. The history of pathology informatics in different countries is a tale with many dimensions. At first glance, it is the familiar story of individuals solving problems that arise in their clinical practice to enhance efficiency, better manage (e.

Quantitative pathology in virtual microscopy: history, applications, perspectives.

With the emerging success of commercially available personal computers and the rapid progress in the development of information technologies, morphometric analyses of static histological images have been introduced to improve our understanding of the biology of diseases such as cancer. First applications have been quantifications of immunohistochemical expression patterns. In addition to object counting and feature extraction, laws of thermodynamics have been applied in morphometric calculations termed syntactic structure analysis.

Diagnostic pathology in 2012: development of digital pathology in an open access journal.

Unlabelled: Herein we describe and interpret the digital world of diagnostic surgical pathology, and take the in Pathology leading Open Access Journal Diagnostic Pathology as example.

Virtual Slide: http://www.diagnosticpathology.

Introduction of virtual microscopy in routine surgical pathology--a hypothesis and personal view from Europe.

Unlabelled: The technology of whole image acquisition from histological glass slides (Virtual slides, (VS)) and its associated software such as image storage, viewers, and virtual microscopy (VM), has matured in the recent years. There is an ongoing discussion whether to introduce VM into routine diagnostic surgical pathology (tissue-based diagnosis) or not, and if these are to be introduced how best to do this. The discussion also centres around how to substantially define the mandatory standards and working conditions related to introducing VM.

Diagnostic Pathology in 2011: reflecting on the development of an open access journal during the last six years.

Today, electronic communication is involved in all parts of our lives, either in a directed active, communicative, or passive manner. Whether to live with electronic communication or to ignore it is no longer a question. Instead, the question we have to answer is: How shall we live in our communicative environment? What can we expect? What are we forced to develop in order "to survive"? This Editorial written at the end of a really successful year of our journal Diagnostic Pathology tries to give some answers from different points of view:

Virtual slides in peer reviewed, open access medical publication.

Background: Application of virtual slides (VS), the digitalization of complete glass slides, is in its infancy to be implemented in routine diagnostic surgical pathology and to issues that are related to tissue-based diagnosis, such as education and scientific publication.

Approach: Electronic publication in Pathology offers new features of scientific communication in pathology that cannot be obtained by conventional paper based journals. Most of these features are based upon completely open or partly directed interaction between the reader and the system that distributes the article.

How to introduce virtual microscopy (VM) in routine diagnostic pathology: constraints, ideas, and solutions.

Context: Virtual microscopy which is the diagnostic work with digitized microscopic images in tissue - based diagnosis is in its childhood in being implemented in routine diagnosis. Until today, only a few pathology institutions take use of this new technology, although it is available since several years. Why?

Design: Virtual microscopy requires a new workflow organisation in the pathologist's diagnostic procedure.

History and structures of telecommunication in pathology, focusing on open access platforms.

Background: Telecommunication has matured to a broadly applied tool in diagnostic pathology.

Technology And Systems: Contemporary with the development of fast electronic communication lines (Integrated digital network services (ISDN), broad band connections, and fibre optics, as well as the digital imaging technology (digital camera), telecommunication in tissue--based diagnosis (telepathology) has matured. Open access (internet) and server--based communication have induced the development of specific medical information platforms, such as iPATH, UICC-TPCC (telepathology consultation centre of the Union International against Cancer), or the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) teleconsultation system.

To be at the right place at the right time.

Aim: To analyze the hypothesis of events or neighborhood interactions that is based upon recognizable structures of systems which possess a surface in a four dimensional space-time constellation {x, y, z, t}. To include the theory of hierarchic order of structures and aspects of thermodynamically open systems, especially entropy, structural entropy and entropy flow.

Hypothesis: Any structure is a space-time constellation that occupies a unique space in its environment.

Grid computing in image analysis.

Diagnostic surgical pathology or tissue–based diagnosis still remains the most reliable and specific diagnostic medical procedure. The development of whole slide scanners permits the creation of virtual slides and to work on so-called virtual microscopes. In addition to interactive work on virtual slides approaches have been reported that introduce automated virtual microscopy, which is composed of several tools focusing on quite different tasks.

How to measure diagnosis-associated information in virtual slides.

The distribution of diagnosis-associated information in histological slides is often spatial dependent. A reliable selection of the slide areas containing the most significant information to deriving the associated diagnosis is a major task in virtual microscopy. Three different algorithms can be used to select the appropriate fields of view: 1) Object dependent segmentation combined with graph theory; 2) time series associated texture analysis; and 3) geometrical statistics based upon geometrical primitives.

E-education in pathology including certification of e-institutions.

E-education or electronically transferred continuous education in pathology is one major application of virtual microscopy. The basic conditions and properties of acoustic and visual information transfer, of teaching and learning processes, as well as of knowledge and competence, influence its implementation to a high degree. Educational programs and structures can be judged by access to the basic conditions, by description of the teaching resources, methods, and its program, as well as by identification of competences, and development of an appropriate evaluation system.

Interactive and automated application of virtual microscopy.

Virtual microscopy can be applied in an interactive and an automated manner. Interactive application is performed in close association to conventional microscopy. It includes image standardization suitable to the performance of an individual pathologist such as image colorization, white color balance, or individual adjusted brightness.

Quantification of virtual slides: Approaches to analysis of content-based image information.

Virtual microscopy, which is the diagnostic work on completely digitized histological and cytological slides as well as blood smears, is at the stage to be implemented in routine diagnostic surgical pathology (tissue-based diagnosis) in the near future, once it has been accepted by the US Food and Drug Administration. The principle of content-based image information, its mandatory prerequisites to obtain reproducible and stable image information as well as the different compartments that contribute to image information are described in detail. Automated extraction of content-based image information requires shading correction, constant maximum of grey values, and standardized grey value histograms.

Mesothelioma and asbestosis in a young woman following occupational asbestos exposure: Short latency and long survival: Case Report.

A 27-year-old female white-collar worker was diagnosed in 1998 with mesothelioma eight and one-half years following first exposure as a bystander to debris in a site in which asbestos-containing building materials were being dismantled and rebuilding work took place. Prodromal back pain had been present for a year and a half. She underwent extrapleural pneumectomy and received an intrapleural infusion of cisplatin post-operatively.

AI (artificial intelligence) in histopathology--from image analysis to automated diagnosis.

The technological progress in digitalization of complete histological glass slides has opened a new door in tissue--based diagnosis. The presentation of microscopic images as a whole in a digital matrix is called virtual slide. A virtual slide allows calculation and related presentation of image information that otherwise can only be seen by individual human performance.

The journey of Diagnostic Pathology in 2009, perspectives for 2010.

Editorial: The journey of Diagnostic Pathology in 2009, perspectives for 2010