Simplified method for candidate selection for radial artery harvesting.

With the renewed interest in the use of autogenous radial arteries in coronary artery bypass grafting, concerns regarding vascular compromise and selection of patients have arisen. In this report, we describe a modification of Allen's test.

Portal film enhancement: technique and clinical utility.

We report on the results a 3-year project which had as its goal the development of methods to enhance radiation portal films to improve their readability. We had previously reported on a portal film enhancement technique, contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization, which could enhance low contrast detail, but degraded sharply contrasted edges. A new method, unsharp masking followed by contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization, now appears to overcome this problem.

Pollution of Florida's rivers.

Pollution of Florida's waterways is a serious problem. Sources of pollution include sewage, storm water runoff, faulty septic tanks, improperly constructed landfills, and obstruction by causeway bridges. Some of the major causes and solutions are discussed.

Surgery for angina pectoris--historical aspects.

The history of surgery for ischemic heart disease is presented beginning with procedures to ablate nerves to the heart in the early part of this century. The evolution of surgical techniques to primary coronary artery bypass grafting is illustrated. Included are subtotal thyroidectomy, pedicle grafting of muscle, omentum, lung, stomach, and jejunum to the pericardium and heart, cardiopericardiopexy, ligation of the great cardiac vein, grafting from aorta to coronary sinus, implantation of arteries into the myocardium, coronary artery bypass grafting, and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.

Effect of homo poly(L-amino acids) on fibrin assembly: role of charge and molecular weight.

Positively charged molecules such as protamine, leukocyte cationic protein, and the carboxyl terminus of platelet factor 4 have been shown to increase fibrin fiber thickness. Synthetic homo poly(L-amino acids) were used to explore the role of charge and molecular weight of cationic molecules on fibrin assembly. The effects of poly(L-lysine) (PLL), poly(L-glutamic acid) (PLG), poly(L-aspartic acid) (PLA), poly(L-histidine) (PLH), and poly(L-arginine) (PLArg) on the assembly and structure of fibrin gels were studied by using light-scattering techniques.