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PubMedDate not supplied

Borderless teleradiology with CHILI.

Teleradiology is one of the most evolved areas of telemedicine, but one of the basic problems which remains unsolved concerns system compatibility. The DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) standard is a prerequisite, but it is not sufficient in all aspects. Examples of other currently open issues are security and cooperative work in synchronous teleconferences. Users without a DICOM radiological workstation would benefit from the ability to join a teleradiology network without any special tools. Drawbacks of many teleradiology systems are that they are monolithic in their software design and cannot be adapted to the actual user's environment. Existing radiological systems currently cannot be extended with additional software components. Consequently, every new application usually needs a new workstation with a different look and feel, which must be connected and integrated into the existing infrastructure. This paper introduces the second generation teleradiology system CHILI. The system has been designed to match both the teleradiology requirements of the American College of Radiology (ACR), and the functionality and usability needs of the users. The experiences of software developers and teleradiology users who participated in the first years of the clinical use of CHILI's predecessor MEDICUS have been integrated into a new design. The system has been designed as a component-based architecture. The most powerful communication protocol for data exchange and teleconferencing is the CHILI protocol, which includes a strong data security concept. The system offers, in addition to its own secure protocol, several different communication Methods: DICOM, classic e-mail, Remote Copy functions (RCP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), the internet protocols HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) and HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure),and CD-ROMs for off-line communication. These transfer METHODS allow the user to send images to nearly anyone with a computer and a network. The drawbacks of the non-CHILI protocols are that teleconferences are not possible, and that the user must take reasonable precautions for data privacy and security. The CHILI PlugIn mechanism enables the users or third parties to extend the system capabilities by adding powerful image postprocessing functions or interfaces to other information systems. Suitable PlugIns can be either existing programs, or dedicated applications programmed with interfaces to the CHILI components. The developer may freely choose programming languages and interface toolkits. The CHILI architecture is a powerful and flexible environment for Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS)and teleradiology. More than 40 systems are currently running in clinical routine in Germany. More than 300,000 images have been distributed among the communication partners in the last two years. Feedback and suggestions from the users influenced the system architecture by a great extent. The proposed and implemented system has been optimized to be as platform independent, open, and secure as possible.

Radiology Information Systems↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Increasing number of Salmonella paratyphi B isolates from slaughtered poultry sent in to the national Salmonella reference laboratory].

In the last years the number of isolations of Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar paratyphi B (S. paratyphi B) sent to the national salmonella reference laboratory of Germany has increased steadily. Most of the isolates originated from fowl or poultry products. The bacteriological, serological and biochemical properties of the isolates were investigated. Special emphasis was given to the utilization of d-tartrate which subgroups the serovar. All of them belonged to the d-tartrate positive variant, which is generally considered less virulent for humans and was formerly called S. java. The performance of various tests is compared and in addition the possibility of the spread within the production line is discussed.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Physiologic significance of "stringent control" in Escherichia coli under extreme starvation].

The viability of three isogenic relA+/relA strain pairs of Escherichia coli (CP78/CP79; NF161/NF162; CP107/CP143) was studied during prolonged starvation for amino acids, glucose or phosphate. After amino acid limitation we found a prolonged viability of all relA+ strains which synthesized ppGpp. We suggest that some ppGpp-mediated pleiotropic effects of the stringent response (e.g. glykogen accumulation, enhanced protein turnover) might be involved in this prolongation of survival. After glucose or phosphate starvation there was no difference in the relA+/relA strains either in the ppGpp content or in the survival.

Escherichia coli↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Synthesis of heat shock proteins following amino acid or oxygen limitation in Bacillus subtilis relA+ and relA strains].

Some of the presumable heat shock proteins will be produced in Bacillus subtilis in response to different environmental conditions, e.g. heat shock, amino acid limitation or oxygen limitation. During amino acid limitation or during oxygen limitation the relA+ strain is able of synthesizing this set of proteins but the relA strain is not. We suggest that the accelerated rate of the synthesis of some heat shock proteins depends on the induction of the stringent response because the (p)ppGpp production does not occur in the relA strain during amino acid or oxygen limitation. On the other hand the relA strain can produce heat shock proteins under heat stress. Therefore different mechanisms must be responsible for the expression of this set of genes during heat and other stress stimuli. It can be supposed that in B. subtilis the (p)ppGpp-dependent stringent control is a central defense reaction against different adverse environmental conditions and furthermore, that the synthesis of "stress" proteins as an essential component of the stringent response is part of a general adaptation mechanism under non-growing conditions.

Amino Acids↗