Keith Kaplan

Digital Pathology: Historical Perspectives, Current Concepts & Future Applications provides the authoritative text in the digital pathology domain by combining the established expertise of leaders in this diverse arena with practical applications of this transformative platform while harnessing a content rich, interactive format. In detailing a cohesive narrative from a broad, global perspective the lessons learned from the past, the obstacles to digital pathology adoption that have been… Show more

Digital Pathology: Historical Perspectives, Current Concepts & Future Applications provides the authoritative text in the digital pathology domain by combining the established expertise of leaders in this diverse arena with practical applications of this transformative platform while harnessing a content rich, interactive format. In detailing a cohesive narrative from a broad, global perspective the lessons learned from the past, the obstacles to digital pathology adoption that have been overcome and the challenges that remain for full realization of the potential that computational analysis affords, this text provides readers with the latest in where the field is heading as it seeks to unlock the potential of digital pathology by leveraging cutting edge technologies and innovative tools.
Digital Pathology: Historical Perspectives, Current Concepts & Future Applications will be of great value to Pathologists including Translational Researchers and Informaticists, Pathology Trainees including Residents and Informatics Fellows, Healthcare CMIOs and CIOs, Bioimaging Engineers and Computer Vision Scientists, as well as Laboratory Information Technologists. Show less

The single most important element to consider when evaluating clinical information systems for a practice is workflow. Workflow can be broadly defined as an orchestrated and repeatable pattern of business activity enabled by the systematic organization of resources into processes that transform materials, provide services, or process information.

This study uncovers a novel antiviral effect of miR-122 on human liver cells and shows that over-expression of miR-122 can decrease HCV entry into hepatocytes through down-regulation of OCLN.

Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an idiopathic inflammatory disorder. Currently, the main goals of treatment are to induce and maintain clinical and/or endoscopic remission. However, evidence indicates that persistent disease activity on colonic biopsies in the setting of clinical or endoscopic remission is an independent predictor of poor outcomes. A number of previous studies have proposed histologic indices for use in specific trials of UC. The aim of this study was to systematically… Show more

Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an idiopathic inflammatory disorder. Currently, the main goals of treatment are to induce and maintain clinical and/or endoscopic remission. However, evidence indicates that persistent disease activity on colonic biopsies in the setting of clinical or endoscopic remission is an independent predictor of poor outcomes. A number of previous studies have proposed histologic indices for use in specific trials of UC. The aim of this study was to systematically review the existing histological indices for UC and assess their potential use in both patient management and clinical trials.

Methods: We performed a systematic review of histological indices evaluating disease activity in UC. MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE (Ovid), PubMed, the Cochrane Library (CENTRAL), and Digestive Diseases Week (DDW) abstracts of randomized and/or controlled trials clinical trials were searched from inception to February 2013 for applicable studies. Data from these studies were reviewed and analyzed.

Results: After systematically applying inclusion criteria, we identified 108 scientific articles including 88 clinical studies and 21 related clinical reviews. Eighteen indices of histological activity in UC were identified and reviewed.

Conclusions: Although multiple histological scoring indices for assessment of UC disease activity currently exist, none of these instruments were developed using a formal validation process and their operating properties remain poorly understood. Future studies are needed to address this deficiency. Show less

"Military medicine is a well-conceived, well advised, and well established device, system, or mechanism, the mission of which is to provide the Armed Services with a quality or brand of medical coverage that is not only essential to the proper and efficient function of the military but is moreover essential to the best interests of the individual and of the national welfare.”

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, which results in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) in most patients (70-85%), is a major cause of liver disease and remains a major therapeutic challenge. The mechanisms determining liver damage and the key factors that lead to a high rate of CHC remain imperfectly understood. The precise role of cytoskeletal (CS) proteins in HCV infection remains to be determined. Some studies including our recent study have demonstrated that changes occur in the expression of CS… Show more

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, which results in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) in most patients (70-85%), is a major cause of liver disease and remains a major therapeutic challenge. The mechanisms determining liver damage and the key factors that lead to a high rate of CHC remain imperfectly understood. The precise role of cytoskeletal (CS) proteins in HCV infection remains to be determined. Some studies including our recent study have demonstrated that changes occur in the expression of CS proteins in HCV-infected hepatocytes. A variety of host proteins interact with HCV proteins. Association between CS and HCV proteins may have implications in future design of CS protein-targeted therapy for the treatment for HCV infection. This chapter will focus on the interaction between host CS and viral proteins to signify the importance of this event in HCV entry, replication and transportation. Show less

A blog (an abridgment of the term ‘web log’) is a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or videos.[1,2] Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. ‘Blog’ can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online… Show more

A blog (an abridgment of the term ‘web log’) is a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or videos.[1,2] Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. ‘Blog’ can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (Art blog), photographs (photoblog), videos (Video blogging), music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting). Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.

As three active bloggers in the fields of pathology, laboratory medicine, and pathology informatics, we thought that it would be useful for us to share the lessons that we have learned in our blogging endeavors. Show less

We describe the fifth published report of a mesenchymal hamartoma presenting as a cheek mass. A 5-month-old infant was brought to our institution for evaluation of an enlarging left-sided congenital cheek mass. Over time, the lesion had begun to cause significant facial asymmetry and oral incompetence. Radiologic imaging revealed an approximate 2.5 × 3.5-cm, noncystic lesion located in the left buccal space, separate from the mandible and surrounding the salivary glands. Magnetic resonance… Show more

We describe the fifth published report of a mesenchymal hamartoma presenting as a cheek mass. A 5-month-old infant was brought to our institution for evaluation of an enlarging left-sided congenital cheek mass. Over time, the lesion had begun to cause significant facial asymmetry and oral incompetence. Radiologic imaging revealed an approximate 2.5 × 3.5-cm, noncystic lesion located in the left buccal space, separate from the mandible and surrounding the salivary glands. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences demonstrated an isointense, T1-weighted lesion with avid gadolinium uptake, and increased intensity of T2-weighted sequences. The patient subsequently underwent biopsy and subtotal resection through a left gingivobuccal incision with the goal of improving lip contour and facial symmetry. Histologic examination revealed an admixed arrangement of mature smooth muscle, vascular, adipose, and neural tissue elements within a slightly myxoid stroma, consistent with a mixed mesenchymal hamartoma. An 8-month postoperative MRI demonstrated near-total removal without evidence of regrowth. While rare, hamartomas should be included in the differential diagnosis of a slow-growing pediatric head and neck mass. Gross total resection may provide cure; however, given this lesion's benign nature, less-than-complete resection should be considered when lesions infiltrate opposing critical structures. Thorough clinical and histologic evaluation is critical to avoid overly aggressive treatment and unnecessary morbidity. Show less

Digital pathology systems offer pathologists an alternate, emerging mechanism to manage and interpret information. They offer increasingly fast and scalable hardware platforms for slide scanning and software that facilitates remote viewing, slide conferencing, archiving, and image analysis. Deployed initially and validated largely within the research and biopharmaceutical industries, WSI is increasingly being implemented for direct patient care. Improvements in image quality, scan times, and… Show more

Digital pathology systems offer pathologists an alternate, emerging mechanism to manage and interpret information. They offer increasingly fast and scalable hardware platforms for slide scanning and software that facilitates remote viewing, slide conferencing, archiving, and image analysis. Deployed initially and validated largely within the research and biopharmaceutical industries, WSI is increasingly being implemented for direct patient care. Improvements in image quality, scan times, and imageviewing browsers will hopefully allow pathologists to more seamlessly convert to digital pathology, much like our radiology colleagues have done before us. However, WSI creates both opportunities and challenges. Although niche applications of WSI technology for clinical, educational, and research purposes are clearly successful, it is evident that several areas still require attention and careful consideration before more widespread clinical adoption of WSI takes place. These include regulatory issues, development of standards of practice and validation guidelines, workflow modifications, as well as defining situations where WSI technology will really improve practice in a cost-effective way. Current progress on these and other issues, along with improving technology, will no doubt pave the way for increased adoption over the next decade, allowing the pathology community as a whole to harness the true potential of WSI for patient care. The digital decade will likely redefine how pathology is practiced and the role of the pathologist. Show less