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This paper is focused on a dual approach for silica scale control, inhibition and dissolution by use of designed chemical approaches. Inhibitors that are tested include the polyaminoamide STARBURST dendrimers (PAMAM) of generations 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5. Of these, only the NH2-terminated ones (PAMAM-1.0 and 2.0) show significant inhibitory activity, in contrast to COOH-terminated ones (PAMAM-0.5, 1.5, and 2.5), which show virtually no inhibition performance. The synergism between the above dendrimers and an anionic polyelectrolyte (poly(acrylamide-co-acrylate) copolymer) is also described. Addition of poly(acrylamide-co-acrylate) copolymer in silica supersaturated solutions containing PAMAM-1 or 2 alleviates the appearance of silica-PAMAM insoluble precipitates, resulting in stable colloids. The paper also describes silica dissolution approaches, as an alternative to inhibition, by using nonhazardous additives based on polycarboxylates with one to five −COOH groups (acetate, oxalate, citrate, diethylenetriaminepentaacetate, and others), mixed polycarboxylates/phosphonates (2-phosphonobutane-1,2,4-tricarboxylate), and amino acids (l-histidine and l-phenylalanine). Their reactivity is linked to their chemical structure in this structure/function study. The presence of additional chemical groups (e.g., −PO3H2, −NH2, or −OH) in the dissolver molecule augments the dissolution process. more...

The quality of cardiac imaging plays a pivotal role in clinical decision-making and depends mainly on the technical performance of the imaging system and on angiographic technique. The Italian Society of Invasive Cardiology and The Italian Society of Physics in Medicine have set quality criteria giving precise guidelines regarding how an angiogram should appear provided that good equipment and correct angiographic technique are used. The criteria have been reviewed by the European Concerted Action DIMOND Cardiology group and are reported here to provide a reference standard for images for the most common procedures in daily practice. more...

Image quality criteria (IQC) for cine-angiography were recently settled. The aim of this study was to test whether these criteria allow a measurement of the quality of cine-angiograms. A questionnaire was derived from IQC where a binary response was required regarding the degree of visibility of anatomic or pathologic structures. Scores were given on a ranking scale. Two quality scores were defined (total score and minimum score) and standard deviation (SD) was assumed to be an indicator of the method's reproducibility. Data of the total score are presented for the first nine angiograms. Six experts obtained thirty-nine readings. The total scores ranged between 83 and 99% (SD 0.8-18.7%); 89% of the readings were within 4% of SD. This preliminary experience indicates that quality criteria can be translated into a scoring system that yields reproducible data in most instances. The analysis of the remaining angiograms will help in understanding how to improve these results. more...