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Template matching using the silhouette shapes of pedestrians as features is widely used as a method for detecting pedestrians in images taken from an in-vehicle camera. Because of the need to detect a variety of pedestrian shapes, the template matching involves scanning the entire image for a very large number of templates. A large number of computations are needed to utilize multiple templates, and so it is difficult to implement the processing at the video frame rate. Furthermore, because images of outdoor street scenes that are captured by an in-vehicle camera consist of problematic backgrounds, false detections occur easily in the background area. A method is therefore proposed to perform highly efficient, high-speed matching by removing the background region, as this region has a negative impact on the detection capabilities in template matching. The background removal is achieved by using difference calculations that use information about the motion of the observation measured by sensors. Furthermore, an active search is carried out on the images after removing the background to give an efficient search, and a broad reduction in the number of computations is achieved. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 2, 90(10): 115–126, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecjb.20393

(R)-1,2,3,4-Tetrahydro[1]benzothieno[2,3-c]pyridine derivatives (60-114) were synthesized. The (R)-isomers have affinity for the 5-HT 1A receptor while the (S)-isomers have no such ability. The affinity of the (R)-isomers was discussed on the basis of structure-activity relationships between the affinity and hydrophobicity of the (R)-isomers. Compounds 71 and 107, which are representative derivative compounds, have anticonflict activity and lessening of memory impairment. In particular, compound 107 cannot bind to receptors other than the 5-HT 1A receptor, demonstrating that it is a unique compound with a different mechanism of action from that of conventional anxiolytics

(+/-)-(Z)-2-(Aminomethyl)-1-phenylcyclopropane-N,N-diethylcarbo xamide (milnacipran, 1), a clinically useful antidepressant, and its derivatives were prepared by an improved method and were evaluated as NMDA receptor antagonists. Of these, milnacipran (1), its N-methyl and N,N-dimethyl derivatives, 7 and 8, respectively, and its homologue 12 at the aminomethyl moiety had binding affinity for the receptor in vitro (IC50: 1, 6.3 +/- 0.3 microM; 7, 13 +/- 2.1 microM; 8, 88 +/- 1.4 microM; 12, 10 +/- 1.2 microM). These also protected mice from NMDA-induced lethality. These compounds would be important as anovel prototype for designing potent NMDA-receptor antagonists because of their characteristic structure, which clearly differentiated them from known competitive and noncompetitive antagonists to the receptor.

1. Effect of pantoyl-gamma-aminobutyric acid (pantoyl-GABA) on high affinity transport of choline into synaptosomes and on the choline (Ch) and acetylcholine (ACh) concentrations of rat brain were studied. 2. Pantoyl-GABA was injected intraperitoneally four times at a dose of 500 mg kg-1 at intervals of 30 min. One hour after the last injection, rats were killed by decapitation for measurement of high affinity transport of Ch into synaptosomes or by microwave irradiation for the measurement of Ch and ACh concentrations. 3. Transport of Ch was increased into synaptosomes prepared from the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, but not into those from the striatum. 4. In the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, Ch concentration was increased and ACh concentration decreased. 5. Since treatments that enhance the activity of cholinergic neurones in vivo are reported to increase high affinity transport of Ch measured in vitro, the present results suggest that pantoyl-GABA may increase cholinergic activity in vivo. This action of the drug may be related to changes in the Ch and ACh concentrations.