Search

Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection is widespread and can result in severe sequelae in susceptible populations. Primary HCMV infection of naïve individuals results in life-long latency characterized by frequent and sporadic reactivations. HCMV infection elicits a robust antibody response, including neutralizing antibodies that can block the infection of susceptible cells in vitro and in vivo. Thus, antibody products and vaccines hold great promise for the prevention and treatment of HCMV, but to date, most attempts to demonstrate their safety and efficacy in clinical trials have been unsuccessful. In this review we summarize publicly available data on these products and highlight new developments and approaches that could assist in successful translation of HCMV immunotherapies.

Congenital infection as well as infection of immunocompromised individuals by cytomegalovirus (CMV) can be associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and long-term adverse health outcomes. Assessment of anti-viral activity using appropriate assays is essential for ensuring safe and efficacious use of therapeutic CMV immune globulin (IG) products. In this study, we used commercial ELISA kits to compare anti-CMV antibody binding activity and avidity for lots of CMV-specific and normal IG products available in the US market. Additionally, neutralizing activity of IG products was measured against CMV strains (AD169wt131 or TB40E-GFP) in MRC-5 human fibroblasts and ARPE-19 human epithelial cells. Our data revealed that, regardless of the method, anti-CMV activity was higher in CMV IG lots we tested compared with normal IG lots; CMV binding activity was at least 4-fold higher, and neutralizing activity at least 2- and 3-fold higher for epithelial and fibroblast cells, respectively, in CMV IG lots compared with normal IG lots. Furthermore, anti-CMV activity values from all three methods (ELISA, neutralization in MRC-5 cells, and neutralization in ARPE-19 cells) were highly correlated, whereas avidity, although higher in CMV IG lots, did not correlate well with either binding or neutralizing activities.

In this article, we present a new image-stabilization technology for still images based on blind deconvolution and introduce it to a consumer digital still camera. This technology consists of three features: (1) double-exposure-based PSF detection, (2) efficient image deblurring filter, and (3) edge-based ringing reduction. Without deteriorating the deblurring performance, the new technology allows us to reduce processing time and ringing artifacts, both of which are common problems in image deconvolution.

A correlative directional interpolation that realizes improvements of luminance signal resolution and pseudo-color reduction is proposed for progressive scan CCD (PS-CCD) with Bayer color filter array, which consists of checkered G filters and line-alternated R and B filters. First, a correlative direction on a target pixel is detected by calculating horizontal and vertical correlations between a target pixel and its adjacent pixels. Next, according to the correlative directions, two primary color signals that are not the target pixel' s color signal are interpolated as follows. The one on the correlative directional line is interpolated using fact that the color-difference signal for the target pixel is almost the same as averaged color-difference signal on the target line in the correlative direction. The other one not on the correlative directional line is interpolated using fact that the color-difference signal gradually changes toward any direction, even a direction with no correlation. Performance of this methodology is verified by software simulation. Result of software simulation indicates that this method has better transient characteristics and less pseudo-color than conventional method. These superior efficiencies have been performing this method a mainstream of signal processing for color video camera with a Bayer-filtered PS-CCD.

We propose a "Depth Creation by stereo Perception (DCP) " method that creates more natural and impressive 3D images than ever from input 2D images by their stereo perceptual information, which includes horizontal motion, color, contrast, sharpness, and composition. We also propose a "Linear Depth Control (LDC) " method that controls the binocular parallax of the created 3D images by their image depth position in order to improve the 3D effect of the converted images. And the real-time 2D-to-3D image conversion unit implemented these new methods realizes more natural 3D images corresponding to various 3D displays from 2D images of any types and scenes.

Sound recorded in compact digital cameras includes a zoom drive noise caused by motor driving, gear driving, and so on. The spectral subtraction (SS) method is suitable for removing these noises because it does not require any extra hardware, but the original signal is quite distorted. Therefore we have developed an advanced SS (A-SS) method suppressing the distortion of the original signal. It first subtracts the assumed noise spectrum from an input signal, and then processes the spectrum so as to keep the power constant. In addition, digital cameras have a unique problem that the ratio of noise against a recorded signal varies frequently, which is caused by the lens variability and recording environment difference. To counter this issue, we have developed the two algorithms: the statistically optimized algorithm to pre-compute the noise spectrum beforehand, and the feedback algorithm to automatically control the quantity of subtraction according to the noise ratio. We implement the A-SS method applying the proposed algorithms into a prototype camera and verified the effectiveness on the noise reduction.

We propose highly accurate and high speed dog and cat face detection method for digital cameras that automatically find the pets (dog and cat) in the image. Our method achieves accurate detection performance by constructing an effective detection dictionary based on statistical learning using directional features and acceptable speed performance.

We present in this paper a new image stabilization technology to address motion blurs from camera shake with a regular- and short-exposure image pair taken consecutively. The proposed motion estimation process in this technology adopts a Wiener filter to estimate motion blur using few selected feature corresponding points in the image pair. To obtain a more reliable and precise result, a multi-resolution and morphological image processing technique is then used to further refine the initial estimation. This technology has been applied successfully as an image stabilization function on a consumer digital still camera. The resulting performance is 0.7–1.4 EV exposure time step gain with an average processing time of 3.1 seconds for a 6M pixel image.

We have developed an underwater noise reduction technology. This unique technology enables to detect and reduce characteristic underwater noise. It is embedded into an audio encoding module, resulting in low processing cost implementation. It is applicable to various audio equipment used in water such as video camera and sound recorder.

We have developed a new image stabilization technology for still images based on blind deconvolution and introduced it into consumer digital still cameras. This technology allows us to reduce processing time and ringing artifacts, the common problems in image deconvolution, without deteriorating deblurring performance.

We developed a novel wind noise reduction technology for a digital video camera. This technology, based on our newly developed "clear sound algorithm", reduces wind noise without deteriorating the sound quality. It mainly consists of a wind noise detector, a harmonic structure restoration module, and a MPEG4-AAC module.

We report a patient in whom a foreign body in the pterygopalatine fossa was removed after 30 years. The patient was a 32-year-old woman. When she was 2 years old, the edge of a scissors entered the left cheek and remained accidentally in the pterygopalatine fossa. There were no complications up to the present.We removed the cutting edge of the scissors via an intraoral approach with the patient under general anesthesia. There was no remarkable bleeding or liquorrhea. During the operation, we used X-ray-fluoroscopy to confirm the exact position of the foreign body, and this technique was useful.

Psoriatic arthritis is seronegative arthritis associated with skin psoriasis. However, involvement of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is very rare. Here, we describe and discuss a case of reankylosis of TMJ secondary to psoriatic arthritis that was indicated for an artificial joint prosthesis.A 48-year-old man had TMJ ankylosis secondary to psoriatic arthritis and underwent bilateral TMJ condylectomy in June 1993. After surgery, he could open his mouth 23 mm. He consistently performed jaw exercises, but reankylosis of TMJ developed gradually and the patient could not open his mouth more than 1 mm again. A computed tomographic scan showed complete bony reankylosis of the bilateral TMJs. In October 1996, bilateral condylectomy of TMJ with replacement by an artificial titanium joint prosthesis was performed.Postoperatively, the patient was able to open his mouth 25mm, and he continued performing jaw exercises.

An ultra small projector with LED light sources is developed to create a new category of projection display. This projector is battery-operated and has the SD port. Therefore this projector requires no power cable and signal cable. To realize the high efficient illumination system, we have developed a novel collimator with four aspheric surfaces. Using this technology, the total lumen of the projected image is improved.

An extremely enlarged epulis is reported. The patient was a 37-year old female. She complained of a slowly growing painless tumor on the left side of the upper jaw. This tumor was excised under general anesthesia and measured 80×85×45mm. The histopathologic features indicated epulis fibrosa.

The use of HIV protease inhibitors (PIs) may be associated with serious adverse side effects that include fat tissue redistribution, hyperlipidemia, and insulin resistance. The etiology of this toxic metabolic syndrome (commonly referred to as 'HIV lipodystrophy syndrome') remains to be elucidated. The interpretation of available clinical data on this subject is complicated in part by the pervasiveness of potential confounding factors that cannot be easily eliminated or adequately controlled. Numerous investigators have examined the effects of PIs on cellular processes in model systems amenable to extensive experimental manipulations; the present review primarily focuses on these efforts. The ultimate goal is the unambiguous identification of discrete cellular targets being surreptitiously impacted by PIs. SREBP and Glut4 are discussed as candidate target molecules in this context. The identification of cellular factors interacting with PIs represents a necessary first step in devising rational strategies for improvement in drug therapy.

We have newly developed a high-resolution surveillance camera that has 520 TV lines horizontal resolution using a single-chip 410 k pixels color CCD. This camera realizes about 10% improvement of horizontal resolution compared with conventional camera having 470 TV lines horizontal resolution. This paper describes three technologies to improve horizontal resolution. These technologies can be also applied to a video camera recorder for consumer use.

The use of HIV protease inhibitors (PIs) has been associated with several metabolic changes, including lipodystrophy, hyperlipidemia, and insulin resistance. The etiology of these adverse effects remains unknown. PIs have recently been found to cause acute and reversible inhibition of GLUT4 activity in vitro. To determine the acute in vivo effects of indinavir on whole-body glucose homeostasis, glucose tolerance tests were performed on PI-naïve Wistar rats immediately after a single intravenous dose of indinavir. Glucose and insulin levels were significantly elevated in indinavir-treated versus control rats (P < 0.05) during the initial 30 min of the glucose tolerance test. Under euglycemic- hyperinsulinemic clamp conditions, indinavir treatment acutely reduced the glucose infusion rate required to maintain euglycemia by 18 and 49% at indinavir concentrations of 14 and 27 μmol/l, respectively. Muscle 2-deoxyglucose uptake was similarly reduced under these conditions. Restoration of insulin sensitivity was observed within 4 h after stopping the indinavir infusion. Indinavir did not alter the suppression of hepatic glucose output under hyperinsulinemic conditions. These data demonstrate that indinavir causes acute and reversible changes in whole-body glucose homeostasis in rats and support the contribution of GLUT4 inhibition to the development of insulin resistance in patients treated with PIs.

A case of an elongated uvula is reported. The patient was a 78-year-old female. She complained of on abnormal sensation of the pharyngolaryngeal region elicited by touching the uvula with the tongue. No other abnormality was observed in the pharyngolaryngeal region. This uvula was like a string and measured 40 mm. Her complaint disappeared after resection of the uvula.

The image conversion technologies from 2D images into 3D images with the `Modified Time Difference' method are proposed. These technologies allow to convert automatic and real-time ordinary 2D images into binocular parallax 3D images according to the detected movements of objects in the images. We integrated circuits such as a movement detector, a delay time controller and a delay direction controller into a single LSI chip to make a 2D/3D conversion board compact. We put this conversion board into a television set to introduce a new type of 3D consumer television with which we all can enjoy converted 3D images originally provided by TVs, VCRs and the like. Vertical frequency of this 3D television is 120 Hz and twice as fast as the ordinary television for providing flickerless 3D image.

The “Computed Image Depth method” (CID) is proposed for converting from all kinds of twodimensional (2D) images into three dimensional (3D) images. The 3D images are generated by computing the depth of each separated area of the 2D images with their contrast, sharpness and chrominance. The CID is implemented into a single-chip LSI with the “Modified Time Difference method” ‘*l. In this implementation, both methods are used adaptively according to the object’s motions in the images. The 2D-to-3D image conversion system with this newly developed LSI realizes to generate 3D images automatically in real-time.

The analgesic effect of 156-S on postoperative pain after removal of impacted lower wisdom teeth was clinically elvaluated. After the appropriate dose of 156-S was preliminarily studied among 50 mg, 100 mg, 200 mg, 300 mg, and 400 mg groups, 300 mg of 156-S was compared with 500 mg of mefenamic acid by the double blind test.The result were as follows:1) Of the total 520 cases, 408 cases (78. 5%) needed analgesics after the extraction.2) The analgesic effect of 156-S increased dosedependently among 50 mg, 100 mg, and 200 mg groups in the first preliminary test.3) 200 mg, 300 mg, and 400 mg of 156-S were clinically effective and useful to control the postoperative pain in the second preliminary test.4) Although both 300 mg of 156-S and 500 mg of mefenamic acid showed the almost same analgesic effect clinically, postoperative pain was statistically better controlled by 156-S than by mefenamic acid at 30 and 60 minutes after administration of the analgesics.However, the analgesic effect of mefenamic acid is statistically superior to that of 156-S at 4 hours after the administration. These results suggest that 156-S has quick analgesic action and mefenamic acid has a long one.5) Side effects of 156-S slight gastrointestinal disorder, were found in only 6 of 322 cases (1.8%).6) Therefore, 156-S is good for controlling the postoperative pain after extraction of impacted lower wisdom teeth.