Real-time audio detection and regeneration of moving sound source based on optical flow algorithm of laser speckle images.

Sound detection with optical means is an appealing research topic. In this manuscript, we proposed a laser microphone system allowing simultaneous detection and regeneration of the audio signal by observing the movement of secondary speckle patterns. In the proposed system, optical flow method, along with some denoising algorithms are employed to obtain the motion information of the speckle sequence with high speed. Owing to this, audio signal can be regenerated in real time with simple optical setup even the sound source is moving. Experiments have been conducted and the results show that the proposed system can restore high quality audio signal in real time under various conditions.

Stevens-Johnson syndrome after influenza vaccine injection

No disponible

Drug eruption caused by rosuvastatin

No disponible

Eosinophilic cellulitis possibly due to mosquito bite with high IL-5 production

No disponible

Psoriatic erythroderma caused by Terbinafine: a possible pathogenetic role for IL-23

No disponible

Assembly and disassembly of the peripheral architecture of the plant cell nucleus during mitosis

The architecture of the nuclei of higher plants includes a structure similar to the nuclear lamina of vertebrates. Changes in this structure were monitored during mitosis in carrot (Daucus carota L.) and celery (Apium graveolens L.) cells by immunofluorescence microscopy using an antibody that recognized the nuclear-matrix protein NMCP1. This protein has been shown to be localized exclusively at the periphery of the nucleus (K. Masuda et al. 1997, Exp Cell Res 232: 173-187). Immunofluorescence was recognized throughout cells in mitotic metaphase, although it was distributed predominantly in the mitotic spindle zone. At late anaphase or telophase, the immunofluorescence was localized around each set of daughter chromosomes. Immunofluorescence in newly formed daughter nuclei was restricted to the periphery of nuclei. This behavior was very similar to that of the nuclear lamina of vertebrates, suggesting that the structure located between the nuclear envelope and the chromosomes in plants disassembles and assembles in parallel with the disintegration and re-formation of the nuclear envelope.

Local continuity of myocardial blood flow studied by monochromatic synchrotron radiation-excited x-ray fluorescence spectrometry.

We have developed a monochromatic synchrotron radiation-excited system for two-dimensional mapping of x-ray fluorescence evoked from heavy element-loaded microspheres, which can evaluate myocardial blood flow in small contiguous regions with a small methodological error: 10.8 +/- 2.4% of the average of difference of the dual flow for 7- to 10-mg myocardial tissue (4 dogs). The fractal D value obtained from the slope of the log relative dispersion-log mass plot was 1.21 +/- 0.08 for a voxel size of 7 to 1260 mg (5 dogs) and that for a voxel size of 2.5 to 40 mg (1.12 +/- 0.06) was smaller than that for a voxel size of 40 to 1280 mg (1.25 +/- 0.14, P < .05, ANOVA, 4 dogs). The distance-correlation coefficient relation for paired myocardial regions was attenuated (correlation analysis), and the correlation coefficients between the original grouping and the two aggregates of the adjacent regions were dissociated (extended correlation analysis) under reduction of coronary perfusion pressure (6 dogs). Suppression of myocardial contraction with lidocaine (3 dogs) and vasodilation with adenosine partly improved the distance-correlation coefficient relation under reduced coronary perfusion pressure. Thus, an x-ray fluorescence system designed for precise flow measurement shows that the fractal nature of local flow distribution can be extended into regions smaller than previously reported, that in these regions the flow becomes more homogeneous, and that the self similarity and continuity of local flow are attenuated by the reduction of coronary perfusion pressure and improved by contractile suppression and coronary vasodilation.

Electrical analogy of diastolic pressure difference between left atrium and ventricle.

We proposed a mathematical model to describe the early filling process of the left ventricle and applied the model to in vivo experiments. The solution of a second-order differential equation indicated that the pressure difference between the left atrium and ventricle during ventricular filling (PD) could be explained by a transient response, i.e. decremental oscillation, in an LCR circuit. Thereafter, we analysed the sequence of PD during vagal stimulation with two catheter-tip manometers in 12 anaesthetised dogs and evaluated changes in the parameters of the system under various haemodynamic conditions. The values of omega n and zeta were quite stable among beats within an episode of vagal stimulation, between episodes and even among dogs, despite the changes in haemodynamic variables. Pericardiotomy and partial discommunication of the mitral valve with the left ventricular free wall by cutting the mitral chordal tendons decreased omega n and increased zeta, mainly because of the increase in CLV. Occlusion of the coronary vascular beds with large numbers of microspheres increased omega n and decreased zeta, mainly because of the decrease in CLV. Mitral obstruction with an inflated balloon (increase in R) abolished the oscillatory changes and produced an exponential decay sequence of PD. In conclusion, both the logical and experimental approaches indicated that the sequence of PD could be considered as decremental oscillation in the LCR circuit and the parameters omega n and zeta could be good indices of the diastolic property of the left ventricle.

New nonradioactive microspheres and more sensitive X-ray fluorescence to measure regional blood flow.

We developed new nonradioactive microspheres and used more sensitive X-ray fluorescence spectrometers than used previously to measure regional blood flow in the heart and other organs. We demonstrated the chemical stability of eight kinds of heavy element-loaded microspheres and validated their use for regional blood flow measurement by comparing duplicate flows measured with radioactive and/or nonradioactive microspheres in both acute and chronic dog experiments. The wavelength-dispersive spectrometer (Philips PW 1480) has a higher sensitivity than the previously described X-ray fluorescent system and reduced the number of microspheres required for accurate measurement. The fine energy resolution of this system makes it possible to increase the numbers of different kinds of microspheres to be quantitated, but at present only eight kinds are available. We also used a synchrotron radiation-excited energy dispersive spectrometer. The monochromatic synchrotron radiation allowed us to obtain much higher signal-to-background ratios of X-ray fluorescence spectra than with the wavelength-dispersive system (50 dB more for Zr-loaded microspheres) and will enable analysis of fluorescent activity in smaller regions (< 20 mg) than the radioactive method does.

[A primary malignant lymphoma of the appendix].

A malignant lymphoma (ML) of the gastrointestinal tract occurs most frequently in the stomach, and ML of the appendix is very rare, with only 16 cases reported in the Japanese literature. Reported is a case of a primary ML the appendix in a 48 year old male, in whom an ileocecal resection was carried out. This case was pathohistologically diagnosed as a diffuse large lymphoma of the B cell type, according to the LSG classification. Therapeutic problems were encountered because of the difficulty in making an early diagnosis.

[Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) in gastric and colorectal cancer].

Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) was studied in 20 gastric and colorectal cancer patients by the microtest plate assay with sheep erythrocytes as the target cells. In cancer patients (with both good and poor prognosis), the peripheral K-cell level showed a significant decrease as compared with that of normal subjects. No meaningful difference of the K-cell level was observed between the good and poor prognosis groups. For the purpose of the follow-up of cancer patients, the determination of the K-cell level was useful only when time-lapse examination were performed in the same case.

[Postoperative cell-mediated immunity in gastric cancer patients--with special reference to the effects of immunotherapy].

The cell-mediated immunity of gastric cancer subjects was investigated during the postoperative follow-up period from three to 12 months after surgery. The lymphocyte blastogenesis, the T cell count, the lymphocyte count and the lymphocyte percentage were significantly decreased in groups of experimental laparotomy and noncurative gastrectomy, compared with that of nonrecurrent cases after curative gastrectomy. The effects of the administration of immunopotentiators, the streptococcal preparation OK-432, and the protein-bound polysaccharide PSK, were studied in groups of curative gastrectomy. The lymphocyte blastogenesis, the T cell count and the lymphocyte count were slightly elevated in the OK-432 group.