Case of Macular Hole Secondary to Ocular Toxoplasmosis Treated Successfully by Vitrectomy with Inverted Internal Limiting Membrane Flap.

We report a case of ocular toxoplasmosis that developed a full-thickness macular hole (FTMH) which was successfully treated by pars plana vitrectomy combined with an inverted internal limiting membrane (ILM) flap. A 49-years-old Japanese man was aware of blurred vision in his right eye. Slit-lamp biomicroscopy, ophthalmoscopy, and optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the right eye showed that there was a grayish-white subretinal lesion at the macula accompanied by retinal exudation and mild vitreous flare and iritis. An increase in the level of serum IgM for toxoplasma led to a diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis. He developed a FTMH adjacent to the lesion 2 weeks after administering sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, and his decimal visual acuity was 0.15. Because the FTMH remained 3 months after the resolution of inflammation and his metamorphopsia persisted, vitrectomy with an inverted ILM flap was performed. After the surgery, the visual acuity improved to 0.2 with the closure of the FTMH confirmed by OCT. A FTMH in an eye with ocular toxoplasmosis was successfully closed by vitrectomy with an inverted ILM flap.

State-Transition Modeling of Human-Robot Interaction for Easy Crowdsourced Robot Control.

Robotic salespeople are often ignored by people due to their weak social presence, and thus have difficulty facilitating sales autonomously. However, for robots that are remotely controlled by humans, there is a need for experienced and trained operators. In this paper, we suggest crowdsourcing to allow general users on the internet to operate a robot remotely and facilitate customers' purchasing activities while flexibly responding to various situations through a user interface. To implement this system, we examined how our developed remote interface can improve a robot's social presence while being controlled by a human operator, including first-time users. Therefore, we investigated the typical flow of a customer-robot interaction that was effective for sales promotion, and modeled it as a state transition with automatic functions by accessing the robot's sensor information. Furthermore, we created a user interface based on the model and examined whether it was effective in a real environment. Finally, we conducted experiments to examine whether the user interface could be operated by an amateur user and enhance the robot's social presence. The results revealed that our model was able to improve the robot's social presence and facilitate customers' purchasing activity even when the operator was a first-time user.

"That Robot Stared Back at Me!": Demonstrating Perceptual Ability Is Key to Successful Human-Robot Interactions.

Communication robots, such as robotic salespeople and guide robots, are increasingly becoming involved in various aspects of people's everyday lives. However, it is still unclear what types of robot behavior are most effective for such purposes. In this research, we focused on a robotic salesperson. We believe that people often ignore what such robots have to say owing to their weak social presence. Thus, these robots must behave in ways that attract attention encouraging people to nod or reply when the robots speak. In order to identify suitable behaviors, we conducted two experiments. First, we conducted a field experiment in a shop in a traditional Kyoto shopping street to observe customers' real-world interactions with a robotic salesperson. Here, we found that the first impression given by the robot had a crucial influence on its subsequent conversations with most customer groups and that it was important for the robot to indicate it could understand how much attention customers were paying to the robot in the early stages of its interactions if it was to persuade customers to respond to what it said. Although the field experiment enabled us to observe natural interactions, it also included many external factors. In order to validate some of our findings without the involving these factors, we further conducted a laboratory experiment to investigate whether having the robot look back at the participants when they looked at it increased their perception that the robot was aware of their actions. These results supported the findings of the field experiment. Thus, we can conclude that demonstrating that a robot can recognize and respond to human behavior is important if it is to engage with people and persuade them to nod and reply to its comments.

Some adverse actions of chlorothalonil at sublethal levels in rat thymic lymphocytes: Its relation to Zn2.

Chlorothalonil, a polychlorinated aromatic fungicide, is considered non-toxic to small mammals. However, chlorothalonil inactivates sulfhydryl enzymes and depletes cellular glutathione. Chlorothalonil increases intracellular Zn2+ concentration ([Zn2+]i) in mammalian cells possibly because intracellular Zn2+ is released via zinc-thiol/disulfide interchange. The effects of chlorothalonil at sublethal concentrations on the cellular content of nonprotein thiols ([NPT]i) and [Zn2+]i were examined using flow cytometry in rat thymocytes. Low concentrations (0.3-1 µM) of chlorothalonil increased, but high concentrations (3-10 µM) decreased [NPT]i. These effects of chlorothalonil were partly attenuated by an intracellular Zn2+ chelator. Chlorothalonil at 0.3-10 µM increased [Zn2+]i in a concentration-dependent manner, which was largely dependent on the release of intracellular Zn2+. Both the decrease in [NPT]i and increase in [Zn2+]i increase the vulnerability of cells to oxidative stress. Chlorothalonil at 1-10 µM potentiated the cytotoxicity of H2O2 (300 µM). It was also the case for 10 µM pentachloronitrobenzene, but not 10 µM pentachlorophenol. In conclusion, chlorothalonil at low (sublethal) micromolar concentrations is cytotoxic to mammalian cells under oxidative stress.

Screening of promising chemotherapeutic candidates from plants against human adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (IV): phenanthroindolizidine alkaloids from Tylophora tanakae leaves.

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) is a malignancy of mature peripheral T lymphocytes caused by human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1). There are an estimated 5 million to 20 million HTLV-1-infected individuals worldwide; their lifetime risk of developing ATL is 3-5 %, and high HTLV-1 proviral loads have been shown to be an independent risk factor. Although conventional chemotherapeutic regimens used against other malignant lymphomas have been administered to ATL patients, the prognosis is often poor. In previous studies, we screened 459 extracts from 344 plants to isolate components exhibiting antiproliferative activity against HTLV-1-infected T-cell lines (MT-1 and MT-2). In our continuing search for potential anti-HTLV-1 natural products, 15 extracts of Asclepiadaceae plants were further tested against MT-1 and MT-2 cells. The MeOH extract of aerial parts of Tylophora tanakae showed antiproliferative activity. Activity-guided fractionation resulted in the isolation of 6 phenanthroindolizidine alkaloids (including a new compound), and we examined their antiproliferative activity against MT-1 and MT-2 cells. The EC50 value of some of the alkaloids was in the low nanomolar range, comparable to that of the clinically used antineoplastic drug doxorubicin. Structure-activity relationship analyses suggested that a 14ß-hydroxy moiety is essential for activity against HTLV-1-infected T cells. In contrast, the presence of a 2-methoxy moiety, a 7-methoxy moiety, or an N-oxide moiety appears to reduce the potency of the antiproliferative activity against HTLV-1-infected T cells.

Mobility of an elastic glove for extravehicular activity without prebreathing.

INTRODUCTION: The current U.S. extravehicular activity (EVA) suit is pressurized at 0.29 atm, which is much lower than the pressures of sea level and inside a space station. Higher pressure can reduce the risk of decompression sickness (DCS), but mobility would be sacrificed. We have demonstrated that a glove and sleeve made of elastic material increased mobility when compared with those made of nonelastic material, such as that found in the current suit. We hypothesized that an elastic glove of 0.65 atm that has no risk of DCS also has greater mobility compared with a non-elastic glove of 0.29 atm. METHODS: The right hands of 10 healthy volunteers were studied in a chamber with their bare hands at normal ambient pressure, after donning a non-elastic glove with a pressure differential of 0.29 atm, and after donning an elastic glove with a pressure differential of 0.29 and 0.65 atm. Range of motion (ROM) of the index finger and surface electromyography (EMG) amplitudes during finger flexion were measured. RESULTS: ROM with gloves was significantly smaller than that of bare hands, but was similar between conditions of gloves regardless of elasticity and pressure differentials. However, EMG amplitudes with the elastic glove of 0.29 and 0.65 atm were significantly smaller than those with the non-elastic glove of 0.29 atm. DISCUSSION: The results suggest that mobility of the elastic glove of 0.65 atm may be better than that of the non-elastic glove of 0.29 atm, similar to that used in the current EVA suit.