Need for Flexible Adjustment of the Treatment Schedule for Aprepitant Administration against Erlotinib-Induced Refractory Pruritus and Skin Rush

Common dermatological side-effects associated with erlotinib, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), include pruritus and skin rash, which are mediated by substance P, leading to the occasional discontinuation of cancer treatment. Aprepitant is an antagonist of neurokinin-1 receptor, through which substance P activates the pruritogens. Thus, aprepitant is expected to offer a promising option for the treatment of erlotinib-induced pruritus. However, the appropriate treatment schedule for aprepitant administration is under consideration. Here, we discuss the need for flexible adjustment of the treatment schedule for aprepitant administration against erlotinib-induced refractory pruritus and skin rush. A 71-year-old female smoker presented with stage IV EGFR-mutated lung adenocarcinoma. She was started on erlotinib at 150 mg/day. However, by 28 days, severe pruritus and acneiform skin rush resistant to standard therapies occurred, resulting in the interruption of erlotinib therapy. After recovery, she was restarted on erlotinib at 100 mg/day. However, severe pruritus and skin rush developed again within 2 weeks. Then, we started the first 3-day dose of aprepitant (125 mg on day 1, 80 mg on day 3, and 80 mg on day 5) based on the results of the previous prospective study, which showed the success rate of 100% with at least the second dose of aprepitant. However, the pruritus and skin rush exacerbated again within 4 weeks. Therefore, we started the second 3-day dose of aprepitant, but in vain. At this point, as the patient-centered medicine, bi-weekly schedule of the 3-day dose of aprepitant was considered and, then, adopted. As the results, the pruritus and skin rush remained well-controlled throughout the subsequent treatment with erlotinib

無相関ストレッチと CycleGANs を用いた、文化財・考古資料のデジタル画像修復法の開発

文化財は紫外線・赤外線等の照射エネルギー、温湿度の変化に由来した有機質素材の変質、作品表面への埃等異質物の沈着等さまざまな原因で褪色（経年劣化）する。それは、作品表層のオリジナルの着色・染色部分と肉眼との間に夾雑物が介在し可視領域が物理的に遮断されるためである。本発表では、まず褪色した文化財の画像を対象に統計的画像処理（無相関ストレッチ）を適用し、色空間を変更して図文を鮮明化する。次に、その画像と褪色が進んでいない類似作品の画像を相互に真偽判定させる機械学習（CycleGANs）を適用し、褪色前の文化財の復元画像を生成する技術を提案する。 平安時代以降に造営された経塚遺跡では、経典を収納した経筒を地中に埋めている。その経筒内には雨水が侵入し、経典の文字が不鮮明になったものが多い。その一つが紺紙金字経である。本研究では、無相関ストレッチで字形や図文を鮮明化させた後、CycleGANs で解析し、画像復元を行った。 CycleGANsは、画像群から特徴を学習し正解データを与えることなく特徴を学習する 「教師なし学習」の一手法である。その学習過程は、まず多数の無相関ストレッチ解析画像と多数の褪色前の同種の文化財画像を学習させ、無相関ストレッチの色空間と褪色前画像の色空間をモデル内に形成する。学習後には修復したい作品の無相関ストレッチ画像を入力し、褪色前状態の画像を推論させる。その精度は"逆変換"しても変換前の画像に限りなく近くなることで高められる。 こうして、各種の褪色した紺紙金字経に対し、無相関ストレッチでと CycleGANs の画像復元を行った結果、肉眼では判別が困難な料紙に書かれた経文や仏画などを鮮明化することができ、以下のような成果が得られた。 ・金泥で文字や図文が著された文化財は、ybk や ldsの色空間が最適である。 ・無相関ストレッチによる色空間の変換と対象画像との間には相性があり、無相関ストレッチによってかえって画像劣化が進む可能性がある。 ・CycleGANs は文字や図像の余白に影響される可能性がある。 褪色した文化財に負荷やコストをかけずに画像復元できるこの画像復元方法は、紺紙金字経以外の文化財にも適用できる可能性があり、今後の文化財の調査研究や活用へ大きく寄与する技術基盤となり得るresearch repor

CRYSTALLINE FLOW STARTING FROM A GENERAL POLYGON

This paper solves a singular initial value problem for a system of ordinary di erential equations describing a polygonal flow called a crystalline flow. Such a problem corresponds to a crystalline flow starting from a general polygon not necessarily admissible in the sense that the corresponding initial value problem is singular. To solve the problem, a self-similar expanding solution constructed by the first two authors with H. Hontani (2006) is effectively used

Services in Free Trade Agreements

This paper reviews the treatment of services in a sample of free trade agreements. Some of the questions motivating this review are: 1. The extent to which the agreements have a common structure and content, which will facilitate their amalgamation and the extension of their conditions to current non-members; 2. The extent to which the agreements go beyond the commitments made by their members in the GATS; 3. The likelihood that preferential agreements of the type studied here will have a significant effect on regional services trade

Birthday Hojin (Square) and Circle Hojin

Abstract A Hojin is an n by n square lattice with each cell containing a symbol (such as a number or a lette

Using Submarine Heat Pumps for Efficient Gas Production from Seabed Hydrate Reservoirs

This article reports our novel idea about the thermal stimulation of seabed hydrate reservoirs for the purpose of natural gas production. Our idea is to use submarine heat pumps, which are to be placed near the hydrate reservoir and work to recover thermal energy from the surrounding seawater and supply it into the reservoir. Although the heat pumps need an electricity supply from the sea surface level, they can provide thermal energy which is several times that of the consumed electricity in quantity. As a consequence, the use of submarine heat pumps has a distinct thermodynamic advantage over other thermal stimulation techniques already proposed in the literature