Fast Color Removal Method Considering Differences between Colors

When a color image is converted into a monochrome one, luminance components of the pixels have been used as gray-levels for the representation of the monochrome image in HDTV standard. However, saliencies of the image embedded only in the chrominance components are disappeared in the monochrome image converted by using luminance components. To cope with this problem, A.A. Gooch et al. have proposed the salience-preserving color removal method called “Color2Gray.” The monochrome image well reected the impression of an input color image can be yielded by Color2Gray. However, the calculation cost of that algorithm is tremendous, and its utility is not so much. In this paper, fast Color2Gray algorithms are proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated through the experiments

Multiscale Retinex with Data-dependent Offset

As one of methods to improve the image quality, there is a method called multiscale retinex (MSR) which has been proposed by D.J. Jobson et al. In MSR, the reection components of an image are extracted and emphasized, and then the image with improved quality is obtained. This method is very useful and powerful especially for the visibility improvement of dark regions of the image. However, the resulting image tends to give us the unnatural impression because luminance components are removed, and the global contrast of the image is decreased in the processing. In this paper, a new MSR with a variable offset, which changes dependently on the local luminance information of the image, is proposed in order to overcome the disadvantage of the conventional MSR, and to further improve the image quality. Through the experiments, the effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated

癌の遺伝子治療

癌抑制遺伝子p53の突然変異や欠損による機能的異常は､多くのヒト癌で普遍的かつ高頻度に認められている｡p53タンパク質の機能の一つとしては､細胞増殖に関するいろいろな遺伝子の発現制御を介した細胞周期の調節が考えられているが､その他に最近アポトーシスの誘導分子としても注目を浴びてきている｡正常型p53遺伝子を有する胃癌､大腸癌では､術前化学療法や放射線療法で癌細胞のアポトーシスが誘導されたが､変異型p53を発現する腫瘍 ではアポトーシスに陥った細胞はほとんど認められなかった｡ヌードマウスの皮下に移植したp53遺伝子に異常を持つヒト肺癌腫瘍にリコンビナント･アデノウイルスベクターを用いて正常型p53遺伝子を導入すると､抗癌剤に対する感受性が劇的に増強し､シスプラチンの腹腔内投与により腫瘍内にアポトーシスによる広範囲な組織破壊が認められた｡この正常型p53発現アデノウイルスベクターとDNA障害性抗癌剤を併用した遺伝子治療は､臨床的にヒト悪性腫癌に応用可能と考えられる

Search for Near-Infrared Pulsation of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 4U 0142+61

We have searched for pulsation of the anomalous X-ray pulsar (AXP) 4U 0142+61 in the K' band ($\lambda_{\rm eff} = 2.11$ $\mu$m) using the fast-readout mode of IRCS at the Subaru 8.2-m telescope. We found no significant signal at the pulse frequency expected by the precise ephemeris obtained by the X-ray monitoring observation with RXTE. Nonetheless, we obtained a best upper limit of 17% (90% C.L.) for the root-mean-square pulse fraction in the K' band. Combined with i' band pulsation (Dhillon et al. 2005), the slope of the pulsed component ($F_\nu \propto \nu^\alpha$) was constrained to $\alpha > -0.87$ (90% C.L.) for an interstellar extinction of $A_{V} = 3.5$.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in PAS

Detection of Fecal DNA Methylation for Colorectal Neoplasia : Does It Lead to an Optimal Screening Test?

Aberrant promoter methylation, an 'epigenetic' form of genomic instability that leads to transcriptional silencing of tumor suppressor genes, is increasingly being recognized as a crucial component in the evolution of human cancers. With our limited knowledge of the molecular basis and timing of the initiation of altered methylation events in the stepwise progression of cancers, the biggest challenge we currently face is to identify novel biomarkers and technologies for the timely screening of patients carrying such alterations. One such strategy would be to develop tests for the detection of fecal DNA methylation patterns that will improve the sensitivity of noninvasive screening tests for colorectal neoplasia, and moreover, will decrease both mortality and the incremental costs of treating colorectal cancers

Genomic DNA structure of a gene encoding cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase from Arabidopsis thaliana

AbstractA genomic DNA clone encoding cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase was isolated from a genomic library of Arabidopsis thaliana, using a cDNA for the enzyme as a probe. Nucleotide sequence and primer extension analyses of this gene (APX1) revealed nine exons split by eight introns, one of which is inserted in the 5'-untranslated region. The exon/intron organization of the APX1 gene differs from that of the guaiacol peroxidase genes

Pentraxin 3 as a biomarker for acute coronary syndrome: Comparison with biomarkers for cardiac damage

SummaryBackgroundPentraxin 3 (PTX3) is increased in circulating blood during the acute stage of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Therefore, we compared diagnostic values of PTX3 for ACS with those of biomarkers for myocardial damage, such as troponin T (TnT) and heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP).Methods and resultsPatients (n=87) undergoing coronary angiography (CAG), consisting of 16 ACS and 71 non-ACS patients were enrolled. Non-ACS consists of 12 patients with normal CAG, 30 stable angina pectoris (SAP) patients controlled by medical treatment, and 29 SAP patients who required elective coronary revascularization (percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass graft). Age, gender, or prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, or smoking was not significantly different between ACS and non-ACS groups. Serum total, high-density lipoprotein, or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or triglyceride levels were not significantly different between ACS and non-ACS. PTX3 levels were not significantly correlated with lipid profiles or different between those with and without conventional risk factors. Circulating PTX3, TnT, and H-FABP levels were significantly higher in ACS than non-ACS. In receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves, area under the curve (AUC) values for PTX3, TnT and H-FABP were 0.920, 0.674, and 0.690, respectively. ROC curves of PTX3 (AUC: 0.901), TnT (AUC: 0.731), and H-FABP (AUC: 0.633) for ST-elevation ACS were similar to those for whole ACS. In a TnT-negative subgroup, the AUC values of PTX3 and H-FABP for ACS were 0.981 and 0.489, respectively.ConclusionsPTX3 is a sensitive and specific biomarker for the diagnosis of ACS, and shows additional diagnostic values when measured in combination with TnT