Gender identification of the horsehair crab, Erimacrus isenbeckii (Brandt, 1848), by image recognition with a deep neural network.

Appearance-based gender identification of the horsehair crab [Erimacrus isenbeckii (Brandt, 1848)] is important for preventing indiscriminate fishing of female crabs. Although their gender is easily identified by visual observation of their abdomen because of a difference in the forms of their sex organs, most of the crabs settle with their shell side upward when placed on a floor, making visual gender identification difficult. Our objective is to use deep learning to identify the gender of the horsehair crab on the basis of images of their shell and abdomen sides.

Micro- and Nanoscale Imaging of Fluids in Water Using Refractive-Index-Matched Materials.

Three-dimensional (3D) visualization in water is a technique that, in addition to macroscale visualization, enables micro- and nanoscale visualization via a microfabrication technique, which is particularly important in the study of biological systems. This review paper introduces micro- and nanoscale 3D fluid visualization methods. First, we introduce a specific holographic fluid measurement method that can visualize three-dimensional fluid phenomena; we introduce the basic principles and survey both the initial and latest related research.

Iterative blind deconvolution method for dwell-time adjustment.

Negative values occur in the calculation results when a fast Fourier transform is used in the algorithm to calculate the dwell time via the dwell-time adjustment algorithm for optical element grinding. In the present study, a processing method for negative values is used in the Fourier iterative Ayers-Dainty (AD) algorithm. The method in which the range of the unit removal shape was adopted in the AD algorithm resulted in a smaller error and enabled the error to be minimized using the quantized dwell-time distribution output.

Detection of microbubble position by a digital hologram.

This paper reports on a new technique of measurements of microbubble position in three dimensions with high time-resolution. The technique is based on micro digital holographic particle tracking velocimetry. In this technique, an intensity profile is constructed from a holographic image of a microbubble where the profile results in showing two peaks.

Special purpose computer system for flow visualization using holography technology.

We have designed a special purpose computer system for visualizing fluid flow using digital holographic particle tracking velocimetry (DHPTV). This computer contains an Field Programmble Gate Array (FPGA) chip in which a pipeline for calculating the intensity of an object from a hologram by fast Fourier transform is installed. This system can produce 100 reconstructed images from a 1024 x 1024-grid hologram in 3.

Significant effect of hepatitis C virus specific CTLs on viral clearance in patients with type C chronic hepatitis treated with antiviral agents.

Aim: To evaluate the correlation between hepatitis C virus (HCV) specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and viral clearance in antiviral treated patients, we examined the number and function of HCV epitope-specific CTLs and the viral load in 12 HLA-A2-positive patients with chronic hepatitis C, after undergoing interferon therapy.

Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were analyzed on days 0, 3, 7, 14 and 28 of undergoing antiviral therapies. To investigate the quantity of the antigen specific CTLs, CD8-positive T cells were isolated using microbeads and were stained for HLA-A*0201 tetramers.

Inhibition of nuclear factor-kappa B induces inflammatory cell migration and exacerbates severe liver injury in hepatitis B virus transgenic mice.

Aim: Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) has a central role in co-ordinating the expression of a wide variety of genes that control the immune response and it is also recognized as an antiapoptotic transcription factor. In this study, we focused on the role of the NF-kappaB signaling pathway in liver injury induced in hepatitis B virus (HBV) transgenic mice.

Methods: A fulminant hepatitis model was created in mice by the adoptive transfer of antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) into HBV transgenic mice.

Parallel computing of a digital hologram and particle searching for microdigital-holographic particle-tracking velocimetry.

We have developed a parallel algorithm for microdigital-holographic particle-tracking velocimetry. The algorithm is used in (1) numerical reconstruction of a particle image computer using a digital hologram, and (2) searching for particles. The numerical reconstruction from the digital hologram makes use of the Fresnel diffraction equation and the FFT (fast Fourier transform), whereas the particle search algorithm looks for local maximum graduation in a reconstruction field represented by a 3D matrix.

Prevention of hepatic fibrosis in nonobese diabetic mice: a critical role for interferon-gamma.

Background/aims: Nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice, a model of type I diabetes mellitus, harbor certain unique defects in their immune system. The aim of this study was to investigate how NOD mice show hepatic injury and subsequent fibrogenic responses.

Methods: Hepatic fibrosis was induced by intraperitoneal injections of dimethylnitrosamine (DMN), and assessed biochemically and histologically.

Volvulus of the gall bladder diagnosed by ultrasonography, computed tomography, coronal magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance cholangio-pancreatography.

A 54-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with the complaint of right upper quadrant pain. Upon physical examination the vital signs of the patient were within normal ranges. Ultrasonography and computed tomography (CT) examination of the abdomen was obtained, which demonstrated a large dilatated cystic structure, measuring approximately 68.

Role of macrophage migration inhibitory factor in hepatitis B virus-specific cytotoxic-T-lymphocyte-induced liver injury.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) plays a pivotal role in the development of various inflammatory diseases. Here, we found that anti-mouse MIF antibody treatment reduced liver injury and inflammatory cell infiltration into the liver after injection of antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes into hepatitis B virus transgenic mice.

Special purpose computer for digital holographic particle tracking velocimetry.

We have designed a special purpose computer system for digital holographic particle tracking velocimetry (DHPTV). We present the pipeline for calculating the intensity of an object from a hologram by fast Fourier transform in an FPGA chip. This system uses four FPGA chips and can make 100 reconstructed images from a 256x256-grid hologram in 266 msec.

Blockade of neutrophil elastase attenuates severe liver injury in hepatitis B transgenic mice.

Serine proteinases produced by polymorphonuclear neutrophils play important roles in neutrophil-mediated tissue injury at inflammatory sites. Although neutrophil recruitment to the liver has been shown to be involved in the exacerbation of liver inflammation, the function of neutrophil elastase (NE) in liver injury remains unclear. Here, we found that administration of an NE inhibitor (NEI) reduced serum alanine aminotransferase (sALT) activity and inflammatory cell infiltration into the liver from 8 to 24 h after injection of antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) into hepatitis B virus transgenic mice.

Pivotal role of nuclear factor kappaB signaling in anti-CD40-induced liver injury in mice.

Nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) has a central role in coordinating the expression of a wide variety of genes that control immune responses and is also recognized as an antiapoptotic transcription factor. Here, we focused on the role of the NF-kappaB signaling pathway in the interaction between inflammatory cells and hepatocytes in liver inflammation. We found that pretreatment of mice with adenoviruses expressing a mutant form of the inhibitor kappaB superrepressor (Ad5IkappaB), a NF-kappaB inhibitor, reduced the migration of inflammatory cells and cytokine and chemokine expression in the liver 12 hours after a single intravenous injection of an anti-CD40 antibody (alphaCD40) compared with mice infected with control adenoviruses (Ad5LacZ).