Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play important roles in the innate immune system. In fact, recognition of endogenous immune complexes containing self-nucleic acids as pathogen-or damage-associated molecular patterns contributes to certain autoimmune diseases, and inhibition of these recognition signals is expected to have therapeutic value. We identified dihydropyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidines as novel selective TLR9 antagonists with high aqueous solubility. A structure−activity relationship study of a known TLR9 antagonist led to the promising compound 18, which showed potent TLR9 antagonistic activity, sufficient aqueous solubility for parenteral formulation, and druggable properties. Compound 18 suppressed the production of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 in CpG-induced mouse model. It is therefore believed that compound 18 has great potential in the treatment of TLR9-mediated systemic uncontrollable inflammatory response like sepsis.

We present a system for estimating the dental plaque adhesion area using a commercial camera image for oral healthcare via management of the intraoral environment. In recent years, several studies have reported on the relationship between a general disease and a periodontal disease. Such studies mention that normalization of the intraoral environment by tooth brushing is the most important treatment in preventive dentistry. However, evaluation of individual tooth brushing skill is difficult. Some devices for automatically measuring the quantity of dental plaque have already been proposed for the teaching tool of tooth brushing. However, these devices have certain limitations, such as large size, requirement to fix the head position, and limited applicability in daily life. In this study, we propose a method for calculating the dental plaque adhesion area using a commercial camera and an intraoral camera. We also propose an evaluation method for the quantity of adhered dental plaque for replacing the Plaque Control Record (PCR). The relationship between PCR of the front teeth and that of all teeth was investigated by using the proposed method. The experimental results show that the proposed method can estimate the PCR of all teeth from the information of the front tooth. This method is not dependent on a particular camera system, and is applicable with many types of cameras, including smartphones. Therefore, it will be a useful tool in daily use for routine and sustainable management of the intraoral environment.

This study points out the importance of estimating the traffic service level. For the estimation, a car-following model is proposed based on the assumption that a driver tries to adjust acceleration to maximize utility instantaneously. Two types of data are applied for model verification: data from a probe car that are precise but probably biased, and data from a video camera which are not expected to be very precise. The fundamental performance of the car-following model is verified with data from the probe car. The model generally fits to drivers' data taken from video image, and individual differences-which are probably not negligible when estimating drivers' satisfaction-in the parameters of the model is revealed. An experimental estimation of chronological changes in drivers' utility caught by video footage is tested as an application of this model.

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