Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.

Olympus Optical Company, Ltd.

Mitaka Kohki Co., Ltd.

Sony Corporation

Konica Minolta, Inc.

Chugai Seiyaku Kabushiki Kaisha

National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry

Masakazu Nakamura

Masao Doi

Katsushige Nakamura

Masami Maruko

Seiji Yamaguchi

Takashi Fukaya

Hideyuki Adachi

Kuniaki Kami

Michio Sato

Eiichi Fuse

Kazunori Katada

Kiyotaka Matsuno

Yasundo Tanaka

Koichi Umeyama

Yoshihiro Kosaka

Katsuya Suzuki

Hirokazu Nishimura

Susumu Okui

Takashi Yamamura

Hironobu Tamai

Miyuki Hori

Seiki Murakami

Junichi Nakamura

Masahide Kanno

Tetsuo Nonami

Masahiro Yamaguchi

Nagaaki Ohyama

Tomoo Suzuki

Keiichi Hiyama

Kazuyoshi Kimura

Hideo Isohara

Takahiro Iwasaki

Tatsuya Hashimoto

Kenichiro Nimoda

Shinpei Omote

Tetsuo Nomami

According to the present invention, the amount of a plasmablast (PB) in a sample of a relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patient can be measured, thereby predicting the therapeutic effect of interferon beta (IFN-&#x3b2;) or predicting a RRMS case for which the continuous administration of IFN-&#x3b2; is difficult due to the manifestation of a serious adverse reaction or the aggravation of concomitant immune disorder. In addition, the amount of PB in a sample of a RRMS patient can also be measured, thereby predicting the therapeutic effect of an IL-6 inhibitor in the treatment of RRMS. As a result, a treatment method effective for patients not suitable for IFN-&#x3b2; in the treatment of RRMS can be provided.

Method for predicting post-therapy prognosis of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patient, and method for determining applicability of novel therapy

According to the present invention, the therapeutic effect of an IL-6 inhibitor on MS was found to be predictable by using as indicators the amount of plasmablasts and/or the indicator of change in immature plasmablasts (amount of immature plasmablasts or amount of follicular helper T cells) in MS patients with a large amount of plasmablasts. Furthermore, IL-6 inhibitors were found to be effective against MS in which plasmablasts occur at high levels and in which the indicator of change in immature plasmablasts is high. The present invention provides methods for selecting MS cases for which treatment with an IL-6 inhibitor is effective, and also provides an effective therapeutic method for patients with MS in which plasmablast occur at high levels and in which the indicator of change in immature plasmablasts is high.

Method for determining application of therapy to multiple sclerosis (MS) patient

A surgical microscope employs a pentaprism beam splitter as a branching unit to branch each beam passed through variable power optical systems into a first beam and a second beam, the first beam being horizontally reflected for an eyepiece unit, the second beam being vertically transmitted for an imaging device. The pentaprism alone is capable of simultaneously conducting reflection to provide an erect image and transmission to provide a photographing image, thereby reducing the number of optical parts in a microscope body of the surgical microscope.

Surgical microscope

An image forming apparatus includes: a pair of rollers for conveying paper; a rocking mechanism for rocking the pair of rollers in a second direction orthogonal to a first direction, the first direction being a paper conveying direction; an upstream pair of rollers provided upstream of the pair of rollers in the paper conveying direction for conveying the paper; an upstream rocking mechanism corresponding to the upstream pair of rollers for rocking the upstream pair of rollers in the second direction; a first paper detector for detecting an end position of the paper in the second direction; and a controller controlling the rocking mechanism based on the paper end position to effect first rocking correction in which the pair of rollers is rocked, wherein the controller controls the upstream rocking mechanism to effect second rocking correction in which only the upstream pair of rollers is rocked.

Image forming apparatus

Provided is an image forming apparatus including: an image bearing member on which a toner image is formed electrophotographically; and a lubricant applying section that applies a lubricant to a surface of the image bearing member. The lubricant applying section includes two columnar solid lubricants that contain a larger number of residual gas bubbles at one end than the other end thereof, and are produced by the same production method. The two solid lubricants are placed along an axial direction of the image bearing member such that the respective one and the other ends thereof are opposite to each other.

An image forming apparatus includes an endless belt, a steering mechanism adapted to correct deviation of the belt, a cleaning blade adapted to abut the belt so as to clean the belt, a timer adapted to clock the time necessary for the steering mechanism to correct the deviation of the belt, an adjuster adapted to adjust the abutting state between the belt and the cleaning blade by making the amount of toner supplied to the belt larger than a predetermined amount, and a controller adapted to control the operation of the adjuster. The controller controls the operation of the adjuster based on the time clocked by the timer.

A holding arm apparatusis configured to connect upper and lower timing pulleysA andA of a vertical arm unitto each other with a timing belt, to widen the range of rotation angle of a horizontal arm unitand allow the position and angle of an endoscopeheld at a front end of the horizontal arm unitto be widely changed. The horizontal arm unitand a counterweightturn by the same angle, to maintain a weight balance by the counterweight. Using the timing beltreduces the total weight and operation noise of the holding arm apparatus. Accordingly, the apparatus is appropriate for a medical front.

Holding arm apparatus for medical tool

An electronic ticket management system includes an event organizer for planning an event, an electronic ticket seller for distributing electronic ticket information which authenticates the right to attend the event, an information storage chip for storing the electronic ticket information, and an electronic ticket platform center for managing the distribution of the electronic ticket information. The electronic ticket platform center forms an electronic ticket information master based on event information registered by the event organizer, and relates ticket issuing information registered by the electronic ticket seller to the electronic ticket information master. The electronic ticket platform center also issues the tickets by writing the electronic ticket information into the corresponding information storage chip based on ticket issuing information. A determination as to whether the user is permitted to enter the event venue is made according to the integrity of the event information stored in the information storage chip.

Apparatus, system and method for electronic ticket management and electronic ticket distribution authentication

The rotating speed of the coating brush of the image forming apparatus fluctuates between the upper limit speed and the lower limit speed across the standard speed. Consequently, the positional relation of the contact between the brush textile of the coating brush and the surface of the photographic sensitive drum varies for a wider range compared to a case where the rotating speed of the coating brush does not vary. Since the thin area of the brush textile moves for a wider range of the surface of the photographic sensitive drum in the axial direction of the rotating shaft of the photographic sensitive drum, the area where the coating amount of the lubricant is less is evened out by the area where the coating amount of the lubricant is rich, thus improving the unevenness of coating of the lubricant on the photographic sensitive drum.

An image forming apparatus including: an endless belt; a steering roller for supporting the endless belt and correcting a deviating motion of the endless belt; and a conveying section for conveying a recording material, wherein the conveying section has a position control mechanism of a recording material, and said mechanism conveys the recording material along a conveyance reference, established at a predetermined position in a width direction of the recording material, said width direction is perpendicular to a conveying direction of the recording material, wherein the steering roller is configured to be supported on a supporting point at a side on which the conveyance reference is established, and to be tilted at a side which is opposite to the side on which the conveyance reference is established, with respect to the width direction of the recording material.

Image forming apparatus with steering roller and position control mechanism

An image forming apparatus including; an image carrier carrying a toner image; a transfer belt making pressure contact with the image carrier through a sheet of paper and transferring the toner image onto the sheet of paper; a plurality of supporting rollers stretching and supporting the transfer belt; and a transfer roller to which transfer electrical current is applied, as well as making pressure contact of the transfer belt with the image carrier from a back surface of the transfer belt, wherein at least one roller of the supporting rollers is formed in an inverted crown shape with a size of the center portion is smaller than a size of the end portion, and the transfer belt is rotationally driven for a prescribed time without applying transfer electrical current both or in either of before and after transfer of a toner image.

Image forming apparatus with roller formed in inverted crown shape

An image forming apparatus capable of reducing deterioration of image quality caused by instantaneous fluctuation of driving speed of an image bearing member and intermediate transfer member, the apparatus including: an image bearing member; a primary transfer section to transfer toner image from the image bearing member onto an intermediate transfer member; a secondary transfer section, including a secondary transfer member to secondarily transfer the toner image from the intermediate transfer member onto a recording medium, capable of bringing the secondary transfer member into contact with the intermediate transfer member under pressure and then releasing the contact; a motor to drive the secondary transfer member, and a driving section configured to drive the secondary transfer section so as to bring the secondary transfer member into contact with the intermediate transfer member with pressure and then to release the contact, wherein the motor is not provided inside the secondary transfer section.

Image forming apparatus with primary and secondary transfer sections

An image forming apparatus includes a transfer unit having an endless transfer belt stretched over a plurality of rollers, a pair of integrated support side plates for supporting the plurality of rollers rotatably, a pair of press side plates supported, to be able to rotate in the direction of moving toward or away from the image carrier, by means of a supporting member provided in the frame of the transfer unit, a swing portion provided on the press side plates and supporting the support side plates swingably with respect to the image carriers when the transfer belt and the image carriers are pressed, and a member for urging the press side plates in the direction that the transfer belt presses the image carrier.

Image forming apparatus with a deviation absorbing transfer apparatus

A surgical microscope system is disclosed. The surgical microscope is comprised of a stand which is comprised of a movable base and a support capable of free motion with keeping a particular orientation relative to the movable base; a stereoscopic surgical microscope linked with the support, which is comprised of a pair of first optical systems so as to provide a first stereoscopic magnified view; and a stereoscopic display device having a movable link with the stand, which is comprised of a display screen for displaying stereoscopic image taken by the first optical systems and a pair of second optical systems as to show the stereoscopic image as a second stereoscopic magnified view.

Surgical microscope system

An image forming apparatus, having: an image carrier to carry a toner image; a transfer unit to transfer the toner image on the image carrier onto a sheet through a rotating member disposed to face the image carrier; a fixing unit to heat and fix the transferred toner image onto the sheet; and a cooling device to suctions air from a transfer unit side and discharge the air to a fixing unit side.

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Hachioji, Japan

Masakazu Nakamura