Abstract: The present invention provides AGT inactivating compounds, for example, substituted O6-benzyl-8-aza-guanines of the formula wherein R, for example, is pivaloyloxymethyl as well as pharmaceutical compositions comprising such compounds along with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The present invention further provides a method of enhancing the chemotherapeutic treatment of tumor cells in a mammal with an antineoplastic alkylating agent which causes cytotoxic lesions at the O6-position of guanine, by administering to a mammal an effective amount of one of the aforesaid compounds, and administering to the mammal an effective amount of an antineoplastic alkylating agent which causes cytotoxic lesions at the O6-position of guanine.

Abstract: A genetic construct encoding a fusion protein including endogluconase E1 and a transit peptide is used to transform plants. The plants produce cellulase by expressing the genetic construct. The cellulase is targeted to plastids and can be collected and purified.

Abstract: Chelerythrine is an effective inhibitor of solid tumor growth and is extremely cytotoxic in combination with chemotherapeutic agents that directly damage DNA.

Abstract: The present invention relates generally to the fields of angiogenesis and cancer therapy. More particularly, it concerns the use of anti-angiogenic factors in cancer therapy. The present invention demonstrates that angiostatin or endostatin can sensitize a cell to radiation therapy. Methods and compositions for inhibiting growth, sensitizing a cell to radiotherapy and treating cancer growth by first inhibiting angiogenesis and then employing radiotherapy are described.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the identification and purification of a herpes protease and a nucleic acid segment coding for two proteins. The first protein is the herpes protease which is able to cleave itself and also cleave the second protein. This protease is required for the assembly of the herpes virus capsid, therefore is essential for replication. The second protein has previously been designated as the family of proteins in viral infected cells, ICP35. The protease and its substrates are encoded by overlapping nucleic acid segments. This invention also relates to a promoter sequence for the second protein. Methods are presented of producing a viral protease, screening a protease inhibitor which may be used in a drug designed for the treatment of herpes disease, methods for treating herpes and other viral infections wherein the virus employs a protease substantially similar to the herpes protease, for capsid production.

Abstract: Disclosed are lens apparatus in which a beam of charged particles is brought to a focus by means of a magnetic field, the lens being situated behind the target position. In illustrative embodiments, a lens apparatus is employed in a scanning electron microscope as the sole lens for high-resolution focusing of an electron beam, and in particular, an electron beam having an accelerating voltage of from about 10 to about 30,000 V. In one embodiment, the lens apparatus comprises an electrically-conducting coil arranged around the axis of the beam and a magnetic pole piece extending along the axis of the beam at least within the space surrounded by the coil. In other embodiments, the lens apparatus comprises a magnetic dipole or virtual magnetic monopole fabricated from a variety of materials, including permanent magnets, superconducting coils, and magnetizable spheres and needles contained within an energy-conducting coil.

Abstract: A method and system (200) provide automatic and unsupervised morphological analysis of a corpus of a natural language. An optimal division of each word in the corpus is determined (104) and identified stems and suffixes are combined as signatures (106). Major patterns of stem allomorphy are identified (110) and a morphological analysis is produced (112) for subsequent processing.

Abstract: The invention relates generally to compositions of and methods for obtaining and using a polypeptide other than BCL-2 that affects programmed vertebrate cell death. The invention relates as well to polynucleotides encoding those polypeptides, recombinant vectors carrying those sequences, the recombinant host cells including either the sequences or vectors, and recombinant polypeptides. The invention further provides methods for using the isolated, recombinant polypeptides in assays designed to select and improve substances capable of altering programmed cell death for use in diagnostic, drug design and therapeutic applications.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to methods and compositions relating to the treatment of herpes simplex virus infections and the screening of compounds for activity that inhibit or promote viral latency. The previously identified ORF P gene product now has been shown to interact with certain eukaryotic splicing factors and, in a cell infected with a herpesvirus containing a derepressed ORF P gene, ORF P can limit the splicing of at least two viral products. Given this function, it now is possible to screen for inhibitors and inducers of ORF P and, further, provide methods for maintaining and preventing viral latency.

Abstract: Method and system for the detection of interval change in medical images. Three dimensional images, such as previous and current section images in CT scans, are obtained. An anatomic feature, such as the lungs, is used to select sections containing lung by a gray-level thresholding technique. The section correspondence between the current and previous scans is determined automatically. The initial registration of the corresponding sections in the two scans is achieved by a rotation correction and a cross-correlation technique. A more accurate registration between the corresponding current and previous section images is achieved by local matching. A nonlinear warping process which is also based on the cross-correlation technique is applied to the previous image to yield a warped image after the matching. The final subtracted section images were derived by subtracting of the previous section images from the corresponding current section images.

Abstract: A method, system and computer readable medium for a computer-automated method for identifying given image data, including obtaining template image data corresponding to said given image data; calculating correlation values between the given image data and said template image data; and identifying said image data based on the correlation values calculated in the calculating step.

Abstract: Disclosed are methods for treating cancer by administering an effective amount of a modified Herpes simplex virus.

Abstract: The present invention provides the gene product of the herpes simplex virus UL13 gene as being capable of phosphorylating other gene products of the herpes simplex virus. The herpes simplex virus UL13 gene product is used in an assay to identify substances suspected of having anti-herpes simplex viral activity.

Abstract: Automated Method and System for the Segmentation of Lung Regions in Computed Tomography Scans A method and system for the automated segmentation of the lung regions in thoracic CT scans includes construction of a cumulative gray level profile from pixels along the diagonal of each CT section image. The shape of this profile is used to identify a gray level threshold that is used to create a binary image. A contour detection algorithm generates a segmented thorax region. The trachea and main bronchi are segmented and eliminated from the segmented thorax region to prevent subsequent inclusion within the segmented lung regions. A gray level histogram is constructed to identify a second gray level threshold, which is applied to the segmented thorax region to create a binary image. If the two lungs regions are “fused,” the anterior junction is then delineated and turned “off” in the binary image to separate the two lungs.

Abstract: The present invention relates to methods of treatment of programmed cell death (apoptosis) through the use of the HSV-1 gene &ggr;134.5 or the product of its expression, ICP34.5. The gene and its expression have been demonstrated to be required for HSV-1 neurovirulence, and in particular, to act as an inhibitor of neuronal programmed cell death which allows for viral replication. Use of the gene therapy, or the protein itself, can be expected to result in inhibition of programmed cell death in various neurodegenerative diseases. This invention also relates to novel vectors for gene therapy, including modified herpes virus. Methods are presented for conducting assays for substances capable of mimicing, potentiating or inhibiting the expression of &ggr;134.5 or the activity of ICP34.5. Also, methods are disclosed for the treatment of tumorogenic diseases, including cancer, and for treatment of herpes and other viral infections using inhibitors of &ggr;134.5 expression or ICP34.5 activity.

Abstract: A method, system and computer readable medium for automated detection of lung nodules in computed tomography (CT) image scans, including generating two-dimensional segmented lung images by segmenting a plurality of two-dimensional CT image sections derived from the CT image scans; generating three-dimensional segmented lung volume images by combining the two-dimensional segmented lung images; determining three-dimensional lung nodule candidates from the three-dimensional segmented lung volume images, including, identifying structures within the three-dimensional segmented lung volume images that meet a volume criterion; deriving features from the lung nodule candidates; and detecting lung nodules by analyzing the features to eliminate false-positive nodule candidates from the nodule candidates.

Abstract: A method and system for the automated segmentation of the lung regions in lateral chest radiographs. This is achieved according to the invention by providing an improved computerized, automated method for image segmentation based on gray-level threshold analysis. A unique method for identifying an approximate outer bounds on the extent of the lung fields in the image is performed to restrict the region further analyzed. An iterative global gray-level thresholding method is applied based on the features of a global gray-level histogram. Features of the regions in a binary image constructed at each iteration are identified and subjected to a modified analysis to exclude regions external to the lung field. The initial lung region contour that results from this global process is used to facilitate a novel adaptive local gray level thresholding method. Individual regions-of-interest (ROIs) are placed along the initial contour. The dimensions of the several ROIs are based upon the patient anatomy enclosed therein.

Abstract: The present invention provides AGT inactivating compounds such as substituted O6-benzylguanines of the formula 7- or 9-substituted 8-aza-O6-benzylguanines, 7,8-disubstituted O6-benzylguanines, 7,9-disubstituted O6-benzylguanines, 4(6)-substituted 2-amino-5-nitro-6(4)-benzyloxypyrimidines, and 4(6)-substituted 2-amino-5-nitroso-6(4)-benzyloxypyrimidines, as well as pharmaceutical compositions comprising such compounds along with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

Abstract: Disclosed is a smooth muscle cell specific promoter, the SM22&agr; gene promoter as well as the murine cDNA and genomic SM22&agr; nucleic acid sequences. Also disclosed are methods of preventing restenosis following balloon angioplasty and methods of treating asthma based on inhibition of smooth muscle cell proliferation by expressing cell cycle control genes, or contraction inhibiting peptides in smooth muscle cells, under the control of the SM22&agr; promoter.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for reconstructing a tomographic image from a halfscan fan-beam sinogram using the parallel beam reconstruction algorithms. The method includes the steps of weighting at least some elements of the halfscan fan-beam sinogram to forming a weighted fan-beam sinogram and expanding the weighted fan-beam sinogram into a Fourier series. The method further includes the steps of linearly interpolating at least some elements of the Fourier series to form a parallel beam sinogram of linearly interpolated data and reconstructing the image from the parallel beam sinogram using the parallel beam reconstruction algorithms.