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The recently acquired archaeological record for soybean from Japan, China and Korea is shedding light on the context in which this important economic plant became associated with people and was domesticated. This paper examines archaeological (charred) soybean seed size variation to determine what insight can be gained from a comprehensive comparison of 949 specimens from 22 sites. Seed length alone appears to represent seed size change through time, although the length6width6thickness product has the potential to provide better size change resolution. A widespread early association of small seeded soybean is as old as 9000-8600 cal BP in northern China and 7000 cal BP in Japan. Direct AMS radiocarbon dates on charred soybean seeds indicate selection resulted in large seed sizes in Japan by 5000 cal BP (Middle Jomon) and in Korea by 3000 cal BP (Early Mumun). Soybean seeds recovered in China from the Shang through Han periods are similar in length to the large Korean and Japanese specimens, but the overall size of the large Middle and Late Jomon, Early Mumun through Three Kingdom seeds is significantly larger than any of the Chinese specimens. The archaeological record appears to disconfirm the hypothesis of a single domestication of soybean and supports the view informed by recent phyologenetic research that soybean was domesticated in several locations in East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To discover susceptibility genes of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD), we conducted a 3-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) using three populations: Japanese from the Japanese Genetic Consortium for Alzheimer Disease (JGSCAD), Koreans, and Caucasians from the Alzheimer Disease Genetic Consortium (ADGC). In Stage 1, we evaluated data for 5,877,918 genotyped and imputed SNPs in Japanese cases (n = 1,008) and controls (n = 1,016). Genome-wide significance was observed with 12 SNPs in the APOE region. Seven SNPs from other distinct regions with p-values <2×10−5 were genotyped in a second Japanese sample (885 cases, 985 controls), and evidence of association was confirmed for one SORL1 SNP (rs3781834, P = 7.33×10−7 in the combined sample). Subsequent analysis combining results for several SORL1 SNPs in the Japanese, Korean (339 cases, 1,129 controls) and Caucasians (11,840 AD cases, 10,931 controls) revealed genome wide significance with rs11218343 (P = 1.77×10−9) and rs3781834 (P = 1.04×10−8). SNPs in previously established AD loci in Caucasians showed strong evidence of association in Japanese including rs3851179 near PICALM (P = 1.71×10−5) and rs744373 near BIN1 (P = 1.39×10−4). The associated allele for each of these SNPs was the same as in Caucasians. These data demonstrate for the first time genome-wide significance of LOAD with SORL1 and confirm the role of other known loci for LOAD in Japanese. Our study highlights the importance of examining associations in multiple ethnic populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a type of thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). Studies report that the majority of TTP patients present with a deficiency of ADAMTS13 activity. In a database of TMA patients in Japan identified between 1998 and 2008, 186 patients with first onset of acquired idiopathic (ai) ADAMTS13-deficient TTP (ADAMTS13 activity <5%) were diagnosed. The median age of onset of TTP in this group of patients was 54 years, 54.8% were female, 75.8% had renal involvement, 79.0% had neurologic symptoms, and 97.8% had detectable inhibitors to ADAMTS13 activity. Younger patients were less likely to present with renal or neurologic dysfunction (p<0.01), while older patients were more likely to die during the TTP hospitalization (p<0.05). Findings from this cohort in Japan differ from those reported previously from the United States, Europe, and Korea with respect to age at onset (two decades younger in the other cohort) and gender composition (60% to 100% female in the other cohort). We conclude that in one of the largest cohorts of ai-TTP with severe deficiency of ADAMTS13 activity reported to date, demographic characteristics differ in Japanese patients relative to those reported from a large Caucasian registry from Western societies. Additional studies exploring these findings are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]