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Background: A good knowledge of acquired morphologic changes and congenital anomalies requires precise understanding of pathologic conditions of the visceral organs. The aim of the present study was to systematically investigate the types and frequencies of laparoscopically observed congenital anomalies of the liver. Methods: We studied congenital anomalies observed laparoscopically in 1802 consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopy from 1981 to 1994. Results: Congenital anomalies observed laparoscopically were as follows: ape's (monkey's) fissure (6.8%), fissure formation with anomalous lobation (4.3%), left deviation of the round ligament (3.6%), high insertion of the round ligament (2.8%), ectopic liver and accessory lobe of the liver (0.7%), lobar fusion (0.5%), partial defect of the falciform ligament (0.3%), and situs inversus totalis (0.1%). None of these anomalies except situs inversus totalis were diagnosed by imaging techniques other than laparoscopy. Conclusion: Congenital anomalies of the liver are unexpectedly frequent (19.3% of patients) at laparoscopy, which seems to be the most useful method for finding such anomalies. (Gastrointest Endosc 1998;47:136-40.)

Species of the marine planktonic diatom Chaetoceros were collected over a three year period from Otsuchi Bay, Japan. The vertical distribution of Chaetoceros spp. over a 40 m depth was investigated. One species, C. coarctatum, was found to have chloroplasts of two different shapes. Chaetoceros coarctatum was also the only species found in association with the ciliate epibiont Vorticella oceanica. The numerical abundance of V. oceanica was closely correlated to that of its host at certain depths. Potential food sources for V. oceanica in Otsuchi Bay were identified. Vorticella oceanica is redescribed following examination by light and scanning electron microscopy.

This study aims that painting techniques of India-ink painting is comprehensively incorporated into fashion illustration painting techniques and the results are systematized and considered for reconstruction. The results showes that painting techniques of India-ink painting were based on both Oriental and Japanese artistic traditions. It was then realized that these painting techniques, which offered a great many advantages, were suitable for incorporation into fashion illustration painting techniques.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between interferon-alpha receptor mRNA in the liver and the response to interferon therapy in chronic hepatitis C.Interferon-alpha receptor mRNA was quantified by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction using liver biopsies from 40 patients, comprising 20 responders and 20 non-responders to subsequent interferon therapy.The amount of interferon-alpha receptor mRNA was significantly larger in interferon-responders (0.72+/-0.12) than non-responders (0.26+/-0.08) (p0.01). Regardless of the response to interferon, histological activity index scores and the amount of HCV-RNA showed significant inverse correlation to the amount of interferon-alpha receptor mRNA, whereas the HCV-RNA genotype was not associated with the amount of interferon-alpha receptor mRNA. Logistic analysis and multiple regression analysis showed that the amount of interferon-alpha receptor mRNA was significantly associated with the efficacy of interferon (p=0.0275), but not with fibrosis of the liver (p= 0.2726).Our results suggest that the amount of interferon-alpha receptor mRNA is an important factor determining the response to interferon, and may be a new predictor of interferon response in chronic hepatitis C.

Chaetognaths are an abundant component of the plankton and are usually the most important carnivores. Head or tail damage is often found in chaetognath specimens from the laboratory and the sea. Examination by light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of specimens with such damage has revealed that bacterial invasion occurs in chaetognaths under laboratory and natural conditions. Living chaetognaths which cease feeding are found to have large numbers of attached bacteria and some parts of their body become opaque. Once they are attacked in this manner the body appears to be a mass of bacteria. Examination of field samples has shown that similar bacterial attacks occur in the sea. Bacterial growth is common inside the muscle tissue of field specimens. Up to 13.3% of two dominant species of chaetognaths in Suruga Bay are attacked by bacteria.

Preserved samples of chaetognaths (Sagitta crassa) in Tokyo Bay contained normal specimens and knotty and flabby deformed ones. On the body surfaces of both normal and deformed specimens, three different types of periphyte were observed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM): branch-like growths, large numbers of filaments and protuberances. Some branch-like growths frequently covered almost the entire body of even normal chaetognaths. Bacteria were only observed on the abnormal specimens. Bacterial colonization occurred inside the body rather than on the body surface. Due to the growth of bacteria, muscles degenerated and chaetognaths became abnormally knotty and flabby. Abnormal chaetognaths occurred in Tokyo Bay more frequently in July 1979 (12.4%) than in June 1982 (3.9%). Food containing ratio (FCR) values, an indication of feeding activity, of the abnormal chaetognaths were less than 10% and no feeding rhythm was found, whereas normal chaetognaths had high FCR values with a maximum peak (more than 60%) between 20.000 and 23.000 hrs. Abnormal specimens sometimes had spermatophores on their body surfaces. It is obvious that abnormal chaetognaths had still been alive in the sea and that some of them not only fed on copepods but also copulated. However, feeding activity and reproductive behaviour were far lower in abnormal chaetognaths than in normal ones. Abnormal specimens were not larger than 9.0 mm and their mean body length was smaller than that of normal chaetognaths. This suggests that bacterial infection directly affects the mortality of the chaetognath population.

Egg production, daily ration, and growth efficiency in Sagitta crassa Tokioka are described along with the morphological characteristics of the ovary and body during laboratory observations. Feeding by S. crassa in small containers containing 50 or 100 ml sea water and feeding rates bore a linear relationship to food concentration from 5 to 20 copepods per 100 ml. Among 100 animals individually isolated in containers, 3 animals were the longest lived and the best egg producers. One of these produced eggs on more than 30 consecutive days, producing almost 1000 eggs. Egg production showed periodic change at intervals from 7 to 10 days. Seminal vesicles also became periodically filled or empty. Fluctuations in ovary length and morphological changes of ovary and body were observed through life. Daily ration of S. crassa ranged from 8.7 to 10.4 prey per day or ≈ 60 μg in dry wt. The specific daily ration ranged from 0.347 to 0.568. S. crassa had a growth efficiency (dry-wt basis) which increased during the early life of the animal (≈28%), then decreased with age (22 → nearly 0%). Reproductive efficiency ranged from 7.0 to 16.4%, with a mean of 12.5%.

Association between copepods and bacteria was observed in many scanning electron micrographs. Particular sites on the copepods were selectively colonized by bacteria; the joints of segments and legs, swimming legs and depressed parts of the body surface were found to be densely covered with bacteria. In comparison, bacterial attachment to copepod skeletons in fecal pellets excreted by chaetognaths was not selective; bacteria were sparsely found all over the copepod. Between 9 to 30% of copepods in Tokyo Bay waters had attached bacteria in January and April 1983.

The chaetognath Sagitta crassa Tokioka, which is abundant in Tokyo Bay, may seize and ingest several copepods within the space of a few minutes under laboratory and natural conditions. This chaetognath consumed about a third of its daily ration within 2 h after receiving a supply of food. After partial ingestion of a copepod, S. crassa occasionally relinquished its prey, which was immobile and appeared to be paralyzed. Large numbers of bacteria were found on the exoskeleton of a released copepod, instead of the expected holes from piercing by chaetognath teeth. S. crassa had a mean digestion time of 2.2 and 2.8 h for Acartia clausi Giesbrecht and Tigriopus japonicus Mori, respectively. The digestive efficiency of Sagitta crassa was determined gravimetrically and it ranged from 56 to 93%, depending on the food items, with a mean of 83%.

Adult specimens of the calanoid copepod Centropages abdominalis collected from February through April 1986 in Shinhamako, a saline lake connected to Tokyo Bay, were heavily infested with the stalked ciliate Zoothamnium. The number of copepods and those infested varied during the infestation period; in February when the copepod population was large, the incidence of infestation was low, whereas in March when the copepod population was small, copepods infested with Zoothamnium were proportionally more abundant. Numerical variations of infested copepods may correspond to changes in the Zoothamnium population. No specimens of Acartia omorii, which coexists with C. abdominalis, were infested in 1986, although a small number of A. omorii were infested with peritrich ciliates in 1985. Some shrimp larvae were also covered with the same peritrichs as copepods. Nevertheless, as a whole, the relationship between the phoront and its carrier seems to be specific. The highest incidence of infested copepods was approximately 30% similar to that in 1985. The sex ratio of C. abdominalis changed on each sampling date but in general females were more numerous than males. The percentage of infested males was higher than that of infested females, suggesting that the former can be attached to more easily than the latter.

A rare lung cancer consisting in part of small cell carcinoma of intermediate cell type and in part of well-differentiated papillotubular adenocarcinoma is described. Alcian blue-PAS staining was observed in the cytoplasm of the small cell carcinoma cells; the Grimelius argyrophil reaction was also positive in the cytoplasm of these cells. Electron microscopy revealed neurosecretory granules in the cytoplasm. At autopsy, a small cell carcinoma of intermediate cell type was found with both squamous features and gland formation. The cellularity and histological pattern of this tumor suggested the existence of a transitional pattern between small cell carcinoma of intermediate cell type, squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. From the above findings, we think that small cell carcinoma including the intermediate cell type is derived from respiratory epithelial cells of endodermal origin with dedifferentiation of those cancer cells into neurosecretory cells.