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Summary Complete nucleotide sequences of Tobacco leaf curl Japan virus (TbLCJV) isolates from infected tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plants in Nara (-[Jp2], 2764 nt; -[Jp3], 2761 nt), Kochi (-[Koc], 2760 nt) and Yamaguchi (-[Yam], 2758 nt) Prefectures, of Japan were determined. These sequences were compared with each other and the sequences of further begomoviruses from Japan. TbLCJV, TbLCJV-[Jp2], TbLCJV-[Jp3], TbLCJV-[Koc], TbLCJV-[Yam], Honeysuckle yellow vein mosaic virus (HYVMV), Eupatorium yellow vein virus (EpYVV), EpYVV-[MNS2], EpYVV-[SOJ3], EpYVV-[Yam] and EpYVV-[Tob] are monophyletic. The intergenic region (IR) of TbLCJV has highest nucleotide sequence identity with that of HYVMV (93%) whereas the rest of the genomic DNA had higher identity with that of TbLCJV-[Jp2] or -[Jp3] (91 ∼ 100%) than with that of HYVMV. In conclusion, TbLCJV has a chimeric genome which may have arisen by recombination between TbLCV-[Jp2] or -[Jp3]-like and HYVMV-like ancestors. Similarly, TbLCJV-[Yam] DNA has a hybrid genome, with a major parent HYVMV and minor parent TbLCJV-[Koc]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the association between Tobacco leaf curl Japan virus strain and a satellite DNA in honeysuckle in Japan. Researchers collected honeysuckle samples which showed typical yellow vein symptoms while growing besides tomato crops in Ibaraki, Japan in 2001. Honeysuckle yellow vein virus was then set apart from honeysuckle suggesting infection by a begomovirus. The total DNA taken from the sample was then removed from infected leaves and polymerase chain reaction was done using begomovirus-specific degenerate primers.

The article presents information on the Honeysuckle yellow vein mosaic virus on tomato plants which are affected by yellow dwarf disease in Japan.

Pesticides may have serious negative impacts on bee populations. The pesticide exposure of bees could depend on the surrounding landscapes in which they forage. In this study, we assess pesticide exposure across various land-use categories, while targeting the Japanese honey bee, Apis cerana japonica, a native subspecies of the eastern honey bee. In a project involving public participation, we measured the concentrations of major pesticides in honey and beeswax collected from 175 Japanese honey bee colonies across Japan and quantitatively analyzed the relationships between pesticide presence/absence or pesticide concentration and land-use categories around the colonies. Our findings revealed that the surrounding environment in which bees live strongly influences pesticide residues in beehive materials, whether the pesticides are systemic or not, with a clear trend for each land-use category. Agricultural lands, particularly paddy fields and orchards, and urban areas resulted in higher pesticide exposure, whereas forests presented a lower risk of exposure. To effectively control pesticide exposure levels in bees, it is essential to understand pesticide usage patterns and to develop appropriate regulatory systems in non-agricultural lands, similar to those in agricultural lands., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) can aid the discovery of clinically useful, candidate antitumor agents; however, the variant annotations sometimes differ among the various types of CGP tests as well as the public database. The aim of this study is to clarify the genomic landscape of evaluating detected variants in patients with a malignant solid tumor., Methods: The present, cross-sectional study used data from 57,084 patients with a malignant solid tumor who underwent CGP at the Center for Cancer Genomics and Advanced Therapeutics (C-CAT) between June 1, 2019 and August 18, 2023. The pathogenicity of the variants was annotated using public databases., Results: As a result of re-annotation of the detected variants, 20.1% were pathogenic and 1.4% were benign. The mean number of pathogenic variants was 4.30 (95% confidence interval: 4.27-4.32) per patient. Of the entire cohort, 5.7% had no pathogenic variant. The co-occurrence of the genes depended on the tumor type. Germline findings were detected in 6.2%, 8.8%, and 15.8% of the patients using a tumor/normal panel, tumor-only panel, and liquid panel, respectively, with the most common gene being BRCA2 followed by TP53 and BRCA1., Conclusions: The detected variants should be re-annotated because several benign variants or variants of unknown significance were included in the CGP, and the genomic landscape derived from these results will help researchers and physicians interpret the results of CGP tests. The method of extracting presumptive, germline, pathogenic variants from patients using a tumor-only panel or circulating tumor DNA panel requires improvement., (© 2024. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Japan Society of Clinical Oncology.)

Background: The clinical characteristics, outcomes, and prognostic factors of adult embryonal rhabdomyosarcomas (ERMS) and alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas (ARMS), particularly the differences among adolescents/young adults (AYA), adults, and older adults, remain unclear. We assessed the clinicopathological features and survival outcomes of adult patients with ERMS and ARMS in Japan and to compare these features among AYA, adult, and older adult patients., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from the Bone and Soft Tissue Tumor Registry of Japan and enrolled patients aged ≥15 years with ERMS and ARMS. Disease-specific overall survival (DOS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and a Cox regression model was used to identify prognostic factors., Results: Among 184 patients with ERMS and ARMS (median age, 27 years; interquartile range, 18-49 years), a high rate of distant and regional nodal metastases was initially observed in 65 (35%) and 66 (36%) cases, respectively. Older age and distant metastasis at first presentation were statistically poor prognostic factors, and histological subtype and site of tumor origin were not associated with DOS. In patients with localized ERMS and ARMS, older age and nodal metastasis were poor prognostic factors; the 5-year DOS rates of patients with and without nodal metastasis were 23% and 72%, respectively., Conclusions: Older patients with rhabdomyosarcoma had a dismal prognosis, and distant metastasis was a poor prognostic factor. The prognostic factors differed between adult and pediatric patients with rhabdomyosarcoma; biological analyses, such as genome analysis of adult rhabdomyosarcoma and clinical trials with pediatric oncologists, are needed to improve the prognosis of adult rhabdomyosarcoma., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permission@oup.com.)

BRAF alterations, including V600E and non-V600E mutations and fusions, in soft tissue sarcoma (STS) have been identified in a limited case series. Here, we aimed to evaluate the frequency of BRAF mutations and concurrent alterations in STS to understand their therapeutic action. In this retrospective analysis, we included data from 1964 patients with advanced STS who underwent comprehensive genomic profiling tests at hospitals in Japan between June 2019 and March 2023. The prevalence of BRAF and recurrent concurrent gene alterations were also investigated. BRAF mutations were detected in 24 (1.2%) of 1964 STS patients, with a median age of 47 (range 1-69) years. BRAF V600E was detected in 11 (0.6%) of the 1964 patients with STS, BRAF non-V600E mutations in 9 (4.6%), and BRAF fusions were detected in 4 (0.2%). BRAF V600E was identified in 4 (0.2%) cases of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors. The most common concurrent alteration was CDKN2A (11 cases, 45.8%), and the frequency was equivalent to that of the BRAF V600E (5/11 cases, 45.5%) and non-V600E (5/9 cases, 55.6%) groups. Recurrent concurrent alterations, such as TERT promoter mutations (7 cases, 29.2%), were detected at the same frequency in the V600E and non-V600E groups. In contrast, TP53 alterations (4/9 cases, 44.4%) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-activating genes, including NF1, GNAQ, and GNA11 (3/9 cases, 33.3%), were identified as relatively higher in the non-V600E group than in the V600E group (each 1/11 case, 9.1%). We identified BRAF alterations at a rate of 1.2% in all patients with advanced STS. Among them, BRAF V600E and BRAF fusions account for 45.8% and 16.7%, respectively. Collectively, our findings support the clinical characteristics and therapeutic strategies for patients with BRAF-altered advanced STS., (© 2023 The Authors. Genes, Chromosomes and Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Patients with advanced cancer undergo comprehensive genomic profiling in Japan only after treatment options have been exhausted. Patients with a very poor prognosis were not able to undergo profiling tests, resulting in a selection bias called length bias, which makes accurate survival analysis impossible. The actual impact of length bias on the overall survival of patients who have undergone profiling tests is unclear, yet appropriate methods for adjusting for length bias have not been developed. To assess the length bias in overall survival, we established a simulation-based model for length bias adjustment. This study utilized clinicogenomic data of 8813 patients with advanced cancer who underwent profiling tests at hospitals throughout Japan between June 2019 and April 2022. Length bias was estimated by the conditional Kendall τ statistics and was significantly positive for 13 of the 15 cancer subtypes, suggesting a worse prognosis for patients who underwent profiling tests in early timing. The median overall survival time in colorectal, breast, and pancreatic cancer from the initial survival-prolonging chemotherapy with adjustment for length bias was 937 (886-991), 1225 (1152-1368), and 585 (553-617) days, respectively (median; 95% credible interval). Adjusting for length bias made it possible to analyze the prognostic relevance of oncogenic mutations and treatments. In total, 12 tumor-specific oncogenic mutations correlating with poor survival were detected after adjustment. There was no difference in survival between FOLFIRINOX (leucovorin, fluorouracil, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin) or gemcitabine with nab-paclitaxel-treated groups as first-line chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. Adjusting for length bias is an essential part of utilizing real-world clinicogenomic data., (© 2022 The Authors. Cancer Science published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Cancer Association.)

The negative influence of agrochemicals (pesticides: insecticide, fungicide, and herbicide) on biodiversity is a major ecological concern. In recent decades, many insect species are reported to have rapidly declined worldwide, and pesticides, including neonicotinoids and fipronil, are suspected to be partially responsible. In Japan, application of systemic insecticides to nursery boxes in rice paddies is considered to have caused rapid declines in Sympetrum (Odonata: Libellulidae) and other dragonfly and damselfly populations since the 1990s. In addition to the direct lethal effects of pesticides, agrochemicals indirectly affect Odonata populations through reductions in macrophytes, which provide a habitat, and prey organisms. Due to technical restrictions, most previous studies first selected target chemicals and then analyzed their influence on focal organisms at various levels, from the laboratory to the field. However, in natural and agricultural environments, various chemicals co-occur and can act synergistically. Under such circumstances, targeted analyses might lead to spurious correlations between a target chemical and the abundance of organisms. To address such problems, in this study we adopted a novel technique, "Comprehensive Target Analysis with an Automated Identification and Quantification System (CTA-AIQS)" to detect wide range of agrochemicals in water environment. The relationships between a wide range of pesticides and lentic Odonata communities were surveyed in agricultural and non-agricultural areas in Saga Plain, Kyushu, Japan. We detected significant negative relationships between several insecticides, i.e., acephate, clothianidin, dinotefuran, flubendiamide, pymetrozine, and thiametoxam (marginal for benthic odonates) and the abundance of lentic Epiprocta and benthic Odonates. In contrast, the herbicides we detected were not significantly related to the abundance of aquatic macrophytes, suggesting a lower impact of herbicides on aquatic vegetation at the field level. These results highlight the need for further assessments of the influence of non-neonicotinoid insecticides on aquatic organisms., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Endocytoscope systems (ECS) can visualize cellular nuclei of the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract and are predicted to provide real-time microscopic diagnosis. However, their practical diagnostic performance remains unclear. Therefore, we conducted a multicenter prospective study to evaluate the visualization of superficial esophageal neoplasm in vivo using an ECS, and its diagnostic capability., Methods: The study target was histologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HGIN). An integrated ECS was used to obtain ECS images. In each patient, three ECS images of cancerous and corresponding noncancerous regions were selected for evaluation. A pathological review board of five certified pathologists made the final diagnosis of the images. The primary endpoint was the sensitivity of ECS diagnosis by pathologists., Results: ECS images of 68 patients were assessed: 42 lesions were mucosal SCC, 13 were submucosal SCC, and 13 were HGIN. The rate of assessable images was 96% (95% CI 87.6-99.1). The sensitivity of ECS diagnosis by pathologists was 88% (95% CI 77.2-94.5)., Conclusions: ECS can provide high-quality images of cancerous lesions and a high diagnostic accuracy by pathologists, and could be useful for real-time endoscopic histological diagnosis of SCC and HGIN., Trial Registration: The UMIN Clinical Trials Registry Identification Number: 000004218., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

The ecological impacts of insecticides in aquatic areas around agricultural lands have long been ignored in the regulation scheme of pesticides in Japan. Upon the scheme, the predicted concentration of an insecticide in the main stream of a river is the only parameter considered, suggesting that the ecological impacts of insecticides on local biodiversity around agricultural fields are underestimated. To fill this knowledge gap, we measured insecticide concentrations in surface water and sediment in aquatic areas around paddy fields at 35 locations across Japan. Among the 18 insecticides considered, 15 were detected somewhere in Japan and their concentrations were generally higher in the southwestern region in Japan (e.g. Hiroshima, Saga, or Kagoshima prefectures). Most insecticides were accumulated at higher concentrations in sediment than in surface water, consistent with previous studies. We also detected insecticides applied to nursery boxes at high concentrations in surrounding aquatic areas, although such application is generally considered to have low environmental risks. In addition, derivatives of fipronil, which have similar toxicity as that of fipronil, were often detected in sediment at higher concentrations than fipronil itself. Concentrations of dinotefuran in water at two sampling points were higher than the 5% hazardous concentration (HC5), indicating a possibility of a risk of acute toxicity to aquatic organisms. Our findings indicate that ecological risk assessments of insecticides and their derivatives should be expanded to include concentrations in sediment and water around paddy fields as well., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The quantity of heavy metals in soil is measured after 2-mm sieving in Japan for risk assessment of direct soil ingestion. A study was conducted on the relationship between the size of soil particles and quantity of heavy metals in soil, and the particle-size distribution of soil adhered to children's hands, and the risks of direct intake of soil considering the particle sizes ingested were evaluated. The results showed that smaller particles had a tendency to contain more heavy metals than bigger ones, that the particle size of approximately 90% of the soil particles from playgrounds adhered to children's hands was less than 100 μm, and that 2-mm sieving in preparation for measuring heavy metal content caused underestimation of the risk of direct soil intake. The amount of heavy metals on children's hands after playing outside was investigated. Various metals and soil were adhered to their hands, and the amount of soil adhered could be estimated from the concentration of metals. To develop accurate risk assessment, the particle-size distribution of ingested soil and more detailed scenarios of soil intake are necessary., (© 2014 Society for Risk Analysis.)

Background: The histogenesis of the pattern of cancer spread along Auerbach's plexus (myenteric spread: MS) remains unclear and its prognostic value in colorectal cancer (CRC) has not been thoroughly investigated., Methods: Pathology slides of 2845 pT2/pT3/pT4 CRCs stained with hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) were reviewed at 10 institutions. MS was classified into 2 groups depending on whether it was accompanied by the finding of perineural invasion (PN) within the lesion. In addition, immunohistochemical staining (D2-40, S100, CD56, synaptophysin) was performed for serially sectioned specimens from 50 CRCs diagnosed as having PN-negative MS., Results: MS was observed in 504 patients (17.7 %); 360 patients were classified as having PN-positive MS and 144 as having PN-negative MS. The 5-year disease-free survival rate of patients with MS was lower than that of patients without MS (63.3 vs 82.7 %, P < 0.0001); however, there was no significant difference in survival outcome according to the presence or absence of intralesion PN in MS. Multivariate analysis showed that the prognostic impact of MS was independent of conventional prognosticators including T and N stages, vascular invasion and extramural PN. In all the tumors having PN-negative MS, remnants of neural tissue were identified within or around cancer nests located at the leading edge of MS., Conclusions: MS is an important prognostic factor for CRC. This feature is the result of cancer development with replacement of Auerbach's plexus and can be classified as intramural PN. The clinical significance of "Pn1" in the UICC/AJCC TNM classification could be enhanced by individual assessment both intramurally and extramurally.

Samples were collected in 2011 from tomato plants exhibiting typical tomato leaf curl disease symptoms in the vicinity of Komae, Japan. PCR mediated amplification, cloning and sequencing of all begomovirus components from two plants from different fields showed the plants to be infected by Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and Ageratum yellow vein virus (AYVV). Both viruses have previously been shown to be present in Japan, although this is the first identification of AYVV on mainland Japan; the virus previously having been shown to be present on the Okinawa Islands. The plant harboring AYVV was also shown to contain the betasatellite Tomato leaf curl Java betasatellite (ToLCJaB), a satellite not previously shown to be present in Japan. No betasatellite was associated with the TYLCV infected tomato plants analyzed here, consistent with earlier findings for this virus in Japan. Surprisingly both plants were also found to harbor an alphasatellite; no alphasatellites having previously been reported from Japan. The alphasatellite associated with both viruses was shown to be Sida yellow vein China alphasatellite which has previously only been identified in the Yunnan Province of China and Nepal. The results suggest that further begomoviruses, and their associated satellites, are being introduced to Japan. The significance of these findings is discussed.

Purpose: Histologic components of the TNM classification system have been repeatedly revised since the fifth edition (TNM5). TNM classification revisions provide different criteria for categorizing tumor nodules without residual lymph node structure (ND). However, there are few systematic evaluations regarding the effectiveness of these revisions., Patients and Methods: A multicenter pathologic review for ND in colorectal cancer (CRC) was performed. Tumor staging defined by TNM5, sixth edition (TNM6), and seventh edition (TNM7) were compared on the basis of Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Harrell's concordance index (c-index). Moreover, TNM7's prognostic value was compared between the original ND and modified criteria, which considered all regional NDs as lymph node metastasis (LNM) irrespective of the original structure., Results: In 1,716 treated patients with CRC (1994 to 1998), tumor stages (I/II/III) exhibited better prognoses in TNM7 (AIC, 3055.1; c-index, 0.7215) than in TNM6 (AIC, 3063.7; c-index, 0.7149), but not better than in TNM5 (AIC, 3051.6; c-index, 0.7240). Comparing the original TNM7 and modified criteria, 4.2% of patients were classified in different N stages (N0/N1/N2a/N2b); both AIC and the c-index were superior in the modified criteria (AIC, 3029.40; c-index, 0.7271) compared with the original criteria (AIC, 3040.58; c-index, 0.7230). Modified criteria were also associated with improved prognostic power of tumor stages (I/IIA/IIB/IIC/IIIA/IIIB/IIIC). These results were similar in another cohort of 2,242 treated patients with CRC (1999 to 2003)., Conclusion: The prognostic value of TNM7 is better than that of TNM6; however, improvement over TNM5 is insignificant. By considering all regional NDs as LNM irrespective of their morphology, TNM classification can be simplified and its prognostic value improved.

Purpose: To clarify the prognostic impact of tumor nodules without residual lymph node (LN) structure (ND) in colorectal cancer and to determine optimal categorization of ND in tumor staging., Patients and Methods: A multicenter, retrospective pathologic review was performed for 1716 patients with stages I to III curatively resected colorectal cancer treated at 11 institutions between 1994 and 1998. An additional 2242 patients from nine institutions were enrolled between 1999 and 2003 as a second cohort to validate the results., Results: LN metastasis (LNM) and ND were observed in 33.7% and 16.0% (smooth-contour nodule [S-ND], 8.2%; irregular-contour nodule [I-ND], 10.7%) of patients in the first cohort. S-ND and I-ND were similarly distributed in the regional area. There was no considerable difference in the impact on survival between S-ND (hazard ratio [HR], 2.7; 95% CI, 1.9 to 3.8) and I-ND (HR, 4.3; 95% CI, 3.3 to 5.8) or between LNM (HR, 4.5; 95% CI, 3.4 to 6.0) and ND (HR, 4.0; 95% CI, 3.1 to 5.3). LNM and ND were similarly associated with the mode of recurrence. Tumor nodules ≥ 5 mm growing with venous/perineural invasion (ND [v/pni+]), judged with 0.61 κ value among 11 observers, had an independent prognostic value for 5-year survival of 42%; similar results were observed in the second cohort., Conclusion: These results do not support the TNM system in which S-ND is treated differently from I-ND in tumor staging; LNM and ND should be considered together in the same category. The presence of ND (v/pni+) has a considerable adverse prognostic effect.

The complete nucleotide sequences of two begomoviruses (Nara virus-1 and Nara virus-2), a satellite DNA (DNAbeta-Nara) and defective DNAs were obtained from honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) showing characteristic yellow vein mosaic symptoms in Nara Prefecture, Japan. One begomovirus (Ibaraki virus) and a satellite DNA (DNAbeta-Ibaraki) was isolated and cloned from honeysuckle plants exhibited typical yellowing of veins and small elliptical shaped enations along veins on the under side of the leaves in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. The genome organization of the three viruses is the same as those of other Old World monopartite begomoviruses. Nara virus-1 had overall nucleotide sequence identity with Nara virus-2 of 94% and Ibaraki virus of 90%. DNAbeta-Nara had overall nucleotide sequence identity with DNAbeta-Ibaraki of 83%. Comparison of the nucleotide sequences with other begomoviruses revealed that Nara virus-1 and Nara virus-2 are strains of Honeysuckle yellow vein mosaic virus (HYVMV), hence named as HYVMV-Nara1 and HYVMV-Nara2, whereas Ibaraki virus was a strain of Tobacco leaf curl Japan virus (TbLCJV), designated as TbLCJV-Hs[Iba]. HYVMV-Nara1 and HYVMV-Nara2 have hybrid genomes, which are likely to have formed recombination between HYVMV and TbLCJV. TbLCJV-Hs[Iba] or HYVMV-Nara2 could infect and cause yellowing, leaf crinkling and stunting symptoms when partial tandem dimeric constructs were agroinoculated on tomato plants. However, in the presence of DNAbeta, both TbLCJV-Hs[Iba] or HYVMV-Nara2 produced more severe stunting symptoms in tomato plants. Therefore, these viruses along with their satellites are causal agents of tomato yellow dwarf disease in Japan, and honeysuckle acts as a potential reservoir host. Previously available evidence indicated that DNAbeta elements do not contain iteron sequences of their helper viruses; hence this is the first evidence that DNAbeta satellites have the iteron of their helper virus.

Cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and selenium (Se) concentrations in cord whole blood, sampled from 24 women at the time of delivery in a hospital in Tokyo in 2005, were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with a reaction cell. Signal enhancement caused by nonspectroscopic interference for Se was evident and the standard addition technique was essential for correcting the interference. Median concentration in cord bloods was 0.20 ng/g, 6.7 ng/g (0.67 microg/dL), and 191 ng/g for Cd, Pb and Se, respectively. Lead concentration was lower, whereas Se concentration was higher, than those reported in other countries. The trace element concentration was related to the levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxin (fT4) in the neonatal blood sampled at 4-6 days postpartum. A significantly negative correlation was observed between Cd concentrations in cord blood and TSH concentration in neonatal blood. The result indicated the possible effect of in utero Cd exposure on thyroid hormone status of newborns and that Cd exposure level should be assessed as a covariate in the survey on the relationship between in utero chemicals (e.g., PCBs) exposure and thyroid hormone status.

The associations between in utero exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) or hydroxylated PCB metabolites (OH-PCBs), and free thyroxin (fT4) or thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) status in the newborn were investigated as a pilot study of a large-scale epidemiologic study on in utero PCB or OH-PCB exposure and thyroid function of the newborns. Umbilical cord tissue was used as the media for the biological monitoring of PCBs/OH-PCBs exposure in utero. For the measurement of fT4 and TSH, a heel-prick blood sample spotted on filter paper, which is called Guthrie card, is collected from each neonate at day 4-6 postpartum for this study when the mass screening sampling was performed. We showed that the concentration of total OH-PCBs and one of the OH-PCB congeners (OH-PCB 187) was related significantly to higher fT4 level of newborns. On the other hand, the concentration of total PCBs and PCB congeners (PCB 118, 138, 153, and 180) showed no relationship with fT4 and TSH level of the newborns. The results obtained in this pilot study indicated the possibility that in utero OH-PCBs exposure affects thyroid hormone status of newborns.

Japanese rice ( Oryza sativa L.) cultivars that are strictly used for the brewing of sake (Japanese rice wine) represent a unique and traditional group. These cultivars are characterized by common traits such as large grain size with low protein content and a large, central white-core structure. To understand the genetic diversity and phylogenetic characteristics of sake-brewing rice, we performed amplified fragment length polymorphism and simple sequence repeat analyses, using 95 cultivars of local and modern sake-brewing rice together with 76 cultivars of local and modern cooking rice. Our analysis of both nuclear and chloroplast genome polymorphisms showed that the genetic diversity in sake-brewing rice cultivars was much smaller than the diversity found in cooking rice cultivars. Interestingly, the genetic diversity within the modern sake-brewing cultivars was about twofold higher than the diversity within the local sake-brewing cultivars, which was in contrast to the cooking cultivars. This is most likely due to introgression of the modern cooking cultivars into the modern sake-brewing cultivars through breeding practices. Cluster analysis and chloroplast haplotype analysis suggested that the local sake-brewing cultivars originated monophyletically in the western regions of Japan. Analysis of variance tests showed that several markers were significantly associated with sake-brewing traits, particularly with the large white-core structure.

The genomic DNA of tobacco leaf curl geminivirus (TLCV) from tomato plants with leaf curl disease in Japan has been sequenced. The single circular DNA molecule comprises 2,761 nucleotides. TLCV DNA contains six open reading frames (ORFs) capable of encoding proteins with a molecular weight greater than 10 K. In total nucleotide sequence comparisons with other geminiviruses, TLCV was most closely related to tomato leaf curl virus from Taiwan (TwToLCV) (76% identity), tomato leaf curl virus from Bangalore (ToLCV-Ba) (74%) and agerantum yellow vein virus (AYVV) (74%), all possessing a monopartite genome. The significant but relatively low sequence similarity in the genomic DNA between TLCV and other geminiviruses suggests it is a distinct geminivirus in genus Begomovirus.

A statistic survey was made on the patients undergoing cadaveric renal transplantation between June, 1980 and December, 1993. The total number of patients was sixty-seven. The number of patients per year increased annually. The graft survival rate was 73.8% at 1 year and 63.1% at 5 years. Some transition was seen in immunosuppressive regimens using cyclosporin.

A statistic survey was made on the patients undergoing operations between July, 1983 and June, 1993. The total number of patients was 1780, comprising 1469 males and 311 females. The most frequent organ was the prostate with 526 cases (29.6%), followed by 415 (23.3%) penile and scrotum cases, and 290 (16.3%) bladder cases. Major operations were transurethral resection of prostate (418 cases) and bladder tumor (191 cases).