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Phomopsis black root rot of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), caused by Diaporthe sclerotioides (syn. Phomopsis sclerotioides), has been reported in Austria, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and Norway (Shishido et al. 2016). In August 2017, wilted plants were observed in patches comprising 10% of a 5-ha organic cucumber crop in Skagit Co., WA, after fruit had formed. Crowns, tap roots, and secondary roots had pink to brown, dry, corky lesions, black pseudostromata, and rectangular pseudosclerotia within cortical cells. Sections of symptomatic roots and crowns (≤10 mm long) of eight plants selected randomly were surface-sterilized in 0.6% NaOCl for 3 to 5 min, triple-rinsed in sterilized water, dried on sterilized blotters, plated on water agar, and incubated at 24 ± 2°C with a natural day/night cycle. Hyphae were transferred to 1/2-strength PDA amended with chloramphenicol (100 ppm). After 2 weeks, each isolate covered the plate with gray-brown, dense mycelium. Flat, brown-black, irregular pseudostromata formed in the medium. Five isolates were grown in 1/2-strength potato dextrose broth on a shaker for 7 days, mycelia harvested, DNA extracted, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 1-5.8S-ITS2 region of ribosomal DNA amplified using universal eukaryotic primers UN-UP18S42 and UN-LO28S576B (Schroeder et al. 2006). The sequences of isolates Dsl004, Dsl005, Dsl006, and Dsl008 (GenBank accession nos. MG434673.1, MG434674.1, MG434675.1, and MG434676.1, respectively) had 100% identity to that of a D. sclerotioides isolate (NR_111069.1); the sequence of Dsl002 (MG434672.1) had 99% identity because of a 7-nt insertion in the ITS1 region. All five isolates and DNA of D. sclerotioides ATCC18585 (ex-type culture) produced the expected 392-bp band of amplified DNA from the ITS rDNA using the highly specific primers CPs-1 and CPs-2 (Shishido et al. 2010). In addition, a 566-nt consensus sequence of the TEF 1-α gene of Dsl002, Dsl004 to Dsl006, and Dsl008 (MG868937) generated by PCR assay with primers EF-2F and EF-5AR (Taskin et al. 2010) was 100% identical to that of D. sclerotioides ATCC18585 (MG868936). Pathogenicity of the five isolates on cucumber was verified in a greenhouse using two methods, direct-seeding and transplanting. Two-week-old colonized PDA plates of each isolate were cut into 3 mm³ pieces and mixed in Sunshine Potting Mix #1 (Sungro Horticulture, Canada) (half a plate/1.0 liter potting mix/15-cm-diameter pot). A nontreated seed (cv. Turbo) was then planted in the medium in each of five replicate pots/isolate, and a 10-day-old Turbo seedling was transplanted into each of five replicate pots/isolate. For the control treatment, potting medium was amended with noncolonized PDA (five direct-seeded and five transplanted replicates). Plants were maintained at 18 to 26°C with 10 h light/day. Dsl004, Dsl005, Dsl006, and Dsl008 caused wilting and death of plants in 3 weeks with the direct-seeding method, and in 4 to 5 weeks for the transplanting method. Dsl002 caused stunting and minor wilting. Control plants remained healthy. The roots of inoculated plants had corky lesions with pseudostromata and pseudosclerotia. D. sclerotioides was reisolated from roots of inoculated plants but not control plants. The species was confirmed morphologically and by ITS rDNA and TEF 1-α sequencing. This is the first report of Phomopsis black root rot of cucumber caused by D. sclerotioides in Washington State or anywhere in the U.S.A. The disease was reported in greenhouse cucumber in neighboring British Columbia, Canada, in 1972 (Ormrod and Christie 1972). Research is needed to assess prevalence of the pathogen and management strategies to limit spread of the disease.

This paper will report on a 128-channel time switch for conversion of digital picture format. The chip operates at a 224Mbs/s throughput with a 56MHz clock. It contains 54,000 transistors in an area of 6.7,2mm2using 2.5μm CMOS and dissipates 1.5W.

Background The prognosis of gastric cancer with peritoneal metastasis is extremely poor. Neither systemic chemotherapy nor surgery alone prolongs survival of patients significantly. Methods Patients diagnosed with advanced gastric cancer underwent staging laparoscopy and received chemotherapy when peritoneal dissemination and/or cancer cells on peritoneal cytology were confirmed. The chemotherapy regimen consisted of S-1, weekly intravenous and intraperitoneal paclitaxel, which was verified in our phase II trial (Ann Oncol 2009). S-1 was administered at 80 mg/m2/day for 14 consecutive days, followed by 7 days rest. Paclitaxel was administered intravenously at 50 mg/m2 and intraperitoneally at 20 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8. Clinical response of chemotherapy was assessed by computed tomography, gastroendoscopy, peritoneal cytology and second-look laparoscopy. Radical gastrectomy was carried out when macroscopic curative resection was made achievable by chemotherapy. Chemotherapy was restarted after operation as soon as possible. Overall survival, relapse free survival, morbidity and mortality of gastrectomy were evaluated. Results Out of 100 patients with peritoneal metastasis who received chemotherapy, 60 patients underwent gastrectomy after response to chemotherapy, including 54 with macroscopic metastasis and 6 with positive peritoneal cytology only. A median of three courses were administered preoperatively (range 1–16). Total or distal gastrectomy with lymphnode dissection was carried out in 54 or 6 patients, respectively. The median survival time was 34.5 months. The median relapse-free survival was 16.7 months. The first site of relapse was the peritoneum in 24 patients and the other organ site in 17 patients. Postoperative complications included anastomotic leakage and pancreatic fistula in two patients each, which were healed conservatively. There were no treatment-related deaths. Conclusions Gastrectomy combined with S-1, intravenous and intraperitoneal paclitaxel is safe and active for gastric cancer patients with peritoneal metastasis.

Background Recently, an increasing number of cancer patients have received outpatient chemotherapy to improve their quality of life (QOL) and to reduce the medical expenses. During outpatient chemotherapy, the adverse events (AE) occurring at home must be carefully monitored. At some hospitals both inside and outside Japan, a ‘hotline service’, which is telephone consultation service available to patients and their caregivers for advice/management on AE and complications of cancer treatments, has been introduced. Last year, we also started the ‘hotline service’ at National Cancer Center Hospital (NCCH). Methods The ‘hotline service’ was notified patients received outpatients chemotherapy at their doctors' discretion. Their calls were answered by doctors, nurses, and pharmacists supporting the activity of the outpatient treatment center at NCCH. Results Between May 2011 and December 2011, 121 patients used the ‘hotline service’ a total of 234 times. Their consultations consisted of 138 drug-related consultations, 178 consultations for somatic symptoms, 31 consultations for psychiatric symptoms, 3 consultations for central venous port trouble and 37 other consultations. Forty consultations were made by patients receiving oral anti-cancer agents. In addition, beginning in September 2011, we began to evaluate the somatic symptoms of patients with complaints who use the ‘hotline service’, the evaluations were made according to CTCAE criteria ver.4 to comprehend the degree of toxicity and the subsequent patient condition. Thirty-four consultations about grade ≥2 somatic symptoms were made by 25 patients. Of these patients, 6 consulted again about same symptoms and 10 saw a doctor or entered the hospital. Conclusion Among the patients who consulted about grade ≥2 somatic symptoms, the number of patients who needed to see a doctor or enter a hospital was relatively large. If patients who develop grade ≥2 somatic symptoms during outpatient chemotherapy are appropriately supported, the incidence of severe AE may be reduced and the patients' QOL may be improved. Therefore, further consideration of methods for recognizing the incidence of AE during outpatient chemotherapy and for providing interventions for such symptoms is needed.

Thermal unfolding of two forms of Aspergillus niger glucoamylase was observed by adiabatic differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) at pH 7. The DSC traces of the larger form of the enzyme, G1, and the shorter form which lacks the C-terminal starch-binding domain of G1, G2, could be resolved by assuming two-state unfolding of five and four independent components, respectively. The thermal unfolding of the starch-binding domain was found to be reversible, but that of the catalytic domain was irreversible. The DSC observation of G1 and G2 in the presence of beta-cyclodextrin or 1-deoxynojirimycin showed that there was no domain interaction between the starch-binding domain and catalytic domain.

The interaction between pullulanase from Klebsiella pneumoniae and alpha-, beta-, and gamma-cyclodextrins and 6-O-alpha-glucosyl-alpha-cyclodextrin and 6-O-alpha-glucosyl-beta-cyclodextrin was examined by means of inhibition studies of the enzyme activity, UV difference spectroscopy, and flow calorimetry. All the above cyclodextrins were found to be competitive inhibitors, but beta-cyclodextrin and 6-O-alpha-glucosyl-beta-cyclodextrin showed strong inhibition, the inhibitor constants being two orders of magnitude less than those of alpha- and gamma-cyclodextrins. The difference spectra of beta-cyclodextrin were slightly but significantly different from those of the other cyclodextrins, showing blue shift of a few nanometers. Moreover, only beta-cyclodextrin has a positive entropy change upon binding with the enzyme; all the other cyclodextrins have negative values. These results show that the binding mode of beta-cyclodextrin is subtly different from those of alpha- and gamma-cyclodextrins.

Conventional single-beam pulsed Doppler echocardiography has certain limitations in quantitatively measuring the intracardiac blood flow, because the Doppler incident-angle to the flow stream is uncertain. In the present study, the absolute velocity and direction of the intracardiac blood flow, i.e., flow vector, were measured using our newly-developed dual-frequency two-beam pulsed Doppler echocardiography. This instrument has two transducers with center frequencies of 3.5 MHz (main-beam) and 2.2 MHz (sub-beam) which are linked by two arms. Three potentiometers are set up by the three joints to sense the relative angles. Two velocity components at the intersection of the main- and sub-Doppler beams were measured simultaneously with different directional approaches. The flow vector was calculated manually from the two velocity components. The study population consisted of 18 healthy subjects ranging in age from 23 to 39 years. The left ventricular (LV) inflow vector was measured at the center of the mitral annulus, and the ejection flow vector was measured at the levels of the tip (E1) and the mid-portion (E2) of the anterior mitral leaflet in the LV outflow tract. The results were as follows: 1. The LV rapid inflow (R) was directed slight posteriorly towards the cardiac apex, and its average maximal velocity was 78 +/- 15 cm/sec (mean +/- SD). The LV inflow due to the atrial contraction was directed even more posteriorly than was the R, and its average maximum velocity was 43 +/- 10 cm/sec. 2. The LV ejection flows at E1 and E2 were directed slightly posteriorly rather than parallel to the interventricular septum, and the maximum velocity at E1 and E2 was 53 +/- 20 m/sec and 85 +/- 23 cm/sec, respectively. In conclusion, the dual-frequency two-beam pulsed Doppler technique allows quantitative measurement of the intracardiac blood flow dynamics regardless of the Doppler incident-angle to the flow stream.

The thermodynamics of the binding of L-arabinose and of D-galactose to the L-arabinose-binding protein of Escherichia coli have been studied by isothermal and scanning calorimetry. The binding reaction with arabinose is characterized by an enthalpy change of -15.3 +/- 0.5 kcal mol-1 at 25 degrees C, and a large decrease in apparent heat capacity, amounting to -0.44 +/- 0.05 kcal K-1 mol-1, which is constant over the temperature range 8 to 30 degrees C. Very similar results were obtained with D-galactose. These calorimetric results have been combined with binding constants determined by equilibrium dialysis (Clark, A. F., Gerken, T. A., and Hogg, R. W. (1982) Biochemistry 21, 2227-2233) to obtain free energy and entropy changes over the range 5 to 30 degrees C, and by extrapolation to 60 degrees C. The protein undergoes reversible unfolding on being heated with an increase in enthalpy at 53.5 degrees C of 151.8 +/- 1.1 kcal mol-1 (169.2 +/- 1.2 kcal mol-1 at 59.0 degrees C) and in apparent heat capacity of 3.16 +/- 0.07 kcal K-1 mol-1. In the presence of arabinose, the unfolding enthalpy is increased to 200.7 +/- 1.8 kcal mol-1 at 59.0 degrees C, the increase being due to the enthalpy of dissociation of the ligand which amounts to 31 kcal mol-1 at the unfolding temperature. The unfolding temperature is increased by the presence of excess arabinose or galactose, an effect which is due solely to displacement by the added ligand of the unfolding-dissociation equilibrium. The thermodynamic data are discussed in connection with the detailed structural information available for this system from x-ray crystallography (Newcomer, M. E., Gilliland, G. L. and Quiocho, F. A. (1981) J. Biol. Chem. 256, 13213-13217, and references cited therein).

論文

A 77-year-old man was admitted to our hospital, due to systemic lymph node swelling. Nine months before his admission, he had been given a right hemicolonectomy for a colon cancer, that had been followed by chemotherapy (MMC and Tegafur). Laboratory testing revealed these findings: RBC 217 x 10(4)/mm3, Hb 8.3 g/dl, haptoglobin less than 10 mg/dl, positive Coombs test, cold hemagglutinin titer, 1:512, and polyclonal hyper r-globulinemia. A biopsy of a lymph node specimen exhibited the histological appearance of an IBL-like T-cell lymphoma described by Shimoyama et al. Although treatment with prednisolone was started for autoimmune hemolytic anemia, the patient died of severe anemia two months after the appearance of his lymph node symptoms.

The purpose of the present epidemiological study was to clarify the influence of regular dental health examination practiced as school dental health care on the caries situation. The data analyzed were the result of dental examinations for 272 1st year pupils attending a junior high school which was attached to a private educational institution with pupils and students ranging from the kindergarten to university level. The institution is conducting regular dental health examination for all but the primary school. We analyzed the differences in the situation of caries between pupils who had graduated from the primary school which was attached to the institution and pupils from other primary schools. The former group was composed of the pupils who had not received regular dental health examination in primary school and the latter was composed of the pupils who had received it. Then, including the factor of the dental health care in kindergarten, we obtained the following results. 1) No significant difference in caries prevalence was found between the pupils who had not received regular dental health examination in primary school and the pupils who had received it, among male and female pupils respectively. 2) Both male and female pupils who had received regular dental health examination revealed a significantly higher rate of filling than pupils who had not received it. 3) Concerning pupils who had not received regular dental health examinations, the caries prevalence only among male pupils who had graduated from kindergarten attached to the institution was higher than that of the pupils from other kindergartens.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Calorimetric measurement was made on the reduction of the three disulfide bonds of insulin by dithiothreitol (DTT). The reaction was performed at 298 K in three different buffer solutions of pH 9.6. The observed heat changes were corrected for the enthalpy of proton release from the buffer components and the net heat of reaction of insulin with DTT was determined to be delta H0 = 51.5 +/- 1.4 kJ(mol insulin)-1. By subtracting the enthalpy of DTT oxidation (Fukada, H.Takahashi, K. (1980) J. Biochem. 87, 1105--1110), the standard enthalpy of reduction of insulin was found to be delta H = 78.8 +/- 7.9 kJ(mol insulin)-1. Using the enthalpy change for reduction of random-coil proteins by dithioerythritol (Johnson, R.E., Adams, P.,Rupley, J.A. (1978) Biochemistry 17, 1479-1484), the enthalpy change associated with the conformational change of insulin alone was evaluated to be delta H = 74 +/- 2 kJ(mol insulin)-1 (or 13 J(g protein)-1, a value very similar to that observed for the denaturation of other globular proteins.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.fsirep.2023.100095.]., (© 2023 The Authors.)