Characteristics of Household Transmission of COVID-19 during Its Outbreak in Okinawa, Japan from February to May 2020.

The Okinawa prefecture confirmed 142 cases of coronavirus disease from February 14 to May 2020. Among them, 78 were the first cases of a household with 174 household contacts. Of the 174 contacts, 21 contracted the disease, indicating a secondary attack rate of 12.

Evolutionary divergence of the sex-determining gene uncoupled from the transition to anisogamy in volvocine algae.

Volvocine algae constitute a unique comparative model for investigating the evolution of oogamy from isogamous mating types. The sex- or mating type-determining gene encodes a conserved RWP-RK transcription factor found in either the or male mating locus of dioecious volvocine species. We previously found that from the isogamous species () could not induce ectopic spermatogenesis when expressed heterologously in females, suggesting coevolution of Mid function with gamete dimorphism.

Gene Editing: Powerful New Tools for Nephrology Research and Therapy.

Biologic research is experiencing a transformation brought about by the ability of programmable nucleases to manipulate the genome. In the recently developed CRISPR/Cas system, short RNA sequences guide the endonuclease Cas9 to any location in the genome, causing a DNA double-strand break (DSB). Repair of DSBs allows the introduction of targeted genetic manipulations with high precision.

[Laboratory-based evaluation of PVL-RPLA "Seiken" to detect Panton-Valentine leukocidin produced by Staphylococcus aureus].

It is well known that some isolates of Staphylococcus aureus produce pathogenic toxin, Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL), and that the toxin has been reported to be highly associated with community acquired methicillin resistant S. aureus (CA-MRSA). Currently, the PCR method using specific primers for the PVL gene (LukS-PV-lukF-PV) have been widely used to detect PVL.

Species and population level molecular profiling reveals cryptic recombination and emergent asymmetry in the dimorphic mating locus of C. reinhardtii.

Heteromorphic sex-determining regions or mating-type loci can contain large regions of non-recombining sequence where selection operates under different constraints than in freely recombining autosomal regions. Detailed studies of these non-recombining regions can provide insights into how genes are gained and lost, and how genetic isolation is maintained between mating haplotypes or sex chromosomes. The Chlamydomonas reinhardtii mating-type locus (MT) is a complex polygenic region characterized by sequence rearrangements and suppressed recombination between its two haplotypes, MT+ and MT-.

[Evaluation of turnaround time (TAT) for outpatients from venipuncture accession to reporting test results of blood chemistry and blood cell analysis to physicians].

In response to the revision of social medical insurance policy, in which hospital clinics can additionally charge for laboratory testing when the test results are presented to an outpatient in a print-out form on a visiting day, we evaluated laboratory-spending times, so-called turnaround times (TATs). A total of 14,802 outpatients during the period from October 2010 to May 2011 were enrolled. TATs from venipuncture accession to completing blood collection revealed a log-normal distribution with 5 to 6 min of mode and 10(0.

[Identification and characterization of Panton-Valentine leukocidin-positive Staphylococcus aureus isolated in Okinawa, Japan].

We experienced hospital-acquired infection in March 2008 that three nurses became infected with Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-positive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Accordingly, we performed the retrospective study to determine the prevalence of PVL-positive S. aureus in Okinawa.