High probability of pet dogs encountering the sylvatic cycle of Echinococcus multilocularis in a rural area in Hokkaido, Japan.

Surveillance of Echinococcus multilocularis in 98 pet dogs kept in a rural area of Hokkaido, Japan, from March 2018 to March 2019 suggested infection in seven dogs (7.1%) by E. multilocularis-specific copro-DNA examination, and one of them excreted E.

Differential regulation of two types of monogalactosyldiacylglycerol synthase in membrane lipid remodeling under phosphate-limited conditions in sesame plants.

Phosphate (Pi) limitation causes drastic lipid remodeling in plant membranes. Glycolipids substitute for the phospholipids that are degraded, thereby supplying Pi needed for essential biological processes. Two major types of remodeling of membrane lipids occur in higher plants: whereas one involves an increase in the concentration of sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol in plastids to compensate for a decreased concentration of phosphatidylglycerol, the other involves digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG) synthesis in plastids and the export of DGDG to extraplastidial membranes to compensate for reduced abundances of phospholipids.

Involvement of auxin dynamics in hypergravity-induced promotion of lignin-related gene expression in Arabidopsis inflorescence stems.

Recent studies have shown that hypergravity enhances lignification through up-regulation of the expression of lignin biosynthesis-related genes, although its hormonal signalling mechanism is unknown. The effects of hypergravity on auxin dynamics were examined using Arabidopsis plants that were transformed with the auxin reporter gene construct DR5::GUS. Hypergravity treatment at 300 g significantly increased β-glucuronidase activity in inflorescence stems of DR5::GUS plants, indicating that endogenous auxin accumulation was enhanced by hypergravity treatment.

Splenomegaly in FOLFOX-naïve stage IV or recurrent colorectal cancer patients due to chemotherapy-associated hepatotoxicity can be predicted by the aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio before chemotherapy.

Background: Chemotherapy-associated hepatotoxicity is a common cause of postoperative complications after major hepatectomy. Splenomegaly may indicate portal hypertension due to chemotherapy. To identify chemotherapy-naïve patients with liver damage, the splenic volume (SV) and aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio (APR) were investigated.

[A case report of complete response to RPMI regimen for multiple lymph node metastases following rectal cancer surgery].

A 78-year old man underwent low anterior resection for Stage IIIb rectal cancer(Ra). After surgery, he underwent the Roswell Park Memorial Institute(RPMI)regimen for 6 months followed by oral UFT for 8 months. Since liver metastasis(S6)recurred 2 years and 2 months after surgery, he underwent S6 subsegmentectomy.

Two RNA editing sites with cis-acting elements of moderate sequence identity are recognized by an identical site-recognition protein in tobacco chloroplasts.

The chloroplast genome of higher plants contains 20-40 C-to-U RNA editing sites, whose number and locations are diversified among plant species. Biochemical analyses using in vitro RNA editing systems with chloroplast extracts have suggested that there is one-to-one recognition between proteinous site recognition factors and their respective RNA editing sites, but their rigidness and generality are still unsettled. In this study, we addressed this question with the aid of an in vitro RNA editing system from tobacco chloroplast extracts and with UV-crosslinking experiments.

A simple in vitro RNA editing assay for chloroplast transcripts using fluorescent dideoxynucleotides: distinct types of sequence elements required for editing of ndh transcripts.

RNA editing is found in various transcripts from land plant chloroplasts. In tobacco chloroplasts, C-to-U conversion occurs at 36 specific sites including two sites identified in this work. Our RNA editing assay system using chloroplast extracts facilitated biochemical analyses of editing reactions but required mRNAs labeled with (32)P at specific sites.

Hypergravity stimulus enhances primary xylem development and decreases mechanical properties of secondary cell walls in inflorescence stems of Arabidopsis thaliana.

Background And Aims: The xylem plays an important role in strengthening plant bodies. Past studies on xylem formation in tension woods in poplar and also in clinorotated Prunus tree stems lead to the suggestion that changes in the gravitational conditions affect morphology and mechanical properties of xylem vessels. The aim of this study was to examine effects of hypergravity stimulus on morphology and development of primary xylem vessels and on mechanical properties of isolated secondary wall preparations in inflorescence stems of arabidopsis.

Effects of hypergravity conditions on elongation growth and lignin formation in the inflorescence stem of Arabidopsis thaliana.

The effects of hypergravity on elongation growth and lignin deposition in secondary cell walls of the Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. inflorescence stem were examined in plants grown for 3 days after exposure to hypergravity in the direction from shoot to root at 300 g for 24 h.

JSAR Innovative Technology Award. Development of ovulation synchronization and fixed time artificial insemination in dairy cows.

Recently, reproductive management has become more difficult as a result of increased herd size. Problems with missing estrous signs and decrease in conception rate by artificial insemination (AI) performed at wrong timing have caused low AI conception rates. In 1995, ovulation synchronization and fixed-time AI (Ovsynch/TAI) was developed in the USA as a new reproductive technology, which was accepted as an useful reproductive management tool in many countries.

[Evaluation of hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy for liver metastasis of colorectal cancer using a side-hole catheter].

In our department forty cases of hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy using a side-hole catheter were analyzed with liver metastasis of colorectal cancer from December 2000 to December 2003. This easily placed catheter is able to inject the agent effectively from the side hole. The efficacy of high dose 5-FU (1,000 mg/m2/week) of hepatic artery injected chemotherapy was evaluated.

Activation of phenylpropanoid metabolism in sesame by over-expression of carrot calmodulin gene.

Transgenic sesame (Sesamum schinzianum ASCH.) was produced by Agrobacterium-mediated transfection of a carrot calmodulin gene, cam-4, which was specifically expressed upon the contact of carrot cells with oligogalacturonide elicitor. Coding region of cam-4 was ligated to the downstream of 35S promoter of cauliflower mosaic virus and subcloned into pMATGBO-DB3.

Chloroplast phylogeny indicates that bryophytes are monophyletic.

Opinions on the basal relationship of land plants vary considerably and no phylogenetic tree with significant statistical support has been obtained. Here, we report phylogenetic analyses using 51 genes from the entire chloroplast genome sequences of 20 representative green plant species. The analyses, using translated amino acid sequences, indicated that extant bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts) form a monophyletic group with high statistical confidence and that extant bryophytes are likely sisters to extant vascular plants, although the support for monophyletic vascular plants was not strong.

Effects of body condition score in cows peripartum on the onset of postpartum ovarian cyclicity and conception rates after ovulation synchronization/fixed-time artificial insemination.

The aim of this study was to examine whether the nutritional state of cows peripartum was associated with the recovery of ovarian function and conception rates after synchronization of ovulation and fixed-time artificial insemination (OVSYNCH/TAI). The effect of the interval in days from calving to the first ovulation on conception rates after OVSYNCH/TAI was also investigated. Conception rates of cows after OVSYNCH/TAI (n=39) were 43.

Clinical response of ovarian cysts in dairy cows after PRID treatment.

We investigated the therapeutic effects of a progesterone releasing intravaginal device (PRID) on cystic ovarian disease (COD) and reproduction performance of cows. The possible influence of PRID on metabolic and/or health status was also examined. A total of 40 Holstein-Friesian cattle, with ovarian cystic structures, > or =2.

Influence of GnRH analogue (fertirelin acetate) doses on synchronization of ovulation and fixed-time artificial insemination in lactating dairy cows.

The effect of using a dose of 50 micro g rather than 100 micro g fertirelin in an ovulation/fixed-time insemination protocol for Holstein-Friesian dairy cows was investigated in three experiments. In each experiment, fertirelin was administered at the beginning of the protocol followed 7 days later by 500 micro g cloprosterol. Two days later, a second dose of fertirelin was given and AI performed 16-19 h later regardless of the incidence of behavioral oestrus.

A rice spotted leaf gene, Spl7, encodes a heat stress transcription factor protein.

A rice spotted leaf (lesion-mimic) gene, Spl7, was identified by map-based cloning. High-resolution mapping with cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence markers enabled us to define a genomic region of 3 kb as a candidate for Spl7. We found one ORF that showed high similarity to a heat stress transcription factor (HSF).