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The Mekong giant catfish (MGC), Pangasianodon gigas, is one of the world's largest catfish species. Endemic to the Mekong River system, the MGC is critically endangered. Six MGC were transported from Thailand to the Gifu World Freshwater Aquarium (GWFA) in Japan in May 2004. The MGC have not been measured since they were introduced to the GWFA due to the challenges associated with their large size. Traditional methods, such as anesthesia and net-capture, could harm the fish, potentially reducing the population further. However, understanding the ecology of the species is essential to conservation efforts. Seasonal feeding rhythms and long-term fasting were previously observed in captive MGCs. To investigate the effect of long-term fasting on MGC growth, total length measurements are necessary. In this study, we applied a noncontact method to estimate the total length via image analysis. We shot a stereo-video of free-swimming MGC in the aquarium tank using two digital video cameras and analyzed the 3D images using the direct linear transformation method. We successfully estimated the total length of each MGC individual without contacting the fish. This accurate estimation method is versatile, simple, and useful in aquarium breeding and is also recommended from the viewpoint of animal welfare because it is a noninvasive method of measurement., (© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Interspecific hybridization is a common breeding approach for introducing novel traits and genetic diversity to breeding populations. Southern highbush blueberry (SHB) is a blueberry cultivar group that has been intensively bred over the last 60 years. Specifically, it was developed by multiple interspecific crosses between northern highbush blueberry [NHB, Vaccinium corymbosum L. (2n = 4x = 48)] and low-chill Vaccinium species to expand the geographic limits of highbush blueberry production. In this study, we genotyped polyploid blueberries, including 105 SHB, 17 NHB, and 10 rabbiteye blueberry (RE) (Vaccinium virgatum Aiton), from the accessions planted at Poplarville, Mississippi, and accessions distributed in Japan, based on the double-digest restriction site-associated DNA sequencing. The genome-wide SNP data clearly indicated that RE cultivars were genetically distinct from SHB and NHB cultivars, whereas NHB and SHB were genetically indistinguishable. The population structure results appeared to reflect the differences in the allele selection strategies that breeders used for developing germplasm adapted to local climates. The genotype data implied that there are no or very few genomic segments that were commonly introgressed from low-chill Vaccinium species to the SHB genome. Principal component analysis-based outlier detection analysis found a few loci associated with a variable that could partially differentiate NHB and SHB. These SNP loci were detected in Mb-scale haplotype blocks and may be close to the functional genes related to SHB development. Collectively, the data generated in this study suggest a polygenic adaptation of SHB to the southern climate, and may be relevant for future population-scale genome-wide analyses of blueberry.

A 68-year-old man presented with severe abdominal pain. Seven months earlier, he had received systemic chemotherapy for small-cell lung cancer with solitary metastasis to the spleen, followed by splenectomy. Abdominal computed tomography and abdominal arterial angiography showed diffuse ischemia of the mesenteric artery without apparent occlusion. The patient also suffered from septicemia caused by Enterococcus faecium. Therefore, a diagnosis of non-occlusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI) induced by septicemia was supposed. Although treatment with antibiotics and papaverine hydrochloride was administered and the necrotic tissue in the intestinal tract was resected, the patient died. Physicians should be aware that patients undergoing splenectomy are likely to be affected by septicemia, which may subsequently induce NOMI.

Conclusion: The accuracy and sensitivity of fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in this analysis were not satisfactory, and the false-negative rate seemed to be higher than for parotid tumours. The possibility of low-grade malignancy should be considered in the surgical treatment of accessory parotid gland (APG) tumours, even if the preoperative results of FNAC suggest that the tumour is benign., Objectives: Little is known about the usefulness of FNAC in the preoperative evaluation of APG tumours, probably due to the paucity of APG tumour cases. We examined the usefulness of FNAC in the detection of malignant APG tumours., Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 3 cases from our hospital, along with 18 previously reported Japanese cases. We compared the preoperative FNAC results with postoperative histopathological diagnoses of APG tumours and evaluated the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and false-negative rates of FNAC in detecting malignant APG tumours., Results: There were four false-negative cases (19.0%), three of mucoepidermoid carcinomas and one of malignant lymphoma. One false-positive result was noted in the case of a myoepithelioma, which was cytologically diagnosed as suspected adenoid cystic carcinoma. The accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of FNAC in detecting malignant tumours were 76.2%, 60.0% and 90.9%, respectively.

Conclusion: The necessity of considering cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis (CTL) should be emphasized even today for the differential diagnosis of cervical lymphadenopathy, particularly when it is located in the posterior triangle and supraclavicular regions even in patients without active pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB)., Objective: This study was conducted to highlight the characteristics of patients with CTL without active PTB who were treated in our department., Methods: Between 2004 and 2011, 21 cases of CTL without active PTB were included in this retrospective study. Histological examination after excisional biopsy of the affected lymph node was performed in 18 patients using hematoxylin and eosin staining and Ziehl-Neelsen (Z-N) staining for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) identification. Growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was detected by culturing and/or nucleic acid amplification tests including polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and transcription-mediated amplification (Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Direct: MTD)., Results: The male to female ratio was 1:1.3. Patient ages ranged from 22 to 89 years. Eighteen patients (85.7%) complained of indolent unilateral cervical lymphadenopathy in the posterior triangle (26.5%), internal jugular (24.5%), or supraclavicular nodes (18.4%). Positive rates of AFB according to Z-N staining and culturing of M. tuberculosis and/or PCR or MTD were 33.3% (6/18) and 72.2% (13/18), respectively.

Conclusion: Most hematolymphoid malignancies in the head and neck were malignant lymphomas that most often occurred in sexagenarian men. Approximately 80% of them were B-cell lymphomas with a predominance of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in both nodal and extranodal sites. Our results were compatible with those in a previous study that was conducted in the central part of Japan., Objectives: This analysis was performed to describe the anatomic distribution of hematolymphoid malignancies that were diagnosed by biopsy in our department., Methods: Clinical medical records of 122 patients with hematolymphoid malignancies in the head and neck from January 2004 to December 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. The anatomic site of origin according to the histopathology of each malignancy was analyzed., Results: The incidence ratio of hematolymphoid malignancies was 15.1%. The male:female ratio was 2.3:1. Ages ranged from 17 to 89 years (median, 66). Of the 122 cases, 121 were lymphoid neoplasms (4 cases of Hodgkin lymphoma and 117 cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma) and the remaining 1 was myeloid. The most common histopathology was DLBCL (54.9%), followed by follicular lymphoma (8.2%), and peripheral T-cell lymphoma (8.2%). Most commonly, the oropharynx (36.1%) and the cervical lymph node (34.4%) were affected.

Five Burkholderia strains (CL-1, CL-2, CL-3, CL-4, and CL-5) capable of degrading monochloroacetic acid (MCA) were isolated from activated sludge or soil samples gathered from several parts of Japan. All five isolates were able to grow on MCA as the sole source of carbon and energy, and argentometry and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy analyses showed that these five strains consumed MCA completely and released chloride ions stoichiometrically within 25 h. The five isolates also grew on monobromoacetic acid, monoiodoacetic acid, and L-2-monochloropropionic acid as sole sources of carbon and energy. In addition, the five isolates could not grow with DCA but dehalogenate single chlorine from DCA. Because PCR analyses revealed that all five isolates have an identical group II dehalogenase gene fragment and no group I deh gene, only strain CL-1 was analyzed further. The partial amino acid sequence of the group II dehalogenase of strain CL-1, named DehCL1, showed 74.6% and 65.2% identities to corresponding regions of the two MCA dehalogenases, DehCI from Pseudomonas sp. strain CBS-3 and Hdl IVa from Burkholderia cepacia strain MBA4, respectively. The secondary-structure motifs of the haloacid dehalogenase (HAD) superfamily and the amino acid residues involved in substrate binding, catalysis, and hydrophobic pocket formation were conserved in the partial amino acid sequence of DehCL1.

We conducted a retrospective analysis to evaluate the impact on clinical outcomes of adding rituximab to cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients in Japan. A propensity score method was used to compensate for the non-randomized study design. From January 2000 to December 2004, 378 patients who were newly diagnosed with DLBCL at 13 institutes were enrolled: 123 in the rituximab plus CHOP-based chemotherapy (R+) group, and 255 in the CHOP-based chemotherapy only (R-) group. The complete response rate was significantly higher in the R+ group than in the R- group (77.7 vs. 69.4%, P < 0.001). The progression-free survival (PFS) at 2 years was 62.4% in the R+ group and 57.0% in the R- group. The 2-year overall survival (OS) was 76.9% for the R+ group and 70.5% for the R- group. A multivariate analysis revealed that the addition of rituximab was a strong independent prognostic factor for PFS (hazard ratio 0.64, 95% CI 0.43-0.96, P = 0.031). A subgroup analysis revealed that R+ particularly benefited younger patients (hazard ratio 0.25, 95% CI 0.08-0.75, P = 0.013). IPI also showed significant impact for PFS (hazard ratio 1.82, 95% CI 1.55-2.14 for one score increase, P < 0.001) as well as OS (hazard ratio 2.10, 95% CI 1.71-2.57, P < 0.001). In summary, the addition of rituximab to CHOP-based chemotherapy results in better outcomes for Japanese DLBCL patients, particularly younger patients.

Conclusion: Smoking was associated with a lower incidence of benign paroxysmal positioning vertigo (BPPV). A larger study is required to establish the role of smoking in BPPV., Objective: To evaluate the effect of cigarette and alcohol consumption on BPPV., Patients and Methods: One hundred and fifty-six patients with BPPV and 155 age- and sex-matched normal subjects were compared according to their cigarette and alcohol consumption. Patients with BPPV who had had a recurrence of the disease and those who had not were also compared as to their cigarette and alcohol consumption. The question of whether the length of time until recovery was influenced by cigarette or alcohol consumption was also investigated., Results: Control subjects smoked significantly more often than BPPV patients, and patients without recurrence more frequently than patients with recurrence. Alcohol consumption was also more common in control subjects than in BPPV patients, but there was no difference between patients with recurrence and without recurrence. There was a tendency for smoking patients to recover sooner than non-smoking patients. Alcohol consumption did not affect the length of time until recovery.

Primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) is a newly described high-grade B cell lymphoma developing in association with human herpes virus type 8 (HHV-8) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infecting individuals. Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is a primary immunodeficiency disease characterized by reduced serum immunoglobulin and heterogeneous clinical features. The risk of cancer in CVID patients is increased. Here, we describe a PEL that developed in the pleural and pericardial cavities of an HIV-negative and HHV-8-negative patient with CVID.

Over the 10 years from 1988 to 1997, a total of 18 cases of tuberculosis of the head and neck (8 of the cervical lymph node, 5 of the larynx, 2 of the salivary glands, and 1 each of the hypopharynx, tongue and middle ear) were diagnosed in our department. Four cases were diagnosed in 1996 and 8 in 1997, indicating a rapid increase over these 2 years. Definitive diagnosis was based on histopathological examination in 14 cases, detection of M. tuberculosis in 1 case and exclusion diagnosis, mainly using the tuberculin skin test, in 3 cases. The length of time from the first examination to obtaining a definitive diagnosis was 14.2 +/- 6.5 days in five subjects in whom tuberculosis was suspected from the beginning or in whom tuberculosis was suggested by the physician in making a differential diagnosis, 25.3 +/- 17.2 days in the group in whom malignant tumour was suspected and 64.3 +/- 57.3 days in other cases. Although no significant difference was found (p = 0.077), the length of time until diagnosis tended to be shorter in the cases that were suspected of having tuberculosis from the beginning. Family history and past history of tuberculosis, contact with a tuberculous patient and abnormal findings at chest X-ray were examined as background factors, and some of these were present in nine out of the 18 cases. In the five cases diagnosed in the early stage, some of the background factors were found in four cases. However, no significant difference in the time until definitive diagnosis was found between the groups with or without background factors in all cases (p = 0.675). These results suggest the importance of considering tuberculosis when performing differential diagnoses.

Despite the fact that vertigo has been one of the most frequent complaints encountered in daily practice in an ENT outpatient clinic, it is believed to be the most unwelcome subject for ENT physicians. The reasons are diverse; e.g., the understanding of vertigo is still a difficult task for most physicians and requires time-consuming multiple studies. However, answers to those questions, although speculated a posteriori, are yet to be substantiated. Therefore, we have analyzed the data obtained from multiple questionnaires that were addressed to ENT physicians practicing in Chiba Prefecture in November of 1993. However, those who work in publicly run hospitals were excluded from the study. The study included otorhinolaryngologists who were members of the Society of Otorhinolaryngology of Japan. We received filled questionnaire forms from 76 of 155 members (49%). The age ranged from 33 to 82 years (mean 55.8 years, 68 men and 8 women). From these questionnaires, it became apparent that physicians are not necessarily reluctant to see patients with vertigo. Instead, most ENT physicians appeared to be actively paying attention to this symptom and to be making efforts to approach its diagnosis and treatment. Although we are not certain if the data obtained here represent the majority of ENT physicians, the positive attitudes toward the patients with vertigo/dizziness would certainly encourage those of us who are interested in this particular symptom category.

Between 1981 and 1989, ten patients underwent replacement of the ascending aorta and aortic valve by a composite graft for an aneurysm of the ascending aorta with aortic regurgitation. The first two cases using an SJM aortic valve prosthesis and Teflon felt-pledgeted mattress sutures for the proximal anastomoses required a coronary bypass graft from the tube graft to the anterior descending coronary artery because of difficulty in completing the graft-left coronary ostial anastomoses. In the subsequent seven cases, an SJM mitral valve prosthesis with a large, soft cuff for a valved conduit was sewn in reverse and a thin wall Teflon roll was used for the Teflon felt of the pledgeted mattress suture in the proximal anastomoses. As a result, anastomoses between the tube graft and coronary ostia were performed easily and successfully in eight patients. One case with Marfan syndrome required reoperation nine years after the first operation for recurrence of the aneurysm of the aortic arch. Thus, the need for careful and continued follow-up is important in the Marfan syndrome.

Alcoholics who were first admitted for alcoholism treatment at a psychiatric hospital between 23 and 32 years of age were more likely than alcoholics admitted at a later age to be the firstborn or only child in their family, to have experienced paternal death before age 10 and to have had alcoholic relatives.