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To enlarge the opportunities for parallelizing a sequentially coded program, the authors have previously proposed speculative memory (SM). With SM, they can start the parallel execution of a program by assuming that it does not violate the data dependencies in the program. When the SM system detects a violation, it recovers the computational state of the program and restarts the execution. In this article, the authors explore the design space for implementing a software-based SM system. They compared the possible choices in the following three viewpoints: (1) which waiting system of suspending or busy-waiting should be used, (2) when a speculative thread should be committed, and (3) which version of data a speculative thread should read. Consequently, the performance of the busy-waiting system which makes speculative threads commit early and read non-speculative values is better than that of others.

Many techniques for parallelizing a sequentially coded program have been developed and put to practical use, but there are many cases in which program codes cannot be parallelized because it is impossible to assure that their parallel execution does not violate the data dependencies in the program. To parallelize such programs, we have previously proposed speculative memory (SM). With SM, programmers can specify the parallel and speculative execution of threads explicitly in their programs. The SM system manages the memory data that are speculatively read or written by the threads running in parallel. When the system detects inconsistent memory accesses, it recovers the computational state of the program and restarts the execution. If such inconsistencies are not encountered often, we can expect the total execution time of the program to be shorter. In this paper we present a software implementation of SM (SSM). We have developed an SM library by using POSIX threads. In spite of large overheads that are essentially unavoidable in a software implementation, our SSM system can shorten the execution time of a program that compilers cannot parallelize automatically.

Despite the evidence suggesting that mouse pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency provides protection against malaria in rodents, there has been no investigation of a parallel protective effect against babesiosis caused by Babesia rodhaini. Here, we examined whether a PK-deficient co-isogenic mouse strain (CBA-Pk-1(slc)) was protected against B. rodhaini infection. We demonstrated that deficiency in pyruvate kinase correlated with a significant protective effect, with survival rates of 50%, 58% and 56% in groups inoculated with 10, 10(3) and 10(5) parasitized erythrocytes, respectively. In contrast, control CBA (CBA-Pk-1(+)) mice exhibited 100% lethality, regardless of the infectious dose. In addition, CBA-Pk-1(slc) mice showed decreased levels of parasitemia when compared to CBA-Pk-1(+) mice, in groups given 10, 10(3) or 10(5) parasitized erythrocytes. These results indicate that similar to PK deficiency in rodents, PK deficiency in mice affects the in vivo growth of B. rodhaini and protects the mice from lethal babesiosis.

We demonstrate here the identification and phylogenetic characterization of Babesia microti (B. microti)-like parasite detected from a splenectomized Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata fuscata) at a facility for laboratory animal science. On Day 133 after splenectomy, intra-erythrocytic parasites were found on light microscopic examination, and the level of parasitemia reached 0.3% on blood smear. Molecular characterization of the parasite using nested-polymerization chain reactions targeting the 18S rRNA, β-tubulin, and subunit 7 (eta) of the chaperonin-containing t-complex polypeptide 1 (CCT7) genes were identified as a B. microti-like parasite, designated the Japanese Macaque Babesia-1 (JM-1).

A frozen-stored blood clot of a wild brown bear cub Ursus arctos yesoensis that had been captured in Hokkaido, Japan was examined for piroplasma infection using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Two 18S ribosomal RNA gene (SSU rDNA) sequences were generated. One 1565-bp sequence showed the highest similarity with B. gibsoni (95.9% identity) but, phylogenetically, was found to belong to a distinct lineage. The other sequence (1709-bp) could not be definitively assigned to a described taxon, sharing only limited homology to the closest named species (90.1% identity with C. felis). In order to enhance information obtained from the SSU rDNA sequence, further detection and sequence analysis of the CCTeta gene sequence were done revealing the simultaneous presence of three closely related genotypes (all in a monophyletic lineage) within a single bear host. This finding suggested the possibility that a new Babesia species (Babesia sp. UR1) might have been maintained in nature in wild brown bears. While the parasite's biology is yet unknown, to our knowledge, this is, excepting the single case documentation in 1910 of a hemoparasite in a bear at Russian zoo, the first reported case of piroplasms inhabiting a bear species.

We recently reported that feral raccoons (Procyon lotor) with splenomegaly native to Japan were carriers of a Babesia microti-like parasite identical to that found in the United States, which was likely introduced to Japan from North America via raccoons imported as pets. Thus, we attempted extensive molecular survey for piroplasma infections of feral raccoon with normal spleen in Hokkaido, Japan using nested PCR that target broadly to 18S ribosomal RNA gene (SSU-rDNA) of all the parasites in the genus Babesia, Theileria, Cytauxzoon and B. microti group. Of the 348 raccoon samples analyzed, 9 gave positive signals. Cloning and phylogenetic analysis on SSU-rDNA sequences revealed that six of nine positives were found to be infected with Babesia and the remaining three with previously unreported Sarcocystis. Babesia sequences were further separated into two distantly related groups, those that reside in a novel phylogenetic group were consisted solely of four parasites found in this study, while those which included one identical sequence found in the three of our specimens were assembled together with both Babesia parasites of tick's in Japan and of raccoon's in U.S. These results may indicate that not only a B. microti-like parasite but also at least two yet undescribed Babesia species are being established in their new life cycles in the feral raccoon populations in Japan.