Assessment of somaclonal variation for salinity tolerance in sweet potato regenerated plants

Genetic variation is the source for plant breeding. Somaclonal variation is genetic variation induced during tissue culture and also during ordinary growth in vivo, and occurs rather, often in sweet potato. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the degree of somaclonal variation in regeneration via somatic embryogenesis by phenotypic analysis under salinity stress condition and to assess the potential of somaclonal variation for development of salinity tolerant cultivar in sweet potato. The regenerated and control plants were evaluated under an established in vitro salinity screen system where media were supplemented with 0, 75, 150 and 200 mM of NaCl. The data for parameters (number of roots, length of roots, leaf and root condition) was recorded in three repeat tests. Data analysis suggested a significant variation in salinity tolerance among regenerated and control plants that proved the occurrence of somaclonal variation in regenerated plants. Despite none of the regenerated line was selected as a salt tolerant line, present study shows that regenerated plants exhibited somaclonal variation that can be utilized for selection of desired traits in sweet potato.Key words: Sweet potato, regeneration, somaclonal variation, salinity tolerance

The Analysis of Vocational Aptitude Changing with Age

The assumption that vocational aptitude changed with age and with the kind of occupation was examined from the tendency of the fitted curve for the score of the aptitude test. 9 vocational aptitudes were measured by the general vocational aptitude test by Japan Labor Ministry. Subjects were 382 male workers (design engineers, turners, welders, can manufacturing workers, and crane operators) of from 20 to 59 years old, and 348 male and female students (junior high school, vocational school, and university) of from 15 to 19 years old. The design engineers' aptitudes advanced along the quadratic curve until 31 years old, but almost all the aptitudes of the other workers fell along the linear curve with age. The design engineers preserved various aptitudes until 52 years old, the turners 44, and the welders, the can manufacturing workers, and the crane operators 37. The students' aptitudes were equal to those of the workers of from 15 to 25 years old. The workers preserved Spatial aptitude and Numerical aptitude until 45 years old. This could be said in all the occupations here. Further it was made clear from the micromotion study that the influence of age was caused by therblig

Gastrointestinal Endoscopy for Patients with High Levels of Serum CEA and CA19-9

Serum levels of tumor markers, such as carcinoembryonic antigen （CEA） and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 （CA19-9）, are often measured to detect potential malignancy. When these levels are high, the presence or absence of malignancy is confirmed via a more detailed examination using gastrointestinal （GI） endoscopy and computed tomography. The rate of confirmation of malignancy upon such a follow-up is unknown. This study aimed to investigate the malignancy detection rate via GI endoscopy for patients with high levels of serum CEA and CA19-9. All patients who underwent such GI endoscopy between January 2018 and February 2019 at Showa University Hospital were included in this study. The patients were divided into a follow-up group and a screening group, depending on the purpose of measuring their serum CEA/CA19-9 levels. There were 156 patients who underwent GI endoscopy because of high CEA/CA19-9 levels within the study period. Advanced malignant lesions were detected in 10 patients （6.4％）, including seven cases of colorectal cancer and three cases of upper GI malignancies. In the screening group, six cases （5.7％） of GI malignancies were detected, none of which were found in asymptomatic patients without anemia. In the follow-up group, four cases （7.8％） of GI malignancies were detected; three patients were asymptomatic, and one patient had anemia. Our findings suggest that high serum CEA/CA19-9 levels in asymptomatic patients without anemia and without a history of malignancy do not indicate the presence of malignancy. However, high serum CEA/CA19-9 levels may indicate the potential presence of GI malignancies for patients with a history of malignant tumors, even if they are asymptomatic and do not have anemia