Competition model explains trends of long‐term fertilization in plant communities

Over 40 years ago, Kempton (Biometrics, 35, 1979, 307) reported significant modification to plant community structure following a long-term fertilization experiment. Many researchers have investigated this phenomenon in the years since. Collectively, these studies have shown consistent shifts in rank abundance relationships among species in communities following fertilization. The previous studies indicated that fertilization affects community structure through several critical processes, including trait-based functional response, reordering of species in rank abundance diagram (RAD), and niche dimensionality, although some questions have remained. How does the species reordering driven by the plant responses cause characteristic trends in temporal changes of RAD? Why are those trends ubiquitous in various systems? To answer those questions, we theoretically investigated the effects of fertilization on community structure based on a colonization model (or Levins model) with competition–fecundity trade-offs, which can result in the coexistence of multiple species under competition. The model represents characteristic RAD, which can be an adequate tool to study community composition. Our theoretical model comprehensively represents observed trends in rank abundance relationships following long-term fertilization and suggests that competitive interactions among species are a critical factor in structuring species diversity in plant communities

Successful treatment of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma in a patient with gastric and rectal lesions with metachronous and ectopic development

A 75-year-old female, who had an abnormal stomach x-ray finding, was admitted to the hospital for further examination and therapy. Upper GI endoscopy showed reddish and swollen folds on the greater curvature of the gastric body and a biopsy was of this lesion revealed malignant lymphoma (small cell type or mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma suspected). The patient was infected with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), however, in response to the patient's wishes, a total gastrectomy, omentectomy and splenectomy were performed and the histological diagnosis was gastric MALT lymphoma. Two courses of CHOP therapy (cyclophosphamide (CPM) 750 mg/m2/day, day 1, adriamycin (ADM) 50 mg/m2/day, day 1, vincristine sulfate (VCR) 1.4 mg/m2/day, day 1, prednisolone 100 mg/body, day 1–5) were administered as adjuvant chemotherapy. A colonoscopic examination performed about 4.5 yr after the operation revealed rectal submucosal tumors and the biopsied specimens were diagnosed as malignant lymphoma. A transanal focal resection was performed and the histological diagnosis was metachronous and ectopic development of MALT lymphoma. The histological finding was similar to the gastric lesion. About 4 and 7 yr after the first development of rectal MALT lymphoma, MALT lymphomas developed repeatedly in the rectal lesion, however, these were resected repeatedly and no developmenthas occurred during the past two years. This report presents a very rare case of metachronous and ectopic MALT lymphoma development in the gastric and rectal lesions

Anti-Dementia Drugs and Hepatotoxicity–Report of Two Cases

Summary: Two patients with Alzheimer's disease who developed hepatitis caused by anti-dementia drugs are presented. Case 1: An 84-year-old-woman was referred to our hospital with profound jaundice. The levels of liver enzymes and jaundice decreased after the cessation of memantine and yokukansan (herbal medicine approved for dementia in Japan). Case 2: An 82-year-old-man was referred because of elevated transaminases. Liver biopsy showed central necrosis typical for drug-induced liver injury. The levels of transaminases decreased after withdrawal of rivastigmine transdermal patch treatment. Anti-dementia drugs have been safely used in terms of hepatotoxicity. However, some cases might be missed because of the difficulty in recognizing signs and symptoms in elderly and dementia patients. Keywords: drug-induced liver injury, alzheimer's disease, anti-dementia drugs, elderl