ミャンマー連邦シャン州北部およびカチン州における稲遺伝資源の探索収集

Myanmar is a country having a large genetic diversity of crop genetic resources. But through the introduction of improved varieties, local varieties so called landraces are now on the verge of extinction. It is a critical stage to explore, collect and conserve domestic plant genetic resources in the country for future utilization. Thus a joint rice exploration program of MAFF Genebank project and Myanmar Seed Bank was carried out in the Northern Shan State and Kachin State of Myanmar from November 16 to December 15,2000. Of the lowland rice varieties collected, 80 percent were improved varieties introduced from foreign countries in the past 3～5 years. However some landraces suitable for the eating habitat of local people or local agro-ecological conditions such as alkali soil are still remained. On the other hand, most of the upland rice varieties were landraces although improved varieties have been gradually introduced. A total of 104 varieties including landraces, improved varieties and wild rices were collected. In the landraces, a big variation was observed on grain shape, grain color, plant type, tolerance to cool weather and resistance to pests and diseases

Breast cancer management pathways during the COVID-19 pandemic: outcomes from the UK ‘Alert Level 4’ phase of the B-MaP-C study

Abstract: Background: The B-MaP-C study aimed to determine alterations to breast cancer (BC) management during the peak transmission period of the UK COVID-19 pandemic and the potential impact of these treatment decisions. Methods: This was a national cohort study of patients with early BC undergoing multidisciplinary team (MDT)-guided treatment recommendations during the pandemic, designated ‘standard’ or ‘COVID-altered’, in the preoperative, operative and post-operative setting. Findings: Of 3776 patients (from 64 UK units) in the study, 2246 (59%) had ‘COVID-altered’ management. ‘Bridging’ endocrine therapy was used (n = 951) where theatre capacity was reduced. There was increasing access to COVID-19 low-risk theatres during the study period (59%). In line with national guidance, immediate breast reconstruction was avoided (n = 299). Where adjuvant chemotherapy was omitted (n = 81), the median benefit was only 3% (IQR 2–9%) using ‘NHS Predict’. There was the rapid adoption of new evidence-based hypofractionated radiotherapy (n = 781, from 46 units). Only 14 patients (1%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during their treatment journey. Conclusions: The majority of ‘COVID-altered’ management decisions were largely in line with pre-COVID evidence-based guidelines, implying that breast cancer survival outcomes are unlikely to be negatively impacted by the pandemic. However, in this study, the potential impact of delays to BC presentation or diagnosis remains unknown

Mentor-mentee program with Medical Students: A successful program with ethical considerations

Background: Mentoring is the relationship of a guide or a teacher with another person/student augmenting his/her carrier growth, knowledge, skills, and experiences implemented by caring, sharing and helping hands. The aim of this paper is to highlight the mentoring, type of mentoring, how important of matching and consideration of ethical issue in mentoring program. Not missing these significant points, mentoring program could be successful in universities including medical faculty. Methods: The SMART principles of specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound are essential to structure the matching between mentor and mentee. The rule of etiquette and ethical issues are crucial and beneficial for mentor-mentee relationship. Clinical mentoring programs help to develop students’ clinical skills and can increase interest in under-subscribed specialties. Positive mentoring plays a part in reversing the decline of academic medicine, by sparking interest through early research experiences. Results: There is the short term goal which is to introduce an immediate support network for incoming students and the long term goal is to cultivate a mentoring culture to engage all strata of medical students and every faculty member. Medical students expressed that mentoring program is to provide counselling, develop professionalism, increase students' interest in research, and support them in their personal growth. Conclusion: The goal of mentorship is to provide additional support to student or mentee by steering of the academic needs or social prerequisites to accelerate the personal and professional development of mentee with advice, guide and feed backs from the mentor

A summary of the Pondaung fossil expeditions

We briefly summarize the fossil expeditions of the Eocene Pondaung Formation of central Myanmar by the Kyoto University field parties with Myanmar researchers during the field seasons of 1998-2003. We briefly report our contributions to the study on the Pondaung fossils, providing locality data, a list of the Pondaung vertebrate fauna, comments of the repositories of the specimens, and specimen lists, with references of the studies on the Pondaung Formation and Pondaung fossils. The Pondaung vertebrate fauna currently consists of three species of fishes (three orders and three families), 16 species of reptiles (three orders and 10 families), one species of birds, and 53 species of mammals (seven orders and 25 families). The age of the Pondaung fauna is determined as the late middle Eocene by the geological and microfossil evidence. The paleoenvironment of the Pondaung fauna is estimated to be forested/woodland vegetation with humid/subhumid moisture and large rivers, which were located not far from seashore. The Pondaung mammalian fauna includes many artiodactyl taxa compared to other middle Eocene faunas of East Asia and shows relatively high endemism at the generic level among the contemporaneous mammalian faunas of East Asia. The Pondaung fauna includes several mammalian taxa that indicate migration between Eocene Southeast Asia and Eocene western Eurasia/North Africa