Related polymorphic F-box protein genes between haplotypes clustering in the BAC contig sequences around the S-RNase of Japanese pear

Most fruit trees in the Rosaceae exhibit self-incompatibility, which is controlled by the pistil S gene, encoding a ribonuclease (S-RNase), and the pollen S gene at the S-locus. The pollen S in Prunus is an F-box protein gene (SLF/SFB) located near the S-RNase, but it has not been identified in Pyrus and Malus. In the Japanese pear, various F-box protein genes (PpSFBB-α–γ) linked to the S-RNase are proposed as the pollen S candidate. Two bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) contigs around the S-RNase genes of Japanese pear were constructed, and 649 kb around S4-RNase and 378 kb around S2-RNase were sequenced. Six and 10 pollen-specific F-box protein genes (designated as PpSFBB4-u1–u4, 4-d1–d2 and PpSFBB2-u1–u5, 2-d1–d5, respectively) were found, but PpSFBB4-α–γ and PpSFBB2-γ were absent. The PpSFBB4 genes showed 66.2–93.1% amino acid identity with the PpSFBB2 genes, which indicated clustering of related polymorphic F-box protein genes between haplotypes near the S-RNase of the Japanese pear. Phylogenetic analysis classified 36 F-box protein genes of Pyrus and Malus into two major groups (I and II), and also generated gene pairs of PpSFBB genes and PpSFBB/Malus F-box protein genes. Group I consisted of gene pairs with 76.3–94.9% identity, while group II consisted of gene pairs with higher identities (>92%) than group I. This grouping suggests that less polymorphic PpSFBB genes in group II are non-S pollen genes and that the pollen S candidates are included in the group I PpSFBB genes

The Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2016 (J-SSCG 2016)

Background and purposeThe Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2016 (J-SSCG 2016), a Japanese-specific set of clinical practice guidelines for sepsis and septic shock created jointly by the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine, was first released in February 2017 and published in the Journal of JSICM, [2017; Volume 24 (supplement 2)] https://doi.org/10.3918/jsicm.24S0001 and Journal of Japanese Association for Acute Medicine [2017; Volume 28, (supplement 1)] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jja2.2017.28.issue-S1/issuetoc.This abridged English edition of the J-SSCG 2016 was produced with permission from the Japanese Association of Acute Medicine and the Japanese Society for Intensive Care Medicine.MethodsMembers of the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine were selected and organized into 19 committee members and 52 working group members. The guidelines were prepared in accordance with the Medical Information Network Distribution Service (Minds) creation procedures. The Academic Guidelines Promotion Team was organized to oversee and provide academic support to the respective activities allocated to each Guideline Creation Team. To improve quality assurance and workflow transparency, a mutual peer review system was established, and discussions within each team were open to the public. Public comments were collected once after the initial formulation of a clinical question (CQ) and twice during the review of the final draft. Recommendations were determined to have been adopted after obtaining support from a two-thirds (> 66.6%) majority vote of each of the 19 committee members.ResultsA total of 87 CQs were selected among 19 clinical areas, including pediatric topics and several other important areas not covered in the first edition of the Japanese guidelines (J-SSCG 2012). The approval rate obtained through committee voting, in addition to ratings of the strengths of the recommendation, and its supporting evidence were also added to each recommendation statement. We conducted meta-analyses for 29 CQs. Thirty-seven CQs contained recommendations in the form of an expert consensus due to insufficient evidence. No recommendations were provided for five CQs.ConclusionsBased on the evidence gathered, we were able to formulate Japanese-specific clinical practice guidelines that are tailored to the Japanese context in a highly transparent manner. These guidelines can easily be used not only by specialists, but also by non-specialists, general clinicians, nurses, pharmacists, clinical engineers, and other healthcare professionals

Nationwide surveillance of bacterial respiratory pathogens conducted by the surveillance committee of Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, and the Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2010: General view of the pathogens\u27 antibacterial susceptibility

The nationwide surveillance on antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial respiratory pathogens from patients in Japan, was conducted by Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases and Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2010.The isolates were collected from clinical specimens obtained from well-diagnosed adult patients with respiratory tract infections during the period from January and April 2010 by three societies. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted at the central reference laboratory according to the method recommended by Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institutes using maximum 45 antibacterial agents.Susceptibility testing was evaluable with 954 strains (206 Staphylococcus aureus, 189 Streptococcus pneumoniae, 4 Streptococcus pyogenes, 182 Haemophilus influenzae, 74 Moraxella catarrhalis, 139 Klebsiella pneumoniae and 160 Pseudomonas aeruginosa). Ratio of methicillin-resistant S.aureus was as high as 50.5%, and those of penicillin-intermediate and -resistant S.pneumoniae were 1.1% and 0.0%, respectively. Among H.influenzae, 17.6% of them were found to be β-lactamase-non-producing ampicillin (ABPC)-intermediately resistant, 33.5% to be β-lactamase-non-producing ABPC-resistant and 11.0% to be β-lactamase-producing ABPC-resistant strains. Extended spectrum β-lactamase-producing K.pneumoniae and multi-drug resistant P.aeruginosa with metallo β-lactamase were 2.9% and 0.6%, respectively.Continuous national surveillance of antimicrobial susceptibility of respiratory pathogens is crucial in order to monitor changing patterns of susceptibility and to be able to update treatment recommendations on a regular basis

Chemotherapy with Cisplatin and Vincristine for Optic Pathway/Hypothalamic Astrocytoma in Young Children

Optic pathway/hypothalamic astrocytomas (OPHA) in young children often show accelerated growth and require rather intensive induction chemotherapy. Fifteen children (median age: 3 years) with a large OPHA were treated. All of them presented with progressive disease, and the tumor size was larger than 34 mm. Pilocytic astrocytoma was confirmed histologically in 10 patients. Eleven patients had visual disturbance, six had diencephalic syndrome and four had hydrocephalus. The children received six to eight cycles of cisplatin (20 mg/m(2): days 1-5) and vincristine (1.4 mg/m(2): days 1, 8, 15), every 4 weeks. Objective response was obtained in 11 patients (73%); one complete response, eight partial responses and two minor responses. Although the remaining four cases were evaluated as stable disease, all tumors decreased in volume. All children tolerated the chemotherapy well under careful audiological monitoring. Although the present series was small, this chemotherapy is a useful regimen for induction therapy in children with an aggressive deep-seated pilocytic astrocytoma

Non-standard Uses of PIRIKA: Pilot of the Right Knowledge and Argument.

status: publishe