Two patients with polymyositis or dermatomyositis complicated with massive pleural effusion.

Two patients with polymyositis (PM) or dermatomyositis (DM) complicated with massive pleural effusion are reported here. Both patients presented a high-grade fever, pleural effusion prominent on the right, and good response to steroid therapy. In a 50-year-old woman with PM, combined process of pleural inflammation, cardiomyopathy and coexisting hypothyroidism were considered to be responsible for the accumulation of the massive pleural effusion. However, in a 34-year-old man with DM, pleural inflammation associated with interstitial pneumonia or pleural microvasculopathy in DM was considered to be responsible for the accumulation of the massive pleural effusion.

[Genetic alterations of human colorectal cancer].

Genetic alterations of several oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes are associated with human colorectal carcinogenesis. Especially in mutations, the K-ras, p53, APC and DCC gene frequently occurred, and these gene alterations seem to have important roles in colorectal carcinogenesis. We investigated 28 human colon cancer specimens obtained from surgery and five human colon cancer cell lines by PCR-SSCP assay, PCR-OSH assay, RT-PCR or sequencing method. Forty percent of cancers from surgical specimens had Ki-ras 2 (codon 12/13), p53 (Exon 5-8), APC (MCR) gene mutations, and fifty-seven percent of them had lower expression of DCC gene that of normal matched colon mucosa of the same patient. G to A transition was the most frequent in K-ras mutational spectrum in this case; 25% of patients had both k-ras and p53 gene point mutations. Form the results, we concluded that it in colorectal carcinogenesis for both K-ras and p53 gene point mutations might not necessary occur.

Observation of time-dependent CP violation in B0 --> eta'K0 decays and improved measurements of CP asymmetries in B0 --> phiK0, KS0KS0KS0 and B0 --> J/psiK0 decays.

We present improved measurements of CP-violation parameters in B(0) --> phiK(0), eta(')K(0), KS(0)KS(0)KS(0) decays based on a sample of 535 x 10(6) BB pairs collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB energy-asymmetric e(+)e(-) collider. We obtain sin2phi1(eff)=+0.64+/-0.10(stat)+/-0.04(syst) for B(0) --> eta(')K(0), +0.50+/-0.21(stat)+/-0.06(syst) for B(0) --> phiK(0), and +0.30+/-0.32(stat)+/-0.08(syst) for B(0) --> KS(0)KS(0)KS(0) decays. We have observed CP violation in the B(0) --> eta(')K(0) decay with a significance of 5.6 standard deviations. We also perform an improved measurement of CP asymmetries in B(0) --> J/psiK(0) decays and obtain sin2phi1=+0.642+/-0.031(stat)+/-0.017(syst).

Genetics of sex-ratio variation inferred from parent-offspring regressions and sib correlations in the apple snail Pomacea canaliculata.

The brood sex ratio in the apple snail Pomacea canaliculata varies almost continuously from all male to all female, but the population sex ratio is nearly 1:1. In this study, regressions of the offspring sex ratio on the sex ratios of the parents' siblings as well as correlations in the brood sex ratios between sisters or brothers were investigated, in order to infer the genetic system that produces the sex-ratio pattern. There were significant positive relationships between the offspring sex ratio and the sex ratio of the mother's siblings (slope=0.28), and between the offspring sex ratios of two sisters (r=0.41). On the other hand, the father-offspring regression (slope=0.10), and the correlations between two brothers (r=-0.13) or between the brother and the sister (r=0.17) were not significant. These patterns differed from predictions using typical cytoplasmic sex factors, sex-ratio genes or sex-determining polygenes. Thus, the results suggest the involvement of either a small number of sex-determining genes or a more complicated system such as sex-ratio or sex-determining polygenes that act nonadditively.

An autopsy case of ulcerative colitis associated with Takayasu's disease with a review of 13 Japanese cases.

An autopsy was performed on a 42-year-old Japanese female who had been suffering from both ulcerative colitis (UC) and Takayasu's disease. Her UC started at age 27 with bloody stool, and Takayasu's disease was diagnosed at age 30 on the basis of absence of pulse in her left arm. After more than ten years she died of multiple cerebral infarction. An autopsy study revealed the scarring stage of UC in the entire colon and aortitis in the aortic arch and its major branches and pulmonary arteries. Her HLA type was positive for HLA-A2, 24, Bw52 and 61. Clinical features of a total of 13 Japanese cases that had both UC and Takayasu's disease have been reviewed in the Japanese and Western literature.