Acquired resistance to a nucleopolyhedrovirus in the smaller tea tortrix Adoxophyes honmai (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) after selection by serial viral administration.

A laboratory colony of Adoxophyes honmai was selected for resistance over 156 generations by feeding neonate larvae of every generation with the LC60 or LC70 of its nucleopolyhedrovirus, Adoxophyes honmai nucleopolyhedrovirus (AdhoNPV). A significant difference in LC50 values between the selected (R-strain) and unselected (S1- and S2-strain) strains was first observed after three generations of selection, and the resistance level then increased continuously. The highest degree of acquired resistance, based on the ratio of the LC50 values of R- and S1-strains, was more than 400,000-fold. After selection was stopped at either the 21st or the 149th generation, LC50 values did not decrease significantly, suggesting that resistance of the R-strain to AdhoNPV was stable. To assess which of the two routes of baculovirus infection is affected by resistance to AdhoNPV, 5th instar larvae of the R-strain were inoculated orally and intrahemocoelically with AdhoNPV and their susceptibility was compared to that of S-strain. The ratio of the LC25 values of selected and unselected strains was 91-fold when budded viruses were injected into 5th instar larvae, but was 107,000-fold after oral inoculation. These results indicate that the resistance mechanism of the R-strain of A. honmai disrupts both midgut primary infection and hemocoelic secondary infection.

[Evaluation of family function in home care].

Quantitative and qualitative analyses of a caring family are needed to improve home care. We propose a three-dimensional quantitative evaluation of family functioning. The first dimension is food, clothing, and shelter; the second dimension is patient, medical, and caring conditions; and the third dimension is the caring family condition. We used the home care score and Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale at Kwansei Gakuin(FACESKG)IV for the quantitative evaluation of family functioning. Narrative medicine and ethnography are valuable for the qualitative evaluation of a caring family.

[2 cases of successful symptom management at home by using opioid rotation from a fentanyl preparation to a continuous subcutaneous injection of morphine hydrochloride, at a dose less than the equivalent dose based on the conversion table].

We report our experiences of 2 cases of successful pain management at home by using opioid rotation from a fentanyl preparation to a continuous subcutaneous injection of morphine hydrochloride, at a dose less than the equivalent dose based on the conversion table. Our experiences also suggested that opioid rotation according to the conversion ratios might be associated with the risk of delay in the detection of adverse reactions to opioid overdose in patients under home care, whose conditions cannot be checked frequently by health care providers.