Resistance-Breaking Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus Variant that Recently Occurred in Pepper in South Korea is a Genetic Reassortant.

Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) is a destructive viral pathogen in various crops, including pepper. Although the single dominant gene Tsw has been utilized in pepper breeding to confer resistance to TSWV, the occurrence of TSWV variants that overcome Tsw-mediated resistance has been reported in various countries after several years of growing resistant cultivars. In this study, we determined the complete genome sequence of a resistance-breaking TSWV variant (TSWV-YI) that recently emerged in pepper in South Korea. TSWV-YI infected all of the resistant pepper cultivars tested. The phylogenetic and recombination analyses of the complete TSWV-YI genome sequence showed that it is a reassortant that acquired its L and M RNA segments from the existing South Korean TSWV population and its S RNA in an isolate from another country. Given that TSWV-YI is a resistance-breaking variant, it appears that reassortment of the S RNA led to the emergence of this variant that breaks the Tsw gene in pepper grown in South Korea. Our results suggest that resistance-breaking TSWV variants are a potential threat to pepper production in South Korea and that strategies to manage these variants should be developed to ensure sustainable pepper production.

Uterine artery embolization for symptomatic adenomyosis: a new technical development of the 1-2-3 protocol and predictive factors of MR imaging affecting outcomes.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a new embolization technique named the 1-2-3 protocol to achieve complete necrosis of adenomyosis after uterine artery embolization (UAE) and to determine predictive factors on magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 40 patients with adenomyosis without leiomyomas diagnosed on MR imaging were prospectively enrolled. They were subdivided into three categories based on MR signal intensity (SI) of the adenomyosis on T2-weighted imaging: dark, low, and heterogeneous SI or SI equal to that of the myometrium. Nonspherical polyvinyl alcohol particles were used in all cases, beginning with 150-250-µm particles and progressively increasing to 250-355-µm and then 355-500-µm particles to the endpoint. Patients were assessed for extent of devascularization on MR imaging and for durability of symptom control. RESULTS: Of the 40 patients who underwent UAE for adenomyosis with the 1-2-3 protocol, 33 (82.5%) exhibited complete necrosis of adenomyosis. All six patients with dark SI of adenomyosis exhibited complete necrosis (100%). Of the 28 patients with low SI of adenomyosis, 25 (89.3%) showed complete necrosis. Among the six patients with heterogenous SI or SI equal to that of myometrium, only two (33.3%) showed complete necrosis (P < .01). Of 16 patients with complete necrosis followed up to 18 months, none reported recurrent menorrhagia. Of the five patients without necrosis, only one had no symptoms at 18 months. CONCLUSIONS: UAE with the 1-2-3 protocol is safe and highly effective to achieve complete necrosis of adenomyosis. Dark SI of adenomyosis is the most favorable predictive factor for UAE on MR imaging, followed by low SI. Heterogenous SI or SI equal to that of the myometrium is an unfavorable predictive factor.

Age at menopause and cause-specific mortality in South Korean women: Kangwha Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between age at natural menopause and all-cause and cause-specific mortality among women. METHODS: This study used the data of the Kangwha Cohort that was followed up from 1985 to 2001, in particular, for the group of 55 years or older women (n=2658). We calculated the hazard ratio of mortality by the group of age at menopause using the Cox proportional hazards model with adjustment for age, alcohol consumption, education, age at first birth, self-cognitive health level, chronic disease, marital partner, parity, age at menarche, oral contraceptive use and hypertension. RESULTS: The mean (standard deviation) age at menopause was 46.9 (4.9) years, and the median age was 48 years. After adjusting for the relevant variables, the risk of total death in the early menopause group (<40 years at menopause) was 1.32 times higher than that of the reference group (45-49 years at menopause) (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-1.66, p=0.02). For the early menopause group, relative to the reference group, the adjusted hazard ratios of death due to cardiovascular disease and cancer were 1.53 (95% CI, 1.00-2.39, p=0.04) and 2.01 (95% CI, 1.06-3.82, p=0.03), respectively. CONCLUSION: Through this study, the age at menopause was found to be different between Asian and Caucasian women and the association of age at menopause with death, particularly caused by cardiovascular disease and cancer, was validated. Our study is one of rare studies regarding the age at menopause of Asian women and their risk of mortality, which could be considered to be meaningful.

Appropriateness ratings in cataract surgery.

This study aimed to evaluate the appropriateness of cataract surgery and identify the characteristics of patients and surgeons, clinical and functional outcomes, and surgical methods associated with appropriate cataract surgery. For this purpose, Korean cases of cataract surgery were rated as either 'necessity', 'appropriate', 'uncertain' or 'inappropriate', based on RAND/UCLA Ratings. For this assessment, the cases of 222 patients who underwent cataract surgery, on either one or both eyes, were studied. The surgeries were performed by 20 ophthalmologists practicing at one of fourteen medical institutions (university hospitals and general hospitals). Patients were interviewed and clinical data collected. The Doctors were questioned with self-entered questionnaire forms. The medical records were also examined to gain an understanding of the surgical process. The ratings were as follows: 30.6% (68 patients) of surgeries belonged to the bracket "necessity", 46.4% (103 patients) to "appropriate", 15.3% (34 patients) to "uncertain" and 7.7% (17 patients) to "inappropriate". In this study, "necessity" and "appropriate" were defined as "appropriate" (77.0%, 171 patients), and "uncertain" and "inappropriate" as "inappropriate" (23.0%, 51 patients). The low preoperative Snellen visual acuity and visual function, advanced age and male patients were associated with appropriate surgery. It is concluded that appropriate surgery was related to the clinical and functional outcomes (visual acuity and visual function) and patient characteristics (age and male).