The responses of male Aedes albopictus to a bait mouse were examined under laboratory conditions using the cage-test method. In most of the tests fewer males were recovered in the bait cage than the control cage. There was no evidence that male mosquitoes were fond of the mouse or attracted to the animal.

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Flow cytometric DNA analysis using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues were performed on nine cases of African endemic-type Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Histologically, these cases were classified into the following three types; granulation tissuelike (one case), angioma/angiosarcoma-like (four cases) and spindle cell (four cases). Although these three types showed a variety of cellularity and cellular atypism, there were no fundamental differences in the view point of proliferation of spindle cell. Mitotic figures were not prominent. All cases were exclusively diploid and lacked an aneuploid population by flow cytometric measurement of DNA content. These results suggest that African endemic-type KS is a less aggressive disease rather than a malignant neoplasm.

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A new blackfly species, Simulium (Gomphostilbia) parahiyangum sp. nov. is described based on the female, male, pupal and larval specimens collected from Java. This new species is very distinctive among the Gomphostilbia species in possessing prominent dorsal protuberances on abdominal segments 1-5 and a deep postgenal cleft reaching the hypostomium in the larval stage. By the number of antennal segments (11 vs. 10) the male of this species is easily distinguished from that of S. (G.) varicorne Edwards, 1927 reported from Sumatra, to which the larva and pupa of this species had been once thought to be conspecific.

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In Accra City and five rural villages near Accra, human parasites and nutritional status were examined in 269 preschool children. Nine species parasites were recognized. Nutritional status was determined by the measurement of weight and height. Malnutrition was frequently found in the children belonged to the age group 0-5 years. The infective rates of parasites in children were 58.0% in the normal nutritional status and 25.0% in the malnutritional status. Infective rate was higher for the well-nourished children and was lower in the malnutritional children. We also recognized that infective rates of parasites differed from species of parasites.

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A total of 141 serum specimens from inhabitants in eight age groups in Vientiane, Lao PDR was examined to estimate the neutralizing anitibody levels to dengue (DEN) and Japanese encephalitis (JE) viruses. From the analyses of the results of neutralization (N) tests, the following conclusions were drawn about the prevalences of DEN and JE viruses in Vientiane : (1) The percentage incidences of N antibodies to DEN 1-4 viruses increased with age, but the incidences of N antibodies to DEN-3 and DEN-4 were lower than those to DEN-1 and DEN-2, which reached 100% by the age of 21-30 years old. (2) The percentage incidence of N antibody to JE virus was similar to those to DEN-3 and DEN-4. (3) The geometric mean titer of N antibody to DEN-2 was highest among four serotypes in every age group, indicating that, in the past, DEN-2 virus was most prevalent. (4) By the age of 15 years old, the majority of the inhabitants (88.2%) in Vientiane were infected with two or more serotypes of DEN viruses and most children seem to be exposed first to DEN viruses and later to JE virus.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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