John N. Brady (1952-2009): a Generous Spirit

John N. Brady, Chief of the Virus Tumor Biology Section of the Laboratory of Cellular Oncology, National Institutes of Health, died of cancer on 27 April 2009. John was a stellar member of the virology community. He was a longtime Journal of Virology reviewer and a member of the editorial board. He will be missed. Fatah Kashanchi of the George Washington University Medical Center has written John''s memorial. Fatah worked with John at the NIH and published more than 30 papers with him. Fatah thanks all the people who contributed to John''s obituary, including Kuan-Teh Jeang, Lou Laimins, Mary Loeken, Renaud Mehieux, Paul Lambert, Graziella Piras, Scott Gitlin, Paul Lindholm, Nadia Rosenthal, Sergi Nekhai, Brian Wigdahl, David Price, Susan J. Marriott, Cynthia Masison, Jurgen Dittmer, Eric Verdin, Bassel E. Sawaya, and John''s longtime assistants Janet Duvall Grimm and Michael Radonovich, who gave immense support to all the individuals who went through John''s lab.     

Zhengli Li （Cheng-Lee Lee） 1918-2009

Professor Zhengli Li (Cheng-Lee Lee), a well-known botanist in China, former deputy Editor-in-Chief (1979-1987) of Acta Botanica Sinica (predecessor of JIPB) and Professor of Peking University, passed away at the age of 91 in Beijing on 22 SeDtember 2009.     

Infant Cancer in Taiwan: Incidence and Trends (1995-2009)

Background

Current information about cancer incidence patterns among infants in East Asia is rare. The objective of this study was to report the first population-based cancer surveillance of infants in Taiwan.

Methods

Cancer frequencies and incidence rates among subjects aged <1 year for the period 1995-2009 were obtained from the Taiwan Cancer Registry. Types of cancers were grouped according to the International Classification of Childhood Cancer. Rates and trends were analyzed by sex and disease groups and further compared with that of other countries.

Results

A total of 900 infants were diagnosed with cancers, giving an incidence rate of 250.7 per million person-years from 1995 to 2009. The male-to-female incidence rate ratio was 1.22. Overall, leukemias (56.3 per million) were the most common cancer, followed by germ cell neoplasms (43.2) and neuroblastomas (41.8). The incidence increased by 2.5% annually during the 15-year study period and was predominantly contributed by male infants (3.5%). Compared with other countries, the rate of hepatoblastoma in Taiwan was second to that from Beijing (China) and 2 to 5 times greater compared with the US, France, the North of England and Osaka (Japan). The rates of germ cell neoplasms were 2 to 4 times greater in Taiwan.

Conclusions

The current data suggests that cancer incidence rate among male infants was rising in Taiwan. The factors associated with higher rates of hepatoblastoma and germ cell neoplasms warrant further investigation on similar ethnic groups of different areas to elucidate the potential environmental impacts while controlling for race.     

Chromosome Abnormalities in Northeastern Mexico: Ten Years of Experience in a Private Laboratory (1999-2009)

Throughout the world, chromosome alterations are one of the main causes of major malformations in newborns and of multiple clinical characteristics in patients of other ages. The present study had as its principle objective to determine the distribution of chromosome alterations obtained from 1999-2009 at a private laboratory located in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon state, Mexico, and that received samples from other northeastern Mexican states. We studied 1,652 cases of peripheral blood karyotypes. Samples were obtained from patients in whom there was a suspicion of some chromosome alteration based on the clinical history. Of the karyotypes evaluated, 1,250 (76.0%) had normal karyotype, 320 (19.0%) presented chromosome alterations, among which 270 (84%) were numerical, 50 (16%) were structural, and 82 (5.0%) were polymorphisms. Chromosome alteration frequency and type found in the present study is similar to that found in studies conducted in other countries and to that reported in the literature.     

The Biology of Neobursaridium gigas Balech, 1941 (Ciliata: Heterotrichida)

SYNOPSIS. N. gigas Balech, 1941, has been found again in Uganda and cultured in the laboratory. Some features of its morphology and behavior were studied. The buccal cavity has a small pit. Trichocysts are found in the endoplasm as well as the cortex. The ciliate appears to be highly sensitive to light. Cyclops was an important predator. The size of N. gigas is very variable.