K. Nonaka

THE TWINNING RATES BY ZYGOSITY IN JAPAN, 1975-1994

The monozygotic (MZ) twinning rate in Japan had remained nearly constant from 1975 (3.74 per 1,000 births) to 1994 (4.23), whereas the dizygotic (DZ) twinning rate had remained nearly constant from 1975 (1.86) to 1986 (2.27), and had gradually increased up to 1994 (3.89). The higher DZ twinning rate since 1987 has been attributed to the higher proportion of mothers treated with ovulation-inducing hormones and partially attributed to in-vitro fertilisation in Japan. As for maternal age, MZ twinning rates have remained nearly constant for maternal age groups except the youngest and the oldest age groups. On the other hand, DZ twinning rates increased up to the 35-39 years of age group and decrease thereafter. In 1994, the twinning rate was higher in DZ twins than in MZ twins for maternal age groups of 30-34 years and of 35-39 years. As for geographical variations in twinning rates, DZ rates statistically significantly increased with the year during the period from 1986 to 1994 in 31 out of 47 prefectures. In 1994, twinning rates in 21 out of 47 prefectures were higher in the DZ than the MZ rate, and the DZ rate is equal to the MZ rate in two prefectures. Geographical variations in twinning rates by zygosity in 1994 drastically changed from those during the period from 1955-1959 and in 1974.

Pulmonary Function of Nonsmoking Female Asbestos Workers Without Radiographic Signs of Asbestosis

Researchers disagree about whether exposure to asbestos causes significant respiratory impairments and airway obstruction in the absence of radiographic asbestosis and smoking. To obtain confirmatory information, the authors examined pulmonary function of 208 nonsmoking female asbestos workers who did not have asbestosis and 136 controls. The authors observed an overall lower single-breath carbon monoxide diffusing capacity in the asbestos workers than in controls. In addition, significant decreases in percentage vital capacity, percentage forced vital capacity, and percentage mean forced expiratory flow during the middle half of the forced vital capacity were evident in the older workers. Logistic regression analysis revealed that asbestos exposure was associated with abnormal single-breath carbon monoxide diffusing capacity, vital capacity, and mean forced expiratory flow during the middle half of the forced vital capacity among the older workers. The age-related decline in vital capacity, forced vital capacity, and mean forced expiratory flow during the middle half of the forced vital capacity was significantly greater in the asbestos workers than the controls. The findings imply that asbestos-exposure per se contributes predominantly to restricted lung volume and reduced single-breath carbon monoxide diffusing capacity. Asbestos may also cause slight airway obstruction, especially in workers who are heavily exposed.

Changes of recollected menarcheal age and month among women in Tokyo over a period of 90 years.

Data on the recollected age at menarche of 47,881 women born between 1881 and 1970 were examined. The mean menarcheal age had changed from 15.1 years in those born up to 1900 to 12.5 years in those born during the 1960s. The age at menarche differed according to the month of birth, and the pattern of average age distribution by month of birth was not the same when the year of birth was different. Among women born before 1955 the menarcheal age was earlier in those born in the summer. However, among women born after 1955, menarche occurred later when they were born in the summer. The monthly distribution of menarche had also changed during this 90-year period. Two peaks in April and August were prominent among those born up to 1960. A third peak in January became also apparent in those born after 1960.

Twinning rate by month of mother's birth in Japan.

Records of two hospitals and of an association of mothers of twins were analysed for the years 1924-1980, finding a total of 656,109 and 1185 twin births, respectively. Twinning rates were higher in summer or fall, in general, but these seasonal variations occasionally changed within a short period of years, as in 1973-75 in the Association group. The twinning rate was also affected by the month of mothers birth. It was low among the mothers born around May-July in maternities up to 1960, and these mothers did not show seasonal variation of twin births. The unlike-sexed twinning rate of the mothers born in May-July was also lower than that of the other mothers, and constantly low even at higher maternal ages. A possible explanation for these phenomena is discussed.

A study of the sex ratio of first-born according to the mother's month of birth.

SummaryThe male-to-female sex ratio at birth of the first-born babies delivered in Japan to mothers aged 25 years or less was investigated in two groups: a hospital group and a questionnaire group. The sex ratio fluctuated according to their mothers month of birth. Between 1924 and 1928, the sex ratio of the offspring of the mothers born in March-May in both groups was significantly higher than that of the other mothers. We speculate about the relationship between the sex ratio at birth and the mothers month of birth.

Twinning Rates and Seasonal Changes in Görlitz, Germany, from 1611 to 1860

Old-age twinning rates were evaluated over a period of 250 years (1611-1860), from 80,256 parish records of baptism in a church office in Görlitz, East Germany. Two periods with high and two periods with low twinning rates were observed. Twinning rates were relatively stable in spring and fall, but varied greatly in winter and summer.

Correlation between month of menarche and month of birth

SummaryThe month of menarche and month of birth were studied in 47,218 women who were born during a period of 90 years between 1881 and 1970. Among those born prior to 1960, there was a tendency for menarche to occur more frequently at the month of birth. This coincidence was not, however, found among those born after 1960.

Early Menarche in Japanese Down Syndrome

To the Editor. We obtained information on 95 female patients (age 9–18 years) with Down syndrome in Japan. The period of their birth was between 1976 and 1984 (median 1980). The mean menarcheal age of 60 menstruating subjects was 12.1 ± 1.2 (SD) (Table 1). It was earlier than that of recent Japanese women (12.5 ± 1.0, N = 1,161 birth year 1974–19791) ( P < .05). View this table: Table 1. Early Menarche in Down …

Slow Twin Conception at First Birth and Subsequent Maternal Twin Proneness in a Natural Fertility Population

To study whether apparently more fecund women having delivered twins at first birth have traits of higher twin-proneness, we performed a retrospective cohort study on population-based historical vital records of the 17-18th century French Canadian immigrants and their descendants under natural fertility conditions. Among 24896 mothers who had at least one child, 248 had twin maternities at their first birth (twinning rate = 1.0%). Among 21508 mothers with a valid marriage-first birth interval, twinning rate was 0.97% among prompt conceptions (7.0-11.0 months), with a particularly high rate at the interval of 7.0-8.0 months (2.2%). Marriages in August-October resulted in a higher twinning rate particularly for the slow conceptions than those in the other seasons. Promptly-conceived mothers of twins at the first delivery may seem to have higher fecundity, but subsequent births from these mothers (n = 88) show a lower twinning rate (1.7%) particularly at younger maternal age than from the other mothers who had slowly conceived twins at their first birth (n = 112). The latter show a 4.5% twinning rate as a whole among their second or later births. So-called twin-proneness of a mother, whether genetic or acquired, was not connected to higher conception rate of twins mothers immediately after marriage. Reduced fecundity, which may have been imposed by some environmental factors, could raise the chance of twinning.

Discrete Nature of Flagellar Bending Detected by Digital Image Analysis

Bending shapes of live and demembranated sea-urchin sperm flagella have been studied at high resolution by means of digital image analysis. The curvature of a flagellum tended to change abruptly from one value to another along the flagellum, whereas it remained rather constant within a segment of variable length. The length of the segment, in which the curvature is kept constant, varied in a beat cycle. The transition points between these segments of constant curvature were not fixed at particular distances from the flagellar base. These dynamic aspects of discrete bend steps may reflect discreteness of active bend generation in flagella.