A 5-year-old girl had a caudal appendage and her left buttock was larger than the right buttock. X-ray examination revealed spina bifida and bony defect of sacrum; computed tomography demonstrated the extension of the tumor from subcutaneous tissue to the spinal canal. Histologically, the pseudotail contained lobulated fatty tissue which was consistent with lipoma. It emphasizes the fact that even lesions that are not situated in the median line should be carefully explored before excision.

Major factors that decrease soybean yields in Japan include excessive soil moisture and drought stress. In the present study, a WI (Wet Index) was developed using soil moisture estimates based on the FAO56 model to evaluate both risks of soil dryness and wetness. In addition, to assess the risk of wet losses, the days when ratio of WI was equal to one (RWI), which implied that soil moisture content reached a maximum, was adopted for every growth stage. When the relationship between WI or RWI and yield was evaluated using a partial correlation coefficient, WI had a positive correlation with emergence period approximately 30 -40 days after emergence, seed filling phase, and maturity phase, and RWI had a negative correlation with emergence period approximately 20 -30 days after emergence and approximately one week before flowering period. We evaluated moisture and drought stress risks, which present challenges in farmers' fields, and revealed the growing stages at which moisture and drought pose the highest risks. The results could offer critical insights for the estimation of dryness and wetness losses in the field.

A 25‐year‐old Indonesian male who had been living in Japan for the previous 2 years was hospitalized with sudden severe pain throughout his entire abdomen, but without abdominal guarding. Colonoscopy revealed 15 Trichuris trichiura whipworms in the cecum. These worms were extirpated using biopsy forceps. Immediately after extirpation, the abdominal pain disappeared. In Japan, whipworm infection with acute abdomen‐like symptoms at onset is extremely rare. In the present case, whipworm infection was diagnosed during colonoscopy, and the patient was simultaneously treated by extirpation of worms, thus indicating the utility of colonoscopy.

We describe a 58-year-old male whose major complaint was epigastric pain. A pediculate mass located in the anterior wall of the duodenal bulb and extending into the descending portion of the duodenum was noted on endoscopy of the upper digestive tract. The mass nearly completely occupied the duodenal lumen and was covered by normal mucosa with a tiny ulcer. Ultrasound endoscopy showed a nearly homogeneous hyperechoic pattern localized in the submucosa, and abdominal CT showed fatty density, suggesting a lipoma. The mass was resected by laparotomy, because it was large and extended to near the duodenal papillae. The tumor measured 55X35X30 mm and was histologically confirmed to be a lipoma which had originated in the submucosa. Giant duodenal lipomas more than 50 mm in maximum diameter have only been reported in 5 cases in Japan including our present case and 9 cases abroad, but some differences were observed in the description of the Japanese cases versus the nonJapanese cases, such as the fact that the non-Japanses cases often presented with severe symptoms such as bloody stools and intussusception. (Dig Endosc 1999; 11: 345-349)