Detection of anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria in Ago Bay sediments.

We identified 16S rRNA gene sequences in sediment samples from Ago Bay in Japan, forming a new branch of the anammox group or closely related to anaerobic ammonium oxidizing (anammox) bacterial sequences. Anammox activity in the sediment samples was detected by (15)N tracer assays. These results, along with the results of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis, suggest the presence of anammox bacteria in the marine sediments.

[Application of the palatal ramp in a reconstructed mandibulectomy patient].

Patient: A 70-year-old patient with reconstructed mandibulectomy presented to our clinic with a complaint of denture instability. Due to left mandibular gingival cancer, she had received segmental resection of the left mandible and reconstruction with the fibula. An intraoral examination revealed few intermaxillary occlusal contacts due to the deviation of the mandibular dental arch.

Surgical outcomes for pulmonary metastases from hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Although favourable prognosis following aggressive treatment of extrahepatic metastases from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been reported, surgical outcomes for pulmonary metastases are unclear.

Methods And Materials: Sixty-one patients (2.6%) of 2297 registered with the Metastatic Lung Tumor Study Group of Japan between 1990 and 2006, who underwent surgery for pulmonary metastases from HCC, were retrospectively reviewed from the registry.

Constituents from leaves of Apocynum venetum L.

An analysis using HPLC-MS revealed that an extract from dried leaves of Apocynum venetum L. contained more than 15 kinds of phenolic constituents. Two malonated flavonol glycosides were further isolated, and their structures were determined to be quercetin 3-O-(6''-O-malonyl)-beta-D-glucoside (1) and quercetin 3-O-(6''-O-malonyl)-beta-D-galactoside (2) by NMR spectroscopic analysis.

Anti-tumor activity of ESX1 on cancer cells harboring oncogenic K-ras mutation.

Human ESX1 is a 65-kilodalton (kDa) paired-like homeoprotein that is proteolytically processed into N-terminal 45-kDa and C-terminal 20-kDa fragments. The N-terminal ESX1 fragment, which contains the homeodomain, localizes to the nucleus and represses mRNA transcription from the K-ras gene. When we inoculated human colorectal carcinoma HCT116 constitutive expressing N-terminal region of ESX1 (N-ESX1) into nude mice, transfectant cells uniformly showed decreased tumor-forming activity compared with that of the parental cells.

Endoscopic thyroidectomy by the breast approach: a single institution's 9-year experience.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and cosmetic results of endoscopic thyroidectomy by the breast approach for patients with thyroid diseases.

Methods: From August 1998 to July 2007, 92 patients with benign thyroid diseases underwent endoscopic thyroidectomy at our institution. Of these patients, 54 underwent thyroid lobectomy for a thyroid nodule, and 38 selected subtotal thyroidectomy for Graves' disease.

Is thoracoscopic surgery justified to treat pulmonary metastasis from colorectal cancer?

We retrospectively analyzed 143 consecutive patients undergoing pulmonary resection for metastasis from colorectal cancer, either through thoracotomy or thoracoscopy from 1987 to 2005. Patients with incomplete resection were excluded. Patients were divided into two groups, based on whether or not they underwent thoracoscopy (n=72) or open thoracotomy (n=71) at the first pulmonary metastasectomy.

Enrichment of anammox bacteria from marine environment for the construction of a bioremediation reactor.

In the global ocean nitrogen cycle, the anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) process is recognized as important. In this study, we established an enrichment culture of marine anammox bacteria (MAB) in a column-type reactor. The reactor, which included a porous polyester non-woven fabric that had been placed at the sea floor in advance for enrichment, was continuously fed with NH(4)Cl and NaNO(2) for more than 1 year.

Is finger palpation at operation indispensable for pulmonary metastasectomy in colorectal cancer?

Background: The use of thoracoscopic techniques for pulmonary metastasectomy is controversial because small metastatic foci might be missed without thorough finger palpation of the lung.

Methods: We retrospectively examined preoperative findings of helical computed tomography and pathologic findings of pulmonary nodules obtained by open thoracotomy, including median sternotomy or thoracoscopy, in patients thought to have pulmonary metastasis from colorectal cancer.

Results: We performed 122 pulmonary metastasectomies (43 thoracotomies and 79 thoracoscopies) in 102 patients from 1999 to 2005.

[Posterior mediastinal hemangioma successfully resected with cardiopulmonary bypass; report of a case].

Mediastinal hemangioma is a rare tumor. We report a case of a 62-year-old woman with a posterior mediastinal hemangioma. She had a history of right breast cancer and a follow-up chest radiography revealed a mass located in the left posterior mediastinum.

Pulmonary intimal sarcoma treated by a left pneumonectomy with pulmonary arterioplasty under cardiopulmonary bypass: report of a case.

Intimal sarcoma of the pulmonary artery is a rare disease. This neoplasm was characterized by an aggressive extension to the lumen of the pulmonary artery, thus mimicking a pulmonary thromboembolism. We herein report a 44-year-old woman who was diagnosed as having primary intimal sarcoma of the left lung preoperatively by transbronchial biopsy.

Invasive lymphangioma of the lung manifesting as a large pulmonary mass with hemoptysis: report of a case.

Solitary lymphangioma of the lung is rare. We report a case of invasive lymphangioma of the lung, diagnosed in a 9-year-old girl who presented with intractable hemoptysis and a large pulmonary mass, 10 cm in diameter. We performed left lower lobectomy and lingular segmentectomy to remove the mass completely and the patient has been well for 3 years since.

c-Met activation in lung adenocarcinoma tissues: an immunohistochemical analysis.

c-Met is often overexpressed in non-small cell lung cancer, but it remains unsolved whether its overexpression leads to its activation. We used an antibody specific to phospho-c-Met (Tyr1235) to investigate c-Met activation immunohistochemically in 130 surgically resected lung adenocarcinomas. The expression of c-Met and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) was also investigated.

A second-generation profiling system for quantitative methylation analysis of multiple gene promoters: application to lung cancer.

Cancer-specific gene promoter methylation has been described in many types of cancers, and various semi-quantified results have shown their usefulness. Here, we show a more sensitive and specific second-generation system for profiling the DNA methylation status. This method is based on bisulfite reaction of DNA and real-time PCR using two TaqMan MGB probes labeled with different fluorescence, followed by clustering analysis.

Hypoxia increases the motility of lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 via activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor pathway.

Tumor hypoxia is associated with a malignant phenotype of cancer cells and poor patient prognosis. To investigate the role of hypoxia in tumor progression, we studied the effects of hypoxia in the A549 lung adenocarcinoma cell line. First, we showed that hypoxic treatment decreased cell-cell adhesion and induced a scattering of cancer cells.

Effect of a novel phyto-compound on mucosal candidiasis: further evidence from an ex vivo study.

Objective: To isolate, identify and determine the prevalence of yeasts in the oral cavity of individuals and to test the minimum inhibitory dilution (MID) of Kolorex against the yeasts isolated.

Methods: Twenty-nine individuals of both sexes aged on average 61.3 years were evaluated at the dental clinic in order to isolate and identify yeasts from their oral cavity, with and without lesions, and to determine the MID of the commercial phyto-product Kolorex against the strains isolated.

[Pulmonary thromboembolism after lung resection in patients with schizophrenia; report of 2 cases].

We report 2 cases of pulmonary thromboembolism after lung resection in patients with schizophrenia. The first case is a 67-year-old woman. She underwent right lower lobectomy for primary lung cancer and suddenly felt dyspnea 2 days after the operation.

Is interstitial pneumonia in patients with collagen diseases a contraindication to lung cancer surgery?

Purpose: Lung cancer surgery can be dangerous in patients with interstitial pneumonia (IP) as acute exacerbation of the IP may prove fatal. It remains unclear if patients with collagen diseases (CD), who often suffer from IP, are also at increased risk during lung cancer surgery.

Methods: We retrospectively examined 17 (3.

Anti-anxiety effects of Apocynum venetum L. in the elevated plus maze test.

The purpose of this study was to characterize the putative anxiolytic-like activity of an ethanolic extract prepared from the leaves of Apocynum venetum (AV) using the elevated plus maze (EPM) in mice. Male C75BL/6 mice were either treated orally with the AV extract or the positive controls diazepam and buspirone, respectively, 1h before behavioral evaluation in the EPM. A single treatment of AV extract markedly increased the percentage time spent on and the number of entries into the open arms of the EPM in doses of 30 and 125 mg/kg p.

Thoracoscopic surgery for pulmonary arteriovenous malformation.

We report 6 consecutive cases of pulmonary arteriovenous malformation in the periphery of the lung, which were treated successfully by thoracoscopy. Pulmonary wedge resection was performed with a linear cutting stapler to divide the feeding artery, drainage vein, and aneurysmal lesion of the arteriovenous malformation. Operative time ranged from 30 to 95 min (mean, 50 min).

Antidepressant effect of extracts from Ginkgo biloba leaves in behavioral models.

Extracts of Ginkgo biloba (EGB) are a complex product prepared from green leaves of the Ginkgo biloba tree. In the present study, the antidepressant effect of EGB was examined using two behavioral models, the forced swimming test (FST) in rats and tail suspension test (TST) in mice. EGB significantly reduced immobility time in the FST at a dosage of 10 and 50 mg/kg body weight after repeated oral treatment for 14 d, although no change of motor dysfunction was observed with the same dosage in the open field test.

Mechanistic study on the oxidation of anthocyanidin synthase by quantum mechanical calculation.

Anthocyanidin synthase (ANS), a member of the 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase family in flavonoid biosynthesis, catalyzes the conversion of leucoanthocyanidins (e.g. 2R,3S,4S-cis-leucocyanidin, LCD) to flav-2-en-3,4-diols, a direct precursor of colored anthocyanidins via flavan-3,3,4-triols.