Activation reduction in anterior temporal cortices during repeated recognition of faces of personal acquaintances

Repeated recognition of the face of a familiar individual is known to show semantic repetition priming effect. In this study, normal subjects were repeatedly presented faces of their colleagues, and the effect of repetition on the regional cerebral blood flow change was measured using positron emission tomography. They repeated a set of three tasks: the familiar-face detection (F) task, the facial direction discrimination (D) task, and the perceptual control (C) task. During five repetitions of the F task, familiar faces were presented six times from different views in a pseudorandom order. Activation reduction through the repetition of the F tasks was observed in the bilateral anterior (anterolateral to the polar region) temporal cortices which are suggested to be involved in the access to the long-term memory concerning people. The bilateral amygdala, the hypothalamus, and the medial frontal cortices, were constantly activated during the F tasks, and considered to be associated with the behavioral significance of the presented familiar faces. Constant activation was also observed in the bilateral occipitotemporal regions and fusiform gyri and the right medial temporal regions during perception of the faces, and in the left medial temporal regions during the facial familiarity detection task, which are consistent with the results of previous functional brain imaging studies. The results have provided further information about the functional segregation of the anterior temporal regions in face recognition and long-term memory.

Psoas abscess complicating Crohn's disease: report of a case

We describe herein the case of a psoas abscess complicating Crohn's disease, and present a review of the literature on this unusual disease entity. A 22-year-old Japanese man with a 5-year history of Crohn's ileocolitis presented with right lower abdominal and hip pain, and a diagnosis of right psoas abscess was subsequently made by abdominal computed tomography (CT). Following the administration of antibiotics and CT-guided percutaneous drainage of the abscess, the patient's symptoms temporarily improved; however, 2 weeks later, the abscess cavity was found to have extended around the periarticular tissue of the right hip joint. To prevent the development of septic arthritis of the hip joint, surgical drainage of the abscess cavity and ileocecal resection were immediately performed, after which the patient's condition greatly improved. The resected specimen showed Crohn's ileocolitis with an external fistula in the terminal ileum which was considered to have caused the psoas abscess. Since psoas abscess in Crohn's disease can result in serious complications such as septic arthritis of the hip joint if left untreated, aggressive treatment should be initiated without delay.

Different neural systems for recognizing plants, animals, and artifacts

The purpose of this study was to investigate functional organization in the human brain involved in the representation of knowledge regarding plants. We measured the brain activity of eight male volunteers during the recognition of visual stimuli representing plants, animals and artifacts, using positron emission tomography. The participants were presented with and were required to name silently two different images each of 15 entities belonging to three ontological categories, and 30 series of four to six digits. Marked increases in regional cerebral blood flow were found in the hippocampus and the parahippocampal areas bilaterally and the right lateral occipital cortex during the silent naming of all three categories, compared with that during the silent reading of digits. The right lateral occipital cortex was specifically activated in association with the naming of plants, and the right fusiform cortex was specifically activated in association with the naming of animals. In addition, the right temporo-occipital cortex was activated only during animals and plants, not artifacts. Our results indicate that there were a few characteristic activations for the different categories, and that entities belonging to the different categories are not necessarily represented in different locations of the brain.

Induction of telomerase activity in fibroblasts from bleomycin-injured lungs

Bleomycin-induced lung injury causes increased fibroblast numbers in the lung and pulmonary fibrosis. Studies of fibroblasts isolated from such injured lungs have revealed evidence of increased intrinsic proliferative capacity, but the mechanism is unknown. Telomerase catalyzes the addition of telomeric DNA repeats onto chromosomal ends, which is associated with increased cellular life span or immortality. To examine whether telomerase might play a role in regulating fibroblast proliferative capacity in pulmonary fibrosis, lung fibroblasts were isolated from rats treated with endotracheal injections of phosphate-buffered saline or bleomycin. At selected time points, the rats were killed and lung fibroblasts isolated. The isolated cells and lung tissue were then used in experiments for measurement of telomerase activity. The results show undetectable telomerase activity in fibroblasts isolated from control uninjured lungs, or in the control lung tissue extracts. Similar results were obtained in cells and lung tissue from Days 1, 3, and 28 bleomycin-injured lungs. However, significant telomerase activity was detected in fibroblasts and tissue extracts isolated from Days 7, 14, and 21 bleomycin-treated rat lungs, with maximal activity observed in the Day 14 samples. Analysis of the isolated cells for telomerase messenger RNA or reverse transcriptase expression, combined with alpha-smooth-muscle actin expression by immunohistochemistry, revealed that telomerase expression localized primarily to nonmyofibroblasts. These findings suggest that in addition to elevated growth factor expression, the injured lung fibroblast population may contain cells with increased life span, which could contribute to the observed overall increase in lung fibroblast numbers.

Functional delineation of the human occipito-temporal areas related to face and scene processing. A PET study

By measuring regional cerebral blood flow using PET, we delineated the roles of the occipito-temporal regions activated by faces and scenes. We asked right-handed normal subjects to perform three tasks using facial images as visual stimuli: in the face familiar/unfamiliar discrimination (FF) task, they discriminated the faces of their friends and associates from unfamiliar ones; in the face direction discrimination (FD) task, they discriminated the direction of each unfamiliar face; in the dot location discrimination (DL) task, they discriminated the location of a red dot on a scrambled face. The activity in each task was compared with that in the control fixation (CF) task, in which they fixated on the centre of a display without visual stimuli. The DL task activated the occipital cortices and posterior fusiform gyri bilaterally. During the FD task, the activation extended anteriorly in the right fusiform gyrus and laterally to the right inferior temporal cortex. The FF task further activated the right temporal pole. To examine whether the activation due to faces was face-specific, we used a scene familiar/unfamiliar discrimination (SF) task, in which the subjects discriminated familiar scenes from unfamiliar ones. Our results suggest that (i) the occipital cortices and posterior fusiform gyri non-selectively respond to faces, scrambled faces and scenes, and are involved mainly in the extraction of physical features of complex visual images; (ii) the right inferior temporal/fusiform gyrus responds selectively to faces but not to non-face stimuli and is involved in the visual processing related to face perception, whereas the bilateral parahippocampal gyri and parieto-occipital junctions respond selectively to scenes and are involved in processing related to scene perception; and (iii) the right temporal pole is activated during the discrimination of familiar faces and scenes from unfamiliar ones, and is probably involved in the recognition of familiar objects.

Cyclooxygenase-2 overexpression correlates with tumour recurrence, especially haematogenous metastasis, of colorectal cancer

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), known to inhibit cyclooxygenase (COX), reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. COX is a key enzyme in prostaglandin biosynthesis, and two isoforms of COX, COX-1 and COX-2, have been identified. Recently COX-2 has been reported to frequently overexpress in colorectal neoplasms and to play a role in colorectal tumorigenesis and tumour progression. In this study, using immunohistochemistry, we examined COX-2 expression in advanced human colorectal cancer and its correlation with clinicopathological features. COX-2 expression was observed mainly in the cytoplasm of cancer cells in all the specimens examined, but some stromal cells and endothelial cells were also stained. According to the grade of COX-2 expression of the cancer cells, patients were divided into high- and low-COX-2 expression groups. High-COX-2 expression significantly correlated with tumour recurrence, especially haematogenous metastasis. These results suggest that a selective COX-2 inhibitor can be a novel class of therapeutic agents not only for tumorigenesis but also for haematogenous metastasis of colorectal cancer. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the correlation between COX-2 overexpression and recurrence of colorectal cancer.

Autoxidation of ascorbic acid catalyzed by the copper(II) bound to L-histidine oligopeptides, (His)iGly and acetyl-(His)i Gly (i=9, 19, 29). Relationship between catalytic activity and coordination mode

Spectroscopic and kinetic studies on the autoxidation of ascorbic acid catalyzed by copper complexes of histidine oligopeptides, (His)iGly (i=4, 9, 19, 29), and their acetyl derivatives, Ac-(His)iGly (i=9, 19) have been carried out at pH 4.4 and 25 degrees C under dioxygen. The reaction was monitored at 260 nm using a stopped-flow spectrophotometric technique. The reaction fitted the "Michaelis- Menten" mechanism, and ascorbate was oxidized by the "Ping-Pong" mechanism. The Cu(lI) complexed with the oligopeptide (i > or = 9) enhanced the reaction approximately two-fold relative to the aqueous Cu(II). The catalytic activity depends on the molecular weight which is related to the number of histidyl residues and on the coordination mode of the copper-binding site. Results of circular dichroism (CD) experiments revealed the existence of two types of Cu(II). The catalytically active Cu(II), which is accommodated in the imidazole clusters composed of at least six histidyl residues, exhibits d-d transition bands at 520 and 630 nm, and is easily dissociable, enhances the autoxidation; Ac-(His)19Gly is likely to accommodate approximately three active Cu(II) ions. The Cu(II), which is complexed tightly with the terminal H2N-X-Y-His- moiety, where X and Y denote amino acids, inhibits the autoxidation, and exhibits absorption bands at 480 and 550 nm.

Actinoalloteichus cyanogriseus gen. nov., sp. nov

Phylogenetic analysis of 'Actinoalloteichus cyanogriseus' based on its 16S rDNA sequence confirmed that the organism belongs to the family Pseudonocardiaceae. It contains glutamic acid, alanine and meso-diaminopimelic acid as cell wall amino acids, and menaquinone 9 (H4). Its taxonomic characteristics differ from those of the previously described organisms of the family Pseudonocardiaceae. On the basis of these morphological, physiological, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analyses, a new genus, Actinoalloteichus, is proposed, along with a new species, namely Actinoalloteichus cyanogriseus sp. nov. The type strain is A. cyanogriseus IFO 14455T (= AS 4.1159T = JCM 6095T).

Extrastriatal mean regional uptake of fluorine-18-FDOPA in the normal aged brain--an approach using MRI-aided spatial normalization

The aim of this study was to define the mean regional 6-[(18)F]fluoro-l-dopa (FDOPA) uptake rate constant (K(i)) values in the striatal and extrastriatal regions of the brain of normal subjects using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-aided spatial normalization of the FDOPA K(i) image and using automatic region of interest (ROI) analysis. Dynamic three-dimensional FDOPA positron emission tomography (PET) and three-dimensional magnetic resonance (MR) images were acquired in 13 aged normal subjects. The FDOPA add image and the K(i) image of each subject were transformed into standard stereotactic space with the aid of individual coregistered MR image. The mean regional K(i) values of the striatal and extrastriatal regions before normalization were compared with the respective values after normalization. Then automatic ROI analysis was performed on the MRI-aided spatially normalized K(i) images of the 13 normal subjects. The K(i) values on original images and those on spatially normalized images were in good agreement, indicating that the spatial normalization technique did not change the regional K(i) values appreciably. Automatic ROI analysis of the spatially normalized FDOPA K(i) images of the normal subjects, showed high K(i) values in ventral and dorsal regions of the midbrain, amygdala, hippocampus, and medial prefrontal cortex, in addition to caudate nucleus and putamen, which correspond to the dopaminergic projections in the brain. Spatial normalization technique helped to establish a database of FDOPA K(i) images of normal subjects and high K(i) values were observed widely besides striatal regions corresponding to the dopaminergic projections in the brain.

Studies on the 1,4-oxazepine ring formation reaction using the molecular orbital method

1,4-Oxazepine formation reactions of 1,8-naphthyridine derivatives (1-4) with peroxy acid have been studied using a semiempirical MO method (AM1) and an ab initio molecular orbital method (Gaussian 94). The energies of molecules involved in the reaction paths were calculated and the transition states related to experimental products were obtained. For the reactions of 1-3, the calculated energies of the transition states predicted the previously obtained products. However, the calculated values for the reaction of 4 suggested a different type of oxazepine compound, which was verified in further experiments.

Acrocarpospora gen. nov., a new genus of the order Actinomycetales

The taxonomic position of two actinomycete strains isolated from soil was studied. The isolates contained glutamic acid, alanine and meso-diaminopimelic acid as cell-wall amino acids and menaquinone MK-9(H4) and madurose in the whole-cell hydrolysate. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the isolates belonged to the family Streptosporangiaceae, but not to any known genus, and formed a monophyletic cluster with Streptosporangium corrugatum. On the basis of morphological characteristics, phylogenetic analysis and DNA-DNA hybridization, the name Acrocarpospora gen. nov. is proposed for a new genus containing the isolates and Streptosporangium corrugatum, and Acrocarpospora pleiomorpha sp. nov. R-31T (= IFO 16267T), Acrocarpospora macrocephala sp. nov. R-55T (=IFO 16266T) and Acrocarpospora corrugata comb. nov. IFO 13972T are described.

[Influence of the radioactive strontium (89Sr) using for nuclear medical radiation therapy upon radioactive draining-water system]

PURPOSE

Strontium-89 chloride (89Sr) is a new radiopharmaceutical that provides effective pain relief for metastatic bone lesions, and is expected to be available soon in the palliative management for metastatic bone pain in Japan. Because of relatively long physical half life (50.5 days), 89Sr may affect to the radioactive draining-water system by exceeding the limits of activity concentration for radioactive drain. In this article, the influence of 89Sr use on the radioactive drainage system was simulated.

METHODS

The standard tank capacity of drainage and draining frequency was determined from the results of questionnaire carried out for the nationwide medical and research institutes where radioisotope treatment are performed. On the assumption that 89Sr of 148 MBq for one therapy was used twice a week and several common radionuclides were used as the same activity as used at Chiba Cancer Center, the influence of 89Sr was estimated. The calculation was performed using the activity contamination ration into the draining-water system of each radionuclide of 0.01, which was legally determined.

RESULTS

The simulation revealed that the sum of the contamination ratios of individual radionuclides exceeded a legal value of 1.0 in standard drainage with the capacity of 5 m3 and 10 m3 and draining frequency of 7 times per year. The actual contamination ratios of common radiopharmaceuticals measured at Chiba Cancer Center ranged from 1/100 to 1/1000 of the legal values.

CONCLUSION

It is necessary that the legal value of activity contamination ratios into the draining-water system should be reassessed before starting 89Sr therapy.

Relation between thymidylate synthase expression and survival in colon carcinoma, and determination of appropriate application of 5-fluorouracil by immunohistochemical method

BACKGROUND

Thymidylate synthase (TS) is regarded as a parameter of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) chemosensitivity for colorectal carcinoma. Recent researchers indicate that the chemosensitivity of 5-FU for colorectal carcinoma with low expression of TS is better than tumors with high expression of TS. But the relation between TS expression and overall survival of curatively resected colorectal cancer patients has been less studied.

METHODS

Specimens of curatively resected colon carcinoma from 148 patients were included in this study. TS expression in the tumor was assessed by immunohistochemical staining technique, and the patients were categorized into TS-(+) and TS-(-) groups. First, the relation between TS expression and survival of patients was examined. Next, for each group, we compared survival between the chemotherapy-(+) and the chemotherapy-(-) subgroup.

RESULTS

Overall survival was significantly better in the TS-(-) group (n = 107) than in the TS-(+) group (n = 41) (P = .0003). In the TS-(-) group, there was little difference between the chemotherapy-(+) and the chemotherapy-(-) subgroup. In the TS-(+) group, the survival of the chemotherapy-(+) subgroup was significantly better than the chemotherapy-(-) subgroup (P = .0439).

CONCLUSIONS

TS, itself, may be a prognostic factor for colon carcinoma; and 5-FU adjuvant chemotherapy may be appropriate for colon carcinoma with high expression of TS.

Efficacy of FK463, a new lipopeptide antifungal agent, in mouse models of pulmonary aspergillosis

The efficacy of FK463, a novel water-soluble lipopeptide, was evaluated in mouse models of pulmonary aspergillosis and was compared with that of amphotericin B (AMPH-B). In the pulmonary aspergillosis models induced by intranasal inoculation, FK463 exhibited good efficacy, with 50% effective doses in the range of 0. 26 to 0.51 mg/kg of body weight; these values were comparable to those of AMPH-B. In an Aspergillus target organ assay with immunosuppressed mice, under conditions of constant plasma levels of FK463, using a subcutaneously implanted osmotic pressure pump, a significant reduction in viable fungal cells was observed at plasma FK463 levels of 0.55 to 0.80 microgram/ml or higher. We conclude that FK463 is highly effective in the treatment of pulmonary aspergillosis in this animal model. These results indicate that FK463 may be a potent parenterally administered antifungal agent for pulmonary aspergillosis.

Histochemical investigation of β-glucuronidase in culture cells and regenerated plants of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi

 Strong activity of β-glucuronidase first appeared in the epidermal and glandular hair cells of leaf primordia regenerated from callus of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi. Leaf primordia matured rapidly in culture to form shoots within 1 month in which both the mesophyll cells and the glandular hairs were deeply stained. Leaves predominantly accumulated β-glucuronidase in both glandular hair cells and mesophyll cells. β-Glucronidase activity in leaves was higher in the summer and decreased in the winter. The stem section collected in the summer had a different β-glucuronidase distribution pattern from that of the root in that in the former strong activity appeared in the periderm cells and collenchyma cells which was decreasingly dispersed into the phloem layer cells. In the winter, β-glucronidase activity decreased compared to that in summer. It can be argued that the distribution of β-glucuronidase in this plant is closely linked with the defense against pathogens: it is a starting key enzyme which may act together with the flavonoids, which play an important role as a proton donor for the detoxification metabolism of H₂O₂.

Characterization of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase on immunohistochemistry in colon carcinoma, and correlation between immunohistochemical score and protein level or messenger RNA expression

BACKGROUND

Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) is the first enzyme that metabolizes 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). Until now, enzymatic activity or mRNA expression of DPD has been investigated. However, there are no papers on immunohistochemical evaluation of DPD. We investigated DPD staining on immunohistochemistry, and examined the relationship among immunohistochemical score, protein level and mRNA expression of DPD.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Forty-seven resected colon cancer specimens, four colon cancer cell lines, two xenografts by colon cancer cell lines, and human mononuclear cells were used. Immunohistochemistry was performed using DPD monoclonal antibody. Protein levels were determined by Western blot analysis. And mRNA levels were calculated by semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

RESULTS

DPD was strongly expressed in the cytoplasm of cancer cells, and in the cytoplasm of macrophage and plasma cells. The immunohistochemical score was more correlated with protein levels (P = 0.0054) than mRNA expression (P = 0.9028).

CONCLUSIONS

We investigated the characterization of DPD immunohistochemically, and showed that immunohistochemical expression of DPD can be used to predict the sensitivity of colorectal carcinomas to 5-FU.

Passive and active recognition of one's own face

Facial identity recognition has been studied mainly with explicit discrimination requirement and faces of social figures in previous human brain imaging studies. We performed a PET activation study with normal volunteers in facial identity recognition tasks using the subject's own face as visual stimulus. Three tasks were designed so that the activation of the visual representation of the face and the effect of sustained attention to the representation could be separately examined: a control-face recognition task (C), a passive own-face recognition task (no explicit discrimination was required) (P), and an active own-face recognition task (explicit discrimination was required) (A). Increased skin conductance responses during recognition of own face were seen in both task P and task A, suggesting the occurrence of psychophysiological changes during recognition of one's own face. The left fusiform gyrus, the right supramarginal gyrus, the left putamen, and the right hypothalamus were activated in tasks P and A compared with task C. The left fusiform gyrus and the right supramarginal gyrus are considered to be involved in the representation of one's own face. The activation in the right supramarginal gyrus may be associated with the representation of one's own face as a part of one's own body. The prefrontal cortices, the right anterior cingulate, the right presupplementary motor area, and the left insula were specifically activated during task A compared with tasks C and P, indicating that these regions may be involved in the sustained attention to the representation of one's own face.

Prognostic impact of cathepsin B and matrix metalloproteinase-9 in pulmonary adenocarcinomas by immunohistochemical study

The expression of Cathepsin B (CB) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in extirpated tissues of adenocarcinomas in non-small cell lung cancer from 90 cases was investigated immunohistologically, and the correlations between the extent of the expression and the clinicopathological features were assessed for investigating the process of tumor metastasis. It is important to reveal the mechanisms of destruction of the basal membrane and infiltration of tumor cells at the primary lesion. Sections were obtained from 10%-formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues. They were reacted with an anti-human CB polyclonal antibody or an anti-human MMP-9 polyclonal antibody. Of 90 patients, 58 (64.4%) and 39 (48.3) cases were found to be positive for CB and MMP-9 expression, respectively. A significantly higher extent of the CB expression was observed in the tissues of patients who showed postoperative recurrence of the tumor (P = 0.013). Especially, a similar observation was obtained among early cases of T1N0 (P = 0.023). In contrast, no such tendency was demonstrated in the expression profile of MMP-9. Furthermore, the enzyme expressions were compared among different types of metastases. Patients with higher extents of CB expression tended to show significantly higher rates of hematogenous and intrapulmonary metastases (P = 0.023 and P = 0.010, respectively). However, there was no significant correlation between MMP-9 expression and the prognostic factor of the patients. Therefore, we suggested that evaluation of CB expression in the tumor tissue might be useful as a postoperative prognostic factor of pulmonary adenocarcinoma. Especially, early cancer of T1N0 cases showing higher expression of CB may need postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy.

Inhibition of haematogenous metastasis of colon cancer in mice by a selective COX-2 inhibitor, JTE-522

It is proposed that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) reduce colorectal tumorigenesis by inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX). COX is a key enzyme in the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostaglandins and two isoforms of COX have been characterized, COX-1 and COX-2. Multiple studies have shown that COX-2 is expressed at high levels in colorectal tumours and play a role in colorectal tumorigenesis. Recently it has been reported that selective inhibition of COX-2 inhibits colon cancer cell growth. In this study we investigated the effect of a selective COX-2 inhibitor (JTE-522) on haematogenous metastasis of colon cancer. For this purpose, we selected a murine colon cancer cell line, colon-26, that constitutively expresses the COX-2 protein. The subclone P expressed a high level of COX-2 and the subclone 5 expressed a low level. The colon-26 subclones were injected into the tail vein of BALB/c mice. JTE-522 was given intraperitoneally every day from the day prior to cancer cell injection, and the mice were sacrificed 16 days after cell injection. Lung metastases were compared between groups with and without JTE-522. In the mice injected with subclone P, the number of lung metastatic nodules was significantly reduced in the treated group. However, in the mice injected with subclone 5, there was little difference between the control and the treated groups. These results indicate that there may be a direct link between inhibition of haematogenous metastasis of colon cancer and selective inhibition of COX-2, and that selective COX-2 inhibitors may be a novel class of therapeutic agents not only for colorectal tumorigenesis but also for haematogenous metastasis of colon cancer.

Increase in the potential of osteoblasts to support bone resorption by osteoclasts in vitro in response to roughness of bone surface

The development of the potential of osteoblasts to support bone resorption by osteoclasts in response to roughness on bone slices was examined in the co-incubation cell system of immature osteoclasts and osteoblastic cells. The immature osteoclasts, which need alkaline phosphatase (ALP)-positive osteoblastic cells for bone resorption, were generated in mouse spleen cultures with 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) and prostaglandin E(2). ALP-negative osteoblastic cells from mouse calvaria were incubated on rough surfaced bone slices for 3 days. The number of ALP-positive cells increased greatly on the rough surface, but little on the smooth surface. When immature osteoclasts were added and incubated for 1 more day, the resorption pit number and the total pit areas on the smooth surface were not much different from those before incubation but were approximately four times higher on the rough surface.

Effect of surface roughness on proliferation and alkaline phosphatase expression of rat calvarial cells cultured on polystyrene

Rough-surfaced substrates made by a variety of methods have been shown to influence osteoblast proliferation and differentiation. The purpose of this study is to confirm the role of surface roughness in promoting osteoblastic differentiation using tissue culture polystyrene as substrate, by excluding factors other than roughness. Immature osteogenic cells derived from fetal rat calvariae were cultured on the plastic cover strips having varied degrees of roughness created by treatment with four kinds of grinding paper of different particle sizes. The proliferation and gene expression of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and osteocalcin of the calvarial cells increased on the rough-surfaced cover strips. These levels increased in response to the increase in the degree of surface roughness up to 0.8 microm of average roughness and then decreased to the level observed for the smooth surface. These results demonstrate that the surface roughness itself caused increases in osteoblastic proliferation and differentiation in cell cultures.

Sporichthya brevicatena sp. nov

A strain was isolated from soil that formed short chains of aerial mycelium dividing into motile spores on an agar medium, but not substrate mycelium. The organism had menaquinone 9(H8), LL-diaminopimelic acid in the cell wall amino acids and a DNA G + C content of 71 mol%. On the basis of the morphological and chemotaxonomic characteristics and phylogenetic analysis, this strain was classified into the genus Sporichthya. DNA-DNA hybridization revealed that the strain differed from the known species, Sporichthya polymorpha. Therefore, a new species, Sporichthya brevicatena sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain is S. brevicatena YU720-21T (= IFO 16195T).

Evaluation of the therapeutic effect of radiotherapy on cervical cancer using magnetic resonance imaging

PURPOSE

This study was performed to evaluate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in determining the therapeutic effect of radiotherapy (RT) on cervical cancer.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Serial MRI studies were performed in 42 patients with predominantly advanced cervical cancer before, during, and after radiotherapy. Patients underwent external irradiation combined with high-dose-rate intracavitary (HDR) brachytherapy. T-2 weighted spin-echo pulse sequences with long repetition and echo times were used at a field strength of 1.5 T. Multiple punch biopsies of the cervix were obtained from the high-signal intensity area in all patients at the same time as the MRI.

RESULT

In biopsies performed immediately after RT, no residual tumors were found in 36 patients (86%); in 6 patients, residual tumors were observed. The simultaneous MRI study demonstrated no high-signal intensity on T2-weighted images in 28 patients. A high-signal area was observed in 14 patients, and this disappeared 3 months after RT in 8 patients with a negative histological study. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of MRI studies at 3 months after RT were 100%. When the relationship between reduction of tumor volume at 30 Gy and local tumor control was analyzed, every patient with a reduction under 30% gained local control. Also, patients with no residual tumors 3 months after RT gained local control.

CONCLUSION

MRI studies performed at 30 Gy of external irradiation and 3 months after RT were predictive factors of local control.