[en] To evaluate the safety and usefulness of percutaneous fine needle aspiration biopsy of the splenic lesions. Fine needle aspiration biopsy was done in 7 patients with splenic lesions. Spleen puncture was performed by using 22 gauge Chiba needle, under ultrasound guidance in 6 patients and CT guidance in one patient. No major complication such as bleeding, infection or pneumothorax occurred. Final diagnosis were 2 cases of splenic lymphoma and one case each of metastasis, cystic lymphangioma, tuberculosis, hemangioma, and extramedullary hematopoiesis. Cytologic results were true positive in 4 patients and were clinically useful in all patients. This study shows that FNAB of splenic lesions may be a valuable procedure safe from major complications such as fatal bleeding

[en] Red beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is a traditional and popular vegetable distributed in many part of the world and has been used as a natural colorant in many dairy products, beverages, candies and cattle products. Red beet roots contain two groups of betalain pigments, redviolet betacyanins and yellow betaxanthins. Betalains possess several biological activities such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, and anticancer properities. Recent trend of using natural products in industries tends toward multifunctional, high quality, and highpriced value foods and cosmetics. To meet the needs of consumers, cosmetics, medicine, and foods should contain the proper amount of natural products. Although the color removal processes such as filtration and absorption by clay are still useful, these procedures are difficult, time-consuming and costly. To overcome this problem, the radiation technology has emerged as a new way. Radiation technology has been applied to the decomposition and decoloration of pigment and is an efficient technique for inactivating pathogens, removing undesirable color in biomaterial extracts and improving or maintaining biological activities. Gamma-irradiation and electron beamirradiation techniques in previous reports were applied in order to remove any undesirable color and to improve or maintain biological activities of various extracts such as green tea leaves, licorice root, and S. chinensis fruits. Latorre et al. reported that betacyanin concentration decreased with the irradiation dose and significantly, in 35%, after 2.0 kGy of gamma-ray, whereas betaxathin concentration increased (about 11%-ratio with respect to control) after 1 kGy but decreased (about 19%) after 2 kGy. However, they did not try to analysis for completed removal of red beet pigments. Therefore, it is necessary to find the optimum irradiation dose for entirely removing red pigments in red beet. The aim of this work was to address the effects of the color removal and biological properties of red beet extracts by gamma irradiation

[en] Localized fibrous mesothelioma of the liver is very rare benign tumor. It usually manifest large palpable hepatic mass in right upper quadrant area, and the prognosis is excellent by surgical resection. Contrast enhanced CT scan shows well defined hyperattenuating mass and celiac angiogram shows hypervascular mass. Recently we experienced 1 case of localized fibrous mesothelioma of the liver, and we report CT and angiographic findings of this tumor

[en] There are a number of reports suggesting that there may be a correlation between the clinical response to radiotherapy in various tumors and the clonogenic survival of cell lines derived from these tumor following exposure to 2 Gy (SF2). Authors conducted this study to determine SF2 for cells in primary culture from surgical specimens. The tumor tissues with squamous cell carcinoma of uterine cervix and head and neck were obtained. The tumor tissues were disaggregated to single cells by incubating with collagenase type IV for 2 hours with constant stirring. Single cell suspensions were inoculated in four 24-well plates precoated with cell adhesive matrix. After 24 hours of incubation at 37.deg.C, rows of four wells were then irradiated, consisting of control set and five other sets each receiving doses of 1,2,3,4, and 6 Gy. After incubation for a total of 13 days, the cultures were stained with crystal violet determine whether cell growth was of epithelial origin, immunocytochemical staining with a mixture of cytokeratin and epithelial monoclonal antibodies were performed on cell cultures. During the period of this study, we received 5 squamous cell carcinoma specimens of head and neck and 20 of uterine cervical carcinoma. Of these, 15 yielded enough cells for radiosensitivity testing. This resulted an overall success rate of 60%. The mean SF2 value for 15 tumors was 0.55±0.17 ranging from 0.20 to 0.79. These results indicate that there is a broad range of sensitivities to radiation in same histologic type. So with a large patient population, we plan to determine whether a different SF2 value is associated with tumors that are controlled with radiotherapy than those that are not

[en] Twenty-one patients with carcinoma of the pancreas were analyzed regarding the propensities for hepatic metastasis, peripancreatic vascular invasion, peritoneal implantation, and ascites. Tumors were located at the head (n = 5), neck (n = 1), body (n = 9), tall (n = 5), and body and tail (n = 1). For every parameter, the grade was scored and compared. Liver metastases were present in 11 patients (52%) and frequently associated with carcinoma of the head. Vascular invasions of the celiac trunk, superior mesenteric, and splenic vessels were seen in 11 patients (52%). Eight out of nine patients with carcinoma of the body (89%) showed peripancreatic vascular involvement. Intraperitoneal tumor implantation was present in 16 patients (76%), which included all six patients with tall cancer. Ascites was seen in six patients (29%); carcinomas of the tall (40%) were slightly more prone to have ascites than those of the body (33%). None of the carcinomas of the head or neck was associated with ascites. It was concluded that the high incidence of vascular invasion in carcinomas of the body was due to anatomical approximation to vascular structures and that the higher incidence of intraperitoneal seeding in carcinomas of the tall was due to anatomical basis of intraabdominal location

[en] Centipedegrass belonging to the genus Eremochloa (Poaceae) consisted of eight species native to China and Southeast Asia and became one of the most popular lawn grasses in South America. Maysin, flavone C-glucoside, in centipedegrass reported antibiotic to resistance to fall armyworm (FAW: Spodoptera frugiperda). Until now, maysin found in the maize silk, teosinte, and centipedegrass. These plants contained an infinitesimal amount of maysin, in addition, maysin was not able to obtain by chemical synthesis. Therefore, it could be named enough that maysin was the world premium natural compound. To synthesis maysin in vivo, precursors like luteolin, isoorientin, and rhamnoslyisoorientin was required. The investigation on maysin and maysin derivatives have been carried out very limitedly because maysin and maysin derivaeives were not able to synthesize chemically and the rote for obtaining these compounds was very limited. Therefore, the aim of present study was to investigate the methods for obtaining higher yields of maysin and its derivatives from centipedegrass using various stress sources such as gamma-ray, UV-B, and wounding (folding)

[en] The cyanidin-3-O-xylosylrutinoside (cya-3-O-xylrut) is one of the most abundant anthocyanin, which is responsible for the red, purple, and blue colors of most fruits and vegetable, in the fruit of Schisandra chinensis Baillon and raspberries. Especially the cya-3- O-xylrut is a major anthocyanin accounting for about 94% in the fruits of S. chinensis, which is a unique source of highly pure cya-3-O-xylrut, and exhibits high antioxidant activity. Previously, we reported that the red color of the S. chinensis fruit extract dramatically disappeared in a dose-dependent manner of gamma irradiation. The color of S. chinensis was effectively removed at 2 kGy of gamma irradiation, even at 1 kGy resulted in a 50% reduction. Interestingly, the destruction of cya-3-O-xylrut by gamma irradiation led to generate flavonoids such as quercetin and unknown compounds. Quercetin, a typical flavonoltype flavonoid, is one of the most prominent dietary antioxidants. It is ubiquitously present in fruits and vegetables. Quercetin exhibits various biological activities such as anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, vasodilating, and anti-cancer effects. In the present study our purpose is to develop a promising tool for bio-conversion of organic compounds by combination treatment of H₂O₂ and gamma ray

[en] Cinnamate-4-hydroxylase (C4H) is a key enzyme of phenylpropanoid pathway, which leads a variety of secondary metabolites to participate in differentiation and protection of plant against environmental stresses. In this study, we isolated a full-length cDNA of the C4H gene from a black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis L.), using a reverse transcriptase-PCR and rapid amplification of the cDNA ends (RACE)-PCR. The full-length cDNA of the RocC4H gene contained a 1,515 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 504 amino acid protein with a calculated molecular weight of about 57.9 kDa and an isoelectric point (pI) value of 9.1. The genomic DNA analysis revealed that RocC4H gene had three exons and two introns. By multiple sequence alignment, RocC4H protein was highly homologous with other plant C4Hs, and the cytochrome P450-featured motifs, such as the heme-binding domain, the T-containing binding pocket motif (AAIETT), the ERR triad, and the tetrapeptide (PPGP) hinge motif, were highly conserved. Southern blot analysis revealed that RocC4H is a single copy gene in R. occidentalis

[en] To evaluate the feasibility and long-term outcome of the use of self-expandable metallic Z-stents in the canine lacrimal sac. Stent placement was technically successful and well tolerated in all but one lacrimal sac, in which the stent was misplaced. At three and six months after stent placement, stent wires were not encased by epithelium, but at nine months, and one, two and three years after placement, six of the 12 stents had become encased in a proliferation of this where the stent wires contacted the lacrimal sac wall. In no lacrimal system in which stent placement had been successful was migration, stenosis or obstruction of the lacrimal system observed. One misplaced stent caused obstruction of the lacrimal sac, however . In 11 of 12 case (92%), fluoroscopic placement of an expandable metallic stent in the canine lacrimal sac was successful: in 6 of 8 cases (75%), the stent wires became encased by a proliferation of mucosa, but during long-term follow-up of 9 months to 3 years, no obstruction was observed. (author). 20 refs., 1 tab., 5 figs

[en] Flavanone-3-hydroxylase (F3H) is one of the key enzymes for the biosynthesis of flavonals, anthocyanins, catechins and proanthocyanins. F3H catalyzes the 3β-hydroxylation of (2S)-flavonones to form (2R, 3R)-dihydroflavonols. In this report, we isolated a full-length cDNA of RocF3H from black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis L.) using a reverse transcriptase-PCR and rapid amplification of the cDNA ends (RACE)-PCR. The full-length cDNA of RocF3H contains a 1,098 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 365 amino acid protein with a calculated molecular weight of about 41.1 kDa and isoelectric point (pI) of 5.45. The genomic DNA analysis revealed that the RocF3H gene had three exons and two introns. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence of the RocF3H with other F3Hs revealed that the protein is highly homologous with various plant species. The conserved amino acids ligating the ferrous iron and the residues participating in the 2-oxoglutarate binding (R-X-S) were found in RocF3H at the similar positions to other F3Hs. Southern blot analysis indicated that RocF3H exist a multi-gene family. The isolation of RocF3H gene will be helpful to further study the role of F3H gene in the biosynthesis of flavonoids in R. occidnetalis