This study aimed to elucidate the natural history of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) of the pancreas with mural nodules (MNs) in branch duct IPMN (BD-IPMN).
Among the 402 registered ...patients with BD-IPMN on long-term follow-up at 10 institutions in Japan, 53 patients with MNs of less than 10 mm in height detected by endosonography were included in this study. The morphological changes of the BD-IPMN in these patients and histologic findings of the resected specimen were investigated.
The median height of the MNs at the initial diagnosis was 3 mm (range, 1-8 mm), and 12 (23%) of the 53 patients showed an increase in the height of the MNs during follow-up (mean duration, 42 months). Six patients underwent surgery because of an increase in the height of MNs, yielding high-grade dysplasia in 1 patient and low-grade dysplasia in 5 patients. No patients developed invasive carcinoma derived from IPMN, and distinct pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma developed in 1 (2%) patient. The incidence of the development of malignancy in BD-IPMNs, including distinct pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, was similar to that of those without MNs.
In patients who have BD-IPMN with MNs of less than 10 mm in height, observation instead of immediate resection is considered to be possible.
Sulfur-turf microbial mats develop in sulfide-containing hot spring water dominated by chemolithoautotrophic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. The sulfur-turf mat that developed at a source of hot water ...(72°C, pH 6.8) exhibited a growth rate of 0.48±0.04 h−1 and biomass production of 4.6±1.0 mg of C h−1. On a per-cell basis, this biomass production was at least an order of magnitude higher than the CO2 uptake rate calculated for a photosynthetic mat dominated by thermophilic Synechococcus spp. at 70°C. The sulfur-turf-associated microbial community likely contributes to carbon fixation and primary production in this geothermal habitat.
The temperature ranges of growth of archaea are strongly correlated with the guanine-plus-cytosine (G+C) contents of their 16S rRNA sequences (P
GC
). In order to estimate minimum (T
min
), optimal ...(T
opt
), and maximum (T
max
) growth temperatures of uncultured archaea based on P
GC
, the 16S rRNA gene sequences of 207 archaeal species were collected from public databases, and their T
min
, T
opt
and T
max
were extracted from description papers and reviews. These values of growth temperatures were plotted against P
GC
, and then the regression lines for estimating T
min
, T
opt
and T
max
were calculated. We PCR-amplified the archaeal 16S rRNA gene fragments from the hot water samples, cloned the fragments, and determined the sequences. Growth temperatures of environmental archaea were inferred from G+C content of the 16S rRNA gene sequences by the regression lines. In the terrestrial hot springs (74°C and 85°C), both estimated growth temperatures of archaea were higher than in situ temperatures of hot spring waters. Even from tepid hydrothermal fluid (40°C) we obtained a significant number of archaeal genes indicating high growth temperatures. These results suggested that hot subsurface environments exist under those hydrothermal and geothermal regions. In this study, growth temperatures of uncultured archaea and in situ subsurface temperatures were roughly inferred from 16S rRNA gene sequences of archaea that were transported from the subsurface biosphere. This new method based on microbial molecular information may be applicable to temperature estimation of subsurface environments for which it has been difficult to measure the actual temperature with appropriate instrumentation.
We herein report three cases of nasal type natural killer T-cell (NK/T-cell) lymphoma. The patients visited our hospital with complaints of nasal symptoms. All three cases complained of nasal ...obstruction and two complained of epistaxis. The local findings showed that a mass occupied the nasal cavity of two cases and granulation was present in one case. We performed a biopsy for all three cases, and two cases were diagnosed with NK/T-cell lymphoma based on the first biopsy, while one case was diagnosed with NK/T-cell lymphoma based on the results of a second biopsy. Two of the three cases were treated with chemoradiotherapy at our hospital. The tumor responded well to radiation therapy followed by three courses of DeVIC (dexamethasone, VP16, ifosfamide and carboplatin) combination chemotherapy. After receivingthis therapy, the patients have remained free of any symptoms or recurrence. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy using the DeVIC regimen may therefore be effective for the treatment of NK/T-cell lymphoma. When natural killer T-cell (NK/T-cell) lymphoma invades surrounding tissues, it is often associated with a poor prognosis. Therefore, an early diagnosis and early treatment are important for this disease.
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