The Effect of Raffaelea quercus-mongolicae Inoculations on the Formation of Non-conductive Sapwood of Quercus mongolica

In Korea, mass mortality of Quercus mongolica trees has become obvious since 2004. Raffaelea quercus-mongolicae is believed to be a causal fungus contributing the mortality. To evaluate the pathogenicity of the fungus to the trees, the fungus was multiple- and single-inoculated to the seedlings and twigs of the mature trees, respectively. In both the inoculations, the fungus was reisolated from more than 50% of inoculated twigs and seedlings. In the single inoculations, proportions of the transverse area of non-conductive sapwood at inoculation points and vertical lengths of discoloration expanded from the points were significantly different between the inoculation treatment and the control. In the multiple inoculations, no mortality was confirmed among the seedlings examined. These results showed that R. quercus-mongolicae can colonize sapwood, contribute to sapwood discoloration and disrupt sap flows around inoculation sites of Q. mongolica, although the pathogenicity of the fungus was not proven.

Treatment of the Early Stage Small Cell Carcinoma of the Cervix / 대한부인종양콜포스코피학회잡지

OBJECTIVE: Small cell carcinoma of the cervix(SCC) is a rare aggressive tumor with a propensity for rapid distant recurrence and a high mortality rate. The purpose of this study was to review our experience in early stage disease and to perform a meta-analysis of the literature to compare neoadjuvant with adjuvant chemotherapy as prognostic factor. METHODS: Between 1990 and 1998, seven women with FIGO early stage(IB-IIA) SCC were treated with surgery and chemotherapy at our hospital. Medical records were retrospectively reviewed. And thirty-two early-stage SCC patients who similarly treated since 1990 were identified by a Medline search of the English literature and included in the analysis. The Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were used for survival analysis. RESULTS: Out of our patients, three patients died at 12-13 months after diagnosis due to distant metastases which were brain in two and was liver and lung in one. Other three are alive with no evidence of disease at 27, 66, and 121 months. From the meta-analysis, the overall 3-year survival rate was 49% in neoadjuvant and 33% in adjuvant chemotherapy, but there were no statistical significance.(log-rank test, 0.80) Neoadjuvant chemotherapy resulted in a high response rates(81.2%), no pelvic recurrence, and a low LN metastasis(18.8%), therefore the pelvic radiation therapy rates was low. CONCLUSIONS: Even in the early stage, SCC treatment must be combined with chemotherapy. There was no significant difference in prognosis between neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy. But this study showed neoadjuvant may extirpate the primary lesion, evaluate response, and assess more promising postoperative therapy according to pathologic features.