Demonstration of the shorter flagellin (flaA) gene of urease-positive thermophilic Campylobacter isolated from the natural environment in Northern Ireland.

The PCR amplicons (about 1450 bp in length) of flaA gene fragments of 11 isolates of urease-positive thermophilic Campylobacter (UPTC) isolated from the natural environment not including wild birds in Northern Ireland were demonstrated to be shorter than those of C. jejuni 81116 and six isolates of C. jejuni and C. coli (about 1700 bp) isolated in Northern Ireland and Japan. When the nucleotide lengths of the possible open reading frame (ORF) of the flaA genes were determined, those from the 11 UPTC isolates were estimated to be 1464-1503 bp, and those from the six C. jejuni and C. coli isolates and C. jejuni 81116 strain to be 1716-1728 bp. Nucleotide sequence and deduced amino acid sequence alignments of the possible ORFs demonstrated that the ORFs from the 11 UPTC isolates lack about 80 amino acid residues, mainly from the approximate residue numbers 390-470 of the large variable region in the flaA protein of the seven isolates of C. jejuni and C. coli, and do not have any internal termination codons. High amino acid sequence similarity of both amino- and carboxy-termini of the ORFs of the flaA gene was demonstrated between the 11 isolates of UPTC and the 7 isolates of C. jejuni and C. coli. The 11 UPTC isolates examined were strongly suggested to possess a shorter flaA gene without any internal termination codons.

Computed Tomography for Preoperative Evaluation of Axillary Nodal Status in Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: We prospectively evaluated axillary lymph node metastasis by preoperative thin-slice computed tomography (CT) and compared those results with theresults of dye-guided sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNB). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty-one breast cancer cases were examined. Preoperative axillary CT, dyeguided SNB and complete axillary lymph node dissection were performed. We prospectively diagnosed lymph node metastasis in the whole axillaryregion and qualitatively predicted the sentinel lymph node (SN) status with thepreoperative CT images. Based on the results of SNB and the pathological nodal status as revealed by complete axillary dissection, we evaluated the usefulness of preoperative axillary CT as a predictor of axillary node metastasis, and we also investigated the qualitative diagnostic value of the SN predicted by CT. RESULTS: For the whole axillary region, the results of CT diagnosis showed anaccuracy of 71% and a sensitivity of 60%. The SN predicted by CT correlated with the SN identified by the dye-guided method in 86% of all cases. The SN status predicted by CT had an accuracy of 81%, a sensitivity of 78%, and a negative predictive value of 79%. The dye-guided methods resulted in three false-negative SNcases, however, CT predicted one of those cases as positive. CONCLUSIONS: Diagnosis of axillary lymph node metastasis by CT alone is inadequate. However, CT achieves a comparatively high rate of identification of axillary SN. The combined use of dye-guided SNB and preoperative CT will facilitate identification of the SN and also lower the false-negative rate.

Histopathological observation of dense particulate hydroxyapatite consolidated in the frontal sinus of dogs.

Dense particles of hydroxyapatite (HAP) were consolidated in the frontal sinus of dogs, and bone formation with time was observed in undecalcified ground sections using Cole's HE stain. In the HAP mass on the experimental side, a small amount of newly generated bone was seen around the inner wall of the sinus after 3 months. Even after 12 months, bone formation was still limited to the surrounding region and did not extend to the central region of the sinus. In the sinus opened area, bone formation was seen from both ends of the bone along the HAP particles, and ossiferous closing was observed without leaving a recess at 12 months. On the control side, yellow bone marrow tissue, pneumatic spaces or cyst formation were seen, and a recess was left in the sinus opened area in all cases.