Sphingomonas palmae sp. nov. and Sphingomonas gellani sp. nov., endophytically associated phyllosphere bacteria isolated from economically important crop plants.

In this study, two endophytic bacterial strains designated JS21-1T and S6-262T isolated from leaves of Elaeis guineensis and stem tissues of Jatropha curcas respectively, were subjected for polyphasic taxonomic approach. On R2A medium, colonies of strains JS21-1T and S6-262T are orange and yellow, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and whole-genome sequences placed the strains in distinct clades but within the genus Sphingomonas. The DNA G + C content of JS21-1T and S6-262T were 67.31 and 66.95%, respectively. Furthermore, the average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values of strains JS21-1T and S6-262T with phylogenetically related Sphingomonas species were lower than 95% and 70% respectively. The chemotaxonomic studies indicated that the major cellular fatty acids of the strain JS21-1T were summed feature 8 (C18:1 ω7c and/or C18:1 ω6c), C16:0, and C14:0 2OH; strain S6-262T possessed summed feature 3 (C16:1 ω7c and/or iso-C15:0 2-OH) and summed feature 8 (C18:1 ω6c and/or C18:1 ω7c). The major quinone was Q10, and the unique polyamine observed was homospermidine. The polar lipid profile comprised of mixture of sphingoglycolipid, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and certain uncharacterised phospholipids and lipids. Based on this polyphasic evidence, strains JS21-1T and S6-262T represent two novel species of the genus Sphingomonas, for which the names Sphingomonas palmae sp. nov. and Sphingomonas gellani sp. nov. are proposed, respectively. The type strain of Sphingomonas palmae sp. nov. is JS21-1T (= DSM 27348T = KACC 17591T) and the type strain of Sphingomonas gellani sp. nov. is S6-262T (= DSM 27346T =  KACC 17594T).

Smartphone Application Versus Pedometer to Promote Physical Activity in Prostate Cancer Patients.

Background: Recently, the application of smartphone in medical field has received great attention.Introduction: The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of smartphone-based and conventional pedometer-based exercise monitoring systems in promoting home exercise among prostate cancer patients.Methods: Prostate cancer patients who have undergone surgery or androgen deprivation therapy were recruited. All participants were provided with physical activity goals based on their activities and were advised to achieve these goals during their home exercise period. The intervention group was instructed to use smartphone application to record their activities; they also received weekly remote consultations based on the activity record from the application, without visiting a clinic. The control group was instructed to keep a written record of their daily activities based on pedometer readings; these records were checked by clinicians during follow-up visits. The uptake, adherence, and completion rates of two groups were compared by intention-to-treat analysis. Changes in physical function during the exercise period were analyzed.Results: In total, 100 patients were recruited (smartphone: 5 and pedometer: 50). No significant differences were detected between groups in rates of uptake (80.0% vs. 88.0%, p = 0.28), adherence (92.5% vs. 79.5%, p = 0.12), or completion (76.0% vs. 86.0%, p = 0.20). Physical functions were significantly improved in both groups.Conclusions: The smartphone-based exercise monitoring system and the pedometer yielded comparable results in promoting physical activity, as assessed by rates of uptake, adherence, and completion. Exercise monitoring was effective in improving physical functions, in both methods.

Alternative Carcinogenicity Screening Assay Using Colon Cancer Stem Cells: A Quantitative PCR (qPCR)-Based Prediction System for Colon Carcinogenesis.

The carcinogenicity of chemicals in the environment is a major concern. Recently, numerous studies have attempted to develop methods for predicting carcinogenicity, including rodent and cell-based approaches. However, rodent carcinogenicity tests for evaluating the carcinogenic potential of a chemical to humans are time-consuming and costly. This study focused on the development of an alternative method for predicting carcinogenicity using quantitative PCR (qPCR) and colon cancer stem cells. A toxicogenomic method, mRNA profiling, is useful for predicting carcinogenicity. Using microarray analysis, we optimized 16 predictive gene sets from five carcinogens (azoxymethane, 3,2'-dimethyl-4-aminobiphenyl, N-ethyl-n-nitrosourea, metronidazole, 4-(n-methyl-n-nitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone) used to treat colon cancer stem cell samples. The 16 genes were evaluated by qPCR using 23 positive and negative carcinogens in colon cancer stem cells. Among them, six genes could differentiate between positive and negative carcinogens with a p-value of < or =0.05. Our qPCR-based prediction system for colon carcinogenesis using colon cancer stem cells is cost- and time-efficient. Thus, this qPCR-based prediction system is an alternative to in vivo carcinogenicity screening assays.

Evaluation of Diagnostic Performance of Screening Thyroid Ultrasonography and Imaging Findings of Screening-Detected Thyroid Cancer.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance and cost of screening thyroid ultrasonography (US) in an asymptomatic population and determine the US features of screening-detected thyroid cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included 1,845 asymptomatic participants who underwent screening thyroid US between March and August 2012 at the screening center in our hospital. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of screening thyroid US for thyroid cancer and the average cost of diagnosis for each patient. We also determined the characteristic US features of screening-detected thyroid cancer. RESULTS: Of the 1,845 subjects, 661 showed no abnormalities, 1,155 exhibited benign thyroid nodules, and 29 exhibited thyroid cancer. Imaging features such as solid composition, hypoechogenicity, taller-than-wide axis, and ill-defined or spiculated margins of nodules were suggestive of malignancy. The rate of detection of cancer was 1.6% (29/1,845), and the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 100% (18/18), 98.7% (1,051/1,065), 56.3% (18/32), and 100% (1,051/1,051), respectively. Of 18 patients who underwent thyroidectomy, three (16.7%) had a pathological tumor staging of T3, and four (22.2%) had a pathological nodal staging of N1a. The average cost of diagnosis for each patient with cancer was $7,319. CONCLUSION: Screening thyroid US exhibited a good diagnostic performance, with a feasible social cost of use. This modality demonstrated significant differences in sonographic features between screening-detected cancer and benign nodules.

Life Space Assessment in Stroke Patients.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reliability of the practical life space in post-stroke patients using the Korean version of the Life-Space Assessment (K-LSA) questionnaire and to assess the relationships between the K-LSA and physical function, daily activity, quality of life, and post-stroke depression. METHODS: The LSA questionnaire was translated into Korean, and the translated version was authorized by the author of the LSA questionnaire. In a cross-sectional study, the performance of the K-LSA was evaluated in 34 stroke patients (20 males and 14 females; mean age 65.11±2.39 years) who were receiving physical and occupational therapy at the outpatient clinic in the rehabilitation medicine department of a university medical center at the time of evaluation. Performances were assessed twice by one examiner at a 2-week interval to test the reliability. The patients were evaluated using the Functional Ambulation Category (FAC) scale, Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scale, and mobility subscale of the FIM to assess their relationships with the K-LSA. They were also evaluated using the EuroQol 5 Dimensions questionnaire (EQ-5D) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) to determine the relationship with quality of life and post-stroke depression. RESULTS: Test-retest reliability at the first (62.20±32.14) and second (63.15±32.22) assessment was 0.993 (p<0.01). The K-LSA showed significant correlations with the FAC (r=0.848, p<0.01), FIM (r=0.765, p<0.01), mobility category of the FIM (r=0.764, p<0.01), GDS (r=-0.657, p<0.01), and EQ-5D (r=0.506, p<0.01). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the practical life space of post-stroke patients, assessed by the K-LSA, has a significant correlation with patients' functional mobility, independence in daily activity, quality of life, and depression.

Ultrasound assessment of breast development: distinction between premature thelarche and precocious puberty.

OBJECTIVE. We analyzed the correlation between breast development and ultrasound-measured breast bud diameter. We also evaluated different breast ultrasound findings in pediatric subjects with precocious puberty and premature thelarche while comparing bone age and hormone levels. MATERIALS AND METHODS. We performed a retrospective study with a sample of 90 girls (mean age, 7.8 years) who underwent breast ultrasound for evaluation of early breast development between March 2011 and February 2013. We evaluated breast ultrasound grade, bud diameter, and clinical characteristics including bone age and hormone levels. Among the 90 girls, 69 were up to 8 years old (mean age, 7.3 years). We divided them into healthy, precocious puberty, and premature thelarche groups and evaluated the clinicoradiologic findings for each group. RESULTS. Breast ultrasound grade was correlated with age, bone age, bud diameter, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and estradiol (E2). Bud diameter was correlated with age, bone age, LH, FSH, and E2. However, the difference between bone age and chronological age was not correlated with ultrasound grade or bud diameter. Among 69 girls up to 8 years old, including 11 healthy girls (15.9%), 26 girls with precocious puberty (37.7%) (mean [SD] age, 7.3 years), and 32 girls with premature thelarche (46.4%) (mean age, 7.2 years), there were no significant differences in other variables except values for bone age (p = 0.001) and difference between bone age and chronological age (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION. Breast ultrasound might be useful for evaluating sexual development with respect to bud diameter or ultrasound grade. However, its ability to distinguish precocious puberty from premature thelarche is limited.

Breast ultrasonography in young Asian women: analyses of BI-RADS final assessment category according to symptoms.

BACKGROUND: Breast ultrasound is the major imaging modality in young women because it incurs no radiation exposure and dense breast tissue, which is common in young women, yields a high rate of false-negative results on mammography. PURPOSE: To investigate the cancer rates of the sonographic BI-RADS categorization and histopathologic results according to the presence of symptoms in young Asian women. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We included 811 young women under 30 years of age who underwent a breast ultrasound during the study period. The mean age of all subjects was 24.5 years (range 11-29 years). Histopathologic results were compared with the results after application of the BI-RADS categorization. RESULTS: Sonographic findings were classified as category 1 (n=192), category 2 (n=81), category 3 (n=399), category 4 (n=134), and category 5 (n=5). The cancer rates for category 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 were 0, 0, 0.3, 6.3, and 100% in the symptomatic group, respectively. For the asymptomatic group, the cancer rates were 0, 0, 0, 8.7, and 100%, respectively. More cancers were found in high-risk women (22.2%, 4/18) than in non-high-risk women (1.4%, 11/793). CONCLUSION: BI-RADS categorization was helpful for predicting the probability of malignancy in young Asian women.

Safety margin assessment after radiofrequency ablation of the liver using registration of preprocedure and postprocedure CT images.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our study was to evaluate a new technique for registration of postprocedure to preprocedure CT images to determine the effect on the safety margin assessment after radiofrequency ablation (RFA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Registration of post-RFA CT to pre-RFA CT images was performed using prototype software via nonrigid registration in 31 patients with hepato-cellular carcinoma who were treated with RFA. Registration accuracy was validated by setting pairs of corresponding landmarks on registered post-RFA CT and pre-RFA CT images and by calculating the mean difference between the corresponding landmarks. Three radiologists independently conducted a retrospective review of the pre-RFA and post-RFA CT images for safety margin assessment with and without registered images. The safety margin was rated using a 4-point scale (1, residual tumor; 2, < 2 mm safety margin; 3, 2 to < 5 mm safety margin; and 4, ≥ 5 mm safety margin). Interobserver agreement was evaluated using the weighted kappa test. RESULTS: The mean difference between the corresponding landmarks was 1.3 mm, thus suggesting accurate registration. A more accurate correlation between the degree of the reader safety margin and the reference value was obtained from pre-RFA and post-RFA CT images using registered CT images than without using registered images (γ, 0.918 vs 0.887 for reader 1, 0.888 vs 0.651 for reader 2, and 0.811 vs 0.497 for reader 3, respectively). Interobserver agreement (kappa) increased from 0.503-0.558 in the first session without registered images to 0.807-0.869 in the second session with registered CT images. CONCLUSION: Registration of post-RFA CT to pre-RFA CT images is an accurate and useful technique for assessing the safety margin immediately after RFA.

Magnetic resonance pancreatography: comparison of two- and three-dimensional sequences for assessment of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm of the pancreas.

The purpose was to compare two-dimensional (2D) magnetic resonance pancreatography (MRP) with 3D MRP to evaluate intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN). Thirty-four patients (22 men, 12 women; age range, 45-80 years) with IPMN (n = 40) were examined with MRP on 2D and 3D sequences. Two readers independently reviewed the images to assess the overall image quality, artifacts, lesion location, communication with main pancreatic duct, and potential for malignancy. The readers assigned their confidence level (1-5) for predicting ductal communication of the lesion. The results of MRP were compared with endoscopic retrograde pancreatography and surgical and histopathologic findings. Studies obtained with 3D MRP were of significantly higher technical quality than those obtained with 2D MRP. Although 3D MRP showed higher area under the ROC curve (Az) values for predicting ductal communication of the lesion, there was no statistical significance between Az values of 2D and 3D MRP (Az for 2D = 0.821, 0.864 for readers 1 and 2, respectively, and Az for 3D= 0.964, 0.921). Accuracies for discriminating benign from malignant lesions were 70 and 67.5% (reader 1 and 2, respectively, for 2D) and 62.5 and 80.1% (3D). 3D MRP showed superior image quality to that of 2D MRP but did not increase the diagnostic accuracy for predicting ductal communication of the lesion.