[Intraoperative radiotherapy in multimodality treatment of locally advanced rectal carcinoma]. / Intraoperacní radioterapie v multimodalitní lécbe lokálne pokrocilého karcinomu rekta.

Multimodality treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer combines radical surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. This method leads to improvement of local control and overall survival. However, some of the patients incur local failure of disease, which are localized predominantly in presacral region. The integration of intraoperative radiotherapy as part of a multimodal treatment approach helps to a further dose escalation without increasing toxicity, and reduces the likelihood of otherwise difficult curable local failure.

Utility of blood cultures and incidence of mycobacteremia in patients with suspected tuberculosis in a South African infectious disease referral hospital.

SETTING: A 500-bed government referral institution for patients with tuberculosis and other infectious diseases in Gauteng, South Africa. OBJECTIVES: To assess the usefulness of BACTEC blood cultures over and above that of other microbiological methods for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in patients who are suspected of suffering from tuberculosis. DESIGN: Mycobacterial blood cultures were obtained from patients presenting with symptoms suspicious of tuberculosis and where there was no clinical evidence of other infectious etiologies, and from patients who had failed tuberculosis treatment. RESULTS: Sixteen (22%) of 71 patients included in the study were positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis on blood culture, while seven (10%) were positive for M. avium complex (MAC). Twelve (75%) of the patients with tuberculosis and positive blood cultures were however also positive for acid-fast bacilli on sputum smears and eight (50%) were initially diagnosed clinically and radiographically as localized pulmonary tuberculosis. Blood cultures positive for mycobacteria were only found among patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV). CONCLUSIONS: Bacteremia with M. tuberculosis complex was detected in HIV-infected patients with suspected tuberculosis, even in patients presenting with localized pulmonary infection on initial clinical assessment. Among patients with suspected tuberculosis, blood cultures were useful in diagnosing unsuspected MAC disease, but did not add to the diagnostic yield of conventional tests for tuberculosis used routinely, namely sputum microscopy and culture, or occasional biopsy specimens.

Chitin structures of the cell walls of synchronously grown virgin cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The ability of a lytic beta-glucanase of Arthrobacter GJM-1 to dissolve cell walls of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with exception of the chitin-containing fraction was employed for the isolation of chitin-rich residues of the cell walls of synchronously growing populations of virgin cells. Electron microscopical examination of such wall residues isolated from cells at various stages of the budding cycle showed that the first phase of chitin deposition in the wall corresponds to the formation of an annular structure found as a part of the bud scar after cell division. The annular chitin-rich structure could not be isolated at cell cycle stages preceding the bud emergence and at earliest stages of bud development. The observations confirmed that the annular structure (chitin ring) formed during bud growth represents a major part of total chitin present in the bud scar after septum closure.