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Scoliosis can cause various respiratory complications, even in the natural course, because of rearrangement of the intrathoracic anatomy owing to chest wall deformity. We experienced a patient with scoliosis who developed acute respiratory failure owing to bronchial obstruction induced by bronchial compression by the dorsal thoracic vertebra after right upper lobectomy for cancer. The symptom resolved after mobilization of the ipsilateral lower lobe, which was achieved by releasing the inferior pulmonary vein by U-shaped pericardial dissection with division of the pulmonary ligament. When planning lobectomy for patients with severe scoliosis, the anatomic changes caused by pulmonary resection must be considered.

We report a 17-year-old male with a histopathologic diagnosis of lymphangioleiomyomatosis after surgery for a pneumothorax. In general, lymphangioleiomyomatosis has been considered a female-specific disease. However, there are a few lymphangioleiomyomatosis cases reported in males, and our patient is the youngest case reported. Spontaneous pneumothorax occurs most commonly in males in their late teens and early twenties. Histopathologic diagnosis cannot always be performed in young males with pneumothorax. However, simple diagnosis should be avoided, and lymphangioleiomyomatosis should be considered as an underlying disease. This remarkable case provides new and valuable clinical insights into young male pneumothorax.

An 82-year-old man underwent a left upper lobectomy for a solitary tumor on suspicion of lung cancer. Histopathologic findings of the resected specimen showed clear cell renal cell carcinoma, which was diagnosed as a metastasis from kidney cancer concealed for 31 years after nephrectomy. The Ki-67 labeling index of the metastatic tumor was high (36.1%). A few cases of recurrent renal cell carcinoma after a long interval from initial diagnosis have been seen. However, pulmonary metastasectomy more than 30 years after radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma has not been reported. This remarkable case provides new and valuable clinical insights into metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

The light requirements for seed germination and seedling development have not been studied widely in Gesneriaceae. Here we report on the effects of light on these aspects in Streptocarpus rexii (Gesneriaceae). Seeds did not germinate in the dark but required light, indicating photoblastic seed germination. Light exposure was also required for the establishment of post-germination anisocotylous development, with the seedlings showing the typical basal meristem in the proximal region of the macrocotyledon. In the dark, however, the basal meristem was not established and the seedlings showed two equally sized microcotyledons. Hypocotyl elongation, a typical skotomorphogenesis, was also observed in the dark. Different wavelengths of light, in the red and blue spectrum, differentially affected seedling development. While seedlings exposed to blue light showed typical anisocotyly, seedlings under red light did not and basal meristem activity was not observed. These results suggest that light quality is an important factor for the establishment of anisocotyly in S. rexii seedlings. Thus, light plays important roles at different developmental stages of S. rexii, which is perhaps linked to adaptation to dense forest habitats where light is marginal. Environmental signals might coordinate endogenous physiological pathways for the extraordinary seedling development in S. rexii. Unraveling these interactions requires further studies.

In higher plant cells, thus far only a few molecules have been inferred to be involved in microtubule organizing centers (MTOCs). Examination of a 49 kDa tobacco protein, homologous to a 51 kDa protein involved in sea urchin MTOCs, showed that it also accumulated at the putative MTOC sites in tobacco BY-2 cells. In this report, we show that the 49 kDa protein is likely to play a significant role in microtubule organization in vitro. We have established a system prepared from BY-2 cells, capable of organizing microtubules in vitro. The fraction, which was partially purified from homogenized miniprotoplasts (evacuolated protoplasts) by salt extraction and subsequent ion exchange chromatography, contained many particles of diameters about 1 micron after desalting by dialysis. When this fraction was incubated with purified porcine brain tubulin, microtubules were elongated radially from the particles and organized into structures similar to the asters observed in animal cells, and therefore also termed "asters" here. Since we could hardly detect BY-2 tubulin molecules in this fraction, the microtubules in "asters" seemed to be solely composed of the added porcine tubulin. Tubulin molecules were newly polymerized at the ends of the microtubules distal to the particles, and the elongation rate of microtubules was more similar to the reported rate of the plus-ends than that of the minus-ends in vitro. By fluorescence microscopy, the 49 kDa protein was shown to be located at the particles. Thus, its location at the centers of the "asters" suggests that the protein plays a role in microtubule organization in vitro.

Transmission data using a pulsed neutron source have information on neutron cross-section that reflects the crystal structure of the object, and combined with area detector we can obtain the structural change depending on the position in the object. We performed several experimental studies to observe the change of the structure. We demonstrate position-dependent structural change of the lead in solid. It was indicated that the structure changed largely within few millimeters region. Furthermore, we observed the cross-section change of stainless steel (SS) samples with different treatments, which may be the effect of crystal grain structure of the SS samples caused by different treatment.

Summary The organization of microtubules (MTs) was followed during the cell cycle transition from G 1 phase to S phase in cells that were released from a sequential treatment with aphidicolin and propyzamide. DNA synthesis was identified in the cells in which MTs were developing in the perinuclear regions and elongating toward the cell cortex. Observations using confocal laser scanning microscopy suggested that MTs were elongating along the previously developed cables of microfilaments (MFs). Disorganization of MFs by cytochalasin prevented the elongation of MTs, resulting in the accumulation of short MTs in the perinuclear regions. Migration of nuclei was prevented by cytochalasin treatment, suggesting that the principal intracellular structures responsible for the migration of nuclei are MFs, not MTs. Katsuta et al. (1990) claimed the contrary. This difference seems to have originated from the fact that the cells released from aphidicolin treatment used by Katsuta et al. (1990) were slightly ahead of the border between the G 1 phase and the S phase in the cell cycle, while cells released from a sequential treatment with aphidicolin and propyzamide used in this study proceeded in a more natural way.

Summary During the growth of in vitro cultured cells of a moss, Barbula unguiculata, the morphological change of chloroplast nucleoids was followed by fluorescence microscopy, and their quantitative change was determined with a super-sensitive photonic microscope system after staining with 4'6-diamidino-2-phenylindole. Chloroplast DNA content per cell increased 14-fold 1 day after transfer to a fresh medium and then returned to the starting level after one week of culture, although chlorophyll content and chloroplast number per cell remained relatively constant.

FIGURE 1. A, Computed tomographic scan coronal (left) and sagittal (right) views of tumor (arrows) attached to the distal portion of the aortic arch, 23 mm in length and a third of the circumference. Note the unclear tumor margin. B, Fluorography during stent operation. A customized fenestrated stent was inserted into the target zone of the aorta. Angiograms revealed patency of both the brachiocephalic artery (A) and left common A fenestrated stent graft that included the orifice of the left subclavian artery was used to resect a left upper lobe cancer invading the distal aortic arch without the use of cardiopulmonary bypass. No complications were observed.We found no previous reports in our literature search of fenestrated stent-graft placement for distal aortic arch tumor invasion. This method could reduce the risks of combined resection of the aortic arch during lung cancer surgery.

03-P089 A simple leaf with compound gene expression: Indeterminate leaves co-express ARP and KNOX genes Kanae Nishii, Michael Moeller, Catherine Kidner, Alberto Spada, Raffaella Mantegazza, Hao-Chun Hsu, Toshiyuki Nagata, Chun-Neng Wang 1 National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 2 Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom 3 Milan University, Milan, Italy 4 Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan

A one-step procedure using a mixture of glutaraldehyde and osmium tetroxide was devised to fix in situ large unilamellar liposomes of phosphatidylserine for transmission electron microscopy (TEM), since the conventional fixation method was found to be inadequate in this respect. The new fixation procedure enabled us to visualize the sequence of events in the interaction of liposomes with protoplasts from Vinca rosea suspension cultures in the presence of polyethylene glycol. Liposomes were thus found adhering to the surface of protoplasts, in association with invaginating plasmalemma, and within intracellular vesicles. These observations showed that liposomes enter plant protoplasts via endocytosis. Ultrastructural profiles indicating fusion of liposomes with protoplasts were not observed.

The reaction between N-tosyldiarylsulfilimines and p-toluenethiolate anion did not take place in the dark even upon heating up to 62° but proceeded smoothly upon irradiation with visible light in DMF at room temperature, affording S-N bond cleavage products.

Summary Products of polyethylene glycol-induced fusion between pea root nodule and tobacco mesophyll protoplasts were examined by transmission electron microscopy. Protoplasts from nodule cells in early symbiotic stages formed heteroplasmic fusion bodies with tobacco mesophyll protoplasts. These fusion bodies had a continuous plasmalemma enclosing the contents of two fusion partners with no trace of boundary membrane inbetween. Bacteroids were present as groups, but individual bacteroids were surrounded by well preserved membrane. Th.e fusion bodies showed no ultrastructural feature which might suggest degenerative changes. Protoplasts from older nodule cells apparently failed to complete heteroplasmic fusion; only some bacteroids were introduced into the heterologous cytoplasm, while major portion of the disintegrated nodule protoplast remained adhering to the surface of tobacco protoplasts.

Reduction of sulfoxides and sulfilimines to the corresponding sulfides by both BNAH and NaBH 4 have been found to proceed in the presence of a catalytic amount of metallo-mesotetraphenylporphins.

Summary Protoplasts from pea root nodules were isolated enzymatically. Nodules from flowering pea were suitable material for the isolation of stable protoplasts. The isolated protoplasts were classified into four types ranging from small spheres from the early stage of infected nodule cells (type 1) to large elongated protoplasts from the late stage of infected cells (type 4). In all these types, including the elongated ones, the lack of celL wall materials at the surface of the plasmalemma was confirmed by electron microscopy. The fine structure of vesicles around bacteria and the cytoplasm of the bacteroidal cells appeared well preserved during enzymatic isolation of protoplasts. The isolated nodule protoplasts, especially the spherical types, and tobacco mesophyll protoplasts were agglutinated with polyethylene glycol (PEG), and subsequently fused upon elution of the PEG to form completely spherical fusion products.

Reduction of diaryl disulfides with 1-benzyl-1,4-dihydronicotinamide (BNAH) proceeded through a radical chain reaction, while dialkyl disulfides were found to be inert to BNAH.

Summary Some ultrastructural changes of tobacco mesophyll protoplasts cultured in vitro were examined under the electron microscope. An early stage of wall regeneration was recognizable after 2 days of culture when randomly oriented fibrils composed of cellulose appeared at the surface of protoplasts. The regenerated walls grew gradually in thickness and the fibrils became oriented parallel to the plasmalemma. During the process of colony formation differentiated mesophyll cells reverted to meristematic ones, accompanying the degeneration of chloroplasts. The significance of these phenomena is discussed.

Diaryl disulfides were found to be reduced smoothly to the arenethiols by BNAH in the presence of a catalytic amount of 3-methyllumiflavin under mild conditions.