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The article discusses research which examines the characterization and production of a mannosylerythritol lipid (MEL) B glycolipid biosurfactant from sugarcane juice using Ustilago scitaminea NBRC 32730. The study showed the capability of NBRC 32730 to produce a mono-acetylated and di-acylated MEL, MEL-B from sucrose as sole carbon source. It revealed that supplementation with organic and inorganic nitrogen sources enhanced the production yield.

The article presents a study that focuses on the efficiency of smut fungus Ustilafo scitaminea NBRC 32730 to produce glycolipid biosurfacants and mannosylerythritol lipids (MEL) from sucrose in the culture medium. It says that the strains were cultured in a test tube to approximating the formation of MEL and that silica gel were applied to purify the main glycolipid. It further focuses on fatty acid profile of the MEL-B and the molecular weights of glycolipids.

Advanced breast cancer with skin invasion are relatively often accompanied by bleeding, effusion, malodor, and pain, which reduce the quality of life(QOL)of the patients and their families. Therefore, local symptom control is as important as surgical treatment and chemotherapy. We control these symptoms by using cadexomer iodine, cadexomer iondine is expensive, but relatively easy for family to use and keep patients' QOL.

CREATE-X trial demonstrated the effectiveness of additional capecitabine therapy in prolonging disease-free survival among patients who are HER2 negative, especially those with triple-negative breast cancer who had residual invasive disease after standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy. We investigated our data regarding adjuvant capecitabine for residual disease. Ten patients were enrolled, and the average age of the patients was 54.2 years. All patients completed 8 courses of treatment; all adverse events were Grade 2 or lower. Five-year disease-free survival rate was 70.0% in an average observation period of 40.9 months. Three patients recurred within 2 years, and all patients had brain metastasis. In the CREATE-X trial, the rate of disease-free survival was 69.8% in the capecitabine group versus 56.1% in the control group; our results were same as those of CREATE-X. Brain metastasis may be detected by the early phase of enhanced brain MRI.

A microwave digestion method for the analysis of tin, arsenic and lead in soft drinks was studied and its performance was evaluated. The trueness, repeatability (RSD) and Intralaboratory reproducibility (RSD) of the method were estimated to be in the ranges of 93-100, 0.7-6.1 and 0.9-8.6%, respectively. In the preparation of the samples for tin analysis, the addition of sulfuric acid after microwave digestion improved the recovery rate and reproducibility. To verify the applicability of this method, recovery tests were conducted on five types of soft drinks, and the results were satisfactory. It was confirmed that this method is applicable to the digestion of a wide range of soft drinks and to the analysis of tin, arsenic, and lead, and that it reduces working time and makes the work easier compared to the conventional method.

Cryptococcus humicola JCM 1461 efficiently produced cellobiose lipids (CLs), bolaform biosurfactants. The main product was identified as 16-O-(2″,3″,4″,6'-tetra-O-acetyl-β-cellobiosyl)-2-hydroxyhexadecanoic acid. The production yield of CLs reached 13.1 g/L under the intermittent feeding of glucose. The critical micelle concentrations (CMC) of the main product at pH 4.0 and 7.0 were 3.3×10(-5) M and 4.1×10(-4) M respectively.

Burow's solution, or aluminum acetate solution, is effective in inhibiting various microorganisms including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that are commonly observed in chronic suppurative otitis media. It takes several days to prepare Burow's solution using aluminum sulfate, and the pharmaceutical properties of the solution are not fully understood. In this study, the effect of storage (5 months) of Burow's solution prepared according to the Teine-Keijin Hospital manual on its pharmaceutical properties and antibacterial activities was examined. We also attempted to develop a rapid preparation method of aluminum acetate (or 1.7% aluminum) solution using two commercially available compounds of aluminum acetate basic (Al(2)O(CH(3)CO(2))(4), Al(OH)(CH(3)CO(2))(2)). The properties of Burow's solution, pH, osmolarity and antibacterial activity, were the same among different preparations and its storage for 5 months at 4 degrees C had no effect on these properties. The antibacterial potency of Burow's solution was dependent on aluminum concentration and its antibacterial potency against S. aureus and several MRSA strains was of the same magnitude. In a rapid preparation, aluminum acetate basic was mixed with appropriate amounts of tartaric acid and acetic acid, and the suspension was boiled for 2-2.5 hr until dissolved. The rapidly prepared aluminum acetate solution showed the same pharmaceutical properties and antibacterial activities as those of Burow's solution. The newly developed preparation method for aluminum acetate solution is expected to be convenient and feasible for hospital treatment of chronic suppurative otitis media.