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There is a lack of consensus regarding optimal surgical management of symptomatic pericardial effusions in patients with malignancies. Subxiphoid pericardial window formation (subxiphoid pericardial drainage) has been considered a safe and effective method for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. To ensure adequate drainage, many surgeons prefer the formation of a larger pericardial window by performing either an anterior thoracotomy or a partial/total pericardiectomy. To evaluate the efficacy of these methods for palliation of symptomatic pericardial effusion in patients with malignancy, 28 consecutive pericardial surgery cases involving patients with malignancy were retrospectively analyzed. Ten patients (Group 1) had subxiphoid window formation, whereas 18 patients (Group 2) had partial or total pericardiectomy or pericardial window formation by anterior thoracotomy. There was no statistically significant difference (P = 0.22) in the survival rates between these two groups. A median survival time of 2.67 months (range, 0.43 to 26.6 months) was observed in Group 1 versus 1.23 months (range, 0.03 to 10.83 months) in Group 2. However, a statistically significant difference (P less than or equal to 0.02) in postoperative morbidity was observed between the two groups: 67% in Group 2 versus 10% in Group 1. Because of lower morbidity, subxiphoid pericardial window formation is recommended by this study as the preferred surgical method for palliation of symptomatic pericardial effusion in patients with malignancy.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies using many amendments for heavy metal stabilization in soil were conducted in order to find out new materials. But, the studies accounting for the use of appropriate amendments considering soil pH remain incomplete. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of initial soil pH on the efficiency of various amendments. METHODS AND RESULTS: Acid soil and alkali soil contaminated with heavy metals were collected from the agricultural soils affected by the abandoned mine sites nearby. Three different types of amendments were selected with hypothesis being different in stabilization mechanisms; organic matter, lime stone and iron, and added with different combination. For determining the changes in the extractable heavy metals, water soluble, Mehlich-3, Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure, Simple Bioavailability Extraction Test method were applied as chemical assessments for metal stabilization. For biological assessments, soil respiration and root elongation of bok choy (Brassica campestris ssp. Chinensis Jusl.) were determined. CONCLUSION:It was revealed that lime stone reduced heavy metal mobility in acid soil by increasing soil pH and iron was good at stabilizing heavy metals by supplying adsorption sites in alkali soil. Organic matter was a good source in terms of supplying nutrients, but it was concerning when accounting for increasing metal availability.

Perforated vinyl mulching technique was performed on oyster mushroom beds for controlling mushroom diseases. Mycelium under vinyl sheets were safely protected from outside undesirable microorganisms. One of two mushroom farms showed 75% of disease incidence, the other 40% and National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology (NIAST) 13% in the conventional growing method, whereas 12%, 14%, and 5% in the vinyl mulching cultivation method. Waterlogging caused mushroom bed worse, and Trichoderma spp. were infested on the conventional mushroom bed. Disease incidence investigated in other case was 25% to 30% in the conventional growing method, whereas 5 to 9% in the vinyl mulching cultivation method. Yields in conventional method were 6.5 to 7.2 kg/m 2 and those in vinyl mulching method were 7.6 to 8.1 kg/m 2 . So it was suggested that vinyl mulching technique was good for prevention from disease and elevation of productivity. KEYWORDS: Conventional growing method, Oyster mushroom, Vinyl mulching cultivation method, WaterloggingOyster mushroom had been artificially grown using agricultural by-product such as banana pseudostems and chopped paddy straw, and it was found that casing soil in Pleurotus cultivation was unnecessary for production of sporophores, and light did not affect the production of sporophores (Jandaik and Kapoor, 1974;Park, 1975). Pleurotus ostreatus grew normally when the relative humidity was 75~85%, but abnormal sporophore was developed when the relative humidity was over 95% (Block et al., 1958; Jandaik and Kapoor, 1974). Optimum pH value for fruiting of Pleurotus ostreatus was about 5.5 (Hashimoto and Takahashi, 1974). Pleurotus cultivation using cotton waste which was cheap and readily available was developed (Tan, 1981). Trichoderma, Aspergillus and Rhizopus on oyster mushroom bed were predominant microorganisms, and especially occurrence of these was severe in summer and spring seasons than autumn and winter (Shin, 1987). So far, oyster mushroom cultivation system has been developed by substituting the substrates. However, any attempt has not been made upon controlling mushroom diseases by using modified cultivation system. It was reported that oyster mushroom cultivation had advantages of producing quality mushroom and reducing labor input by using perforated vinyl sheet mulching technique (Oh et al., 1999(Oh et al., , 2000. Here we present the effect of vinyl mulching on oyster mushroom cultivation.Disease incidence at mushroom farms and growing room of NIAST. Disease incidence showed a big difference depending on cultivation method between mushroom farm A and B. Especially, farm B suffered from diseases which caused 75% in the conventional growing method, whereas 12% in the vinyl mulching method. This farm had picked a few mushroom products during three years from 1996 to 1998 owing to bacterial blotch and fungal disease. Farm A had been under poor mushroom products for years before applying vinyl mulching method. It was also demonstrated that mushroom diseases were effectively c...