The nucleotide sequences of the 165 rRNA gene (rDNA) in 38 taxa of the genus Staphylococcus were compared phylogenetically. Based on phylogenetic tree analysis, staphylococcal Species Were divided into 12 Cluster groups. These cluster groups were in very good agreement with species groups determined by DNA-DNA reassociation studies. These genealogical classifications were consistent with the results of the production of coagulase or oxidase and with resistance to novobiocin. These suggest that the phylogenetic relationship of the genus Staphylococcus is accurately represented by the results obtained from the sequence analysis of 165 rDNA.

No abstract

A randomized, controlled trial of adjuvant immunochemotherapy with PSK (Kureha Chemical Industry Co., Tokyo, Japan) in curatively resected colorectal cancer was studied in 35 institutions in the Kanagawa prefecture. From March 1985 to February 1987, 462 patients were registered. Four hundred forty-eight of those patients (97.0 percent) satisfied the eligibility criteria. The control group received mitomycin C intravenously on the day of and the day after surgery, followed by oral 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) administration for over six months. The PSK group received PSK orally for over three years, in addition to mitomycin C and 5-FU as in the control group. At the end of February 1990, the median follow-up time for this study was four years (range, three to five years). The disease-free survival curve and the survival curve of the PSK group were better than those of the control group, and differences between the two groups were statistically significant (disease-free survival, P = 0.013; survival, P = 0.013). These results indicate that adjuvant immunochemotherapy with PSK was beneficial for curatively resected colorectal cancer.

Reentrainment of human circadian rhythm to an 8-h advanced schedule of sleep and social contacts was assessed under two different conditions: with and without bright light (4,000-6,000 lx). Subjects spent 15 days without knowing the natural day-night alternation. On the fourth day, the social schedule was phase-advanced by 8 h. In one experiment, a bright light pulse of 3-h duration was given in every subjective morning, and in the other no light pulse was applied. Plasma melatonin and rectal temperature rhythms were measured. Seven of nine subjects showed an orthodromic phase shift, the rate of which was significantly larger with bright light pulses than without them. The maximum phase-advance shift by three consecutive light pulses was observed when the first pulse was applied approximately 4 h after the onset of melatonin rise. By contrast, the maximum phase shift of a similar extent was detected at 1 h after the onset of melatonin rise, when ordinary room light (300-500 lx) at the time corresponding to bright light was regarded as a dim light pulse. It is concluded that bright light accelerates the reentrainment of human circadian rhythm, and bright light and social schedule have differential effects on the reentrainment.