The dimensions of the 10 triangles around the cavernous sinus were measured to define the anatomical characteristics of the triangles and to compare their consistency in shape and area. Twelve tissue blocks containing the bilateral cavernous sinuses and medial two-thirds of the middle cranial fossae were obtained from Japanese adults at autopsy, fixed to a stereotactic frame, and examined with an operative microscope. The dimensions of each triangle were measured with calipers and compared, based on the same point and border. The anteromedial triangle and the superolateral (Parkinson's) triangle were more consistent in shape than the paramedial and oculomotor triangles, but the oculomotor triangle was larger in area than these other triangles. The posteromedial (Kawase's) triangle was more consistent in shape and larger than the anterolateral, lateral, and the posterolateral (Glasscock's) triangles. The anteromedial and superolateral (Parkinson's) triangles are important for the combined epi- and subdural approach to cavernous sinus lesions. The posteromedial (Kawase's) triangle is important for gaining access to the posterior cranial fossa from the middle cranial fossa.

An actinomycete strain, designated IR27-S3 T , was isolated from a forest soil sample collected from Iriomote Island, Okinawa, Japan. Cells of the isolate were Gram-stain-positive, aerobic, nonsporulating, non-motile coccoids or short rods. The strain grew in the presence of 0-7 % (w/v) NaCl, at pH 6-8 and at 12-37 6C, with optimum growth at 30 6C. Chemotaxonomically, the strain contained LL-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid and MK-8(H 4 ) as the predominant menaquinone. The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol and an unknown phospholipid. The major cellular fatty acids were iso-C 16 : 0 , C 17 : 1 cis-9, C 15 : 0 and iso-C 15 : 0 . The DNA G+C content was 73.7 mol%. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain IR27-S3 T was closely related to Nocardioides mesophilus MSL-22 T (98.1 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity), Marmoricola bigeumensis MSL-05 T (97.2 %) and Nocardioides jensenii DSM 20641 T (96.5 %). On the basis of fatty acid analysis, phylogenetic analysis and phenotypic data, the isolate should be classified in a novel species of the genus Nocardioides, for which the name Nocardioides iriomotensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is IR27-S3 T (5NBRC 105384 T 5KACC 14926 T ).The family Nocardioidaceae was proposed by Nesterenko et al. (1985) and currently encompasses six genera, including the genus Nocardioides. The genus Nocardioides was established by Prauser (1976) and currently encompasses at least 45 species with validly published names (Euzéby, 1997). Morphologically, members of the genus Nocardioides develop mycelium that fragments into irregular rods or coccus-like elements. Phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA gene sequences have shown that the genus Nocardioides is closely related to the genus Marmoricola (Urzì et al., 2000), but they can be differentiated chemotaxonomically by their fatty acid profiles (Yoon & Park, 2006;Kim et al., 2009;Yoon et al., 2010). In recent years, several novel Nocardioides species have been isolated from terrestrial and aquatic environments, including soil (Zhang et al., 2009;Cho et al., 2010;Yoon et al., 2010), sand (Kim et al., 2009Park et al., 2008), wastewater and sediment (Dastager et al., 2009). As one strain of the genus Nocardioides has been reported to produce the bioactive agent sandramycin (Matson & Bush, 1989), the discovery of congeneric species is likely to contribute positively towards understanding both the ecology of the genus and its potential as a bioresource for industrial applications.A forest soil sample from Iriomote Island, Okinawa, Japan, was screened for the presence of actinomycete strains. Strain IR27-S3 T was isolated by the serial dilution-plating method on humic acid-vitamin agar (Hayakawa & Nonomura, 1987) containing (l 21 ) 20 mg nalidixic acid, 50 mg cycloheximide and 300 g sorbitol after incubation at 30 u C for 2 weeks. Colony morphology was examined after incubation on tryptic soy agar (Difco) at 28 u C for 14 days. Cell morphology was examined by lig...

An actinomycete strain, designated YU1183-22 T , was isolated from a compost sample collected in Nikko, Japan. The isolate formed white aerial mycelium with relatively long aerial hyphae showing chains of arthrospores. Strain YU1183-22 T grew with 0-10 % (w/v) NaCl, at pH 6-11 and at 10-37 6C (optimum 30 6C). Strain YU1183-22 T contained meso-diaminopimelic acid and no diagnostic sugars. The predominant menaquinones were MK-10(H 10 ) and ). The polar lipids were phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylglycerol. The major cellular fatty acids were iso-C 16 : 0 , anteiso-C 17 : 0 and tuberculostearic acid. The G+C content of the DNA was 72.3 mol%. Chemotaxonomic and morphological characterization clearly demonstrated that strain YU1183-22 T belonged to the genus Nocardiopsis. Phylogenetic analysis using 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the isolate was closely related to Nocardiopsis salina YIM 90010 T (98.0 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity), Nocardiopsis xinjiangensis YIM 90004 T (97.9 %) and Nocardiopsis kunsanensis HA-9 T (97.3 %). However, DNA-DNA relatedness as well as physiological and biochemical analyses showed that strain YU1183-22 T could be differentiated from its closest phylogenetic relatives. It is proposed that this strain be classified as a representative of a novel species of the genus Nocardiopsis, with the name Nocardiopsis nikkonensis sp. nov. The type strain is YU1183-22 T (5NBRC 102170 T 5KCTC 19666 T ).The genus Nocardiopsis is a member of the family Nocardiopsaceae (Meyer, 1976) and, at the time of writing, about 30 species have been described, including Nocardiopsis arabia, N. valliformis, N. quinghaiensis and N. ganjiahuensis (Hozzein & Goodfellow, 2008;Yang et al., 2008;Chen et al., 2008;Zhang et al., 2008). Many members of the genus Nocardiopsis have been isolated from hypersaline or alkaline environments. However, others have been isolated from non-hypersaline environments, including the sputum of a kidney transplant patient, the rhizosphere of Casuarina sp. and the atmosphere of a composting facility (Yassin et al., 1997; Evtushenko et al., 2000; Kämpfer et al., 2002). Nocardiopsis species are of value to industry as they are known to produce bioactive agents such as griseusin D, apoptolidin and methylpendolmycin (Li et al., 2007;Kim et al., 1997;Sun et al., 1991). Hence, the discovery of additional species of this genus will contribute both to an understanding of their ecological roles and to the provision of bioresources for industrial applications.Strain YU1183-22 T was isolated from a matured compost sample collected in Nikko, Japan, by growth on HV agar (Hayakawa & Nonomura, 1987) containing (l 21 ) 20 mg nalidixic acid, 50 mg cycloheximide and 100 g NaCl. After incubation at 28 u C for 14 days, colonies of strain YU1183-22 T showed a thin, flat morphology with sparse, white, aerial hyphae.Morphological features of cells of strain YU1183-22 T grown on HV agar and oatmeal-YGG agar (Hayakawa et al., 1982) at 28 u C for 14 days were analysed by light and scanning electron microsc...