Fragmented QRS Complex: A Novel Marker of Cardiovascular Disease

QRS complex fragmentation, defined as changes in QRS morphology with different RSR′ patterns: additional R waves, notched S wave, or > 1R′ wave, has recently been linked with various cardiac conditions and even been postulated to be predictive of outcomes in certain pathologies. The current article aims to consolidate the available information about this morphological ECG abnormality and its predictive value. Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Concanavalin A-induced agglutination of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells during growth of the tumor in mice

ConA-induced agglutination of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells during development of the tumor in mice has been studied in vitro. EAC cells were incubated with different concentrations of ConA at 37 degrees C for various intervals of time and the cell aggregates of different sizes were scored under microscope. The older EAC cells (20-day-old) showed a decrease in cytoagglutination with respect to large aggregates formation compared to the younger (10-day-old) ones. The small aggregates formed by the 5-day-old EAC cells are dissociated by competition with alpha-methyl-D-mannoside but the large aggregates are not affected by the sugar treatment. The observed differences in the agglutination patterns are discussed in view of the influence of the lipid content of EAC cells and the ascites fluid on ConA-induced cytoagglutination.     

Correlation Analyses Reveal a Substantial Influence of Allelic Gaps on the Investigation of Genetic Diversity of Modern Human Populations with Microsatellites

High intra-population genetic diversity and multiple measures of genetic variability at STR loci are useful in inferring past evolutionary history. However, STRs, categorized by their repeat motif size, differ in a number of aspects, requiring separate analyses. We analyzed 783 STRs in 36 worldwide populations to examine marker suitability as well as correlations between various measurements, to evaluate the extent of genomic diversity present in modern human populations. The loci were grouped by type and analyzed separately for each population group. Genetic variation defined by gene diversity and allele size variance, shows different trends of variation across four types of STRs. Additionally, there is little variation of genetic diversity, but there is decreased allelic size variance with increasing repeat motifs. A poor correlation between genetic diversity and allelic size variance across loci in all groups for Di-STRs is probably caused by the presence of allelic size gaps. In contrast, allelic size variance, genetic diversity, and number of alleles are strongly correlated with both tri- and tetra-STRs. The positive correlation of allelic size variance and presence of gaps within the range of allelic sizes in Di-STRs alone explains these observations. An unexpected high imbalance index (β) at Di-STRs due to high allelic size variance also supports this assertion.     

An attempt to reduce the loss of pain and touch sensations in leprosy patients

An attempt was made to improve the perception of pain and touch sensations at the leprosy lesions. The loss of pain and touch sensations in a lesion was graded using Pain/Touch-Sensation-Testing-and-Grading devices. Application of a solution containing 1 mg of histamine per ml of DMSO, at the affected area decreased the grades of the loss of pain sensation in 11 (31.4%) patients and of touch sensation in 8 (22.8%) patients, out of the 35 patients tested, indicating an improvement in the perception at the lesion. This effect, however, did not persist even for 5 minutes. A higher concentration (2 mg/ml) of histamine produced reduction in the sensory loss in a larger percentage (47% for pain and 35.3% for touch) of patients, though the duration of this effect was still not prolonged.