QRS normalization of bundle branch block by ventricular fusion

A 61-year-old woman who suffered from acute inferior myocardial infarction with right bundle branch block developed complete atrio-ventricular block. QRS normalization of right bundle branch block as a result of ventricular fusion of the conducted sinus beat with right bundle branch block and idioventricular impulse originating in the ipsilateral side of the block is described.     

Hemifacial spasm caused by intra-axial brainstem cavernous angioma with venous angiomas

Hemifacial spasms (HFS) are usually caused by vascular compression on the extra-axial facial nerve. In this case, we concluded that an intra-axial brainstem cavernous angioma with a venous angioma diagnosed by MRI must have been responsible for HFS, because no other possible causes were found during intraoperative observations.     

Small open reading frames associated with morphogenesis are hidden in plant genomes

It is likely that many small ORFs (sORFs; 30–100 amino acids) are missed when genomes are annotated. To overcome this limitation, we identified ∼8,000 sORFs with high coding potential in intergenic regions of the Arabidopsis thaliana genome. However, the question remains as to whether these coding sORFs play functional roles. Using a designed array, we generated an expression atlas for 16 organs and 17 environmental conditions among 7,901 identified coding sORFs. A total of 2,099 coding sORFs were highly expressed under at least one experimental condition, and 571 were significantly conserved in other land plants. A total of 473 coding sORFs were overexpressed; ∼10% (49/473) induced visible phenotypic effects, a proportion that is approximately seven times higher than that of randomly chosen known genes. These results indicate that many coding sORFs hidden in plant genomes are associated with morphogenesis. We believe that the expression atlas will contribute to further study of the roles of sORFs in plants.     

Two phase imaging of<Superscript>99m</Superscript>Tc-SESTAMIBI and<Superscript>123</Superscript>I-BMIPP for patients with angina pectoris

We saw three cases of angina pectoris in which 99mTc-SESTAMIBI delayed images at rest were useful in diagnosing ischemia risk areas. These findings indicated that delayed 99mTc-SESTAMIBI images may be more sensitive to slight ischemia than 123I-BMIPP images, and suggested that imaging with 99mTc-SESTAMIBI twice at rest may be more effective. The addition of 123I-BMIPP SPECT was considered to be useful in making an evaluation of the severity of ischemia.     

Effect of pentylenetetrazol treatment on cholecystokinin mRNA and peptide levels in rat hippocampus and cortex

After treatment with pentylenetetrazol (PTZ), cholecystokinin (CCK) mRNA and CCK-like immunoreactivity (CCK-LI) levels were determined in rat hippocampus and cortex at different time points. In the temporal cortex treatment with 60 mg/kg PTZ, i.p., induced increases of CCK mRNA and CCK-LI levels at 2 days after the injection. In the hippocampus, a similar increase of CCK mRNA level was observed on the second day. By contrast, in the frontal cortex, CCK-LI level was increased at 10 days after the treatment with PTZ. These data show that PTZ increases both CCK mRNA and CCK-LI levels in these rat brain regions at different time.     

Comparative study of regional cerebral blood flow values measured by Xe CT and Xe SPECT

The regional cerebral blood flow (rBCF) values measured by stable xenon-enhanced computed tomography (Xe XT) and by radioactive xenon-133 single photon emission computed tomography (Xe SPECT) were compared in 16 patients with cerebral infarct. On the non-lesion side Xe SPECT recorded 10.7% higher rCBF values than Xe CT in the anterior cerebral artery territory while Xe CT recorded 9.6% higher values than Xe SPECT in the middle cerebral artery territory. These differences were not statistically significant. Although the rCBF values were almost the same no correlation was found between the two methods in the posterior cerebral artery territory and the basal ganglia. Only hemispheric CBF on the non-lesion side showed the same value and a good correlation between the Xe CT and the Xe SPECT. There was a good correlation in the hemispheric CBF values on the lesion side, too. The difference of rCBF between the non-lesion side and the lesion side was expressed smaller in the Xe SPECT than in the Xe CT. This is in agreement with the previous reports that Xe SPECT overestimates the flow in the low flow areas. The higher rCBF values in the anterior cerebral artery territory measured by the Xe SPECT was ascribed to the artifact from the radioactivities in the inhalation mask and the air passages as reported previously. In conclusion, there is no good correlation between the rCBF values measured by the Xe CT and by the Xe SPECT. Only hemispheric CBF shows a good correlation between the two methods.     

Clinical significance of manganese superoxide dismutase in ovarian carcinoma

A monoclonal antibody to manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) was measured in patients with epithelial ovarian carcinomas. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay has been developed to detect serum Mn-SOD. With this assay, only 0.9% of the 207 healthy females tested had more than 130 ng per milliliter of serum Mn-SOD. In contrast, 37 of 62 patients (59.7%) with epithelial ovarian carcinomas showed high levels of Mn-SOD. The serum Mn-SOD increased according to the clinical stage and declined to reflect the effects of therapy. Compared with CA-125, Mn-SOD showed a less frequent false positive rate (10%) in benign gynecological diseases. The determination of Mn-SOD levels proved to be a clinically useful marker for monitoring the response to treatment and to early detection of the recurrence of epithelial ovarian carcinomas.