A comparison of transesophageal and transthoracic echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular function in pediatric patients with congenital heart disease

OBJECTIVE: To determine the quantitative utility of transesophageal echocardiographic assessments of left ventricular function in pediatric patients with congenital heart disease by evaluating the variability between observers and between echocardiographic windows. DESIGN: Retrospective, blinded analysis. SETTING: University-associated pediatric hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiographic images of 25 pediatric patients with congenital heart disease were reviewed. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: End-diastolic area, end-systolic area, and fractional area change were measured from short-axis images of the left ventricle at the midpapillary level by two separate investigators. These measurements were compared by the method of Bland and Altman and Sheiner and Beal. Significant differences in measurements of end-diastolic and end-systolic area by different observers were noted, but they were systematic. A similar situation was noted for the comparison of transthoracic and transesophageal measurements of end-diastolic and end-systolic area. In the comparison of fractional area change between observers or windows, bias and absolute prediction error were lower, with 95% confidence limits of bias or absolute prediction error of 10% or less. CONCLUSIONS: The potential error in the measurement of fractional area change in 10% under optimal conditions. This would suggest that the assessment of ventricular function in the operating room or intensive care unit, under less than optimal conditions, should be viewed as a qualitative, rather quantitative, measurement. There may be significant interobserver and interwindow variability.     

Octoxynol presence in bear-bile

The presence of octoxynol from dried bear-bile was examined. Octoxynol was coextracted when glycolipids by Folch-Suzuki partition method. Octoxynol formed mixed-micelles with glycosphingolipids. The glycolipids were purified by DEAE-Sephadex A-25 column chromatography. The fractions containing mixed micelles were obtained from linear gradient solvent of 0.05M-0.5M ammonium acetate in methanol. HPLC ( Bondapak-NH(2) - linked to a Bondapak-C(18) column) chromatogram showed five peaks. Two possible structures for the fourth peak fraction were proposed as (CH(3))(3)C-CH(2)-C(CH(3))(2)-C(6)H(4)-OR and (CH(3))(3)C-C(CH(3))(2)-CH(2)-C(6)H(4)-OR by NMR spectroscopy. The structure was further confirmed by electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (ESI MS/MS). The spectrum showed a protonated molecule at m/z 559 and three different series of ions with mass difference of 44 were detected in the MS/MS spectrum. Therefore, the structure of the fourth peak fraction from HPLC was confirmed as octoxynol, (CH(3))(3)C-CH(2)-C(CH(3))(2)-C(6)H(4)-(OCH(2)-CH(2))n-OH, based on mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy.     

T cell interactions with extracellular matrix proteins in patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy

The roles of auxin and cytokinin in cell cycle reactivation were studied during the first 48 h of culture of mesophyll protoplasts of Nicotiana tabacum. Using hormone delay and withdrawal studies we found that auxin was required by 0-4 h of culture, whereas cytokinin was not required until hour 10-12, which is 6-10 h before S phase. Cycloheximide blocks division, indicating that protein synthesis is required. In an effort to detect a molecular response to either hormone, we examined the expression of the cell cycle marker, cdc2. Cdc2 expression was detected by 12 h of culture, coincident with the timing of the cytokinin requirement and well before the entry into S. However, cdc2 was partially induced by either auxin or cytokinin alone, suggesting that cdc2 expression is not the primary target of either hormone. Our hormone delay experiments suggest that there are separate signal transduction pathways leading from auxin and from cytokinin to reactivation of the cell cycle and that these pathways converge before S. The underlying mechanisms for these distinct pathways remain to be elucidated. Key Words. Auxin-Cytokinin-Tobacco-Protoplast-Development-cdc2     

Chromosome 15-linked limb-girdle muscular dystrophy: clinical phenotypes in Reunion Island and French metropolitan communities

Erb's type limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) was identified and clinically studied in detail in a small community living in the Reunion Island (RI). It was linked to chromosome 15q and related to mutations in the muscle specific calpain 3 gene. A series of cases were afterwards clinically and genetically identified in the French metropolitan community. The phenotype was identical to the RI type in the great majority of cases, although clinical differences were noticed in a few cases. Six different mutations were identified in the RI families, whereas a series of 39 mutations were detected in the French metropolitan families, all different from those present in the RI patients. Phenotype-genotype correlations were attempted in both communities.