Treatment of Idiopathic Diaphragm Flutter: A Case Study.

Diaphragm flutter is a rare disorder defined by dyspnea and often thoracoabdominal pain associated with rapid rhythmic involuntary contractions of the diaphragm with no effective treatment. A 35-year-old woman's flutter was triggered by increasing the depth of breathing and by (electrical) stimulation of the diaphragm. Medical therapy, phrenic nerve crush, and diaphragm pacer stimulation were ineffective.

Isotopic niche partitioning between two apex predators over time.

Stable isotope analyses have become an important tool in reconstructing diets, analysing resource use patterns, elucidating trophic relations among predators and understanding the structure of food webs. Here, we use stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in bone collagen to reconstruct and compare the isotopic niches of adult South American fur seals (Arctocephalus australis; n = 86) and sea lions (Otaria flavescens; n = 49) - two otariid species with marked morphological differences - in the Río de la Plata estuary (Argentina - Uruguay) and the adjacent Atlantic Ocean during the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. Samples from the middle Holocene (n = 7 fur seals and n = 5 sea lions) are also included in order to provide a reference point for characterizing resource partitioning before major anthropogenic modifications of the environment.

Association of a serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) 5-HTTLPR polymorphism with body mass index categories but not type 2 diabetes mellitus in Mexicans.

The serotonergic system has been hypothesized to contribute to the biological susceptibility to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and body-mass index (BMI) categories. We investigate a possible association of 5-HTTLPR polymorphism (L and S alleles) in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) with the development of T2DM and/or higher BMI by analyzing a sample of 138 individuals diagnosed with T2DM and 172 unrelated controls from the Mexican general population. In the total sample genotypes were distributed according to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, and S allele frequency was 0.

Association study of candidate gene polymorphisms and obesity in a young Mexican-American population from South Texas.

Background And Aims: Obesity is increasingly a health problem and a risk factor for diabetes in young Mexican-American populations. Genetic association studies in older, mostly non-Hispanic populations have reported that polymorphisms in the candidate genes HSD11B1, CRP, ADIPOQ, PPARG, ANKK1, ABCC8 and SERPINF1 are associated with obesity or diabetes. We analyzed the polymorphisms rs846910, rs1205, rs1501299, rs1801282, rs1800497, rs757110 and rs1136287 in these candidate genes, for association with obesity and metabolic traits in a young Mexican-American population from south Texas.