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Approximately 35% of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cases have chromosomal translocations as evaluated by conventional cytogenetic methods (G-banding). Some chromosomal translocations are associated with morphologically and immunophenotypically distinct leukemia subtypes and define patients with different clinical outcomes. Chromosomal translocations may deregulate gene expression, thus contributing to the development of neoplasia, either by placing a putative oncogene under the control of strong regulatory elements or by generating chimeric genes and oncogenic fusion proteins. We report here a novel der(12)t(7;12)(p15;q24.3) in a child with T-ALL. Cloning and characterization of the breakpoint region may contribute to the discovery of new genes that are important in T-ALL.

Background and Objectives: Deep analgesia of burned patients needing daily care of their injuries is a field where references are very scarce in the literature. This study aimed at evaluating balneotherapy anesthetic technique in 2852 procedures., Methods: A one-year period prospective evaluation was performed on sedative and analgesic alternatives adopted by anesthesiologists. Age, weight, gender, burned surface area (BSA), drugs and doses used, duration, monitoring, number of sessions by patient, and complications were recorded. Samples was divided in four groups according to age: group A, < 10 years; group B, 11 to 17 years; group C, 18 to 65 years; group D, > 65 years, and the results were compared., Results: There have been 2852 balneotherapy sessions performed in 134 patients: Group A = 743 sessions in 42 patients; Group B = 354 sessions in 16 patients; Group C = 1573 sessions in 68 patients; Group D = 182 sessions in 8 patients. Throughout the study, the intravenous S(+)-ketamine as single agent was used in 116 sessions. The intravenous S(+)-ketamine with midazolam was used in 631 sessions. The intravenous S(+)-ketamine with midazolam and fentanyl was used in 1562 sessions. The muscular S(+)-ketamine as single agent was used in 188 sessions, being 173 in group A. The propofol was associated in 149 sessions. The racemic ketamine was used in 142 sessions. The alfentanil, as some other agents, was seldom used. Sessions lasted 29.3 +/- 10.6 minutes and the increased weight and/or BSA was correlated to significantly longer sessions. There have been 30 cases of SpO2 below 90%, being 3 cases (0.59%) in patients receiving intravenous S(+)-ketamine and midazolam, and 24 cases (1.93%) in patients receiving intravenous S(+)-ketamine, midazolam and fentanyl (p = 0.039). There has been one case of cardiac arrest in moribund patient, who was resuscitated and the session was completed., Conclusions: The S(+)-ketamine, midazolam and fentanyl were the most common agents, being the S(+)-ketamine the major agent. Anesthetic techniques were safe and effective.

Differential display of mRNAs from Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigote and metacyclic trypomastigote stages showed several mRNA species differing in their expression level. The cDNA corresponding to one of these mRNAs was used as a probe in Northern blots and identified a RNA product of 2.6 kb with an expression level eight or more times higher in trypomastigotes than in epimastigotes. This probe was also used to screen a genomic library of T. cruzi CL Brener clone prepared in lambda FIX. A clone of about 15 kb was selected that, after partial sequencing, revealed an open reading frame of 688 amino acids encoding a deduced protein with similarity to RNA helicases of the DEAD-box gene family. The presence of the eight conserved motifs characteristic of the DEAD protein family was observed in the T. cruzi sequence, indicating that it corresponds to a putative RNA helicase gene, which we named HelTc. Southern blot analysis indicated that HelTc is a single-copy gene. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis separation of chromosomes of several isolates of T. cruzi showed that this gene was localized in one or two chromosomal bands.

A genomic clone encoding the gamma-kafirin gene from sorghum was isolated and sequenced. A 2938 bp sequenced fragment includes an intronless open reading frame of 636 nucleotides encoding a putative polypeptide of 212 amino acids. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence of gamma-kafirin with the published sequences of gamma-prolamins of maize, and Coix revealed highly conserved domains. The N-terminal region of these proteins contains the conserved hexapeptide PPPVHL, which is repeated eight times in gamma-zein, four times in gamma-kafirin and three times in gamma-coixin. The number of PPPVHL repeats accounts predominantly for the differences in the molecular weights of gamma-prolamins. Several putative regulatory sequences common to the gamma-kafirin and gamma-zein genes were identified in both the 5' and the 3' flanking regions. Putative GCN4-like regulatory sequences were found at positions -192 and -476 in the 5' flanking region of gamma-kafirin. In the 3' noncoding region, three putative polyadenylation signals, two AATAAT and one AATGAA, were found at positions +658, +716, and +785, respectively. In order to investigate the role of the putative GCN4-like motifs and other possible cis-acting element(s) of the gamma-kafirin promoter, a series of deleted and chimeric promoter constructs were introduced into maize, Coix and sorghum tissues by particle bombardment. Histochemical analysis of beta-glucuronidase (GUS) activity in different tissues indicated that the element(s) responsible for tissue specificity is probably located in the 285-bp proximal region of the promoter, while the remaining promoter sequence seems to carry the element(s) responsible for the quantitative response.