The Evolution of Satellite III DNA Subfamilies among Primates

We demonstrate that satellite III (SatIII) DNA subfamilies cloned from human acrocentric chromosomes arose in the Hominoidea superfamily. Two groups, distinguished by sequence composition, evolved nonconcurrently, with group 2 evolving 16–23 million years ago (MYA) and the more recent group 1 sequences emerging ∼4.5 MYA. We also show the relative order of emergence of each group 2 subfamily in the various primate species. Our results show that each SatIII subfamily is an independent evolutionary unit, that the rate of evolution is not uniform between species, and that the evolution within a species is not uniform between chromosomes

A Complicated Case of Foreign Body Oesophagus in an Infant

Ingestion of foreign bodies is common primarily in children, psychiatric patients, alcoholics and elderly people who use dentures. Selivanov et al. reported that, in most cases of foreign body ingestion, the most common foreign bodies ingested were coins, bones, food debris, safety pins and razor blades. Rarity, technical difficulty in removing the foreign body, complications associated with the delay in diagnosis and treatment, migration of the foreign body extraluminally, site, shape and position of the sharp end of a safety pin makes this case  interesting and worth reporting. We are reporting a case of a one year child presenting to us with accidental ingestion of a safety pin. The case was difficult because the protected end of the safety pin was broken which made both the ends of the foreign body sharp. Also, the ends of safety pin were wide apart and pointing upwards

Parental Origin and Timing of De Novo Robertsonian Translocation Formation

Robertsonian translocations (ROBs) are the most common chromosomal rearrangements in humans. ROBs are whole-arm rearrangements between the acrocentric chromosomes 13–15, 21, and 22. ROBs can be classified into two groups depending on their frequency of occurrence, common (rob(13q14q) and rob(14q21q)), and rare (all remaining possible nonhomologous combinations). Herein, we have studied 29 case subjects of common and rare de novo ROBs to determine their parental origins and timing of formation. We compared these case subjects to 35 published case subjects of common ROBs and found that most common ROBs apparently have the same breakpoints and arise mainly during oogenesis (50/54). These probably form through a common mechanism and have been termed “class 1.” Collectively, rare ROBs also occur mostly during oogenesis (7/10) but probably arise through a more “random” mechanism or a variety of mechanisms and have been termed “class 2.” Thus, we demonstrate that although both classes of ROBs occur predominantly during meiosis, the common, class 1 ROBs occur primarily during oogenesis and likely form through a mechanism distinct from that forming class 2 ROBs