Estudio familiar en tres casos de Síndrome de Noonan

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Fragile X syndrome. Clinical analysis of 300 Chilean patients with unspecific mental retardation Síndrome de X frágil. Análisis clínico en 300 pacientes con retardo mental inespecífico en la población chilena

Background: Fragile X syndrome is the most important cause of sex linked mental retardation and the second of chromosomal origin, after Down syndrome. Aim: To apply the modified Hagerman score to patients with mental retardation and to relate clinical findings with cytogenetic and molecular diagnosis. Patients and methods: The modified Hagerman score was applied to 214 male and 86 female patients with mental retardation. The clinical variables in non fragile X and fragile X cases, determined by molecular and cytogenetic methods, were compared. Results: The score in 210 non fragile X males was 10.5 + 3.7 (range 3-23), compared to 21.4 + 2.1 (range 19 to 23) in the four fragile X patients. All fragile X patients had mental retardation, attention deficits, hyperactivity disorders, hand biting and poor visual contact. Hand biting, flapping and perserering speech were observed in a significantly higher number of fragile X males. Only one of 86 females had fragile X syndrome. Her most relev

Water chemistry, carbonate system parameters, and macro-organism biomass of vent and off-vent sites in the Columbretes Islands Marine Reserve

Ocean acidification is receiving increasing attention because of its potential to affect marine ecosystems. Rare CO2 vents offer a unique opportunity to investigate the response of benthic ecosystems to acidification. However, the benthic habitats investigated so far are mainly found at very shallow water (less than or equal to 5 m depth) and therefore are not representative of the broad range of continental shelf habitats. Here, we show that a decrease from pH 8.1 to 7.9 observed in a CO2 vent system at 40 m depth leads to a dramatic shift in highly diverse and structurally complex habitats. Forests of the kelp Laminaria rodriguezii usually found at larger depths (greater than 65 m) replace the otherwise dominant habitats (i.e. coralligenous outcrops and rhodolith beds), which are mainly characterized by calcifying organisms. Only the aragonite-calcifying algae are able to survive in acidified waters, while high-magnesium-calcite organisms are almost completely absent. Although a long-term survey of the venting area would be necessary to fully understand the effects of the variability of pH and other carbonate parameters over the structure and functioning of the investigated mesophotic habitats, our results suggest that in addition of significant changes at species level, moderate ocean acidification may entail major shifts in the distribution and dominance of key benthic ecosystems at regional scale, which could have broad ecological and socio-economic implications