Locus specific databases (LSDBs) make a key contribution to our understanding of heritable and acquired human disorders, disease susceptibility, and adverse drug reactions. As data have accumulated in LSDBs, a greater reliance on their use has arisen in clinical practice. Even though LSDBs have existed in recognizable form for only a quarter of a century, their origin lies in the manual catalog...

Susan Lewallen and Terrie Taylor* Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmology, University Cape Town Department of Ophthalmology, Groote Schuur Hospital, Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa; Department of Osteopathic Medical Specialties, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan; Blantyre Malaria Project, University of Malawi College of Medicine, Blan...

Recently there have been controversial claims about the nature of the isolated compact star RXJ1856.5−3754, with one group claiming it to be a strange star (Drake et al., 2002) while the other asserting it to be a normal neutron star (Walter & Lattimer, 2002). The controversy arises mainly due to the distance estimate, which in turn is used to resolve the measured angular diameter, and thus the...

A hybrid strategy is a combination of catheter-based therapy and traditional surgical intervention. This concept of combining the tools available only in the catheterization laboratory with the tools available only to the surgeon in order to minimize surgical morbidity has evolved since its implementation in the 1990s.1 Over the past decade, with advancement in stent technology and refinement o...

Type 1 and type 2 diabetes frequently co-occur in the same families, suggesting common genetic susceptibility. Such mixed family history is associated with an intermediate phenotype of diabetes: insulin resistance and cardiovascular complications in type 1 diabetic patients and lower BMI and less cardiovascular complications as well as lower C-peptide concentrations in type 2 diabetic patients....