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M Rebaï

Publications and source records attributed to M Rebaï.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

[Linkage disequilibrium in the human genome and its exploitation].

This present review gives an overview on Linkage disequilibrium (LD), its measures and its different utilizations in human genetics studies. In the first part, we provide a detailed and a simplified presentation focusing on the definition of LD, its measures and the major software for its evaluation. Thereafter, we describe and discuss the biological and evolutionary mechanisms which create, remodel, maintain or destroy LD in human population. Consensus has now emerged on the pattern of LD in the genome which has a block-like organization with block of high disequilibrium interrupted by recombination hotspots. However, no standard method exists for the determination of such blocks and, more importantly, for the identification of TagSNP. This would yield inconsistencies between different studies of the same genes, compromising the practical use of TagSNP in association studies. The ACE gene is used to illustrate this. Will it be possible to identify consensus TagSNP that could be used consistently in all populations for testing association of candidate genes in common diseases? What is the part of myth and reality in what is called "individualized medicine"? We conclude that further LD studies are needed to get clear insights into this matter.

Case-Control Studies↗

Spatial frequency and right hemisphere: an electrophysiological investigation.

The influence of the spatial frequency of visual stimuli on hemispheric asymmetry has been studied with visual evoked potentials (VEP). Nineteen different sinusoidal gratings (19 SF from 1 to 10 cpd) were presented in an ON-OFF mode to five right-handed subjects. The amplitude of the VEPs and the latency of the first positive component (C1) were analyzed. The results show that in the low range of spatial frequencies, the latency and the amplitude of C1 are similar in both hemispheres. At medium to high spatial frequencies, the VEPs on the right hemisphere (RH) present shorter latencies and larger amplitudes than those on the left hemisphere (LH). These results, discussed in relation to the directional differences in the time of callosal interhemispheric transfer, strengthen the idea that the RH is relatively more sensitive than the LH to the spatial component of the visual stimuli.

Brain↗

[Isolated traumatic anterior dislocation of the radial head].

The authors report 2 cases of isolated traumatic anterior dislocation of the radial head in children. In the first case, with an acute dislocation, closed reduction followed by plaster cast immobilisation for one month gave a good result. In the second case, the dislocation was also traumatic in origin but had remained unreduced for 5 years. Arthrography of the elbow showed the head to be intracapsular. The authors believe that a neocapsule forms in cases of old unreduced dislocation and arthrography is therefore of little help to differentiate a long standing traumatic dislocation from a congenital dislocation. Based on their experience and on the literature, the authors propose closed reduction followed by immobilisation as a treatment for acute dislocation; old unreduced dislocations cannot be reduced by manipulation and with the exception of very symptomatic cases, the authors prefer to avoid open reduction, which carries a risk of joint stiffness.

Adolescent↗

Hemispheric asymmetries of visual evoked potentials in relation to spatial frequency, handedness and familial left-handedness.

The effects of handedness and of familial left-handedness on the asymmetry of the cerebral hemispheres were investigated by means of visual evoked potentials. Square gratings of different spatial frequencies were presented, at 1 Hz in ON-OFF mode to 60 subjects: 30 right-handers and 30 left-handers, 15 with familial handedness and 15 without in each group. The results show that the patterns of hemispheric asymmetry differ in right- and left-handers. They also show that in left-handers these patterns depend on the presence or absence of familial left-handedness, whereas in right-handers the role of this genetic factor is less evident.

Adolescent↗

Visual adaptation to a spatial contrast enhances visual evoked potentials.

The effects of adaptation to the visual contrast of a counterphase grating were studied with visual evoked potentials (VEPs). The spatial frequency of the grating was 4 cpd, and its temporal frequency was 4 or 12 Hz. Steady-state VEPs were analyzed through an FFT (fast Fourier transform) algorithm. In the first experiment, contrast thresholds rose strongly just after the end of adaptation and declined regularly over time. The VEPs recorded in the medio-occipital lead showed an initial decrease in amplitude after adaptation, followed by an enhancement well above the preadaptation level and then a return to that level. The paradoxical enhancement of the VEP was found at both high and low contrast in both the medio-occipital lead and the right temporal lead of a right-handed subject. The left temporal leads showed a VEP enhancement at high contrast and a decline at a low value.

Attention↗