Molecular analyses of sentinel lymph nodes: an open question.

AIMS: To detect micrometastases in the sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) of melanoma patients the authors analysed 52 lymph nodes (47 SLNs and five non-sentinel) and 17 corresponding primary skin melanomas using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assays in paraffin-embedded tissues to detect the mRNAs of tyrosinase, MAGE1, MAGE3, MIA, MART-1 and mRNA coding for telomerase catalytic component. RESULTS: Our data show that the use of molecular markers for melanoma micrometastases detection in SLN is still in a very preliminary stage. In comparing the molecular analysis results with the pathological staging we did not find any evident correlation with the expression of the analysed genes in SLN. There are no data for judging the prognostic significance of the detection of circulating tumour cells in patients without clinically recognizable metastases. Despite progress in the field with simultaneous detection of several markers it was assumed that tyrosinase mRNA remains the best target for the detection of metastatic melanoma cells.

Effects of praying and a working memory task in participants trained in meditation and controls on the occurrence of spontaneous thoughts.

So-called "intrusive thoughts" appear independently from external stimuli and are the cause of severe disturbances in depressed patients. Following Baddeley's 1986 discoveries regarding "articulatory suppression," we investigated the influence of praying and of a working memory task on the number of spontaneous thoughts reported by 20 subjects compared to the control (quiet) state. Two groups of subjects were tested: those trained in meditation and controls. Significant reduction in simultaneous thought arousal was obtained during both the working memory task and the recitation of prayer. In all three experimental conditions, meditation practitioners reported significantly fewer spontaneous thoughts.