OryGenesDB: a database for rice reverse genetics.

Insertional mutant databases containing Flanking Sequence Tags (FSTs) are becoming key resources for plant functional genomics. We have developed OryGenesDB (http://orygenesdb.cirad.fr/), a database dedicated to rice reverse genetics. Insertion mutants of rice genes are catalogued by Flanking Sequence Tag (FST) information that can be readily accessed by this database. Our database presently contains 44166 FSTs generated by most of the rice insertional mutagenesis projects. The OryGenesDB genome browser is based on the powerful Generic Genome Browser (GGB) developed in the framework of the Generic Model Organism Project (GMOD). The main interface of our web site displays search and analysis interfaces to look for insertions in any candidate gene of interest. Several starting points can be used to exhaustively retrieve the insertions positions and associated genomic information using blast, keywords or gene name search. The toolbox integrated in our database also includes an 'anchoring' option that allows immediate mapping and visualization of up to 50 nucleic acid sequences in the rice Genome Browser of OryGenesDB. As a first step toward plant comparative genomics, we have linked the rice and Arabidopsis whole genome using all the predicted pairs of orthologs by best BLAST mutual hit (BBMH) connectors.

[Difficulty in reading braille caused by a right-sided lesion in a blind patient]. / Trouble de la lecture du braille par lésion droite chez une patiente devenue aveugle.

A right-handed woman who became blind at 25 was a good braille reader. After a right parieto-occipital brain damage, she developed a braille reading disorder which contrasted with a completely normal language. This reading disability cannot be analysed in terms of left hemineglect syndrome; rather, it is explained in the broader context of the patient's haptic disorders in many others fields. This hypothesis is connected to others works which suggest a right hemispheric specialization for tactile information processing.

[Effect of pathologic gaze deviation caused by brain stem lesion on interhemispheric equilibrium. Study using a non-verbal dichotic listening test]. / Influence de la déviation pathologique du regard par lésion du tronc cérébral, sur l'équilibre inter-hémisphèrique. Etudie par le test d'écoute dichotique non verbal.

Three cases of patients with lateral gaze palsy due to brainstem lesion were studied. They underwent a non-verbal dichotic listening test which evidenced a significant decrease of performance in the ear located on the same side as the lesion. This result can be interpreted as an inter-hemispheric imbalance linked to the pathological gaze deviation.

Periodic alternating gaze: a case without any hemispheric lesion.

A clinicopathological study of a patient with periodic alternating gaze (PAG) is presented. PAG is usually associated with bilateral cerebral hemispheric ischemia. In our case, the anatomical lesion is very limited, restricted to the crus cerebri. The anatomical pathways involved and the mechanism of PAG are discussed.

Down-beat nystagmus: case report with magnetic resonance imaging and surgical treatment.

A woman with down-beat nystagmus (DBN) underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which showed a syringomyelic cyst in the medulla. Surgical treatment of the cyst ended the abnormal eye movement. This case demonstrates the use of MRI for the diagnosis of DBN. It also shows the value of surgical treatment when a cyst is responsible for this symptom, as in Arnold-Chiari malformation.

[Reproducibility of the nyctohemeral cycle of blood pressure in patients with severe Parkinson disease]. / Etude de reproductibilité du cycle nycthéméral de la pression artérielle du parkinsonien dans un état grave.

UNLABELLED: Nineteen hospitalised, severe and treated parkinsonians (9 males, 10 females), stage IV and V of Hoehn and Yahr's classification, underwent 2 days running ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) by ABPM 630 Nippon-Colin device, during a period of therapeutic stability. Hospitalisation allowed reproducibility of daily activity. Diurnal, nocturnal and 24 hours systolic blood pressure (SBP), as well as nocturnal and 24 hours diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were reproducible with a good correlation for each patient. Diurnal diastolic BP was the lone not reproducible value but had a good day 1-day 2 correlation. [table: see text] CONCLUSION: Parkinsonian ABPM data, except diurnal DBP, are reproducible.

[Influence of the cerebellum on voluntary ocular movements (author's transl)]. / Influence du cervelet sur les mouvements ocularies volontaires.

The influence of the cerebellum on voluntary ocular movements was assessed by an oculographic study of twelve patients with localized cerebellar lesions. The most frequent anomaly observed was dysmetry of movement. When asymmetric, if appeared as a homolateral hypometria of at least relative degree. The speed of the movements was normal in all cases. This study confirms the role played by the cerebellum as a "pre-programmer" and suggests that it controls rapid eye movements without the intervention of the long cerebellothalamocortical pathways.

[The optostatic system and abnormal ocular movements]. / Système opto-statique et mouvements oculaires anormaux.

The function of the oculomotor system is to assure gaze movements. Its equilibrium is essential to allows the stability of gaze, especially fixation. Therefore, an opto-static system is necessary to complete the kinetic organisation of eye movements. A disorder in this opto-static system produces abnormal eye movements. Their appearance depends on the location nd on the nature of the lesion in the opto-static system.

[Influence of the cerebellum on ocular statics and visual tracking movements (author's transl)]. / Influence du cervelet sur la statique oculaire et les mouvements de poursuite visuelle.

It has long been admitted that the vestibular cerebellum plays a major role in the control of slow ocular movements. A study of 12 patients with localized lesions of the paleo- and neo-cerebellum has demonstrated that these recent structures also participate in the organization of visual tracking movements. These patients often have disturbances of ocular statics as well, and this can be the cause of slow movement disturbances. In most cases, however, ataxia of the tracking movement is not related to a statics disorder, but on the contrary, to disturbances of the movement itself. This suggest that the two cerebellar levels involved in ocular motility are related to two different types of movement strategies: vestibular cerebellar tracking having the very elementary function of maintaininf fixation within the overall picture of postural regulation: neo-cerebellar tracking, on the contrary, being already the beginning of voluntary motility.

[Ocular tracking movements: organization and disturbances in occipitoparietal lesions (author's transl)]. / Perturbations de la poursuite oculaire et lésions pariéto-occipitales unilatérales.

Disturbances of ipsilateral pursuit movements in unilateral occipitoparietal lesions have led to accept that each occipitoparietal region controls the ipsilateral slow movement. The study of 7 patients with unilateral occipitoparietal lesions demonstrated that the pursuit (ramp) movement directed towards the lesion is not completely absent; but that the tracking is of an extremely fragile nature and overloaded with saccades. Furthermore, though it is true that the disorganization mainly affects the pursuit ipsilateral to the lesion, it does also involve to some extent the contralateral movement. These findings suggest that the concommitant action of the two hemispheres is necessary for smooth pursuit movements to occur, by inhibiting any phasic phenomenon, but that each hemisphere is still capable of producing pursuit movements in both directions.

[Selective paralysis of downward gaze with permanent conjugated upwards deviation : report of a new case (author's transl)]. / Un nouveau cas de paralysie sélective de l'abaissement des yeux avec déviation conjuguée permanente vers le haut.

Permanent upward conjugated ocular deviations are exceptional in conscious subjects : 8 cases only have been reported. They are always associated with a more or less selective paralysis of downward gaze. A further case is reported, with results of oculographic and computed tomography examinations. The latter showed a median or bilateral lesion at the diencephalo-mesencephalic junction. The mechanism provoking the deviation was clarified by studying vestibular movements which appeared abnormally ample and rapid. The authors suggest that the deviation of the eyes could result from this release of movements of vestibular origin, which can only be expressed as upwards movements because of complete paralysis of all lowering movements.

[Monocular circumduction nystagmus. Are the central oculomotor pathways partly monocular?]. / Le nystagmus de circumduction monoculaire. Les voies oculomotrices centrales sont-elles en partie monoculaires?

Circumduction-related nystagmus is an extremely rare and complex oculomotor anomaly. A case observed in a patient with multiple sclerosis was monocular. The lack of any motor paralysis sign demonstrated that central oculomotor pathway dysfunction can affect only one eye. This would only be possible if the central oculomotor pathways were at least in part monocular.

[Visual perseveration and palinopsia: a visual memory disorder?]. / Persévération visuelle et palinopsie: une pathologie de la mémoire visuelle?

Visual perseveration and palinopsia are defined as the persistence or the reappearance of the visual image. These infrequent symptoms are thought to be linked to the right hemisphere posterior areas. We report a case of this syndrome in which the initial fixation was foveal. The palinoptic image was sometimes moving. This suggests that palinopsia is due to a dysfunction of the visual memory, rather than of the visual system: this dysfunction may be related to hyperactivity of the visual buffer.

[Disappearance of akinesia in Parkinson disease during a manic attack]. / Disparition de l'akinésie dans une maladie de Parkinson au cours d'un accès maniaque.

We report the case of a woman suffering from severe Parkinson disease with severe motor fluctuations. During a manic attack, her anti-Parkinson treatment was interrupted for 36 hours during which no element of akinesia and no dyskinesia reappeared. This case is suggestive of a link between manic attacks and secretion of dopamine.

[Visual illusions of obliquity]. / L'illusion visuelle d'obliquité.

Three cases of visual illusion of obliquity were observed. This rare disorder is due to impaired of panorama/vertical orientation. When present, special care must be given during visual correction to spatial orientation of the perceived image in the vertical axis.

[Slow, periodic alternating ping-pong gaze and Cheyne-Stokes respiration]. / Grandes oscillations pendulaires lentes des globes oculaires et dyspnée de Cheyne-Stokes.

Periodic alternating ping pong gaze (PAPPG) represent a particular entity among abnormal ocular movements sometimes observed during coma. They usually result from a widespread bilateral hemispheric ischemia. A case of PAPPG is reported that presents a twofold particularity: the lesion responsible for the abnormal movement, although eventually bilateral, was initially unilateral, and the PAPPG were intermittent and associated with a Cheyne-Stokes respiration. This latter finding requires reconsideration of the nature of the stimulus responsible for this curious abnormal ocular movement.

[Ocular flutter: really a cerebellar sign?]. / Le flutter oculaire: un signe réellement cérébelleux?

Two post-operative cases of ocular flutter with electro-oculographic recordings are reported. In both cases, the lesion was unique and restricted, suggesting that a cerebellar damage was responsible for this abnormal eye movement. In both cases, ocular flutter was directed toward the healthy side. Therefore it is suggested that flutter may result from a focal cerebellar lesion and in that case be an oriented eye movement.

[Melodic dichotic listening test. Influence of the status of hemispheric activation in normal subjects, musicians and non-musicians]. / Test d'écoute dichotique mélodique. Influence de l'état d'activation hémisphérique chez les sujets normaux, musiciens et non musiciens.

Musical dichotic listening by musicians and non-musicians free from nervous affections was investigated under different situations which provoke modification of activity of each cerebral hemisphere. The melodic stimuli produced a greater response in the left hemisphere in musicians and in the right hemisphere in the non-musicians.

[Macrosaccadic oscillations in a case of paraneoplastic myoclonic encephalopathy (author's transl)]. / Oscillations macro-saccadiques au cours d'un cas d'encéphalopathie myoclonique paranéoplasique.

Abnormal ocular movements were observed in a patient with myoclonic encephalopathy secondary to branchial carcinoma. Clinical, cinematographic, and oculographic studies demonstrated the presence of rapid, large amplitude, conjugated, horizontal movements which occurred in bursts. They had a tapered appearance and were triggered by fixing vision and jerking movements, while they were abolished by rest and closing the eyelids. These features are similar to those seen in macrosaccadic oscillations. Other types of oscillating ocular movements are discussed as well as the physiopathological features of this disorder.

[Monocular circumduction nystagmus (author's transl)]. / Le nystagmus de circumduction monoculaire. Etude clinique, oculographique et électro-myographique d'un cas, dans la sclérose en plaques.

Monocular circumduction nystagmus is a very rare ocular movement. A type of circumduction movement, it is caused by successive movements of all the ocular muscles within the framework of a pendular nystagmus. As a monocular movement, it raises the question of the physiopathological mechanism of such a movement which is so complex and is also limited to one eye. The existence of a monocular form of circumduction nystagmus makes it necessary to revise the mechanism of pendular nystagmus.