There are a variety of options for making microarrays and obtaining microarray data. Here, we describe the building and use of two microarray facilities in academic settings. In addition to specifying technical detail, we comment on the advantages and disadvantages of components and approaches, and provide a protocol for hybridization. The fact that we are now making and using microarrays to answer biological questions demonstrates that the technology can be implemented in a university environment.

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The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701).

Objective. To investigate the possible association of the CT60A/G marker with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Spanish patients, and to identify the possible CTLA4 haplotype responsible for the association, taking into account other polymorphisms described at positions ؊1722T/C, ؊319C/T, ؉49A/G, and the microsatellite (AT) n in the 3-untranslated region (3-UTR) of the CTLA4 gene.Methods. Genotyping of CT60 was performed in 395 patients with SLE and 293 healthy controls using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Genotyping of the rest of the dimorphisms has been previously reported. Genotyping of microsatellite polymorphism (AT) n in the 3-UTR was performed using PCR with a fluorescencelabeled primer.Results

Abstract-The aim of the present study was to analyze the relationship between insulin resistance and the ambulatory blood pressure components in obese children and adolescents. Eighty-seven overweight and obese white children and adolescents of both sexes, of European origin from 6 to 18 years of age (mean age: 10.9Ϯ2.7 years), were selected. Obesity was defined on the basis of a threshold body mass index z score Ͼ2 (Cole's least mean square method) and overweight with a body mass index from the 85th to 97th percentile. A validated oscillometric method was used to measure ambulatory BP (Spacelabs 90207) during 24 hours. Fasting glucose and insulin were measured, and the homeostasis model assessment index was calculated. Subjects were grouped into tertiles of homeostasis model assessment index. No significant differences in terms of age, sex, and body mass index z score distribution were observed among groups. When adjusted by age, sex, and height, nocturnal systolic blood pressure and heart rate were significantly higher in subjects in the highest homeostasis model assessment index tertile (Ͼ4.7) as compared with those of the other groups, whereas no differences were observed for awake systolic blood pressure or heart rate. Whereas body mass index z score was more closely related with blood pressure and heart rate values, waist circumference was strongly related with insulin resistance. Moreover, both waist circumference and insulin resistance were mainly associated with higher nocturnal but not with awake blood pressure. The early increment of nocturnal blood pressure and heart rate associated with hyperinsulinemia may be a harbinger of hypertension-related insulin resistance and may contribute to heightened cardiovascular risk associated with this condition. Key Words: obesity Ⅲ insulin resistance Ⅲ nocturnal blood pressure Ⅲ heart rate Ⅲ children Ⅲ adolescents T he prevalence of obesity is continuously increasing among children. 1,2 The adverse effects of weight gain on metabolic and cardiovascular function and the association of weight gain with a higher incidence of health problems later in life represent major issues in health care, which have generated great concern over the last few years. [3][4][5][6] Indeed, considering the increasing tendency for obesity to appear during childhood and to track, to some extent, into adult life, 7,8 as well as the firmly established relationships among obesity, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension in adults, obese children appear to be at particularly high risk of becoming diabetic and hypertensive as they age. 9 Blood pressure (BP) values in childhood represent the most important measurable marker of the potential level of cardiovascular risk later in life. 10 This strongly supports the importance of performing careful and repeated BP measurements during childhood and adolescence. Solid evidence collected over the last 20 years has demonstrated the high prognostic power of ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM). Indeed, 24-hour BP values have been significantly better predictors...