Methods and apparatus for generating strongly-ionized plasmas are disclosed. A filling material 30 is inserted to the gap 40 formed by said cutting, and a roller 70 presses protrusions 12 and 22 to crimp said protrusions 12 and 22 so as to fix said filling material to position. The electrosurgical generator includes a microprocessor adapted to generate a desired impedance trajectory as a function of either of the initial tissue impedance or the starting impedance value. Also disclosed are diagnostic assays for detecting mutations in the polynucleotides encoding the polypeptides and for detecting altered levels of the polypeptide in a host. Furthermore, a method of conducting an electron spin resonance measurement with a sample to be investigated is described.