Supplement of autologous ooplasm into porcine somatic cell nuclear transfer embryos does not alter embryo development.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is considered as the technique in which a somatic cell is introduced into an enucleated oocyte to make a cloned animal. However, it is unavoidable to lose a small amount of the ooplasm during enucleation step during SCNT procedure. The present study was aimed to uncover whether the supplement of autologous ooplasm could ameliorate the oocyte competence so as to improve low efficiency of embryo development in porcine SCNT. Autologous ooplasm-transferred (AOT) embryos were generated by the supplementation with autologous ooplasm into SCNT embryos. They were comparatively evaluated with respect to embryo developmental potential, the number of apoptotic body formation and gene expression including embryonic lineage differentiation, apoptosis, epigenetics and mitochondrial activity in comparison with parthenogenetic, in vitro-fertilized (IVF) and SCNT embryos. Although AOT embryos showed perfect fusion of autologous donor ooplasm with recipient SCNT embryos, the supplement of autologous ooplasm could not ameliorate embryo developmental potential in regard to the rate of blastocyst formation, total cell number and the number of apoptotic body. Furthermore, overall gene expression of AOT embryos was presented with no significant alterations in comparison with that of SCNT embryos. Taken together, the results of AOT demonstrated inability to make relevant values improved from the level of SCNT embryos to their IVF counterparts.

Responses of blood pressure and lactate levels to various aquatic exercise movements in postmenopausal women.

AIM: Middle-aged and elderly women represent the main attending group in head-out aquatic exercise (HOAE). Blood pressure (BP) significantly increases both during water immersion and aquatic walking. Based on risk concerns, it is important to evaluate BP responses in postmenopausal women doing HOAE. The aim of this study was to determine BP, lactate levels, and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) changes associated with performing 3 different movements at 3 levels of exercise intensity in water. METHODS: Twelve postmenopausal women (59.9±0.6 years old) participated in 3 aquatic trials involving running (RU), rocking (RO), and scissor kicks (SK) on separate days. Systolic BP, mean arterial pressure (MAP), lactate levels, RPE, and motion cadence were measured at rest; upon reaching 50%, 65%, and 80% of heart rate reserve for 6 minutes; and 10 and 30 minutes after exercise. RESULTS: Under similar RPE responses at 3 levels of intensity, SK resulted in higher systolic BP, MAP, and lactate levels than RO at 10 minutes after exercise (P<0.05) and the lowest motion cadence (P<0.05). RO resulted in the lowest MAP and diastolic BP responses during exercise (P<0.05). RU resulted in lower responses of lactate levels at high exercise intensity (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: RO resulted in lower diastolic BP and MAP responses compared with RU and SK during exercise. These findings suggest that RO movement in aquatic exercises is more suitable for people at high risk for cardiovascular disease.

Lack of modulatory function of coding nucleotide polymorphism S100A2_185G>A in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: S100A2, a Ca(2+) -binding protein with two EF-hands, is a tumor suppressor in oral cancer. Helix III flanking the C-terminal EF-hand is implicated to participate in the interaction of S100A2 and its target(s). The aim of this study was to examine if the coding sequence polymorphism S100A2_185G>A, leading to the peptide 62 substitution of asparagine (AAC, A allele) for serine (AGC, G allele) in helix III, had modulation effects on S100A-mediated tumor suppression. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We sequenced the coding sequence of S100A2 gene in normal oral keratinocytes (NOKs), dysplastic oral keratinocytes (DOKs), eight oral cancer lines, and 54 pairwise oral cancer specimens. We also compared the in vitro anti-tumor effect of wildtype (G allele) and variant (A allele) S100A2 expression using cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and colony formation assays. RESULTS: With the exception of CAL27 and SCC-15 cancer lines being heterozygotes of A and G alleles, the remaining oral cells were homozygotic in G alleles. No alterations of anti-growth, anti-migration, anti-invasion, and anti-colony formation were observed between variant and wildtype cells. Moreover, no minor S100A2_185A allele was detected in 54-pairwise clinical specimens. CONCLUSION: The coding sequence polymorphism S100A2_185G>A had no regulatory role in S100A2-mediated tumor suppression in oral cancer.

Cardiac transplantation for congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries: a case report.

Orthotopic heart transplantation (HTx) was successfully performed in a 46-year-old man with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries. Because of the need for an extraordinary length of aorta, we preserved the aortic arch during harvesting of the donor organ. The allograft was implanted using a biatrial technique, but the heart might have to be rotated clockwise due to the posteriorlyy located pulmonary artery. The patient was well at 4 years after HTx. HTx in corrected transposition of the great arteries is technically feasible. Preservation of the aortic arch of the donor's heart may be necessary to achieve a good anatomic correction. The long-term results of such an operation are as good as other HTx procedures.

Successful treatment of aortic root aneurysm after orthotopic heart transplantation: case report.

Aortic root aneurysm after orthotopic heart transplantation (HTx) is rare. It may originate from cystic medial necrosis of the donor heart aorta. Herein we have reported a 64-year-old man who received an orthotopic HTx due to dilated cardiomyopathy. Although asymptomatic, follow-up echocardiography revealed dilatation of the aortic root and severe aortic regurgitation at 3 years after the transplantation. He underwent a Bentall procedure with a prosthetic valved conduit. The post-operative course was uneventful. This case demonstrated that a heart-transplant recipient with a late aortic root aneurysm can be successfully treated with an excellent outcome.

Development and quality of porcine embryos in different culture system and embryo-producing methods.

In this study, the developmental ability and cellular composition of porcine IVF, parthenote and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos were evaluated following different in vitro culture systems. Group 1, embryos were cultured in NCSU-23 with 5.55 mM D-glucose (NCSU+) until day 6 on 20% O(2) or 5% O(2) (Group 2). Group 3, embryos were cultured in D-glucose-free NCSU-23 (NCSU-) with 0.17 mM Na pyruvate/2.73 mM Na lactate for 58 h and subsequently cultured in NCSU+ until day 6 (NCSU -/+) on 20% O2 or 5% O(2) (Group 4). IVF blastocysts did not differ significantly with O(2) concentrations, but differed significantly with major energy source (glucose and pyruvate/lactate). In Group 3 and 4 IVF blastocysts, the total cell number and apoptosis rates were not significantly different with different O(2) concentrations. Blastocyst rate, total cell number and apoptosis rate in Groups 3 and 4 parthenote embryos also were not significantly different. Parthenote and SCNT, under the same culture treatment, exhibited significant differences in blastocyst and apoptosis rates (47.5 +/- 16.1 vs. 24.0 +/- 4.0 and 4.9 +/- 9.0 vs. 22.8 +/- 23.3). Apoptosis-generating rate increased in the order parthenote, IVF and then SCNT. In conclusion, in vitro development of porcine embryos was not affected by O(2) concentrations but was affected by major energy source. Even so, the concentration of each major energy source and the timing of its inclusion in culture could accomplish relatively high embryonic development, the apoptosis rate stressed that more work still needs to be done in developing a better defined culture system that could support SCNT embryos equivalent to in vivo preimplantation porcine embryos.

Cellular composition and viability of cloned bovine embryos using exogene-transfected somatic cells.

The present study compared the efficiency of transgenic (TG) cloned embryo production by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) with fetal-derived fibroblast cells (FFCs) which were transfected with pEGFP-N1 to in vitro-fertilized (IVF), parthenogenetic and SCNT counterparts by evaluating the rates of cleavage and blastocyst formation, apoptosis rate at different developmental stages, cell number, ploidy and gene expression in blastocysts. In SCNT and TG embryos, the rates of cleavage and blastocyst formation were significantly lower (p < 0.05) than those of IVF controls, but it did not differ between SCNT and TG embryos. In IVF control, 86.7% embryos displayed diploid chromosomal complements and the rates were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than those of SCNT and TG embryos. Most TG embryos (79%) with FFCs expressed the gene by both PCR and under fluorescence microscopy. The expression of apoptosis by TUNEL was first detected at six to eight cell stages in all embryos of IVF, SCNT and TG groups, but the expression rate at each developmental stages was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in SCNT and TG embryos than in IVF counterparts. The expression rate in inner cell mass (ICM) of TG embryos was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than in SCNT and IVF embryos. These results indicate that the high occurrence of apoptosis observed in SCNT and TG embryos compared with IVF counterparts might influence the developmental competence. Moreover, the SCNT embryos derived using non-transfected donor cells exhibited a lower apoptosis expression in ICM cells than in TG embryos derived using pEGP-N1-transfected donor cells suggesting a possible role of negative gene effect in TG embryos.

Prenatal diagnosis of parasitic twins using three-dimensional ultrasound: a case report.

Parasitic twins are a rare form of monochorionic, monoamniotic conjoined twins. Early prenatal ultrasound is essential for their diagnosis and assists in determining their eventual outcome; the use of three-dimensional ultrasound may enhance diagnostic capabilities in the presence of this severe condition.

Measurement of vortex motion in a type-II superconductor: A novel use of the neutron spin-echo technique

We have used the neutron spin-echo technique to measure the small energy change of neutrons which are diffracted by a moving vortex lattice in a low-pinning Nb-Ta superconducting sample. A transport current was passed in the mixed state to cause flux line movement. In the case of uniform motion, the flux velocity v(L) was given as expected by the values of electric and magnetic fields, via E = -v(L)wedgeB. We show that with a nonuniformly moving vortex lattice, one can measure the dispersion of the velocities, opening up new possibilities for investigating moving vortex lines.