Changes in wall motion and blood flow in the outflow tract of chick embryonic hearts observed with optical coherence tomography after outflow tract banding and vitelline-vein ligation.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-contact, non-invasive and high-resolution imaging technique, suited to study early cardiovascular development. Alterations in hemodynamic conditions during early development are known to lead to cardiac defects, presumably as a result of changes in cardiac biomechanics produced by the alterations. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of a spectral domain OCT in visualizing and quantifying changes in cardiac wall motion and blood-flow velocities under normal and altered hemodynamic conditions in chicken embryos at an early stage of development (Hamburger-Hamilton stage HH18, approximately 3 days of incubation), focusing on the heart outflow tract (OFT). The OCT system employed acquired simultaneously microstructural and blood-flow images at a rate of 92 frames s(-1)with a spatial resolution of approximately 10 microm. OCT imaging allowed in vivo visualization of the OFT microstructures, e.g. the lumen, cardiac cushions and myocardium. We found that alterations in hemodynamic conditions, through OFT banding and vitelline-vein ligation, changed blood-flow velocities through the OFT, as expected. Further, OCT allowed quantification of changes in the dynamics of OFT wall motion. Our results therefore establish the utility of spectral domain OCT to study the influence of hemodynamic conditions on heart development in intact, in vivo chicken embryo models.

Oviductin, the oviductal protease that mediates gamete interaction by affecting the vitelline coat in Bufo japonicus: its molecular cloning and analyses of expression and posttranslational activation.

Previous studies indicated that the acquisition of egg fertilizability during transit through the pars recta portion of the oviduct in Bufo japonicus is accompanied by hydrolytic conversion of the vitelline coat 40- to 52-kDa components to 39-kDa components induced by a 66-kDa serine protease, "oviductin." In this study, we cloned a 3028-bp cDNA that contained an open reading frame encoding 974 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 107.6 kDa, including two protease domains and three repeats of CUB domains. Sequence analysis indicated that the catalytically active 66-kDa protein comprised an N-terminally located oviductin protease and two CUB domains. The oviductin gene was transcribed as a part of 6-kb mRNA that was expressed specifically in the cells lining the bottom of epithelial folds in the oviductal pars recta, and this expression was highly accelerated when the pars recta fragments were cultured in the presence of hCG. Western blot analyses using antibodies against a protease domain revealed that the catalytically inactive 102-kDa proteins in the pars recta granules yield 66-kDa catalytically active and 82- and 59-kDa inactive molecules. We propose that the oviductin translated as 107.6-kDa precursors are processed both N- and C-terminally to give rise to a 66-kDa active form comprising a serine protease and two CUB domains.

Assessment of the umbilical cord outside of the delivery room. Part 2.

The umbilical cord is crucial to the growth and development of the fetus. Careful inspection in the delivery room and throughout the newborn period is essential. Part 1 of this 2-part series, entitled "Look Before You Clamp: Delivery Room Examination of the Umbilical Cord" (Advances in Neonatal Care, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp 19-26), reviewed umbilical problems that present in the delivery room. A number of subtle but significant umbilical cord abnormalities present outside the delivery room. These abnormalities will be the focus of Part 2 of this series. A review of the embryologic development of the umbilical cord enhances the clinician's understanding of umbilical abnormalities that present in the newborn period. The process of umbilical cord separation is outlined. Conditions associated with delayed cord separation are discussed. A systematic approach to the physical examination of the umbilicus is offered, with an emphasis on early detection of abnormalities. Common and uncommon physical findings, such as omphalitis, periumbilical necrotizing fascitis, vitelline duct remnants, and urachal anomalies are presented along with select photographs. A brief discussion of the clinical implications for newborn care is provided for the practicing clinician.

Pólipo umbilical: resquício cutâneo do ducto onfalomesentérico: relato de caso / Umbilical omphalomesenteric duct polyps: a case report

Descrevem-se os achados clínicos e histológicos de pólipo umbilical numa criança de dois anos. Trata-se de malformaçäo rara, resquício do ducto onfalomesentérico que deve ser diferenciado, à clínica, do granuloma piogênico. É muito importante que se examinen, histologicamente, todas as lesöes retiradas da regiäo umbilical. Mal formaçöes do tubo digestivo, potencialmente graves, estäo freqüentemente associadas ao pólipo umbilical e só se manifestam, via de regra, no adulto jóvem

Reproductive development of female Schistosoma mansoni (Digenea: Schistosomatidae) following bisexual pairing of worms and worm segments.

Maturation and maintenance of normal reproductive function in female Schistosoma mansoni require a permanent association with the male, but the nature of this relationship is not well understood. The regional localization of a stimulatory factor in the male and its target in the female were investigated. Unisexual female and mature male worms were transected into segments of various lengths. Various combinations of transected male and female segments and intact worms were transferred to the mesenteric veins of recipient hamsters and were also maintained in vitro. In hamsters and in vitro, pairing took place between intact worms of each sex and segments of the other, and between segments of both sexes. The majority of female worms and segments so paired showed some reproductive development, as assessed by vitelline gland differentiation. In intact unisexual females paired with small male segments, vitelline gland development was limited to that portion of the worm that had been held by the male. Worm segments continued to display normal body contractions throughout 24 days of in vitro maintenance and morphological integrity was retained. It is concluded that 1) in the absence of a functioning gut, worm segments can survive for prolonged periods on nutrients absorbed through the tegument; 2) worm pairing, male stimulation, and the female developmental response are independent of central nervous control by the cerebral ganglia; 3) males have no centralized localization for the female-stimulating factor; 4) vitelline gland differentiation in the female requires local stimulation through male contact, and this is not propagated throughout the worm.

Egg shell formation by vitelline globules or by uterus. An introspection.

The question of the formation of the egg shell has attracted attention of most of the helminthologists and several different views have been expressed from time to time. The most agreed view which held the vitelline globules responsible for forming precursors of the shell membrane, has now become questionable in view of the fact that there are trematodes in which neither Mehlis' gland nor vitelline glands are present. The authors have demonstrated histochemically and histologically that the proximal part of the uterus has the necessary potentialities to form the egg shell membrane.