The rat whole embryo culture (WEC) system has been used extensively for characterizing teratogenic properties of test chemicals. In this chapter, we describe the methodology for culturing rat embryos as well as a new morphological score system, the Dysmorphology Score (DMS) system for assessing morphology of mid gestation (gestational day ...

The characteristics of biologic drugs, as compared with small molecules, confer significant advantages for both the drug developer and the prospective patients. The necessity for, and the timing of, developmental toxicity testing in the preclinical program must be considered. Choice of an appropriate test system is of particular importance, one ...

Chromosomal spreads are an established method to assess ploidy in different cell types. However, many traditional chromosome-spreading techniques require dissolution of the cell and can only be used to assess hyperploidy because of potential chromosome loss inherent in the procedure. Here we describe a method to evaluate chromosome numbers in ...

Radiolabeled compounds that are substrates for transmembrane transporters can be used to study transport and metabolism in mammalian oocytes and preimplantation embryos. Because even very small amounts of radioisotopes can be detected, these techniques are feasible to use with only a few oocytes or embryos, even down to the level ...

In 2007, a new European chemicals legislation was implemented: Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006, also known as "REACH." It obliges companies to take the main responsibility for the valid information on the safe use of the chemicals they manufacture and/or place on the European market. So they must, for example, register ...

The development of primordial germ cells into oocytes within primordial follicles involves a complex sequence of proliferation, developmental commitment, entry and arrest in meiosis, and association with surrounding somatic cells. These processes occur over the first few months of development in the human, with multiple stages of development present at ...

The rat is the rodent species of choice for the regulatory safety testing of xenobiotics, such as medicinal products, food additives, and other chemicals. Many decades of experience and extensive data have accumulated for both general and developmental toxicology investigations in this species. The high fertility and large litter size ...

During meiosis, homologous chromosomes (homologs) undergo recombinational interactions, resulting in the formation of crossovers (COs) or noncrossovers (NCOs). Both COs and NCOs are initiated by the same event: programmed double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs), which occur preferentially at hotspots throughout the genome. COs contribute to the genetic diversity of gametes and ...

The rabbit is generally the non-rodent species or second species after the rat recommended by the regulatory authorities and is part of the package of regulatory reproductive studies for the detection of potential embryotoxic and/or teratogenic effects of pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food additives, and other compounds, including vaccines (see Chapters 1-7).Its ...

The assessment of developmental toxicology data is a critical aspect of hazard evaluation for pharmaceuticals and environmental chemicals. Skeletal examination is an essential part of prenatal developmental toxicity studies of chemicals as well as pesticides and comprises evaluation of both cartilaginous and ossified skeletal components. Various techniques are published in ...

RNA interference (RNAi) is an evolutionary conserved gene-silencing pathway that can be efficiently utilized as a tool to study gene function. RNAi is initiated by long double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs), which are processed into small duplexes called small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs). In turn, these duplexes target mRNAs for degradation in a sequence-specific ...

Objective  Both cigarette smoking and use of exogenous hormones are associated with changes in regional distribution of body fat, but their combined effects are less investigated. We examined the interrelation between smoking, exogenous hormones and fat distribution in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Method  We used data from 20 962 women without ...

The Institute of Medicine report and the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act present significant opportunities for the nursing profession. As the largest group of primary care providers, nurse practitioners are the critical element in the provision of comprehensive primary care, and a critical element to the ...

To evaluate retinal structure and photoreceptor mosaic integrity in subjects with OPN1LW and OPN1MW mutations. Eleven subjects were recruited, eight of whom have been previously described. Cone and rod density was measured using images of the photoreceptor mosaic obtained from an adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscope (AOSLO). Total retinal thickness, ...

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is a fibrogenic cytokine that is up-regulated by TGF-β and mediates most key fibrotic actions of TGF-β, including stimulation of synthesis of extracellular matrix and differentiation of fibroblasts into myofibroblasts. This study addresses the role of proteolytic processing of CTGF in human corneal fibroblasts (HCF) ...

Brushite (dicalcium phosphate dihydrate, DCPD) cement, owing to its high solubility in physiological condition and ability to guide new bone formation, is widely used to treat bone defects. In the present study, we have evaluated the effects of poly ethylene glycol (PEG) addition on the setting time, compressive strength and ...

This article presents an argument for research on the practical outcomes of genetics education in professional nursing programs. Nurse educators should aggressively conduct educational outcomes research on the translation of genetics core competencies at all levels of clinical practice. There should be a systematic examination of the factors, that influence ...

Relatively little is known about the contribution of p53/Mdm2 pathway in apoptosis of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells or its possible link to dysfunction of aging RPE or to related blinding disorders such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Age-associated changes in p53 activation were evaluated in primary RPE cultures from ...

Background: The risk of upper gastrointestinal (GI) complications associated with the use of NSAIDs is a serious public health concern. The risk varies between individual NSAIDs; however, there is little information on the risk associated with some NSAIDs and on the impact of risk factors. These data are necessary to ...

Cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis, Mafa) have emerged as an important animal model for infectious disease and transplantation research. Extensive characterization of their major histocompatibility complex (MHC) polymorphism regions therefore becomes urgently required. In this study, we identified 41 MHC class I A nucleotide sequences in 34 unrelated cynomolgus macaques of ...

This article reports on a national study of doctoral nursing faculty, including both PhD and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) faculty. Using a national sample of 624 doctoral nursing faculty, we surveyed individuals on a variety of issues, including succession planning, retirement, quality of life as a doctoral faculty member, ...

To investigate signal transduction pathways for connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in human corneal fibroblasts (HCF). Expression of 75 kinases in cultures of serum-starved (HCF) were investigated using protein kinase screens, and changes in levels of phosphorylation of 31 different phosphoproteins were determined at 0, 5, and 15 minutes after ...

B*44:150 was identical to B*44:02:01:01 except at the 3'-end region of exon 3, where a B*07-specific sequence was identified.

This article examines current trends in nursing education and proposes undergraduate curriculum changes that are needed to meet the needs and goals of the Institute of Medicine Report: The Future of Nursing, Leading Change, Advancing Health, and The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Curricular changes were developed and implemented ...

This new HLA-B allele differs from the closest allele B*40:01:01 by two nucleotide changes at codons 102 and 267.

With the graying of the professoriate, many deans in nursing are moving toward retirement, which provides an opportunity for emerging leaders to move into deanships. New deans move through predictable stages and enjoy a honeymoon, allowing for some mistakes that might not be tolerated later. Early wins are essential in ...

Promoting a healthy workplace in academic nursing settings is vital to recruit new faculty and enhance the work life of all faculty and staff for retention and happiness. When a healthy work environment is fostered, incivility becomes unacceptable, and individuals embrace a culture where all can flourish. This article addresses ...

Current key challenges and controversies encountered in the identification of potentially hepatotoxic drugs and the assessment of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) are covered in this article. There is substantial debate over the classification of DILI itself, including the definition and validity of terms such as 'intrinsic' and 'idiosyncratic'. So-called idiosyncratic ...

The objective of this study was to examine which factors during pregnancy and postpartum predict pelvic girdle pain (PGP) at 12weeks postpartum among working women. A total of 548 Dutch pregnant employees were recruited in 15 companies, mainly health care, child care, and supermarkets. The definition of PGP was any ...

Granzymes (Grz) are a family of serine proteases found in the granules of cytotoxic lymphocytes and are emerging as an important group of proteins involved in immune function and surveillance. Grz have both cytotoxic and more recently reported non-cytotoxic roles, however these functions are still subject to thorough investigation. The ...

Melioidosis is a tropical disease caused by ingestion, percutaneous inoculation or inhalation of the Gram-negative soil saprophyte Burkholderia pseudomallei. We developed a reproducible experimental murine model of pneumonic melioidosis induced by inhalation of aerosolized B. pseudomallei 1026b. In a series of experiments performed to bracket the lethal dose, we found that ...

We previously reported the development of genomic-DNA-based high-resolution genotyping methods for SLA-DQB1 and DRB1. Here, we report the successful typing of SLA-DQA using similar methodological principles. We designed a method for comprehensive genotyping of SLA-DQA using intronic sequence information of SLA-DQA exon 2 that we had obtained from 12 animals ...

The faculty at Drexel University decided to investigate a new model to transform nursing education, aiming to produce a new skill set that would serve to improve the transition of nursing graduates from academic settings to practice, to better serve the needs of patients and reduce medical error. Faculty looked ...

Intraoperative cardiac imaging plays a key role during transcatheter aortic valve replacement. In recent years, new techniques and new tools for improved image quality and virtual navigation have been proposed, in order to simplify and standardize stent valve positioning and implantation. But routine performance of the new techniques may require ...

Coffee intake has been associated with a low risk of developing cancer, including prostate cancer, which is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men. However, few studies have evaluated the chronic effects of caffeine, which is the most abundant methylxanthine in coffee, on prostate morphology and physiology. In ...

Characterization of the novel HLA alleles B*35:11:03, B*42:01:03, and B*51:01:35 is described.

The tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFA) promoter region exhibits several polymorphisms, which have been hypothesized to influence gene expression, thereby associating positively or negatively with inflammatory conditions. Many studies have focused on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) taking not into account additive or inverse effects between different SNPs. We typed 1,021 ...

Psychological factors are thought to play a part in the aetiology of chronic widespread pain. We investigated the relationship between intelligence in childhood and risk of chronic widespread pain in adulthood in 6902 men and women from the National Child Development Survey (1958 British Birth Cohort). Participants took a test ...

Although hyperglycemia is implicated in retinal vascular dysfunction associated with the development of diabetic retinopathy, the temporal influence of hyperglycemia on retinal arteriolar reactivity remains unclear. Development of a large animal model of diabetes relevant to the human retina for evaluation of vascular function is also lacking. Herein, we examined ...

In utero irradiation (IR) and postnatal hyperthermia (HT) exposure cause infertility by decreasing spermatogenic colony growth and the number of sperm in rats. Four groups were used: (i) Control group, (ii) HT group (rats exposed to hyperthermia on the 10th postnatal day), (iii) IR group (rats exposed to IR on ...

HLA-A*66:07 allele differs from HLA-A*66:01 by an amino acid exchange at position 165.

The use of conducting gels to mimic brain and other tissues is of increasing interest in the development of new medical devices. Currently, there are few such models that can be utilized at physiologic temperatures. In this work, the conductivities of agar, agarose and gelatin gels were manipulated by varying ...

To present a method to analyze circadian intraocular pressure (IOP) patterns in glaucoma patients and suspects undergoing repeated continuous 24-hour IOP monitoring. Forty patients with established (n = 19) or suspected glaucoma (n = 21) underwent ambulatory 24-hour IOP monitoring on two sessions 1 week apart using a contact lens ...

Human leukocyte antigens (HLA) are important genetic markers of tissue identity and accurately reflect ancestral history. The work reported in this paper provides a detailed description of HLA polymorphism in Polynesian and Maori individuals in relation to other populations. Our study concerns HLA classes I and II antigens in Polynesian ...

Rates of obesity and related complex diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease have climbed sharply over the past decades, in parallel with shift from principally more active lifestyle and nutritionally dense tradition diet to sedentary lifestyle and more energy-dense, Western-pattern diet. In the past few years, advances ...

In this study, we have investigated the expression of the tumor antigen sperm protein 17 (SP17) in a large panel of human cancers and compared it with the expression of two well-characterized families of tumor antigens, melanoma-associated antigen-A (MAGE-A) and G antigen (GAGE). We found that SP17 was expressed in ...

Optimized temporary bi-ventricular (BiV) pacing may benefit heart failure patients after on-pump cardiac surgery compared with conventional dual-chamber right ventricular (RV) pacing. An improvement in haemodynamic function with BiV pacing may reduce the duration of 'Level 3' intensive care. Thirty-eight patients in sinus rhythm, ejection fraction ≤35%, undergoing on-pump surgical ...

Expert clinical judgment is the culmination of knowledge and experiential learning that includes reflections on immediate problems and past experience. In nursing education, experiential learning is augmented through the use of simulated clinical experiences provided in simulation laboratories. Various simulations have been reported; however, few studies target the effectiveness of ...

Abstract This paper explores the application of modified yoga techniques, as an adjunct to voice therapy, by a speech pathologist who is also a yoga teacher. Yoga practices, with effects that may be short-term, are not considered a substitute for comprehensive and integrated somatic retraining systems (such as the Alexander ...

Mutations in phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase 1 (PRPS1) are associated with a spectrum of non-syndromic to syndromic hearing loss. PRPS1 transcript levels have been shown to be regulated by the microRNA-376 genes. The long primary RNA transcript of the miR-376 RNA cluster members undergo extensive and simultaneous A → I editing ...