Perventricular device closure of the ventricular septal defects in children-first experience in the United Arab Emirates.

Background: Ventricular septal defect (VSD) is the most common congenital cardiac malformation, accounting for approximately 30% of congenital heart defects. Conventional surgical repair using cardiopulmonary bypass is invasive and associated with morbidities and prolonged hospital stay. With the advent of interventional approaches and availability of different occluding devices, the technique of perventricular device closure is evolving and being implemented successfully in larger groups of patients.

Rapid ovarian transcript changes during the onset of premature ovarian insufficiency.

The manuscript has been submitted without altering abstract in line with Reproduction's Flexible Submission Process. The abstract is extended and thus does not fit this space.

The Enigmatic Reissner's Fiber and the Origin of Chordates.

Reissner's fiber (RF) is a secreted filament that floats in the neural canal of chordates. Since its discovery in 1860, there has been no agreement on its primary function, and its strong conservation across chordate species has remained a mystery for comparative neuroanatomists. Several findings, including the chemical composition and the phylogenetic history of RF, clinical observations associating RF with the development of the neural canal, and more recent studies suggesting that RF is needed to develop a straight vertebral column, may shed light on the functions of this structure across chordates.

Morphological evolution of the vertebrate forebrain: From mechanical to cellular processes.

Although the cerebral hemispheres are among the defining characters of vertebrates, each vertebrate class is characterized by a different anatomical organization of this structure, which has become highly problematic for comparative neurobiology. In this article, we discuss some mechanisms involved in the generation of this morphological divergence, based on simple spatial constraints for neurogenesis and mechanical forces generated by increasing neuronal numbers during development, and the different cellular strategies used by each group to overcome these limitations. We expect this view to contribute to unify the diverging vertebrate brain morphologies into general, simple mechanisms that help to establish homologies across groups.

Intramolecular radical non-reductive alkylation of ketones via transient enamines.

Radical cyclization of dichloroacetamide-tethered ketones using pyrrolidine, AIBN and TTMSS under microwave activation gave 2-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonan-3,6-diones.

Olfaction, navigation, and the origin of isocortex.

There are remarkable similarities between the brains of mammals and birds in terms of microcircuit architecture, despite obvious differences in gross morphology and development. While in reptiles and birds the most expanding component (the dorsal ventricular ridge) displays an overall nuclear shape and derives from the lateral and ventral pallium, in mammals a dorsal pallial, six-layered isocortex shows the most remarkable elaboration. Regardless of discussions about possible homologies between mammalian and avian brains, a main question remains in explaining the emergence of the mammalian isocortex, because it represents a unique phenotype across amniotes.

Pallial patterning and the origin of the isocortex.

Together with a complex variety of behavioral, physiological, morphological, and neurobiological innovations, mammals are characterized by the development of an extensive isocortex (also called neocortex) that is both laminated and radially organized, as opposed to the brain of birds and reptiles. In this article, we will advance a developmental hypothesis in which the mechanisms of evolutionary brain growth remain partly conserved across amniotes (mammals, reptiles and birds), all based on Pax6 signaling or related morphogens. Despite this conservatism, only in mammals there is an additional upregulation of dorsal and anterior signaling centers (the cortical hem and the anterior forebrain, respectively) that promoted a laminar and a columnar structure into the neocortex.

From sauropsids to mammals and back: New approaches to comparative cortical development.

Evolution of the mammalian neocortex (isocortex) has been a persisting problem in neurobiology. While recent studies have attempted to understand the evolutionary expansion of the human neocortex from rodents, similar approaches have been used to study the changes between reptiles, birds, and mammals. We review here findings from the past decades on the development, organization, and gene expression patterns in various extant species.

Synthesis of Normorphans through an Efficient Intramolecular Carbamoylation of Ketones.

An unexpected C-C bond cleavage was observed in trichloroacetamide-tethered ketones under amine treatment and exploited to develop a new synthesis of normophans from 4-amidocyclohexanones. The reaction involves an unprecedented intramolecular haloform-type reaction of trichloroacetamides promoted by enamines (generated in situ from ketones) as counter-reagents. The methodology was applied to the synthesis of compounds embodying the 6-azabicyclo[3.

Prenatal stress down-regulates Reelin expression by methylation of its promoter and induces adult behavioral impairments in rats.

Prenatal stress causes predisposition to cognitive and emotional disturbances and is a risk factor towards the development of neuropsychiatric conditions like depression, bipolar disorders and schizophrenia. The extracellular protein Reelin, expressed by Cajal-Retzius cells during cortical development, plays critical roles on cortical lamination and synaptic maturation, and its deregulation has been associated with maladaptive conditions. In the present study, we address the effect of prenatal restraint stress (PNS) upon Reelin expression and signaling in pregnant rats during the last 10 days of pregnancy.

The long non-coding RNA Dali is an epigenetic regulator of neural differentiation.

Many intergenic long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) loci regulate the expression of adjacent protein coding genes. Less clear is whether intergenic lncRNAs commonly regulate transcription by modulating chromatin at genomically distant loci. Here, we report both genomically local and distal RNA-dependent roles of Dali, a conserved central nervous system expressed intergenic lncRNA.

Maternal-fetal unit interactions and eutherian neocortical development and evolution.

The conserved brain design that primates inherited from early mammals differs from the variable adult brain size and species-specific brain dominances observed across mammals. This variability relies on the emergence of specialized cerebral cortical regions and sub-compartments, triggering an increase in brain size, areal interconnectivity and histological complexity that ultimately lies on the activation of developmental programs. Structural placental features are not well correlated with brain enlargement; however, several endocrine pathways could be tuned with the activation of neuronal progenitors in the proliferative neocortical compartments.

Adult pallium transcriptomes surprise in not reflecting predicted homologies across diverse chicken and mouse pallial sectors.

The thorniest problem in comparative neurobiology is the identification of the particular brain region of birds and reptiles that corresponds to the mammalian neocortex [Butler AB, Reiner A, Karten HJ (2011) Ann N Y Acad Sci 1225:14-27; Wang Y, Brzozowska-Prechtl A, Karten HJ (2010) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107(28):12676-12681]. We explored which genes are actively transcribed in the regions of controversial ancestry in a representative bird (chicken) and mammal (mouse) at adult stages. We conducted four analyses comparing the expression patterns of their 5,130 most highly expressed one-to-one orthologous genes that considered global patterns of expression specificity, strong gene markers, and coexpression networks.

The impact of gene expression analysis on evolving views of avian brain organization.

Recent studies have presented data on adult and developing avian brain organization. Jarvis et al. ([2013] J Comp Neurol.

From tetrapods to primates: conserved developmental mechanisms in diverging ecological adaptations.

Primates are endowed with a brain about twice the size that of a mammal with the same body size, and humans have the largest brain relative to body size of all animals. This increase in brain size may be related to the acquisition of higher cognitive skills that permitted more complex social interactions, the evolution of culture, and the eventual ability to manipulate the environment. Nevertheless, in its internal structure, the primate brain shares a very conserved design with other mammals, being covered by a six-layered neocortex that, although expands disproportionately to other brain components, it does so following relatively well-defined allometric trends.

Hypothesis on the dual origin of the Mammalian subplate.

The development of the mammalian neocortex relies heavily on subplate. The proportion of this cell population varies considerably in different mammalian species. Subplate is almost undetectable in marsupials, forms a thin, but distinct layer in mouse and rat, a larger layer in carnivores and big-brained mammals as pig, and a highly developed embryonic structure in human and non-human primates.

Comparative aspects of subplate zone studied with gene expression in sauropsids and mammals.

There is currently a debate about the evolutionary origin of the earliest generated cortical preplate neurons and their derivatives (subplate and marginal zone). We examined the subplate with murine markers including nuclear receptor related 1 (Nurr1), monooxygenase Dbh-like 1 (Moxd1), transmembrane protein 163 (Tmem163), and connective tissue growth factor (Ctgf) in developing and adult turtle, chick, opossum, mouse, and rat. Whereas some of these are expressed in dorsal pallium in all species studied (Nurr1, Ctgf, and Tmem163), we observed that the closely related mouse and rat differed in the expression patterns of several others (Dopa decarboxylase, Moxd1, and thyrotropin-releasing hormone).

[Progress in cardiac pacing].

This review discusses the utility and current status of remote monitoring in patients with cardiac devices in Spain, the different anticoagulation strategies used during device implantation, the surgical replacement and maintenance of pacemakers and defibrillators, and the present and future importance of impedance sensors in cardiac pacing and heart failure management. Finally, there is a summary of the most relevant scientific articles published in the last year.

[Progress in cardiac pacing].

This review summarizes recent scientific developments in ambulatory monitoring and its legal implications in appropriately selected patients. It also considers how new cardiac pacing devices can be used in the clinical monitoring of atrial fibrillation, sleep apnea and, in transplant patients, heart failure and transplant rejection. In addition, the system of accreditation for cardiac pacing services in Spain is outlined, with a focus on process development and quality indicators.

Co-option of signaling mechanisms from neural induction to telencephalic patterning.

This article provides an overview of signaling processes during early specification of the anterior neural tube, with special emphasis on the telencephalon. A series of signaling systems based on the action of distinct morphogens acts at different developmental stages, specifying interacting developmental fields that define axes of differentiation in the rostrocaudal and the dorsoventral domains. Interestingly, many of these signaling systems are co-opted for several differentiation processes.

[Safety and effectiveness of single-lead VDD pacing].

Introduction And Objectives: Single-lead VDD pacing provides the physiological benefits of atrioventricular synchrony with the convenience of a single-lead system. However, concern remains about the method's safety and effectiveness.

Method: In total, 700 patients with single-lead VDD pacemakers were evaluated retrospectively.