Late-emigrating trunk neural crest cells in turtle embryos generate an osteogenic ectomesenchyme in the plastron.

Background: The turtle plastron is composed of a keratinized epidermis overlying nine dermal bones. Its developmental origin has been controversial; recent evidence suggests that the plastral bones derive from trunk neural crest cells (NCCs).

Results: This study extends the observations that there is a turtle-specific, second wave of trunk NCC delamination and migration, after the original NCCs have reached their destination and differentiated.

eXclusion: toward integrating the X chromosome in genome-wide association analyses.

The X chromosome lags behind autosomal chromosomes in genome-wide association study (GWAS) findings. Indeed, the X chromosome is commonly excluded from GWAS analyses despite being assayed on all current GWAS microarray platforms. This raises the question: why are so few hits reported on the X chromosome? This commentary aims to examine this question through review of the current X chromosome results in the National Human Genome Research Institute Catalog of Published Genome-Wide Association Studies (NHGRI GWAS Catalog).

Symbiosis as a source of selectable epigenetic variation: taking the heat for the big guy.

Evolutionary developmental biology is based on the principle that evolution arises from hereditable changes in development. Most of this new work has centred on changes in the regulatory components of the genome. However, recent studies (many of them documented in this volume) have shown that development also includes interactions between the organism and its environment.

Training in difficult conversations: a national survey of pediatric hematology-oncology and pediatric critical care physicians.

Background: In pediatric oncology and critical care, physicians give difficult news, including discussions regarding palliative care and comfort measures, but there are minimal data regarding fellowship program preparation for this task.

Purpose: We surveyed graduates of pediatric hematology/oncology and critical care fellowships regarding communication training to describe teaching methods, assess which were helpful, and determine whether comfort level is related to training experiences.

Methods: A 12-question Web survey was sent to physicians completing fellowship in the previous 5 years.