Vernix caseosa reveals mechanistic clues linking maternal obesity to atopic dermatitis pathogenesis.

Background: Maternal overweight and obesity have been associated with an increased risk of atopic dermatitis (AD) in the offspring, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Vernix caseosa (VC) is a proteolipid material covering the fetus produced during skin development. However, whether maternal prepregnancy weight excess influences fetal skin development is unknown.

Influence of Maternal Size on Offspring Traits in a Marine Gastropod with Direct Development and without Sibling Interaction.

AbstractIn most animal taxa, large mothers (or those with high nutritional status) produce large offspring, leading to a maternal size-offspring size correlation, that is, a positive correlation between maternal size and offspring size. Here, we used the natural variation in maternal size between three natural populations of (a marine snail with direct development, nurse egg feeding, and a single embryo per egg capsule) to study maternal investment and offspring size. The main objectives were to compare offspring size and maternal investment traits within and between populations and to evaluate the relationship between maternal size and offspring size.

Short term impact of artisanal dredges in a Patagonian mussel fishery: Comparisons with commercial diving and control sites.

Mussels in the San Matías Gulf fishery are targeted using artisanal dredges and diving. The main objective of this study was to assess the direct impact of artisanal dredging on the biota and sediments, and to compare the composition of the catches and the individual damage induced by fishing between dredging and commercial diving. The experimental design included samplings from dredge catches, dredge tracks, control sites and commercial diving.

Morphological study of the oviductal gland in the smallnose fanskate Sympterygia bonapartii (Müller and Henle, 1841) (Chondrichthyes, Rajidae).

The oviductal gland is an exclusive structure of cartilaginous fishes that produces the egg jelly, forms the tertiary egg envelopes and stores sperm. The biological importance of this structure is related to the special features of the reproductive strategy of the group and to its phylogeny, considering that egg-laying is the ancestral condition in this fish (Dulvy and Reynolds, 1997). This gland of the smallnose fanskate shows four morphofunctional zones.

Randomized controlled trial of early compared with delayed use of inhaled nitric oxide in newborns with a moderate respiratory failure and pulmonary hypertension.

Objective: To evaluate whether early treatment with inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) will prevent newborns with moderate respiratory failure from developing severe hypoxemic respiratory failure (oxygenation index (OI)>or=40).

Study Design: A total of 56 newborns with moderate respiratory failure (OI between 10 and 30) were randomized before 48 h after birth to early treatment with 20 p.p.