User:Z3370664

From Embryology

Lab Attendance

Lab 1 --Z3370664 11:49, 25 July 2012 (EST)

Lab 2 --Z3370664 10:09, 1 August 2012 (EST)

Lab 3 --Z3370664 10:28, 8 August 2012 (EST)

Lab 4 --Z3370664 10:24, 15 August 2012 (EST)

Lab 5 --Z3370664 10:12, 22 August 2012 (EST)

Lab 6 --Z3370664 10:13, 29 August 2012 (EST)

Lab 7 --Z3370664 10:20, 12 September 2012 (EST)

Lab 8 --Z3370664 10:09, 19 September 2012 (EST)

Lab 9 --Z3370664 10:05, 26 September 2012 (EST)

Lab 10 --Z3370664 10:02, 3 October 2012 (EST)

Lab 11 --Z3370664 10:38, 10 October 2012 (EST)

Lab 12 --Z3370664 10:45, 17 October 2012 (EST)


Lab Assessments

Lab 1 Online Assessment

Assignment Task 1:

Origin of In Vitro Fertilisation

In the 1890s, Walter Heape researched about reproduction in animals, and tried embryo transplantation in rabbits. This was the first ever reported case of an attempt at in vitro fertilisation. [1]

In 1948, Miriam Menken and John Rock exposed many eggs to a large number of spermatozoa in vitro to test what happens. They published their reports in Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The first successful report of IVF was in 1959, by Chang. Rabbits were the first mammals to give birth by IVF. [1]

In 1973, the first ever pregnancy through IVF was achieved by an experiment conducted by Monash University, but this resulted in a miscarriage. [1]

In 1978, the first ever human birth by IVF occurred in England. [1]

In 1980, the first ever human IVF birth in Australia occurred. [1]

Over the years, more development in IVF technology occurred. [1]


2010 Nobel Prize Winner

Sir Robert Geoffrey Edwards won the Nobel prize in Phsiology or Medicine in 2010 for his development in In Vitro Fertilisation by the successful birth of the first test tube baby, Louise Brown in 1978. [2]

Source: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2010/press.html


Assignment Task 2:

Recent PubMed article on fertilisation

<pubmed>22842703</pubmed>

PubMed reference link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22842703

Full article was redirected to: http://www.nature.com/aja/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/aja201258a.html

Summary of article:

The title of this article is: Sperm counts and sperm sex ratio in male infertility patients. [3] This article was published on 30th of July, 2012.

The investigators of this research had noticed that the number of male births had declined over the years in industrialized nations. The investigators wanted to find out whether males produced less Y chromosome, which is the determining factor in whether a baby will become a boy. In their research, 185 men went through a semen fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The result was analysed to compare the gender ratios (Y chromosome number versus total number of sex chromosomes in each men) The overall sperm ratio of Y versus X for the cohort of men tested was 51.4 : 48.6.

Men with a lower semen volume had a lower proportion of Y chromosomes. The conclusions of the study showed that men who had a lower production of semen, thus had a lower production of Y-chromosome sperms, compared to men who have normal sperm production. However, the researches are unsure whether their results are biased, since many couples who were asked to take part in this research experiment refused to participate. Most of the couples who participated in this experiment are those who failed to have successful IVF. Hence, it is unclear whether the findings of this research would apply to all men in general. Hence, further research needs to be conducted for more reliable results.


Lab 2 Online Assessment

Assignment Task 1:

Image of Gene expression in morula

Gene expression in morula


Assignment Task 2:

Bystin is a trophinin associated protein, which is believed to be involved with forming cell adhesion between trophoblast and endometrial epithelial cells, and thus plays a role in implanation process of the embryo with the uterus wall. Bystin contains 306 amino acids [4]






Lab 3 Online Assessment

Assignment Task 1:

Gestational age is the period of time that passes since the first day of the mother's last menstrual cycle before she became pregnant. [5]

Post-fertilisational age is the period of time that passes since the sperm fertilizes the egg, up until birth. [5]

The foetus grows and develops in the mother's womb during the post-fertilisational age.

Gestational age is most commonly used clinically in describing human development because it is easier to calculate, since the mother normally remembers the day her last periods started, rather than trying to figure out which day the sperm fertilized the egg.


Assignment Task 2:

The three different tupes of tissues formed from somites are the:

1. Dermis of the dorsal skin (dermatome)[6] is the skin on the back. [7]

2. Skeletal Muscles (myotome)[6] of the ribs cage, limbs, abdominal wall, back and tongue. [7]

3. Vertebrae and rib cartilage (sclerotome) [6]



Lab 4 Online Assessment

Assignment Task 1:

1. Identify the 2 invasive prenatal diagnostic techniques related to the placenta and 2 abnormalities that can be identified with these techniques.


Answer:

Amniocentesis

Amniocentesis is an example of a prenatal diagnostic technique used to find abnormalities in the placenta. It is usually performed at 16 weeks of pregnancy, by using a needle which goes through the skin of the pregnant mother, through the walls of the uterus, and taking a sample of fluid that surrounds the baby. It does not touch the baby or the placenta. This fluid is then tested to see abnormalities in the chromosomes of the baby, figure out if the baby has genetic disorders such as Down's Syndrome or Cystic fibrosis. [8]


Chorionic villus sampling

This is also another technique used to detect chromosomal disorders such as Down's Syndrome. [9] It is done before 15 weeks of pregnancy. A small sample of 'chorion' (placental tissue) is taken from the inside the pregnant mother's uterus, using a needle which penetrates the skin of the mother's abdomen and goes in through the walls of the uterus. [10]


References: Alfirevic Z, von Dadelszen P (2003). Alfirevic, Zarko. ed. "Instruments for chorionic villus sampling for prenatal diagnosis" [1]


http://www.medicinenet.com/chorionic_villus_sampling/article.htm


Assignment Task 2:

2. Identify a paper that uses cord stem cells therapeutically and write a brief (2-3 paragraph) description of the paper's findings.

Answer:

"Successful stem cell therapy using umbilical cord blood-derived multipotent stem cells for Buerger's disease and ischemic limb disease animal model."

by: Kim SW, Han H, Chae GT, Lee SH, Bo S, Yoon JH, Lee YS, Lee KS, Park HK, Kang KS.

The scientists who wrote this paper used Umbilical Cord Blood (UCB) derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and transplanted them into four men as part of their study. These men had a disease called "Buerger's Disease", also known as thromboangiitis obliterans. This disease is characterised by "acute inflammation and thrombosis (clotting) of the arteries and veins in the hands and feet." [11] This disease currently has no cure. Hence the researchers were using the stem cells to test whether they could provide therapy with success. These men had necrotic skin lesions due to their disease. After being treated with the stem cells, their skin lesions had healed after 4 weeks. They also had newly formed blood vessels which were normal. Due to this, their ischemic rest pain was also cured after being treated with the stem cells. There were no side effects noticed after their therapy with stem cells.

The conclusion made by the researchers was that stem cell therapy can be used for therapy for Buerger's disease and other such similar ischemic disease.


Source of article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16497946



Lab 7 Online Assessment

1. (a) Provide a one sentence definition of a muscle satellite cell

Answer: Muscle satellite cells are myogenic cells with single nuclei, which are found between the basement membrane and sarcolemma of muscle fibers, and are involved with repair and regeneration of damaged muscle fibers. [12]


(b) In one paragraph, briefly discuss two examples of when satellite cells are activated ?

Answer: Muscle satellite cells are activated when the muscle fibers are damaged by injury. They are involved with repairing and regenerating the damaged muscle fibers. [12] When satellite cells are activated, they proliferate and form myoblasts to to replace damaged muscle fibers by cell differentiation and fusing with the damaged myofibers. [13] [14] After fusion with the myofibers, there is no further division by mitosis. [14]


2. In one brief paragraph, describe what happens to skeletal muscle fibre type and size when the innervating motor nerve sustains long term damage such as in spinal cord injury?

Answer: The skeletal muscle fibres increase in tension when there is injury for the motor nerves to sustain spinal cord injury. This occurs due to activation of stretch reflex. [15] There is an increase in type II fibres compared to type I fibres. [15] Hence there is an increase in fast type fibres when there is an increase in passive tension. [15] An example of a motor disorder is spasticity. When this disorder occurs, the muscle tone increases, which is called hypertonia. [15] Tardieu et al (1982) reported that the muscle fibres shorten in length in patients with spasticity. [16] However, another study shows that the variability of fiber size increases in muscles of spasticity patients. [17] When normal skeletal muscles are studied in biopsies, they appear to be tightly packed, with polygon shaped fibers. [17] Spastic patients on the other hand, showed an increase in fiber size, with more "round" shaped fibers. In some patients, there is also an increase in intercellular space. [17]



Lab 8 Online Assessment: Group projects peer evaluation

Somatosensory

Your introductory paragraph is very detailed and has appropriate references. It would be nice to add an image to complement it somehow. Because it’s not very easy to read a big block of text without any image supporting the text. It would look more balanced that way. Also, providing clickable links to the references would be better and make it easier for users to find the original references by clicking on the citation rather than scrolling down and manually looking for the citation in the references.

History of discoveries section is somewhat lacking in content, you need to add more information. It would be nice to do a timeline format to make it easier to see the transition of new discoveries over the past years. Again, adding some images to support this section would make it more interesting to read. Again, providing clickable links to the references would be better and make it easier for users to find the original references by clicking on the citation rather than scrolling down and manually looking for the citation in the references.

“Central Somatosensory Differentiation” is the best section so far. It is very well detailed with appropriate references and has an image to support the text. It even has clickable reference links which is good, as it makes it easier to find the references. It would be good to add a little bit more information to describe the image. And perhaps add a few more images to support this section. Overall, you only have one image on your entire page. It would be good if you add some more images to support your text.

Current Research section needs more articles about current research. One article doesn’t seem sufficient. It is good that your image from the article has the appropriate reference. Glossary section needs more words and definitions, there is not enough so far.

Some of the external links needs to be fixed. You need to change the format of the links and explain where the links would take you or what those web pages are about.



Taste

Your introductory paragraph is sufficiently detailed. However, there is only one reference. You need to show more research by adding more references to support your text. It is good that you have added an image to support the text, but you need to write that it is a student uploaded image. Cell biology and type 2 receptors sections don’t have any references cited at all. You need to add appropriate references.

There was an image of the tongue showing the tastes in different sections of the tongue. The image didn’t have the source referenced.

The taste map section needs more referencing and citations.

Cortical area is sufficiently detailed and has appropriate numbers of references, along with a supportive image. However, you should add more description of what the image is about. “Timeline of Developmental Processes of the Gustatory System” looks nice so far, with appropriate citations. But you may need to add some more information, and it needs to add images to support the text.

History of discoveries section looks nice, but needs a bit more texts explaining each of the discoveries. It also needs some more references, and perhaps adding some images to support the text would make it easier to visualise the discoveries.

“Adult Tongue and Taste Buds – Structure and Function” is overall lacking in text and needs more research and references. You need to explain more of the structures and functions of the tongue. The image of the ‘drawing of the tongue’ needs a bit more description in the caption. Perhaps explain what each of the labels mean. The papillae image should say that it is a student uploaded image.

Current research section is done reasonably well so far. The reference needs appropriate formatting. Perhaps reduce the size of the image showing the double tongue; it is rather graphic and somewhat disturbing.

You do not have any useful links listed. You need to add links.

Glossary section is good so far. Perhaps add some more words, and make the text bold to make it easier to spot the different words.

Image gallery does not have images under the heading.

References section: number 5 needs to be fixed.

There are not external links listed under the heading, you need to add external links with appropriate formatting.


Olfaction

Introduction is sufficient for now, but it may be better if you add more details, and perhaps an image to support it. Maybe an image of the nose and its structural components labelled.

History of discoveries section is great so far. You gave succint information with references. You only have 1 useful image in this section, so it would be better if you add more images.

Developmental timeline is very well detailed and has appropriate refrencing, however more refernces need to be added for some of thee information. You also need to add images as that column is left blank so far.

Anatomy of the olfactory system needs more details and explain the structural components. The diagrams are good, but needs more description in the captions.

“Congenital Abnormalities” is very detailed, with appropriate referencing and good images. It would be good to add a few more images. Also, add more description in the “Computed Tomography of Choanal Atresia” image.

Current research section is very good so far. Perhaps adding a few more images to support the other articles would make it better to read.

Glossary section is good so far, but needs more words to be added.

The references section is excellent.



Abnormal Vision

Introduction is sufficient for now, but it may be better if you add more details, with more references, and perhaps an image to support it. Maybe an image of the eye and its structural components labelled, with functions explained in the caption. You could add some images for the normal eye development.

Ocular manifestations section needs more work. It is good that you have added appropriate referencing for the information posted so far. Add more details in clinical manifestation, as it is difficult to follow. Add some images to support the text, especially in the research timeline.

New research development section is very well done, it is very detailed and has a good balance of text and images. But your images needs more description in the image details.

When you are talking about the genes such as PAX6, OTX2, RAX, it would be good if you format it to make it bold, and add them to the glossary section.

The glossary is very lacking, it needs more words.

The reference section is good so far and has correct formatting. However you have repeated some of the same references a few times. You need to fix that.

There are no external links listed as of yet. Please add some useful external links.



Hearing

Introduction needs more details. It has no references, so you need to research more and write more details with references. It would be good if you add an image of the ear with its structural components labelled, and explain the function of the structures. The history section is too short so far. It needs more details and more references. Also, it would be good if you add images to support it.

Adult Anatomy and Histology has a good image, but you need more text details and you need to explain the structures more properly. And although ‘histology’ is mentioned in the heading, there is no explanation of the histology of the ears in the section at all. You need to reference the explanations of the ear structures.

Development section has a lot of detailed information so far, but needs more references and more images to balance the text. There is too much text but not enough images. The images that are currently there needs more description in the image details. Genetic syndromes has a column that is labelled ‘images’ but there are no images there. You need to add images there. Abnormal hearing section is very detailed and well done so far. However there is too much writing and no images at all. You need to add more images to balance the text to make it easier to read.

You may need some more examples in “Technologies to overcome the problems” section and you need to add more reference to the information posted so far.

Current research section needs a lot more work. Please add more article summaries and images with description from the articles to support the text.

Glossary section is good so far, but perhaps add some more words.

The reference section is good so far and has correct formatting.

There are no external links listed as of yet. Please add some useful external links.



Lab 9 Online Assessment

1.Identify and write a brief description of the findings of a recent research paper on development of one of the endocrine organs covered in today's practical.

Answer: Pancreas.

<pubmed>23006330</pubmed>

Mutations in GATA6 has previously been found to cause failure in organogenesis of the pancreas. [18] The authors of this article were interested in finding the roles of GATA6 and GATA4 in organogenesis of the pancreas. In the experiment, they made these genes inactive to see what effect it has on pancreatic organogenesis in the absence of those genes. Their results showed that ‘single inactivation’ of either of the GATA6 and GATA4 genes do not cause much effect on the development of the pancreas. However, it has been found that inactivation of both of these genes caused abnormal morphological development of the pancreas due to defective proliferation and differentiation. Hence, it has been concluded that both GATA6 and GATA4 plays important roles in transcription of genes during the development of the pancreas, although GATA4 plays more supportive roles in the development of the pancreas than GATA6. The findings from this experiment can help in future with discovering the pathogenesis behind congenital diseases in relation to abnormal pancreatic development.


2.Identify the embryonic layers and tissues that contribute to the developing teeth.

Answer: Teeth are developed mainly from the ectoderm. Epithelium from the ectoderm contributes to the development of the teeth, as well as the mesenchyme which also derives from the ectoderm. [19]


Lab 11 Online Assessment

Question: "Identify a recent research article (using the pubmed tags to cite) on iPS cells and summarise in a few paragraphs the main findings of the paper."

Answer: Article Source: <pubmed>23065721</pubmed>

This article mentions recent research findings of induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs)taken from humans. [20]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 http://www.ivf-worldwide.com/ivf-history.html
  2. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2010/press.html
  3. <pubmed>22842703</pubmed>
  4. http://www.pnas.org/content/95/9/5027.full.pdf
  5. 5.0 5.1 http://www.livestrong.com/article/92683-embryo-fetus-development-stages/
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 http://www.embryology.ch/anglais/mmuskel/skelett02.html
  7. 7.0 7.1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10085/
  8. http://www.thewomens.org.au/amniocentesis
  9. http://www.medicinenet.com/chorionic_villus_sampling/article.htm
  10. Alfirevic Z, von Dadelszen P (2003). Alfirevic, Zarko. ed. "Instruments for chorionic villus sampling for prenatal diagnosis"
  11. <pubmed>16497946</pubmed>
  12. 12.0 12.1 <pubmed>12757751</pubmed>
  13. http://www.skeletalmusclejournal.com/content/1/1/7/
  14. 14.0 14.1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1571137/
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2000690/
  16. <pubmed>7073456</pubmed>
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 <pubmed>15116365</pubmed>
  18. <pubmed>23006330</pubmed>
  19. Masaki J. Honda, Hanson Fong, Shinji Iwatsuki, Yoshinori Sumita, Mehmet Sarikaya, (2008). Tooth-forming potential in embryonic and postnatal tooth bud cells, Med Mol Morphol (2008) 41:183–192.
  20. <pubmed>23065721</pubmed>