User:Z3463310

Welcome to the 2014 Embryology Course!

Links: Timetable | How to work online | One page Wiki Reference Card | Moodle

• Each week the individual assessment questions will be displayed in the practical class pages and also added here.
• Copy the assessment items to your own page and provide your answer.
• Note - Some guest assessments may require completion of a worksheet that will be handed in in class with your student name and ID.

Individual Lab Assessment

Lab 1 Assessment - Fertilization References Lab 2 Assessment - Uploading a Research Image Lab 3 Assessment - Researching your Project Sub-Heading Lab 4 Assessment - Cord Stem Cells Lab 5 Assessment - Abnormalities Lab 6 Assessment - Group Work (As announced in the lecture, No individual assessment item for this Lab, but I do expect you to have added content to your Group project by tomorrow's Lab.) Lab 7 Assessment - Endocrine+Teeth Lab 8 - Genital Lab 9 - Peer Assessment Lab 10 - Sensory Development Lab 11 - Stem Cells Lab 12 - Stem Cells Presentation (see preparation information)

Lab 12 - Stem Cell Presentation Assessment		More Info
Group	Comment	Mark (10)
1/8	Lots of effort to place article in larger context Slide lay out could be improved: lots of empty space, use larger images and talk through them Results presentation a bit convoluted. Try to finish discussion of each experiment with a clear conclusion. Repetition of information towards the end One presenter had an unprofessional style of presentation	7
2	Good well-structured presentation Good introduction Methods discussed separately. Try to avoid this, and incorporate in discussion of experiments. Not sure if technology was understood very well.	7.5
3	Good well-structured presentation Do not discuss methods as a separate section Discussion of results not always very clear, comprehension?	7.5
4	Good well-structured presentation Lots of text on slides, improve talking through images, blow up images Good discussion	8.5
5	Good well-structured presentation, amount of text on slides relatively good. Figures too small, discussion bit convoluted Slightly over time	8.5
6	Good comprehension and well-structured presentation. Too much text on slides Experiments discussed in a lot of detail. Try to be more concise and discuss aim of experiment, approach, summarize results, conclude. No talking through figures	8.5
7	Good well-structured presentation, great introduction, inclusion of images in presentation done relatively well. Methods discussed separately. Incorporate methods in discussion of the experiments in the results section. Try not to depend too much on text on your slides Talking through results images was not very clear, comprehension?	7.5

More Useful Links

Student Projects Group 1 Respiratory User:Z3330991 User:Z3332339 User:Z3333429 User:Z3372817 Group 2 Renal User:Z3463310 User:Z3465141 User:Z3465654 User:Z5030311 Group 3 Gastrointestinal User:Z3414515 User:Z3375627 User:Z3415141 User:Z3415242 Group 4 Genital User:Z3415716 User:Z3416697 User:Z3417458 User:Z3417753 Group 5 Integumentary User:Z3417796 User:Z3417843 User:Z3418340 User:Z3418488 Group 6 Endocrine User:Z3418702 User:Z3418837 User:Z3418698 User:Z3414648 Group 7 Neural User:Z3418981 User:Z3419587 User:Z3422484 User:Z3374116 Group 8 Musculoskeletal User:Z3418779 User:Z3418718 User:Z3418989 Student Projects Fetal Development of a specific System.

2014 Course: Week 2 Lecture 1 Lecture 2 Lab 1 | Week 3 Lecture 3 Lecture 4 Lab 2 | Week 4 Lecture 5 Lecture 6 Lab 3 | Week 5 Lecture 7 Lecture 8 Lab 4 | Week 6 Lecture 9 Lecture 10 Lab 5 | Week 7 Lecture 11 Lecture 12 Lab 6 | Week 8 Lecture 13 Lecture 14 Lab 7 | Week 9 Lecture 15 Lecture 16 Lab 8 | Week 10 Lecture 17 Lecture 18 Lab 9 | Week 11 Lecture 19 Lecture 20 Lab 10 | Week 12 Lecture 21 Lecture 22 Lab 11 | Week 13 Lecture 23 Lecture 24 Lab 12 Student Projects - Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Group 5 | Group 6 | Group 7 | Group 8 | Moodle

LAB ATTENDANCE

--Z3463310 (talk) 12:45, 6 August 2014 (EST)

--Z3463310 (talk) 11:13, 13 August 2014 (EST)

--Z3463310 (talk) 12:41, 20 August 2014 (EST)

--Z3463310 (talk) 11:08, 27 August 2014 (EST)

--Z3463310 (talk) 11:06, 3 September 2014 (EST)

--Z3463310 (talk) 11:42, 10 September 2014 (EST)

--Z3463310 (talk) 12:58, 17 September 2014 (EST)

--Z3463310 (talk) 11:06, 24 September 2014 (EST)

--Z3463310 (talk) 11:03, 8 October 2014 (EST)

PubMed

albumin synthesis

ASSESSMENTS

Lab 1

influence of stress and anxiety on IVF

Anxiety levels and profiles on personality, level of stress hormones were measured in total of 44 women; 22 of which are undergoing IVF treatment for tubal infertility and the other 22 women (fertile) as a control. Serum prolactin and cortisol were used as stress markers, and STAI questionnaires were used to measure anxiety levels in each of the women. Comparison of profiling of personalities showed the infertile women had significantly higher scores in suspicion (p>0.05), guilt (p>0.05), and hostility (p>0.01), but lower somatic anxiety (0.05) and indirect aggression (0.05) than the fertile women as controls. The infertile women also had significantly higher levels of prolactin and cortisol throughout the menstrual cycle. In this particular study, it was concluded that infertile women when compared with fertile women showed higher stress levels and had different personality profiling results in term of suspicion, guilt, and hostility, perhaps as a result of their infertility.

correlation with IVF implantation rates and high vitamin D levels

Research to find correlation between vitamin D levels and successful implantation / clinical pregnancy rates in infertile women undergoing IVF treatment. Measured levels of vitamin D as determined by serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D from total 173 women undergoing IVF at Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario. Serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D samples were collected within 1 week of oocyte retrieval, and they were classified either sufficient or insufficient according to how much was present. (More than 75nmol/L was classified as being sufficient). It was found that 54.9% of the 173 women trialled on had insufficient Serum 25-hydryoxy-vitamin D levels, with only 34.7% successful implantation rate. The remaining 45.1% that had sufficient serum hydroxy-vitamin D had a 52.5% implantation rate. From these results, it was concluded that women with sufficient levels of vitamin D are significantly more likely to achieve clinical pregnancy following IVF. Vitamin D supplementation could provide an easy and cost-effective way of improving pregnancy rates; this merits further investigation.

LAB 2

Blastocyst hatching

--Mark Hill This is a commercial image not from a research article. There is also no indication you have permission to reuse this image. The file has been deleted (0/5)

LAB 3

Urine Formation + Amniotic Sac

limb deformations in oligohydramnio sequence

Polyhydramnios and oligohydramnios

amniotic fluid: not just urine anymore

the urinary excretion of amino acids and sugar in early infancy

--Mark Hill these articles may be relevant to your research sub-heading (I assume it was Urine Formation + Amniotic Sac), but you have not formatted the reference links correctly. (4/5)

LAB 4

1. Stem cells are cells that have the ability to transform and generate mature cells of a particular tissue through cell differentiation. Stem cells exist in the haematopoietic system, allowing researchers to isolate them, and use them to generate specific cells through the manipulation of cell differentiation, to use them in regenerative medicine. Stem cells and cancer cells both have the ability to self-renew themselves; meaning that tumours may potentially arise from transformation of stem cells. Haematopoietic stem cells have been shown to be responsible for regeneration of blood and immune systems, and have been used extensively in therapeutic settings.

It has been found through previous researches that haemopoietic stem cells have the ability to differentiate into non haemopoietic stem cells. Some signalling pathways that regulate stem cell growth and differentiation has been found to also control cancer cell growth; making stem cells a target of transformation for some forms of cancer. The qualities of a stem cell being self-renewal systems and long living, suggests that there is a greater chance for mutations to occur and accumulate in individual stem cells compared to most mature cells found within the body.

Tannishtha. R., Morrison. S. J., Clarke. M. F., Weissman, I. L. Stem cells, cancer, and cancer stem cells. (2001) online: nature.com

2. Ductus Arteriosus connects the pulmonary artery with the descending aortic arch. shunts the right ventricular output away from the lungs.

Ductus Venosus connects the portal sinus with the inferior vena cava. allows blood from the umbilical vein (oxygenated) to reach the liver.

Both shunts are closed post natally. Coceani F, Olley PM. (1988) The control of cardiovascular shunts in the fetal and perinatal period. article

LAB 5

Omphalocele

An omphalocele is a rare birth defect that occurs every 1 in 4000 ~ 7000 live births world wide. [1] [2] [3] Babies with this birth defect are born with their visceral organs (mainly the liver, and intestines) inside a thin membrane sac known as the omphalocele sac external of their abdominal cavity into the base of the umbilical cord. [1] Technically, it is a herniation of the umbilicus. It is an abnormality in the development of the gastrointestinal system at around week 9~12 of fetal development. [2] It occurs when lateral unfolding of the embryo fails for some reason, leading to the formation of a omphalocele. [3] The organs are placed inside the abdominal cavity through surgery, usually within the first half year of the child being born. [4]

Children born with this defect often have other abnormalities, often chromosomal such as a trisomy at pair 13, 18 or 21. It is unknown what causes this birth defect; some studies have found maternal age, multiple pregnancies, and number of births may increase the chance of a child being born with an omphalocele, but there are also many studies against these. [3] [4] It is thought that smoking, consumption of alcohol, and not enough dietary foliate in the mother may contribute to this birth defect. [2] The survival rate for children born with just an omphalocele and do not have any other health problems is 90%. [1]

A woman carrying a fetus with omphalocele often have high levels of alpha-fetoprotein in her body. Blood testing, detailed fetal ultrasound, ultra fast fetal MRI and a fetal echocardiogram can lead to early diagnosis of a omphalocele whilst in the fetal stage, and in many cases where it is legal, the pregnancy is terminated. [2] [4]

[1] Omphalocele | Birth Anomalies | Prognosis & Treatment . 2014. Omphalocele | Birth Anomalies | Prognosis & Treatment . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/health/o/omphalocele/.

[2] CDC - Birth Defects, Facts about Omphalocele - NCBDDD. 2014. CDC - Birth Defects, Facts about Omphalocele - NCBDDD. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/omphalocele.html.

[3] Chung DH. Pediatric surgery. In: Townsend CM, Beauchamp RD, Evers BM, Mattox KL, eds. Sabiston Textbook of Surgery. 19th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2012:chap 67.

[4] Islam S. Advances in surgery for abdominal wall defects: Gastroschisis and omphalocele. Clin Perinatol.2012;39:375-386.

LAB 7

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.

J Patell et al. (2011) show that the processes of embryogenesis, differentiation, and maturation of the thyroid gland is essential for fetal thyroid function. Such processes combined with the HPT axis (hypothalamic-putuitary-thyroid axis) and thyroid hormone metabolism results in the regulation of thyroid hormone production and secretion. Thyroxine (T4) is seen in embryo's as early in week 4 of development, and is essential for neurogenesis. T4 concentrations are highly regulated in order to provide protection to the fetus' neurological sites including the cerebral cortex. Molecular pathways in the cell membrane are thought to regulate thyroid hormone concentrations. Research suggests that mild hypothyroxinemia therefore may lead to fetal abnormalities in neurological developments. (Hypothyroxinemia is a condition where there is limited / not enough Thyroxine hormone circulating the fetal body.)

J Patel1, K Landers,H Li, R H Mortimer1, and K Richard. Thyroid hormones and fetal neurological development(2011). Journal of endocrinology.

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

The ectoderm, mesoderm and neural crest ectomesenchyme contribute to the development of teeth. Ameloblasts, cells differentiated from the ectoderm develop into teeth enamel, and the Odontoblasts, mesenchymal cells differentiated from the neural crest form predentin to further calcify and form dentin. (Ben pansky). Teeth development can be divided into five stages; lamina, placode, bud, cap and bell. (Unsw embryology 2014).

Integumentary system - tooth development. UNSW embryology. 2014. EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT & STEM CELL COMPENDIUM. Ben Pansky. Germ Layers And Their Derivatives.

LAB 8

Provide a brief time course and overview of embryonic development of either the human testis or ovary. (2-3 paragraphs)

The female gonads develop into an identifiable organ (the ovaries) at around week 10 of embryonic life where the cortex of the ovaries become visible. The testes on the other hand can be visualized at around week 7 of development. Histologically, the cortex containing the parenchyma, and the medulla sharing the elements of the stroma can be identified at around week 10

   Include an image from the historic genital embryology section of the online notes in your description.