Association between parental decisions regarding abortion and severity of fetal heart disease.

The prenatal diagnosis of fetal heart disease potentially influences parental decision-making regarding pregnancy termination. Existing literature indicates that the severity, whether in complexity or lethality, significantly influences parental decisions concerning abortion. However, questions remain as to how fetal heart disease severity impacts parental decisions, given recent advancements in postsurgical outcomes. Therefore, we investigated risk factors associated with parents' decision-making regarding abortion following a prenatal diagnosis of fetal heart disease. Our analysis included 73 (terminated: n = 37; continued: n = 36) pregnancies with a fetal heart disease diagnosed before 22 weeks of gestation. Increased gestational age at diagnosis reduced the likelihood of parents' decision on termination (Model 1: adjusted odds ratio, 0.94; 95% confidence interval 0.89-0.99; Model 2: 0.95 0.90-0.997). Critical disease (5.25; 1.09-25.19) and concurrent extracardiac or genetic abnormalities (Model 1: 4.19, 1.21-14.53; Model 2: 5.47, 1.50-19.96) increased the likelihood of choosing abortion. Notably, complex disease did not significantly influence parental decisions (0.56; 0.14-2.20). These results suggest that parental decision-making regarding abortion may be influenced by earlier gestational age at diagnosis, the lethality of heart disease, and extracardiac or genetic abnormalities, but not its complexity if prenatal diagnosis and parental counseling are provided at a cardiovascular-specialized facility.

Combined Effect of Feed and Housing System Affects Free Amino Acid Content of Egg Yolk and Albumen in Brown Layer Chickens.

In recent years, the market share for cage-free eggs has gradually increased. Because commercially available cage-free eggs are often produced not only by several housing systems but also with different feed crude protein (CP) levels, there are combined effects of feed and housing systems between cage-free and cage eggs. Therefore, using field data, this study aimed to determine the combined effects of feed and housing systems on egg traits and yolk and albumen amino acids in table eggs. Brown layers (n = 40) at the middle laying stage under two feed and housing systems (cage, CP 15.5% diet; barn, CP 17.0% diet) were used. One-way analysis of variance and Pearson's correlation analysis were used to evaluate 10 egg traits, 19 yolk amino acid traits, and 20 albumen amino acid traits. We observed significant effects of feed and housing on two egg traits (yolk weight and eggshell color redness), 16 yolk amino acids (Asp, Glu, Asn, Ser, Gln, His, Arg, Thr, Ala, Tyr, Met, Cys, Ile, Leu, Phe, and Lys), and 14 albumen amino acids (Asp, Asn, Ser, Gln, Gly, His, Arg, Thr, Ala, Val, Met, Cys, Ile, and Leu). This study revealed that eggs from the barn system (CP 17.0%) contained higher levels of free amino acids in 15 yolk and nine albumen amino acid traits. Phenotypic correlations among the 49 egg traits indicated similar correlation patterns in both systems, which implies that the balance of free amino acid content in yolk and albumen is similar in each system. Although some potential confounding factors may be present for comparing egg content between cage (CP 15.5%) and barn (CP 17.0%) systems, this study suggests that commercially available cage-free eggs may be different from cage eggs not only in external egg traits but also yolk and albumen amino acid traits.

Morphological variations of caudal skeleton between three chicken breeds.

Although fancy caudae are important traits for chicken breeds, factors associated with their morphological diversity are not fully understood. We analyzed the caudal skeleton of the Tosa-jidori, Chabo, and Minohikichabo breeds with wild-type, erect, and rich caudae, respectively. Five of six Tosa-jidori chickens had four caudal vertebrae, whereas all six Chabo and five of six Minohikichabo chickens had five. The angle of the apex pygostyli with respect to the margo cranialis was significantly larger and smaller in Chabo and Minohikichabo than Tosa-jidori chickens, respectively. These findings indicated that the caudal skeleton is one of important factors for forming the characteristic traits of chicken breeds.

Phenotypic Analysis of Growth and Morphological Traits in Miniature Breeds of Japanese Indigenous Chickens.

Japanese indigenous chickens include approximately 50 breeds exhibiting various morphological traits, such as a long tail. These genetic resources will be important for revealing the genetic basis of morphological traits in the future. However, little is known about the phenotypic characteristics of each breed during the growth stages. To understand age-dependent changes in growth and morphological traits, we investigated tail length, tail number, body weight, and shank length at several time points using three genetically distinct Japanese indigenous chicken breeds. A total of 155 birds from the Tosa-jidori, Chabo, and Minohikichabo breeds were used for trait measurements from 1 to 36 weeks of age to reveal breed and sex effects. Significant sex differences through the growth stages were observed for all traits except for tail number. Although there were no clear breed differences in tail length traits at the 6- and 20-week stages, Minohikichabo ultimately had a significantly longer tail due to extended tail feather growth at later stages (28 and 36 weeks). By measuring two tail length variables (central and maximum), it was revealed that the shape of the tail feathers varies with the growth stage. Minohikichabo's tail number was higher than that of Tosajidori and Chabo at earlier ages (8 and 16 weeks), which leads to an elegant visual in Minohikichabo. Tosa-jidori's body weight was higher than that of Chabo and Minohikichabo, whereas the shank lengths of Chabo and Minohikichabo were shorter than those of Tosa-jidori. These differences in body weight and shank length were consistent from the early to late growth stages. These results revealed the age-dependency of growth and morphological trait breed characteristics.

Resistance to paclitaxel therapy is related with Bcl-2 expression through an estrogen receptor mediated pathway in breast cancer.

Taxanes are approved for the treatment of breast cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes, following surgery and doxorubicin containing chemotherapy. Taxanes have improved the survival of breast cancer patients, especially in estrogen receptor (ER) negative population in clinical settings. This time we examined the relationship between chemosensitivity to Taxanes and expresson of ERalpha in breast cancer cell lines. In vitro effects of paclitaxel in 4 ER-positive and 3 ER-negative breast cancer cell lines were investigated by MTT assay. We also investigated members of Bcl-2 family by Western blotting and RT-PCR to clarify their role in paclitaxel resistance both in ER-positive and in ER-negative cells. ER-negative cell lines were more sensitive to paclitaxel than ER-positive cells. ER-negative KPL-4 and ZR-75-30 cells, which were sensitive to paclitaxel, became resistant when they were treated with demethylation agent, 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine. Analysis of proapoptotic (Bax) and antiapoptotic (Bcl-2) molecules suggested that Bcl-2 is likely to have a role in the resistance of ER-positive cells. Bcl-2 expression was increased in a time-dependent manner after treatment of ER-positive cell lines with estrogen (E2). On the other hand, Bcl-2 was not detected in ER-negative cell lines. However, no significant difference was detected for Bax mRNA levels before and after E2 treatment in ER-positive and negative cell lines. Activation of ER gene expression in ER-negative KPL-4 cells by 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine resulted in up-regulation of Bcl-2 mRNA. To support our data, we examined paclitaxel sensitivity in ER-negative MDA-MB-231 and ER stable transfectant cells S30 and JM6. This experiment also showed ER-negative cells were sensitive to paclitaxel but ER-positive cells were resistant to it. These results suggest that ER influenced chemosensitivity to paclitaxel through regulation of Bcl-2 family and regulation of the pathway may be crucial to increase the efficacy of taxanes in ER-positive breast cancer.

M-RIP, a novel target of JNK signaling and a requirement for human cancer cell invasion.

Cell motility is involved in physiological and pathological processes such as the invasion and migration of cells. c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) cascades are involved in the invasion and metastasis of cancer cells. However, little is known about the downstream signaling of JNK. In the present study, we used small interfering RNA (siRNA) directed against JNK1 to reduce its expression. We used microarray techniques to compare the gene expression profiles of epidermal growth factor (EGF)-stimulated HeLa cells with and without JNK1 siRNA treatment. We identified a JNK1 target gene, myosin phosphatase-Rho interacting protein (M-RIP). RNA interference-mediated inhibition of JNK1 strongly inhibited M-RIP mRNA expression induced by EGF, as well as the invasion of HeLa cells. In addition, M-RIP siRNA-treated cells showed significantly reduced invasive activity. Thus, a functional analysis of JNK1 and M-RIP with RNA interference reveals a critical role for this cascade in the invasive behavior of cancer cells.

Free jejunal graft for hypopharyngeal and esophageal reconstruction.

AIMS: This study assessed the techniques of the free jejunal graft for the reconstruction of hypopharynx or cervical esophagus and discussed the main aspects related to those procedures. METHODS AND RESULTS: By using free jejunal grafts, we reconstructed 54 hypopharyngeal and cervical esophageal cancers. In this study, 23 out of 54 patients had a malignant tumor located in the hypopharynx and 31 in the cervical esophagus (27 primary cases and four secondary cases). Despite the multi-step and time-consuming procedure, we did not incur any trans-operative complication. Furthermore, we undertook the larynx preserving cervical esophagectomy and free jejunal graft reconstruction in six patients with cervical esophageal cancer, and those patients acquired a good quality of life. CONCLUSION: For the reconstruction of hypopharynx or cervical esophagus, the free jejunal graft is a very useful technique and improves the patient's quality of life.