Neuroactive steroids may be synthesised in the brain either de novo from cholesterol or from blood-borne precursors. Concentrations of a GABAA receptor agonist, allopregnanolone, in the fetal brain exceed those in the circulation, and are markedly higher than adult brain concentrations. We used fetal hypophysectomy or adrenalectomy to elucidate the contribution of hypothalamic-pituitary factors...

In this paper, we propose a technique of artificial intelligence called adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) for canceling maternal electrocardiogram (MECG) in fetal electrocardiogram extraction (FECG).This technique is used to estimate the MECG present in the abdominal signal of a pregnant woman. The FECG is then extracted by subtracting the estimated MECG from the abdominal signal. P...

PURPOSE 1) To evaluate and classify the indications for fetal brain MRI in a tertiary referral center. 2) To assess the contribution of fetal brain MRI to fetal neurosonography. MATERIALS AND METHODS A retrospective study in a tertiary medical center during a two-year period (2011 - 2012) included pregnant women who underwent fetal brain MRI. MRI was implemented at 32 weeks of gestation unles...

This study investigates the in vivo dose response profiles of the target enzyme cholinesterase (ChE) and the detoxifying enzymes carboxylesterase (CaE) in the fetal and maternal compartments of pregnant rats dosed with chlorpyrifos [(O,O'-diethyl O-3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridyl) phosphorothionate], a commonly used organophosphorus insecticide. Pregnant rats were dosed daily (po) with chlorpyrifos i...

Motion correction is a key element for imaging the fetal brain in-utero using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Maternal breathing can introduce motion, but a larger effect is frequently due to fetal movement within the womb. Consequently, imaging is frequently performed slice-by-slice using single shot techniques, which are then combined into volumetric images using slice-to-volume reconstruct...

OBJECTIVE Remyelination in multiple sclerosis has been attributed to the presence of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) in brain parenchyma. However, the precise identity of these progenitors is poorly defined. Here, we characterized populations of OPCs in the adult human brain and examined their myelination capacity and profile of miRNAs. Comparisons were made with fetal OPCs and mature o...

Mouse brain contains at least 2 distinct spectrin subtypes: brain spectrin(240/235) and brain spectrin(240/235E) (Riederer et al., 1986). In this study, we demonstrate that these subtypes are differentially expressed during mouse brain development. Brain spectrin(240/235) can be detected in fetal tissue and increases 2-fold during brain development. This subtype is enriched in the cortical cyto...

Purinton, Scott C., Howard Newman, Maria I. Castro, and Charles E. Wood. Ontogeny of estrogen sulfatase activity in ovine fetal hypothalamus, hippocampus, and brain stem. Am. J. Physiol. 276 (Regulatory Integrative Comp. Physiol. 45): R1647–R1652, 1999.—Ovine parturition is initiated by increases in fetal hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity, which in turn increase placental estro...