Scutellaria baicalensis has been effectively used in Chinese traditional medicine to prevent miscarriages. However, little information is available on its mechanism of action. This study is designed specifically to reveal how baicalin, the main effective ingredient of S. baicalensis, improves developmental competence of embryos in vitro, using the mouse as a model. Mouse pronuclear embryos were...

Purine metabolism is known factor for nuclear maturation of oocytes through both follicle cells and oocyte itself. However, it is largely unknown the roles of purine metabolism in the oocyte competence for fertilization and early development. In this study, the effects of adenosine in oocyte competence for development were examined using adenosine and its synthetic inhibitors. Adenosine treatme...

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Outcome Project has shifted the focus of residents' education to competency-based outcomes of learning. The challenge of meaningful assessment of learner competence has stimulated interest in the Dreyfus and Dreyfus Model, a framework for assessing skill acquisition that describes developmental stages beginning with novice and progressing...

Somatic sensation relies on the transduction of physical stimuli into electrical signals by sensory neurons of the dorsal root ganglia. Little is known about how and when during development different types of sensory neurons acquire transduction competence. We directly investigated the emergence of electrical excitability and mechanosensitivity of embryonic and postnatal mouse sensory neurons. ...

The authors review the literature on resilience following childhood maltreatment and describe how variation in the measurement of outcomes at various developmental stages affects research findings, practice implications, and policy recommendations. Although the 21 studies reviewed considered competent functioning in similar domains as evidence of resilience following maltreatment, few provided ...