BACKGROUND ; There is uncertainty over whether maternal smoking is associated with birth defects. We conducted the first ever comprehensive systematic review to establish which specific malformations are associated with smoking. METHODS ; Observational studies published 1959-2010 were identified (Medline), and included if they reported the odds ratio (OR) for having a non-chromosomal birth defe...

In the present study, the effects of arrangement and distribution of multifarious types of defects on fundamental frequency of carbon nanotubes are investigated with respect to different chirality and boundary conditions. Interatomic interactions between each pair of carbon atoms are modeled using two types of non–linear spring–like elements. To obtain more information about the influences of d...

During early limb development, distal tip ectoderm is induced by the underlying mesenchyme to form the apical ectodermal ridge. Subsequent limb growth and patterning depend on reciprocal signaling between the mesenchyme and ridge. Mice that are homozygous for mutations at the limb deformity (ld) locus do not form a proper ridge and the anteroposterior axis of the limb is shortened. Skeletal ana...

Six cases of amniotic band syndrome/limb body wall complex were studied in respect to clinicopathologic characteristics. The diagnosis was based on two out of three of the following manifestations: cranio facial clefts; limb body wall defects and amniotic band attachment. Four cases were stillborn and associated with internal defects, including central nervous system. Two cases had facial and l...

The aim of the present investigation was to search for a reduction in birth prevalence estimates of 52 selected types of congenital anomalies, associated with folic acid fortification programs in Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. The material included 3,347,559 total births in 77 hospitals of the three countries during the 1982-2007 period: 596,704 births (17 hospitals) in Chile, 1,643,341 (41 hosp...

OBJECTIVE To analyze fetal abdominal defects diagnosed during the prenatal period in the perinatology department in a tertiary center in Turkey. METHODS This retrospective study consisted of 27 cases diagnosed with fetal abdominal wall defects between January 2011 and February 2014 in the perinatology outpatient clinic of Celal Bayar University, Manisa, Turkey. RESULTS Eighteen (66.7%) case...

Specification of digit number and identity is central to digit pattern in vertebrate limbs. The classical talpid(3) chicken mutant has many unpatterned digits together with defects in other regions, depending on hedgehog (Hh) signalling, and exhibits embryonic lethality. The talpid(3) chicken has a mutation in KIAA0586, which encodes a centrosomal protein required for the formation of primary c...

The occurrence ofisolated congenital scalp defects has been described repeatedly (Feud et al, 1945; Callaway et al, 1946; Beresford and Samman, 1948; Walker et al, 1960; Hodgman et al, 1965; Johnsonbaugh et al, 1965; Cutlip et al, 1967). Many of the reported cases have been familial and others have been associated with a variety of chromosomal abnormalities. There have been 4 case reports descr...

The tetrapod limb is a highly diverse structure, and reduction or loss of this structure accounts for many of the limb phenotypes observed within species. Squamate reptiles are one of the many tetrapod lineages in which the limbs have been greatly modified from the pentadactyl generalized pattern, including different degrees of reduction in the number of limb elements to complete limblessness. ...

The treefrog Eleutherodactylus coqui is a direct developer--it has no tadpole stage. The limb buds develop earlier than in metamorphosing species (indirect developers, such as Xenopus laevis). Previous molecular studies suggest that at least some mechanisms of limb development in E. coqui are similar to those of other vertebrates and we wished to see how limb morphogenesis in this species compa...