The mammalian dentition is composed of serial groups of teeth, each with a distinctive crown and root morphology, highly adapted to its particular masticatory function. In the embryo, generation of individual teeth within the jaws relies upon interactions between ectoderm of the first branchial arch and the neural crest-derived ectomesenchymal cells that migrate into this region from their site...

The embryologic development of the face has always presented the physician and scientist with an enigmatic mosaic so very different from those satisfying blocks of mesoderm, the somites, which will, with replicating exactitude, form bone, cartilage, muscle, nerve, and blood vessels through the embryo's length. For the sake of simplifying facial development in the embryo, the concepts of develop...

Discal cysts of the lumbar spine are rare degenerations in the corresponding discs and are located in the spinal canal but outside the endorhachis. Due to the small number of cases reported in the literature, discal cysts are always treated as lumbar disc hernias at the early stage. A definitive description of the treatment for discal cysts has not yet to be given. Here, we report a case of a l...

Members of the BMP family of signaling molecules display a high conservation of structure and function, and multiple BMPs are often coexpressed in a variety of tissues during development. Moreover, distinct BMP ligands are capable of activating common pathways. Here we describe the coexpression of two members of the 60A subfamily of BMPs, Bmp5 and Bmp7, at a number of different sites in the emb...

Congenital fourth branchial arch anomalies are uncommon entities. Most of these anomalies are diagnosed in childhood. The majority of cases occur on the left side. The clinical presentation of these anomalies varies with age. A respiratory distress is the usual clinical presentation in neonates, cervical cutaneous fistulas in late childhood or acute suppurative thyroiditis. Multiples diagnostic...

Esthetic reconstruction of cleft lip nose deformity is a challenging task in surgical management of patients with orofacial cleft. The author reconstructed cleft lip nose deformity effectively using autogenous auricular cartilage and a relatively new graft material of porcine dermal collagen, Permacol™. After correction of the deformed lower third of the nose with patient's auricular cartilage,...

Porokeratosis is a disorder of epidermal keratinization characterized clinically by a distinctive ridge-like border, and histologically by cornoid lamellae. The known clinical variants of porokeratosis are: classic porokeratosis of Mibelli, disseminated superficial (actinic) porokeratosis (DSAP), porokeratosis palmaris et plantaris disseminata, linear porokeratosis and punctate porokeratosis. I...

Primary intracranial melanoma is uncommon, and primary malignant melanoma of the sella turcica is exceedingly rare. We describe a 35-year-old woman who presented with endocrine dysfunction and CT findings suggestive of a prolactinsecreting macroadenoma. Subsequent MR findings revealed homogeneously short T1 and T2 relaxation times, yielding uniformly bright signal on T1 -weighted images and dar...

In hypoxia, gray mullet surface to ventilate well-oxygenated water in contact with air, an adaptive response known as aquatic surface respiration (ASR). Reflex control of ASR and its behavioral modulation by perceived threat of aerial predation and turbid water were studied on mullet in a partly sheltered aquarium with free surface access. Injections of sodium cyanide (NaCN) into either the blo...

The teneurins are a family of four transmembrane proteins expressed in the developing vertebrate nervous system, though the Drosophila teneurin ten-m is also a pair-rule gene. Whole-mount in situ hybridization was used to localize teneurin-4 transcripts in the chicken embryo. The earliest signal is detected at stage 19 in the somites and limb buds. By stage 20 teneurin-4 transcripts are detecte...