These exposures were not associated with serious morbidity, mortality, or delayed symptoms.”
“In terms of contribution to pregnancy, the mother not only produces gametes, but also hosts gestation, whose progression in the uterus is conditioned by early events during implantation. In ruminants,

this period is associated with elongation of the extra-embryonic tissues, gastrulation of the embryonic disk and cross-talk with the endometrium. Recent data have prompted the need for accurate staging of the bovine conceptus and shown that asynchrony between elongation and gastrulation processes may account for pregnancy failure. Data mining of endometrial gene signatures has allowed the identification CHIR-99021 nmr of molecular pathways and new factors regulated by the conceptus (e.g. FOXL2, SOCS6). Interferon-tau has been recognised to be the major signal of pregnancy recognition,

but prostaglandins and lysophospholipids have also been demonstrated to be critical players at the conceptus-endometrium selleck chemical interface. Interestingly, up-regulation of interferon-regulated gene expression has been identified in circulating immune cells during implantation, making these factors a potential source of non-invasive biomarkers for early pregnancy. Distinct endometrial responses have been shown to be elicited by embryos produced by artificial insemination, in vitro fertilisation or somatic cell nuclear transfer. These findings have led to the concept that endometrium is an early biosensor of embryo quality. This biological property first demonstrated in cattle has been recently extended and associated with embryo selection in humans. Hence, compromised or suboptimal endometrial quality can subtly or deeply affect embryo development, with visible and sometimes severe consequences for placentation, foetal development, pregnancy outcome and the long-term health of the offspring. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Birds still share many traits with their dinosaur ancestors, making them the best living group to reconstruct certain aspects of non-avian theropod biology. Bipedal, digitigrade locomotion and

parasagittal hindlimb movement are some of those inherited traits. Living birds, however, maintain an unusually crouched hindlimb posture and selleck inhibitor locomotion powered by knee flexion, in contrast to the inferred primitive condition of non-avian theropods: more upright posture and limb movement powered by femur retraction. Such functional differences, which are associated with a gradual, anterior shift of the centre of mass in theropods along the bird line, make the use of extant birds to study non-avian theropod locomotion problematic. Here we show that, by experimentally manipulating the location of the centre of mass in living birds, it is possible to recreate limb posture and kinematics inferred for extinct bipedal dinosaurs.