Regeneration studies in the tunicate Ciona intestinalis have recently been focused on the potential of adult stem cells to replace injured tissues and organs during the adult life cycle using the oral siphon (OS) as a model. The OS has oral siphon pigment organs (OPOs) along its rim and an underlying network of muscle fibers in its tube. Different regeneration processes are triggered by OS ampu...

Introduction: To propose an operation similar to selective neck dissection (levels II, III and IV) as a method of successful management of second arch branchial anomalies. Materials and methods: We did a prospective study on patients with branchial arch anomalies from the years 2009 to 2013. They underwent minimal radiological workup. All of them underwent a novel surgical procedure similar to ...

OBJECTIVE To discuss the computed tomographic (CT) and clinical findings of those entities that may present as recurrent deep neck infections. PATIENTS AND METHODS Twelve patients with recurrent deep neck infections and CT scans were retrospectively identified since 1990. Their CT scans and medical histories were reviewed. The diagnosis was pathologically confirmed in all cases. RESULTS The...

The ejection of internal organs, i.e., evisceration, is a well-known phenomenon in sea-cucumbers. We report the ability of a member of the Chordate phyla, the tropical ascidian Polycarpa mytiligera, to eviscerate and regenerate its gut within 12 days, and to rebuild its branchial sac within 19 days. Evisceration occurred within 4-43 seconds of gentle mechanical pressure exerted on the tunic in ...

Recent experiments, showing that both cranial paraxial and splanchnic mesoderm contribute to branchiomeric muscle and cardiac outflow tract (OFT) myocardium, revealed unexpected complexity in development of these muscle groups. The Pitx2 homeobox gene functions in both cranial paraxial mesoderm, to regulate eye muscle, and in splanchnic mesoderm to regulate OFT development. Here, we investigate...

Study of the Oweniidae specimens (Annelida; Polychaeta) from Lizard Island (Great Barrier Reef, Australia) stored at the Australian Museum, Sydney and newly collected in August 2013 revealed the presence of three species, namely Galathowenia quelis Capa et al., 2012 and two new species belonging to the genus Owenia Delle Chiaje, 1844. Owenia dichotoma n. sp. is characterised by a very short bra...

Xenopus laevis type XVIII collagen occurs in three variants, 22 + 1285 amino acid residues (signal peptide + mature protein), 23 + 1581 residues and 23 + 1886 residues in length, differing in their N-terminal non-collagenous domains. The region showing highest homology to mammalian counterparts is the C-terminal endostatin domain. All three variants are expressed, at different levels, during ea...

The Bmp4 signaling molecule is expressed in ventral splanchnic and branchial-arch mesoderm and outflow-tract (OFT) myocardium, suggesting a role for Bmp4 in OFT development. Inactivation of Bmp4 in the caudal branchial arch and splanchnic mesoderm and OFT myocardium by using a conditional null allele of Bmp4 and the Nkx2.5cre recombinase allele resulted in abnormal morphogenesis of branchial-ar...

Second branchial cleft cysts are almost always located in the neck; thus, their presence in the nasopharynx is extremely rare. A 44-year-old man was referred to our department because a cystic mass was fortuitously found in the right lateral nasopharyngeal wall during transnasal esophagogastroscopy. He had suffered from intermittent right-sided nasal obstruction since childhood. T1- and T2-weig...

Abstract Bomolochus bellones Burmeister, 1835 is redescribed based on specimens recovered from the bucco-branchial cavity of Pacific saury, Cololabis saira (Actinopterygii, Beloniformes, Scomberesocidae), in Japan. The male, copepodid V female, IV and III male species are described. postantennal processes lateral have appeared female at V.