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The American Journal of Forensic... Sep 2020Serious intrapartum fetal injuries are unfortunate events that confer severe consequences on medical personnel. Most birth traumas are noncritical and resolve for a few...
Serious intrapartum fetal injuries are unfortunate events that confer severe consequences on medical personnel. Most birth traumas are noncritical and resolve for a few days. Permanent effects or fatal outcomes occur infrequently. We report an unusual case of intrapartum complete fetal decapitation. The labor was complicated by shoulder dystocia, with resultant repeated mechanical trauma to the fetal neck and, finally, decapitation. The tragic results of biological processes in human organisms do not automatically confirm medical malpractice. However, there may be grave ethical and forensic outcomes.
Topics: Adult; Birth Injuries; Decapitation; Female; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Labor, Induced; Pregnancy; Shoulder Dystocia; Vacuum Extraction, Obstetrical
PubMed: 32796208
DOI: 10.1097/PAF.0000000000000556 -
Journal of Perinatal Medicine May 2022
Topics: Decapitation; Delivery, Obstetric; Dystocia; Female; Humans; Pregnancy; Shoulder; Shoulder Dystocia; Vacuum Extraction, Obstetrical
PubMed: 34904426
DOI: 10.1515/jpm-2021-0638 -
Nature Communications Aug 2021The sperm head-to-tail coupling apparatus (HTCA) ensures sperm head-tail integrity while defective HTCA causes acephalic spermatozoa, rendering males infertile. Here, we...
The sperm head-to-tail coupling apparatus (HTCA) ensures sperm head-tail integrity while defective HTCA causes acephalic spermatozoa, rendering males infertile. Here, we show that CENTLEIN is indispensable for HTCA integrity and function, and that inactivation of CENTLEIN in mice leads to sperm decapitation and male sterility. We demonstrate that CENTLEIN directly interacts with both SUN5 and PMFBP1, two proteins localized in the HTCA and related with acephalic spermatozoa syndrome. We find that the absence of Centlein sets SUN5 and PMFBP1 apart, the former close to the sperm head and the latter in the decapitated tail. We show that lack of Sun5 results in CENTLEIN and PMFBP1 left in the decapitated tail, while disruption of Pmfbp1 results in SUN5 and CENTLEIN left on the detached sperm head. These results demonstrate that CENTLEIN cooperating with SUN5 and PMFBP1 participates in the HTCA assembly and integration of sperm head to the tail, indicating that impairments of CENTLEIN might be associated with acephalic spermatozoa syndrome in humans.
Topics: Animals; Cell Cycle Proteins; Cells, Cultured; Cytoskeletal Proteins; HEK293 Cells; Humans; Infertility, Male; Male; Membrane Proteins; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Inbred DBA; Mice, Knockout; Mutation; Protein Binding; Sperm Head; Sperm Tail; Spermatozoa; Teratozoospermia; Mice
PubMed: 34389728
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25227-w -
Forensic Science, Medicine, and... Dec 2021Suicide by decapitation as a primary method of injury is not common. When decapitation does occur in association with suicide, it may be a secondary consequence of the...
Suicide by decapitation as a primary method of injury is not common. When decapitation does occur in association with suicide, it may be a secondary consequence of the primary method of suicide, for example massive blunt force trauma, or hanging with a significant drop; however, primary suicidal decapitation has been described specifically in the context of railway incidents wherein victims lie across railroad tracks in-front of oncoming trains. Herein we report the case of a 49-year-old male who was decapitated after lying-down with his neck atop a railroad track in a railroad stockyard. He was subsequently run over by a train as it began to move to leave the stockyard. This case of train-assisted suicide occurs less often than the more common modality of suicide by train wherein victims stand or jump in front of a moving train or lay their body across the railroad tracks in order to be struck by an oncoming train.
Topics: Decapitation; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Neck; Railroads; Suicidal Ideation
PubMed: 34106423
DOI: 10.1007/s12024-021-00396-8 -
Genes Nov 2022Petunia is one of the world's most important flowers, and its branch development has long been a source of discussion. MYB transcription factors have been identified as...
Petunia is one of the world's most important flowers, and its branch development has long been a source of discussion. MYB transcription factors have been identified as important plant branching regulators. In this study, 113 R2R3-MYB genes were identified from the petunia genome. genes, closely related to , were expressed at greater levels in axillary buds and roots. Decapitation and 6-BA did not regulate the expression of . PhMYB37 was localized in the nucleus. Heterologous overexpression of promoted shoot branching in transgenic Arabidopsis while silencing of inhibited shoot branching. These results suggest that plays a critical and positive role in petunia shoot branching.
Topics: Petunia; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Plant Proteins; Arabidopsis; Flowers
PubMed: 36360301
DOI: 10.3390/genes13112064 -
The Journal of Experimental Biology Sep 2022Certain animal species utilize electric fields for communication, hunting and spatial orientation. Freshwater planarians move toward the cathode in a static electric...
Certain animal species utilize electric fields for communication, hunting and spatial orientation. Freshwater planarians move toward the cathode in a static electric field (cathodic electrotaxis). This planarian behavior was first described by Raymond Pearl more than a century ago. However, planarian electrotaxis has received little attention since, and the underlying mechanisms and evolutionary significance remain unknown. To close this knowledge gap, we developed an apparatus and scoring metrics for automated quantitative and mechanistic studies of planarian behavior upon exposure to a static electric field. Using this automated setup, we characterized electrotaxis in the planarian Dugesia japonica and found that this species responds to voltage instead of current, in contrast to results from previous studies using other planarian species. Surprisingly, we found differences in electrotaxis ability between small (shorter) and large (longer) planarians. To determine the cause of these differences, we took advantage of the regenerative abilities of planarians and compared electrotaxis in head, tail and trunk fragments of various lengths. We found that tail and trunk fragments electrotaxed, whereas head fragments did not, regardless of size. Based on these data, we hypothesized that signals from the head may interfere with electrotaxis when the head area/body area reached a critical threshold. In support of this hypothesis, we found that (1) smaller intact planarians that cannot electrotax have a relatively larger head-to-body-ratio than large planarians that can electrotax, and (2) the electrotaxis behavior of cut head fragments was negatively correlated with the head-to-body ratio of the fragments. Moreover, we could restore cathodic electrotaxis in head fragments via decapitation, directly demonstrating inhibition of electrotaxis by the head.
Topics: Animals; Biological Evolution; Planarians
PubMed: 35924486
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243972 -
Journal of Cell Science Oct 2022Cilia sense and transduce sensory stimuli, homeostatic cues and developmental signals by orchestrating signaling reactions. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) that bud from...
Cilia sense and transduce sensory stimuli, homeostatic cues and developmental signals by orchestrating signaling reactions. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) that bud from the ciliary membrane have well-studied roles in the disposal of excess ciliary material, most dramatically exemplified by the shedding of micrometer-sized blocks by photoreceptors. Shedding of EVs by cilia also affords cells with a powerful means to shorten cilia. Finally, cilium-derived EVs may enable cell-cell communication in a variety of organisms, ranging from single-cell parasites and algae to nematodes and vertebrates. Mechanistic understanding of EV shedding by cilia is an active area of study, and future progress may open the door to testing the function of ciliary EV shedding in physiological contexts. In this Cell Science at a Glance and the accompanying poster, we discuss the molecular mechanisms that drive the shedding of ciliary material into the extracellular space, the consequences of shedding for the donor cell and the possible roles that ciliary EVs may have in cell non-autonomous contexts.
Topics: Animals; Cell Communication; Cilia; Cytoplasmic Vesicles; Extracellular Vesicles; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 36222105
DOI: 10.1242/jcs.246553 -
Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive...Apocrine hidrocystomas are benign cystic tumors derived from apocrine sweat glands; they are most commonly located in the skin of the head and neck regions. Ophthalmic...
Apocrine hidrocystomas are benign cystic tumors derived from apocrine sweat glands; they are most commonly located in the skin of the head and neck regions. Ophthalmic occurrences characteristically appear at the lash line and canthi of the eyelid, although rare instances have been described in the conjunctiva, caruncle, and orbit. The authors describe an exceptional instance of a mobile epibulbar subconjunctival apocrine hidrocystoma in a 57-year-old woman without a history of previous ocular injury or surgery. Histopathology of the excised specimen displayed an empty cyst lined by a double layer of cuboidal epithelium with the inner layer exhibiting periodic acid-Schiff-positive apical decapitation secretion. Confirmatory immunohistochemistry included reactivity with cytokeratin-7, smooth muscle actin, D2-40, and CDGFP-15.
Topics: Apocrine Glands; Eyelids; Female; Hidrocystoma; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Middle Aged; Sweat Gland Neoplasms
PubMed: 34284427
DOI: 10.1097/IOP.0000000000002019 -
Cold Spring Harbor Protocols Jul 2023Naive males court both virgin and mated females but learn through experience to discriminate between them, thus minimizing futile investments in nonreceptive female...
Naive males court both virgin and mated females but learn through experience to discriminate between them, thus minimizing futile investments in nonreceptive female flies. In the laboratory, we can exploit the innate courtship enthusiasm of males and manipulate their behavior by placing them with a nonreceptive female (immature virgin females, decapitated mature virgin females, or mature mated females), termed as the courtship suppression/conditioning assay. Early studies showed that male flies that experience failure to mate upon interaction with nonreceptive previously mated females show decreased motivation to court (courtship suppression). Courtship suppression is an important experimental paradigm for studying genes and neuronal circuits that mediate short- and long-term memory. The anti-aphrodisiac male-specific pheromone 11--vaccenyl-acetate plays a key role in this conditioned response, as male flies learn to associate its presence on mated females with the failure to mate.
Topics: Animals; Male; Female; Drosophila; Drosophila melanogaster; Courtship; Sexual Behavior, Animal
PubMed: 36781210
DOI: 10.1101/pdb.prot108106