Body-size evolution in gastropods across the Plio-Pleistocene extinction in the western Atlantic.

The Plio-Pleistocene turnover event in the western Atlantic following the closure of the Central American Seaway involved high rates of extinction for both gastropod and bivalve molluscs. This extinction was associated with declining nutrient conditions and has been presumed to be associated with a decrease in molluscan body size. Previous work which has been concordant with this expectation, however, has either focused on bivalves or not considered the effects of the recovery post extinction.

Validation of a novel western blot assay to monitor patterns and levels of alpha dystroglycan in skeletal muscle of patients with limb girdle muscular dystrophies.

The cell membrane protein, dystroglycan, plays a crucial role in connecting the cytoskeleton of a variety of mammalian cells to the extracellular matrix. The α-subunit of dystroglycan (αDG) is characterized by a high level of glycosylation, including a unique O-mannosyl matriglycan. This specific glycosylation is essential for binding of αDG to extracellular matrix ligands effectively.

Executive functioning, behavior, and white matter microstructure in the chronic phase after pediatric mild traumatic brain injury: results from the adolescent brain cognitive development study.

Background: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is common in children. Long-term cognitive and behavioral outcomes as well as underlying structural brain alterations following pediatric mTBI have yet to be determined. In addition, the effect of age-at-injury on long-term outcomes is largely unknown.

Late-instar monarch caterpillars sabotage milkweed to acquire toxins, not to disarm plant defence.

Sabotaging milkweed by monarch caterpillars () is a famous textbook example of disarming plant defence. By severing leaf veins, monarchs are thought to prevent the flow of toxic latex to their feeding site. Here, we show that sabotaging by monarch caterpillars is not only an avoidance strategy.