Hand asymmetry does not relate to key life history traits in post-menopausal contemporary Finnish women.

Associations between fluctuating asymmetry (FA, a putative marker of developmental instability, DI) and life history traits have received a great deal of attention in the non-human literature. However, the patterns found are very heterogeneous and generalizations are difficult to make. In humans, only a few studies have related FA to life histories and fitness.

From biomarker strategies to biomarker activities and back.

The pharmaceutical industry must find ways to improve the unacceptably high attrition rate during drug development. Clearly, pharma has moved away from treat-and-see testing of new drugs in patients, with a strong current focus on generating translational biomarkers early in the research process to enable more predictive evaluation of drug action in clinical trials. Underlying such a translational medicine approach is the intensive search for and use of high-quality biomarkers indicative of successful drug target engagement, pharmacological effects, efficacy or safety.

Drug research today.

The aim of this paper is to provide an outline of the current developments in drug discovery. However, in doing so, it is important to put these developments into an historical perspective and to acknowledge the impact that the previous research effort has had on research in progress.

Heritability of tibia fluctuating asymmetry and developmental instability in the winter moth (Operophtera brumata L.) (Lepidoptera, geometridae).

Broad-sense heritability of fluctuating asymmetry and developmental instability in the winter moth were analysed in a full-sib breeding experiment. Effects of both genetic background and common environment on both tibia FA (measured for the three pairs of legs) and body size were studied. As body size has previously been shown to be a reliable indicator of larval feeding success and expected fitness, the relationship between FA and body size was investigated as well.

The mechanism of white cell reduction by synthetic fiber cell filters.

The mechanism of white cell (WBC) retention by synthetic fiber-based WBC filters was studied. Filters were made of nonwoven fleece prepared from polyester, surface-modified polyester, or polypropylene fibers. Human platelet concentrates were filtered through experimental filters consisting of 8 to 54 layers of nonwoven fleece with mean pore sizes from 7.