Cost of mate choice: Changing patterns of global age disparity in marriage and their consequences to women's health including maternal mortality and menopause.

Background: Consistent across cultures and throughout time is the male preference for younger females. Given its prevalence, the mate choice theory proposes that age-disparate relationships may have contributed to the evolution of maternal mortality and menopause.

Objectives: The objective is to document evidence for age disparity in marriage from past and present populations and evaluate their relevance to maternal mortality and menopause.

A Concept of Complementarity Between Complexity and Redundancy can Account for Kant's Biological Teleology and Unify Mechanistic and Finalistic Biology.

Over 160 years after Darwin and 70 years after the discovery of DNA, two fundamental questions of biology remain unanswered: What differentiates the living from the nonliving? How can mechanistic and finalistic or holistic biology be unified? Niels Bohr introduced a concept of complementarity in quantum physics and based on the paradox of light as a simultaneous wave and particle, conjectured that a similar concept might exist in biology that would solve the paradox of life originating from the nonliving. Bohr proposed that two mutually exclusive-independent observations may be necessary to explain a phenomenon and provided support to Immanuel Kant's idea that the "purposive" behaviour of organisms could only be explained in teleological terms and that mechanical and teleological approaches were necessary and complementary to explain biology. We present a concept of complementarity whereby biochemical pathways or cellular channels for the flow of information are simultaneously complex and redundant and complexity and redundancy complement each other.

A Law of Redundancy Compounds the Problem of Cancer and Precision Medicine.

Genetics and molecular biology research have progressed for over a century; however, no laws of biology resembling those of physics have been identified, despite the expectations of some physicists. It may be that it is not the properties of matter alone but evolved properties of matter in combination with atomic physics and chemistry that gave rise to the origin and complexity of life. It is proposed that any law of biology must also be a product of evolution that co-evolved with the origin and progression of life.

Origin of Sex-Biased Mental Disorders: Do Males and Females Experience Different Selective Regimes?

The origins of sex-biased differences in disease and health are of growing interest to both medical researchers and health professionals. Several major factors have been identified that affect sex differences in incidence of diseases and mental disorders. These are: sex chromosomes, sex hormones and female immunity, sexual selection and antagonistic evolution, and differential susceptibility of sexes to environmental factors.

Decoding 'Unnecessary Complexity': A Law of Complexity and a Concept of Hidden Variation Behind "Missing Heritability" in Precision Medicine.

The high hopes for the Human Genome Project and personalized medicine were not met because the relationship between genotypes and phenotypes turned out to be more complex than expected. In a previous study we laid the foundation of a theory of complexity and showed that because of the blind nature of evolution, and molecular and historical contingency, cells have accumulated unnecessary complexity, complexity beyond what is necessary and sufficient to describe an organism. Here we provide empirical evidence and show that unnecessary complexity has become integrated into the genome in the form of redundancy and is relevant to molecular evolution of phenotypic complexity.

Origin of Sex-Biased Mental Disorders: An Evolutionary Perspective.

Sexual dimorphism or sex bias in diseases and mental disorders have two biological causes: sexual selection and sex hormones. We review the role of sexual selection theory and bring together decades of molecular studies on the variation and evolution of sex-biased genes and provide a theoretical basis for the causes of sex bias in disease and health. We present a Sexual Selection-Sex Hormone theory and show that male-driven evolution, including sexual selection, leads to: (1) increased male vulnerability due to negative pleiotropic effects associated with male-driven sexual selection and evolution; (2) increased rates of male-driven mutations and epimutations in response to early fitness gains and at the cost of late fitness; and (3) enhanced female immunity due to antagonistic responses to mutations that are beneficial to males but harmful to females, reducing female vulnerability to diseases and increasing the thresholds for disorders such as autism.

Genes and genomes and unnecessary complexity in precision medicine.

The sequencing of the human genome heralded the new age of 'genetic medicine' and raised the hope of precision medicine facilitating prolonged and healthy lives. Recent studies have dampened this expectation, as the relationships among mutations (termed 'risk factors'), biological processes, and diseases have emerged to be more complex than initially anticipated. In this review, we elaborate upon the nature of the relationship between genotype and phenotype, between chance-laden molecular complexity and the evolution of complex traits, and the relevance of this relationship to precision medicine.

Is menopause still evolving? Evidence from a longitudinal study of multiethnic populations and its relevance to women's health.

Background: To reflect on the impact of changing patterns of delayed marriage and reproduction and to seek evidence as to whether menopause is still evolving, characteristics of the menopause transition were investigated within and between ethnic populations in this study.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data on 747 middle-aged women obtained from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) from 1996 to 2008. The ethnic groups included: Afro-American, Chinese, Japanese, Caucasian, and Hispanic.

Mate Choice and the Persistence of Maternal Mortality.

Maternal mortality remains one of the leading causes of death in women of reproductive age in developing countries, and a major concern in some developed countries. It is puzzling why such a condition has not been reduced in frequency, if not eliminated, in the course of evolution. Maternal mortality is a complex phenomenon caused by several physiological and physical factors.

Rotation of sex combs in Drosophila melanogaster requires precise and coordinated spatio-temporal dynamics from forces generated by epithelial cells.

The morphogenesis of sex combs (SCs), a male trait in many species of fruit flies, is an excellent system in which to study the cell biology, genetics and evolution of a trait. In Drosophila melanogaster, where the incipient SC rotates from horizontal to a vertical position, three signal comb properties have been documented: length, final angle and shape (linearity). During SC rotation, in which many cellular processes are occurring both spatially and temporally, it is difficult to distinguish which processes are crucial for which attributes of the comb.

LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous quantification of luteolin, wedelolactone and apigenin in mice plasma using hansen solubility parameters for liquid-liquid extraction: Application to pharmacokinetics of Eclipta alba chloroform fraction.

Eclipta alba (Bhringraj) in ayurveda has been widely used as a traditional medicine for its multi-therapeutic properties for ages. Luteolin (LTL), wedelolactone (WDL) and apigenin (APG) are the three main bioactive phytochemicals present in Eclipta alba extract. However there was a lack of sensitive bioanalytical method for the pharmacokinetics of these free compounds in plasma which majorly contributes for their activities after oral administration of Eclipta alba.

Genomic portrait of population of Jharkhand, India, drawn with 15 autosomal STRs and 17 Y-STRs.

We analysed 15 autosomal STRs in 200 unrelated individuals (102 males and 98 females) and 17 Y-STRs in 102 unrelated males living in Jharkhand, India, to establish parameters of forensic interest. The examined autosomal STRs revealed high combined power of exclusion (CPE) and combined power of discrimination (CPD) as equal to 0.9999 and greater than 0.

A Theory for the Origin of Human Menopause.

A complete and compelling evolutionary explanation for the origin of human menopause is wanting. Menopause onset is defined clinically as the final menses, confirmed after 1 year without menstruation. The theory proposed herein explains at multiple levels - ultimately genetic but involving (1) behavioral, (2) life history, and (3) social changes - the origin and evolution of menopause in women.

Science beyond boundary: are premature discoveries things of the past?

Mendel's name more than of any other draws our attention to the personal side in terms of success and failure in science. Mendel lived 19 years after presenting his research findings and died without receiving any recognition for his work. Are premature discoveries things of the past, you may ask? I review the material basis of science in terms of science boundary and field accessibility and analyze the possibility of premature discoveries in different fields of science such as, for example, physics and biology.

Female Choice or Male Sex Drive? The Advantages of Male Body Size during Mating in Drosophila Melanogaster.

The mating success of larger male Drosophila melanogaster in the laboratory and the wild has been traditionally been explained by female choice, even though the reasons are generally hard to reconcile. Female choice can explain this success by virtue of females taking less time to mate with preferred males, but so can the more aggressive or persistent courtships efforts of large males. Since mating is a negotiation between the two sexes, the behaviors of both are likely to interact and influence mating outcomes.

Maternal effect and speciation: maternal effect contributes to the evolution of hybrid inviability between Drosophila simulans and Drosophila mauritiana.

Haldane's rule has been the basis of speciation research during the last 30 years. Most studies have focused on the nature of incompatibilities in the hybrid male, but not much attention has been given to the genetic basis of fertility and inviability in hybrid females. Hybridizations between Drosophila simulans and Drosophila mauritiana produce fertile females and sterile males.

Evolutionary Consequences of Male Driven Sexual Selection and Sex-Biased Fitness Modifications in Drosophila melanogaster and Members of the simulans Clade.

Males have evolved a variety of behavioral, morphological, and physiological traits to manipulate their mates in order to maximize their chances of success. These traits are bound to influence how females respond to male behaviors and influence the nature of sexual selection/conflict. A common consequence of aggressive male mating strategies in Drosophila melanogaster is the reduction of female lifespan.

Limits of imagination: the 150th Anniversary of Mendel's Laws, and why Mendel failed to see the importance of his discovery for Darwin's theory of evolution.

Mendel is credited for discovering Laws of Heredity, but his work has come under criticism on three grounds: for possible falsification of data to fit his expectations, for getting undue credit for the laws of heredity without having ideas of segregation and independent assortment, and for being interested in the development of hybrids rather than in the laws of heredity. I present a brief review of these criticisms and conclude that Mendel deserved to be called the father of genetics even if he may not, and most likely did not, have clear ideas of segregation and particulate determiners as we know them now. I argue that neither Mendel understood the evolutionary significance of his findings for the problem of genetic variation, nor would Darwin have understood their significance had he read Mendel's paper.

Serum microRNA profiling to distinguish papillary thyroid cancer from benign thyroid masses.

Objectives: Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is increasing in incidence. Fine needle aspiration is the gold standard for diagnosis, but results can be indeterminate. Identifying tissue and serum biomarkers, like microRNA, is therefore desirable.

Darwin's legacy II: why biology is not physics, or why it has taken a century to see the dependence of genes on the environment.

Genes and environment make the organism. Darwin stood firm in his denial of any direct role of environment in the modification of heredity. His theory of evolution heralded two debates: one about the importance and adequacy of natural selection as the main mechanism of evolution, and the other about the role of genes versus environment in the modification of phenotype and evolution.

Potential pharmacological interventions against hematotoxicity: an overview.

Various treatment regimens, including chemotherapy, are known to induce heavy oxidative stress on the system, which in turn leads to adverse effects on healthy tissues. Blood being prone to oxidative stress is affected the most. At this juncture, it might not be prudent to anticipate having chemotherapeutic agents with no hematotoxicity; the best way forward is to look for potential anti-hematotoxic compounds, which could be supplemented to exposed patients, thus reducing the toxic burden on blood cells.

Metabolic enhancer piracetam attenuates rotenone induced oxidative stress: a study in different rat brain regions.

Piracetam is clinically being used nootropic drug but the details of its neuroprotective mechanism are not well studied. The present study was conducted to assess the effects of piracetam on rotenone induced oxidative stress by using both ex vivo and in vivo test systems. Rats were treated with piracetam (600 mg/kg b.

Evolution of Drosophila sex comb length illustrates the inextricable interplay between selection and variation.

In spite of the diversity of possible biological forms observed in nature, a limited range of morphospace is frequently occupied for a given trait. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain this bias in the distribution of phenotypes including selection, drift, and developmental constraints. Despite extensive work on phenotypic bias, the underlying developmental mechanisms explaining why particular regions of morphological space remain unoccupied are poorly understood.

microRNAs: role in leukemia and their computational perspective.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) belong to the family of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) and had gained importance due to its role in complex biochemical pathways. Changes in the expression of protein coding genes are the major cause of leukemia. Role of miRNAs as tumor suppressors has provided a new insight in the field of leukemia research.