Evolution of sexual size dimorphisms in emydid turtles: ecological dimorphism, rensch's rule, and sympatric divergence.

The origin of sexual size dimorphisms (SSD) has long been a central topic in evolutionary biology. However, there is little agreement as to which factors are most important in driving the evolution of SSD, and several hypotheses concerning SSD evolution have never been tested empirically. Emydid turtles include species with both male and female-biased SSD, and some emydids exhibit among the most extreme SSD in tetrapods.

In vitro and in vivo characterisation of anti-murine IL-13 antibodies recognising distinct functional epitopes.

Interleukin-13 (IL-13) sequentially binds to IL-13Ralpha1 and IL-4Ralpha forming a high affinity signalling complex. This receptor complex is expressed on multiple cell types in the airway and signals through signal transducer and activator of transcription factor-6 (STAT-6) to stimulate the production of chemokines, cytokines and mucus. Antibodies have been generated, using the UCB Selected Lymphocyte Antibody Method (UCB SLAM), that block either binding of murine IL-13 (mIL-13) to mIL-13Ralpha1 and mIL-13Ralpha2, or block recruitment of mIL-4Ralpha to the mIL-13/mIL-13Ralpha1 complex.

A large genome center's improvements to the Illumina sequencing system.

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is one of the world's largest genome centers, and a substantial amount of our sequencing is performed with 'next-generation' massively parallel sequencing technologies: in June 2008 the quantity of purity-filtered sequence data generated by our Genome Analyzer (Illumina) platforms reached 1 terabase, and our average weekly Illumina production output is currently 64 gigabases. Here we describe a set of improvements we have made to the standard Illumina protocols to make the library preparation more reliable in a high-throughput environment, to reduce bias, tighten insert size distribution and reliably obtain high yields of data.

Warning displays may function as honest signals of toxicity.

Many prey species use colourful 'aposematic' signalling to advertise the fact that they are toxic. Some recent studies have shown that the brightness of aposematic displays correlates positively with the strength of toxicity, suggesting that aposematic displays are a form of handicap signal, the conspicuousness of which reliably indicates the level of toxicity. The theoretical consensus in the literature is, however, at odds with this finding.

Successive orbital ordering transitions in NaVO2.

Physical property measurements on samples of triangular-lattice NaVO2 reveal two successive orbital ordering transitions. At 300 K, the structure is rhombohedral. At 98 K, the system undergoes a second-order transition to a monoclinic phase in which the in-plane V-V distances separate into four short and two long bonds, corresponding to orbital ordering of one electron per V3+.

Evolution of trust and trustworthiness: social awareness favours personality differences.

Interest in the evolution and maintenance of personality is burgeoning. Individuals of diverse animal species differ in their aggressiveness, fearfulness, sociability and activity. Strong trade-offs, mutation-selection balance, spatio-temporal fluctuations in selection, frequency dependence and good-genes mate choice are invoked to explain heritable personality variation, yet for continuous behavioural traits, it remains unclear which selective force is likely to maintain distinct polymorphisms.

Is the receptivity of substance abuse prevention programming affected by students' perceptions of the instructor?

Drawing on the elaboration likelihood model of persuasive communication, the authors examine the impact of the perceptions of the instructor or source on students' receptivity to a new substance abuse prevention curriculum. Using survey data from a cohort of students participating in the Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention Study, the authors use structural equation modeling to determine the effects of the perceptions students have of their program instructor on measures of the targeted program mediators and the use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana. They test these instructor effects after each component of a two-part curriculum is administered (during the seventh and ninth grades).

Optimal annual routines: new tools for conservation biology?

Many applied problems in ecology and conservation require prediction, and population models are important tools for that purpose. Formerly, the majority of predictive population models were based on matrix models. As the limitations of classical matrix models have become clearer, the use of individual-based models has increased.

Subclonal phylogenetic structures in cancer revealed by ultra-deep sequencing.

During the clonal expansion of cancer from an ancestral cell with an initiating oncogenic mutation to symptomatic neoplasm, the occurrence of somatic mutations (both driver and passenger) can be used to track the on-going evolution of the neoplasm. All subclones within a cancer are phylogenetically related, with the prevalence of each subclone determined by its evolutionary fitness and the timing of its origin relative to other subclones. Recently developed massively parallel sequencing platforms promise the ability to detect rare subclones of genetic variants without a priori knowledge of the mutations involved.

Reports of substance abuse prevention programming available in schools.

Evaluations of school-based substance abuse prevention programs with schools or school districts randomly assigned to either the treatment or control condition have demonstrated effective strategies over the past 30 years. Although control schools were never considered "pure" (i.e.

Dextrin-rhEGF conjugates as bioresponsive nanomedicines for wound repair.

Growth factors are known to act in concert to promote wound repair, but their topical application rarely leads to a significant clinical improvement of chronic wounds due to premature inactivation in wound environment. The aim of this study was to synthesise a polymer-growth factor conjugate and investigate whether the novel concept called Polymer-masking-UnMasking-Protein Therapy (PUMPT) might be used to generate bioresponsive polymer therapeutics as nanomedicines able to promote tissue repair. Succinoylated dextrin ( approximately 85,000 g/mol; approximately 19 mol% succinoylation), and rhEGF were chosen as a first model combination.

Serum alkaline phosphatase reflects post-Fontan hemodynamics in children.

Although survivors of Fontan palliation for a single ventricle are known to have lower cardiac index than patients with two-ventricle surgical reconstructions, it is unclear whether two frequently observed sequelae, short stature and protein-losing enteropathy (PLE), have hemodynamic origins. A serum marker that reflects hemodynamic status would be a tremendous asset in the long-term management of children with these sequelae. The authors recently noted severely reduced total alkaline phosphatase (TALP) levels in two children with early-onset PLE after Fontan operations, both of whom had low cardiac output at cardiac catheterization.

Implementation fidelity: the experience of the Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention Study.

While researchers have developed more effective programs and strategies to prevent the initiation of substance use and increasingly communities are delivering these interventions, determining the degree to which they are delivered as they were designed remains a significant research challenge. In the past several years, more attention has been given to implementation issues during the various stages of program development and diffusion. This paper presents the findings from a substudy of an evaluation of a newly designed middle and high school substance abuse prevention program, Take Charge of Your Life delivered by local Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer instructors.

Anomalous aortic origin of a coronary artery with an interarterial course: should family screening be routine?

Objectives: We sought to present cases of familial occurrence of anomalous aortic origin of a coronary artery with an interarterial course (AAOCA) to determine if it would alter our current screening and management recommendations.

Background: Anomalous aortic origin of a coronary artery with an interarterial course is a rare congenital anomaly that carries an increased risk of sudden death in children and young adults. There are no reports in the literature of familial AAOCA in the pediatric population.

Fibroblast dysfunction is a key factor in the non-healing of chronic venous leg ulcers.

Chronic age-related degenerative disorders, including the formation of chronic leg wounds, may occur due to aging of the stromal tissues and ensuing dysfunctional cellular responses. This study investigated the impact of environmental-driven cellular aging on wound healing by conducting a comprehensive analysis of chronic wound fibroblast (CWF) behavior in comparison with patient-matched healthy skin normal fibroblasts (NF). The dysfunctional wound healing abilities of CWF correlated with a significantly reduced proliferative life span and early onset of senescence compared with NF.

Identification of somatically acquired rearrangements in cancer using genome-wide massively parallel paired-end sequencing.

Human cancers often carry many somatically acquired genomic rearrangements, some of which may be implicated in cancer development. However, conventional strategies for characterizing rearrangements are laborious and low-throughput and have low sensitivity or poor resolution. We used massively parallel sequencing to generate sequence reads from both ends of short DNA fragments derived from the genomes of two individuals with lung cancer.

Ammine magnesium borohydride complex as a new material for hydrogen storage: structure and properties of Mg(BH4)2.2NH3.

The ammonia complex of magnesium borohydride Mg(BH4)2.2NH3 (I), which contains 16.0 wt % hydrogen, is a potentially promising material for hydrogen storage.

Prostate-cancer mortality in the USA and UK in 1975-2004: an ecological study.

Background: There is no conclusive evidence that screening based on serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests decreases prostate-cancer mortality. Since its introduction in the USA around 1990, uptake of PSA testing has been rapid in the USA, but much less common in the UK. Our aim was to study trends over time in prostate-cancer mortality and incidence in the USA and UK in 1975-2004, and compare these patterns with trends in screening and treatment.

Identifying the educational needs and concerns of newly diagnosed patients with breast cancer after surgery.

Many factors may interfere with the ability of women newly diagnosed with breast cancer to cope with treatment. Nurses should be aware of patients' needs during this critical time. The purpose of this study was to identify the educational needs and concerns of newly diagnosed patients with breast cancer after surgery.

Determination of the absolute configuration of the sex pheromone of the obscure mealybug by vibrational circular dichroism analysis.

Comparison of theoretical and experimental vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectra of an enantiopure synthetic sample of the obscure mealybug sex pheromone allowed the determination of the absolute configuration of the insect's pheromone.

Identification, imaging, functional assessment and management of congenital coronary arterial abnormalities in children.

The coronary arteries, the vessels through which both substrate and oxygen are provided to the cardiac muscle, normally arise from paired stems, right and left, each arising from a separate and distinct sinus of the aortic valve. The right coronary artery runs through the right atrioventricular groove, terminating in the majority of instances in the inferior interventricular groove. The main stem of the left coronary artery bifurcates into the anterior descending, or interventricular, and the circumflex branches.

Determination of the absolute configurations of natural products using TDDFT optical rotation calculations: the iridoid oruwacin.

We report the determination of the absolute configuration (AC) of the iridoid natural product oruwacin by comparison of the optical rotations, [alpha] D, of its two enantiomers, calculated using time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT), to the experimental [alpha] D value, +193. Conformational analysis of oruwacin using density functional theory (DFT) identifies eight conformations which are significantly populated at room temperature. [alpha] D values of these eight conformations are calculated using TDDFT at the B3LYP/aug-cc-pVDZ//B3LYP/6-31G* level, leading to the conformationally averaged [alpha] D values of -193 for the (1 R,5 S,8 S,9 S,10 S)-enantiomer and +193 for the (1 S,5 R,8 R,9 R,10 R)-enantiomer.

The scaling of diving time budgets: insights from an optimality approach.

Simple scaling arguments suggest that, among air-breathing divers, dive duration should scale approximately with mass to the one-third power. Recent phylogenetic analyses appear to confirm this. The same analyses showed that duration of time spent at the surface between dives has scaling very similar to that of dive duration, with the result that the ratio of dive duration to surface pause duration is approximately mass invariant.