Exposure to an environmental estrogen breaks down sexual isolation between native and invasive species.

Environmental change can increase the likelihood of interspecific hybridization by altering properties of mate recognition and discrimination between sympatric congeners. We examined how exposure to an environmentally widespread endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC), bisphenol A (BPA), affected visual communication signals and behavioral isolation between an introduced freshwater fish and a native congener (genus: Cyprinella). Exposure to BPA induced changes in the expression of male secondary traits as well as male and female mate choice, leading to an overall reduction in prezygotic isolation between congeners.

Translesion DNA polymerases and cancer.

DNA repair has been regarded as an important barrier to carcinogenesis. The newly discovered field of translesion synthesis (TLS) has made it apparent that mammalian cells need distinct polymerases to efficiently and accurately bypass DNA lesions. Perturbation of TLS polymerase activity by mutation, loss of expression, etc.

Discordant introgression in a rapidly expanding hybrid swarm.

The erosion of species boundaries can involve rapid evolutionary change. Consequently, many aspects of the process remain poorly understood, including the formation, expansion, and evolution of hybrid swarms. Biological invasions involving hybridization present exceptional opportunities to study the erosion of species boundaries because timelines of interactions and outcomes are frequently well known.

IL-16 effects on A549 lung epithelial cells: dependence on CD9 as an IL-16 receptor?

Interleukin-16 (IL-16) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine released by many types of cells found in the lungs, including normal airway and alveolar epithelial cells. Though a chemotactin for CD4(+) cells and eosinophils, IL-16 also modulates their production of factors that influence inflammatory lung diseases, e.g.

Arsenite induces apoptosis in human mesenchymal stem cells by altering Bcl-2 family proteins and by activating intrinsic pathway.

Purpose: Environmental exposure to arsenic is an important public health issue. The effects of arsenic on different tissues and organs have been intensively studied. However, the effects of arsenic on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have not been reported.

The Pulsatile Propagation of a Finger of Air Within a Fluid-Occluded Cylindrical Tube.

We computationally investigate the unsteady pulsatile propagation of a finger of air through a liquid-filled cylindrical rigid tube using a combined boundary element method and lubrication theory approach. The flow-field is governed by the dimensionless parameters Ca(Q)(t) = Ca(M) + Ca(Omega) sin(Omegat) = muQ*(t*)/piR(2)gamma, Omega = muomegaR/gamma and A = 2Ca(Omega)/Omega. Here, Ca(Q)(t) consists of both mean (Ca(M)) and oscillatory (Ca(Omega)) components.

Barriers to the utilization of maternal health care in rural Mali.

This study used data from the 2001 Demographic and Health Survey and multilevel logistic regression models to examine area- and individual-level barriers to the utilization of maternal health services in rural Mali. The analysis highlights a range of area-level influences on the use made of maternal health services. While the dearth of health facilities was a barrier to receipt of prenatal care in the first trimester, transportation barriers were more important for four or more prenatal visits, and distance barriers for delivery assistance by trained medical personnel and institutional delivery.

Action potential morphology heterogeneity in the atrium and its effect on atrial reentry: a two-dimensional and quasi-three-dimensional study.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is believed to be perpetuated by recirculating spiral waves. Atrial structures are often characterized with action potentials of varying morphologies; however, the role of the structure-dependent atrial electrophysiological heterogeneity in spiral wave behaviour is not well understood. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of action potential morphology heterogeneity associated with the major atrial structures in spiral wave maintenance.

Abject pilgrimage and healing in Jaume Roig's Spill.

In the Spill o Llibre de les dones, the 15th century writer and physician from Valencia, Jaume Roig, uses the motif of pilgrimage to attack earthly women, particularly women healers. Roig undermines the salutary function of medieval pilgrimage in order to expose worldly women in their effort to harm male pilgrims. Since men cannot rely on earthly women, they must seek a healing encounter with the Virgin, whose salutary ministrations are always constant and efficacious.

Naturally occurring hepatitis B virus core gene mutations.

Mutations in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) core gene may influence disease activity by altering immune recognition sites or level of virus replication. Sera from 69 Chinese patients with chronic HBV infection were analyzed by direct sequencing of polymerase chain reaction amplification of HBV DNA to determine the frequency and location of naturally occurring HBV core gene mutations. All but one patient had nucleotide changes, and 44 (64%) patients had at least one amino acid change (mean, 3.