Background: This study elucidates exposure-response relationships between performance of repetitive tasks, grip strength declines, and fibrogenic-related protein changes in muscles, and their link to inflammation. Specifically, we examined forearm…
Our recent paleontological field work in the middle Eocene Harudi Formation of Kachchh (western India) has yielded a partial skeleton of a new species of Eocene cetaceans, here named Kutchicetus minimus, The new species represents a new genus in the…
Leptin is the primary hormone in mammals that regulates adipose stores. Arctic adapted cetaceans maintain enormous adipose depots, suggesting possible modifications of leptin or receptor function. Determining expression of these genes is the first…
Whales repetitively dive deep to feed and should be susceptible to decompression syndrome, though they are not known to suffer the associated pathologies. Avascular osteonecrosis has been recognized as an indicator of diving habits of extinct marine…
Endometriosis (ENDO) is a disorder in which vascularized growths of endometrial tissue occur outside the uterus. Its symptoms include reduced fertility and severe pelvic pain. Mechanisms that maintain the ectopic growths and evoke symptoms are poorly…
Background: No randomized control trial to date has studied the use of cervical spine management strategies in cases of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) at risk for cervical spine instability solely due to damaged ligaments. A computer algorithm…
Bile acids concentration in liver is tightly regulated to prevent cell damage. Previous studies have demonstrated that deregulation of bile acid homeostasis can lead to cholestatic liver disease. Recently, we have shown that ER-bound transcription…
Improvements in three-dimensional imaging technologies have renewed interest in the study of functional and ecological morphology. Quantitative approaches to shape analysis are used increasingly to study form-function relationships. These methods are…
Vocal communication is an important aspect of guinea pig behaviour and a large contributor to their acoustic environment. We postulated that some cortical areas have distinctive roles in processing conspecific calls. In order to test this hypothesis…
THE origin of our own genus, Homo, has been tentatively correlated with worldwide climatic cooling documented at about 2.4 Myr (million years) (refs 1-5). It has also been conjectured that members of Homo made the first stone tools, currently dated…
Aneuploidy with chromosome instability is a cancer hallmark. We studied chromosome 7 (Chr7) copy number variation (CNV) in gliomas and in primary cultures derived from them. We found tumor heterogeneity with cells having Chr7-CNV commonly occurs in…
Oxidative stress has been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases, including glaucoma. However, due to the lack of clinically relevant models and expense of long-term testing, few studies have modeled antioxidant therapy for prevention of…
Cysteinyl leukotrienes (cys-LTs) are a group of lipid mediators that are potent bronchoconstrictors, powerful inducers of vascular leakage and potentiators of airway hyperresponsiveness. Cys-LTs play an essential role in asthma and are synthesized as…
An upper molar tooth of a possibly new but unnamed prosimian primate (Mammalia, Primates) is described from the Middle Eocene, in the uppermost part of the Subathu Group exposed east of Babbian Gala near Kalakot (northwestern Outer Himalaya) in the…
Tracing the evolution of ancient diseases depends on the availability and accessibility of suitable biomarkers in archaeological specimens. DNA is potentially information-rich but it depends on a favourable environment for preservation. In the case…
Introduction: Expression levels of miR-146b-5p and -3p microRNAs in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are associated with recurrence of the disease after surgery. To understand this, the effect of miR-146b overexpression was studied in A549…
Strategically-paired Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands induce a unique dendritic cell (DC) phenotype that polarizes Th1 responses. We therefore investigated pairing single TLR ligands with a non TLR-mediated danger signal to cooperatively induce…
The hypothesis of disease-related large mammal extinction has new support. A unique pathologic zone of resorption was first noticed in a Hiscock Mammut americanum metacarpal. The pathognomonic zone of resorption was present in fifty-nine (52%) of 113…
Decompression syndrome (caisson disease or the "the bends") resulting in avascular necrosis has been documented in mosasaurs, sauropterygians, ichthyosaurs, and turtles from the Middle Jurassic to Late Cretaceous, but it was unclear that this disease…
As part of a broader effort to identify postreceptor signal regulators involved in specific diseases or organ adaptation, we used an expression cloning system in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to screen cDNA libraries from rat ischemic myocardium, human…
Allen's Rule documents a century-old biological observation that strong positive correlations exist among latitude, ambient temperature, and limb length in mammals. Although genetic selection for thermoregulatory adaptation is frequently presumed to…
Early cetaceans evolved from terrestrial quadrupeds to obligate swimmers, a change that is traditionally studied by functional analysis of the postcranial skeleton(1). Here we assess the evolution of cetacean locomotor behaviour from an independent…
Transformation of fibroblasts to myofibroblasts, characterized by expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) and production of extracellular matrix (ECM) components, is a key event in connective tissue remodeling. Approaches to inhibit this…
