This article presents herpetofaunal observations from Limnos and Agios Efstratios, two Asia Minor continental shelf islands in the Aegean Sea. Comprehensive surveys over 88 days in total on Limnos, over a period of nine years, consisted mainly of visual encounter surveys and road cruised observations, revealed the presence of three species of amphibians and twelve species of reptiles, including two new species records for the island (Malpolon insignitus and Pelobates syriacus). The results of these surveys provide a clearer understanding of the extant herpetofauna on Limnos and Agios Efstratios and offer discussion on natural history, possible erroneous historical records and preliminary ecological understanding of the herpetofaunal assemblages residing on these islands.

Article discusses the history and the biodiversity of Cape Horn.

Article presents study in which pulse amplitude-modulated Chl fluorescence imaging and surface electrical potential measurements accompanied by pharmacological treatments were employed to study stimuli-induced electrical signals in leaves from a broad range of plant species and in Arabidopsis thaliana mutants.

In this article, a theoretical model of social empathic emotion is derived based on the principles of survival by extending the maximization of self-gains to include others as an extended-self. This extended-self model of optimization for survival provides the computational mechanisms in the optimization process to maximize self-gains without minimizing the gains (or maximizing losses) for the other individuals. Thus, it can resolve conflicts in a competitive environment, and change the social dynamics into a cooperative interaction instead.

Article reviews the common dysregulation of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinases (PI3K)/Akt/mTOR pathway in gastric cancer (GC) and the various types of single or dual pathway inhibitors under development that might have a superior role in GC treatment.

Article investigates the nature of the early flowering phenotype of AtFAAH overexpression.

Article describes study establishing FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) as a key flower-promoting gene in photoperiodic systems.

Article addresses the differences in evolutionary scenario, leaf anatomy, and especially C4 metabolic flow, C4 transporters, and cell-specific function deduced from recently reported cell-specific transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolic analyses of NAD-dependent malic enzyme (NAD-ME) and NADP-dependent malic enzyme (NADP-ME) subtypes.

Article describes the analysis of Arabidopsis metabolomics data sets acquired by a consortium that includes five analytical laboratories, bioinformaticists, and biostatisticians, which aims to develop and validate metabolomics as a hypothesis-generating functional genomics tool.

Article describes study which sought to to determine if the dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) reductase activity and chloroplast localization are required for the Arabidopsis thaliana SFD1 (suppressor of fatty acid desaturase deficiency1) gene’s involvement in galactolipid metabolism and systemic acquired resistance (SAR) signaling.

Article describes experiment in which mature adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) were subjected to a swimming performance test that allowed separation into low swimming stamina or high swimming stamina groups in order to determine if inherited traits that support enhanced swimming stamina in offspring appear only in juveniles and/or adults, or if these traits actually appear earlier in the morphologically quite different larvae.

Article describes study which aimed to gain resolution in assessing the energetic demand associated with acid-base regulation by examining ion movement and O2 consumption rates of isolated intestinal tissue from Gulf toadfish acclimated to control or 1900 μatm CO2 (projected for year 2300).

Article describes study suggesting that the inhibation of sphingosine kinase 1 (SPHK1) can attenuate ERK1/2 and AKT signaling and reduce growth of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells in vitro and in a xenograft SCID mouse model.

Article investigates basic cardiovascular physiology in the Red Junglefowl, the broiler, and the White Leghorn breeds at 90% of incubation. The authors aimed to identify breed-specific features of arterial blood pressure and heart rate as well as the physiological mechanisms regulating them. They concluded that selection for rapid growth shifts cardiovascular regulatory plasticity to emphasize mechanisms that modulate pressure, and that selection for egg-laying capacity emphasizes mechanisms that modulate heart rate.

Article investigates whether thymoquinone (TQ), a bioactive constituent of black seed oil, could suppress the proliferation and induce chemosensitization in human myeloma cells and xenograft mouse model. Overall, the results demonstrate that TQ can enhance the anticancer activity of bortezomib in vitro and in vivo and may have a substantial potential in the treatment of MM.

Article describing an investigation into whether γ-tocotrienol can abrogate angiogenesis-mediated tumor growth in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and if so, through what molecular mechanisms.

In this article, the authors evaluate the effect of lupeol on STAT3 signalling cascade and its regulated functional responses in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. Constitutive activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription signalling 3 (STAT3) has been linked with survival, proliferation and angiogenesis in a wide variety of malignancies including HCC. Lupeol exhibited its potential anticancer effects in HCC through the downregulation of STAT3-induced pro-survival signalling cascade.

Article describes study in which researchers carried out comprehensive evolutionary analyses of the GMP-AMP (cGAMP) synthase (cGAS)-STING pathway.

The article looks at antitumor activity using a matched pair of cell lines MDA-MB-231 cells that are estrogen-independent, estrogen receptor negative and MCF-7 cells, a cell line that is estrogen receptor (ER) positive. Those polyethers that contained a O-phenyl unit were able to significantly inhibit the non-estrogen sensitive cell line but were much less effective against the estrogen sensitive cell line; that is, the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 showed better test results for polymers derived from diols containing the O-phenyl moiety than the breast cancer cell line MCF-7, a well-characterized estrogen receptor positive control cell line.

This article examines the use of metal-containing polymers as a novel class of antivirals. Polymers containing platinum and to a lesser extent tin, have repeatedly demonstrated antitumor activity in vitro and in vivo against a variety of cell and tumor types. The mechanisms responsible for the antitumor activity include inducing a delay in cell proliferation and sister chromatid exchanges blocking tumor growth.

With a current population of just over half a million and a 2030 projected population of approximately one million, expansion throughout Denton County shows no sign of slowing down (NCTCOG). Increasingly, freshwater resources are also facing increased pressure from this urban expansion. Effective assessment and management techniques are necessary to protect the diversity of ecosystem services found within fluvial ecosystems and to mitigate current and future conditions of environmental stressor amplified by urban development. The use of various spatial analysis techniques in environmental assessment present more expedient, cost effective, and broader ranging methods of evaluation than traditional field techniques. One such novel evaluation technique is the Water Quality Corridor Management (WQCM) model, developed by the University of North Texas in cooperation with the Upper Trinity Regional Water District (UTRWD). The WQCM model is a geospatial database that utilizes GIS and remote sensing techniques to assess and prioritize stream reaches according to their overall health and sustainability. This project assessed the viability of the WQCM model in reviewing the status of stream systems, and ultimately, established an accurate mechanism for evaluating the stream corridor and surface water quality draining into Lewisville Lake, a popular recreation site and drinking water source for …

This article characterizes the CETS gene family from tetraploid cotton in order to understand the regulation of cotton architecture and exploit these principles to enhance crop productivity.

This article investigates the contributions of genetic and plastic components for differences in body shape in two species of Lake Malawi cichlids using wild-caught specimens and a common garden experiment.

This article describes an artificial nest experiment to assess the impact of predators on daily survival rates of artificial bird nests in three different habitat types.