| There is increasing evidence for the existence of unique ecosystems that are dominated by locally adapted microbiota which harbour distinct lineages and biological capabilities, much like the macrobiota of Darwin’s Galapagos Islands. As a primary example of such a system, we highlight key discoveries from the Cuatro Ciénegas basin in Mexico. We argue that high microbial endemism requires a co...

This study investigated the impact of contingent action effects on response production. In Experiment 1 responses of varying intensity were initiated faster when contingently followed by auditory effects of corresponding rather than of noncorresponding intensity. This response-effect (R-E) compatibility influence was robust with respect to practice, and it was not due to persisting influences o...

This paper studies the e¤ects of international openness and contracting institutions on vertical integration. It …rst derives a number of predictions regarding the interactions between trade barriers, contracting costs, technology intensity, and the extent of vertical integration from a simple model with incomplete contracts. Then it investigates these predictions using a new dataset of over 14...

1Princess Iman Research and Laboratory Sciences Centre, King Hussein Medical Centre, Amman, Jordan. Received: 27/05/02; accepted: 21/04/03 ABSTRACT Haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) is the most popular routine stain used in pathology laboratories for highlighting cellular structures. To study the effect of tap water ‘softening’ (i.e. calcium extraction) on H&E stains, 5 sets of slides from 30 differ...

Mark Kac gave an explicit formula for the expectation of the number, vn (a), of zeros of a random polynomial, n-I Pn(z) = E ?tj, j=O in any measurablc subset Q of the reals. Here, ... ?In-I are independent standard normal random variables. In fact, for each n > 1, he obtained an explicit intensity function gn for which E vn(L) = Jgn(x) dx. Here, we extend this formula to obtain an explicit form...

The hypothesis that eggshell colouration is a sexually selected trait of female birds is based on the fact that biliverdin, the pigment responsible for blue-green colours of the eggshell, is a potent antioxidant and that only females with high antioxidant capacity can deposit higher concentrations of biliverdin as eggshell pigment. Antioxidants (e.g. carotenoids, vitamins) are also abundant in ...

The appeal of sweet electronic cigarette flavors makes it important to identify the chemical compounds that contribute to their sweetness. While volatile chemicals that produce sweet aromas have been identified in e-liquids, there are no published reports of sugars or artificial sweeteners in commercial e-liquids. However, the sweetener sucralose is marketed as an e-liquid additive to commercia...

Hybridization-sensitive fluorescent probes have an inherent disadvantage: self-dimerization of the probe prevents the fluorescence quenching prior to hybridization with the target, resulting in a high background signal. To avoid self-dimerization of probes, we focused on a base pair formed by 2'-deoxyinosine (I) and N(4)-ethyl-2'-deoxycytidine (E). I and E bases form more stable base pairs with...

1. Further evidence that the uptake of [“C jhexylamine, determined by centrifugal filtration of spinach chloroplast thylakoids through silicone fluid layers, gives precise estimations of light-induced H’ concentration gradients (ApH) is presented. ApH was independent of the amount of thylakoids used or of the concentration of hexylamine. Moreover, hexylamine uptake was sensitive to the osmolari...