In order to examine the biologic plausibility of adverse chronic cardiopulmonary effects in humans associated with ambient particulate matter (PM) exposure, we exposed groups of normal mice (C57) and knockout mice that develop atherosclerotic plaque (ApoE-/- and ApoE-/- LDLr-/-) for 6 h/day, 5 days/wk for 5 or 6 mo during the spring/summer of 2003 to either filtered air or 10-fold concentrated ...

BACKGROUND RNA-Seq has enabled high-throughput gene expression profiling to provide insight into the functional link between genotype and phenotype. Low quantities of starting RNA can be a severe hindrance for studies that aim to utilize RNA-Seq. To mitigate this bottleneck, whole transcriptome amplification (WTA) technologies have been developed to generate sufficient sequencing targets from m...

BACKGROUND Fine particulate matter (FPM) in ambient air causes premature mortality due to cardiac disease in susceptible populations. OBJECTIVE Our objective in this study was to determine the most influential FPM components. METHODS A mouse model of atherosclerosis (ApoE-/-) was exposed to either filtered air or concentrated FPM (CAPs) in Tuxedo, New York (85 microg/m3 average, 6 hr/day, 5...

Daily rates of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity are have been associated with daily variations in fine particulate matter (aerodynamic diameter < or = 2.5 microm, PM2.5), but little is known about the influences of the individual source-related PM2.5 categories or the temporal lags for the effects. We investigated heart rate (HR) and HR variability (HRV) data collected during a 5-month st...

Hermaphroditism, associated with territoriality and dominance behavior, is common in the marine environment. While male sex-specific coloration patterns have been documented in groupers, particularly during the spawning season, few data regarding social structure and the context for these color displays are available. In the present study, we define the social structure and male typical behavio...

The attending surgeon, still dressed in his tuxedo, was clearly drunk; the patient, dressed in a revealing party gown, had also had a few drinks. I was the junior resident on surgical call. I never dared to ask how the diagnosis was made but, somehow, during the party, the surgeon learned that she had an inflamed superficial varicosity of her upper thigh. He told her that she needed to have thi...

" This Is an Award for the Entire Field of Cell Biology. " This remark, made by Günter Blobel on American television after winning the 1999 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, was hardly uncharacteristic: the six-foot, snowy-haired Rocke-feller University professor was typically , generously, extending his prize to all of us who toil 'midst the microscopes. Perhaps more importantly, he was ...

Cervical cancer constitutes the second most common cancer in women. It is evident from earlier studies that epidermal growth factor (EGF) is a mitogen, in that it mimics the function of estrogen by mediating cross-talk with other oncoproteins. Although epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is highly expressed in breast and ovarian tumor tissues, its regulation by the exogenous source of its l...

This field evaluation study was conducted to assess new technology designed to measure number concentrations of strongly acidic ultrafine particles. Interest in these particles derives from their potential to cause adverse health effects. Current methods for counting and sizing airborne ultrafine particles cannot isolate those particles that are acidic. We hypothesized that the size-resolved nu...