To overcome environmental stress, plants develop physiological responses that are triggered by genetic or epigenetic changes, some of which involve DNA methylation. It has been proposed that apomixis, the formation of asexual seeds without meiosis, occurs through the temporal or spatial deregulation of the sexual process mediated by genetic and epigenetic factors influenced by the environment. ...

The medieval eschatological tradition of the ‘15 Signs of the Last Days’ pays special attention to the anguish of animals. This attention seems unnecessary, as animals will not be judged, or resurrected, but only destroyed. Their unnecessary cries might be heard as the cry of life for itself, now useless to God and humans, and also as a reminder to humans of the richness of the worlded selves t...

Confocal microscopy, which is a major advance upon normal light microscopy, has been used in a number of scientific fields. By confocal microscopy techniques, cells and tissues can be visualized deeply, and three-dimensional images created. Compared with conventional microscopes, confocal microscope improves the resolution of images by eliminating out-of-focus light. Moreover, confocal microsco...

A 43-year-old man presented with a oneweek history of multiple weeping papules on his penis and scrotum. The lesions were not painful, and he had no other symptoms. He had no relevant medical history, including human immunodeficiency virus infection, but he had had unprotected sexual encounters with multiple women over the previous three months. Physical examination revealed more than 50 firm, ...

We report on three infants with congenital chylothorax (CC) and congenital pulmonary lymphangiectasia (CPL). CPL appears to be a characteristic pathological finding in CC. Through the use of lymphoscintigraphy and computed tomography, this study suggests that CC and CPL are strongly correlated entities and that the dysplasia of the lymphatic system results in a pulmonary lymphatic obstruction s...