North Korea's bigger blast

The biological standard of living in the two Koreas.

Height data of North Korean escapees are analyzed to assess changes in their biological standard of living. In contrast to the population of South Korea, as well as to that of most of the rest of the world, North Koreans did not experience an increase in physical stature during the second half of the 20th century. The divergence between the height of North- and South-Koreans began among the bir...

The bigger picture concepts

If a concept is not well defined, it can be abused. This is particularly true of complexity, an inherently interdisciplinary concept that has penetrated a range of intellectual fields from physics to linguistics, but with no underlying, unified theory. Complexity has become a popular buzzword that is used in the hope of gaining attention or funding — institutes and research networks associated ...

Is Bigger Really Badder?

Increasing attention is being focused on the role(s) that obesity may play in the development of cardiovascular disease, particularly congestive heart failure (CHF).1,2 Several indirect or associated effects are potential culprits. For example, obesity is strongly associated with many atherosclerotic risk factors, including arterial hypertension, insulin resistance, diabetes, and dyslipidemia.3...

Bigger numbers needed!

Bigger isn't better

H IV-1 induces e x t e n s i v e changes in its host cell's nuclear pores, Monette et al. reveal. Like all viruses, HIV-1 hijacks the molecular machinery of its host cell to drive its own replication. One process disrupted by the virus is protein transport between the nucleus and cytoplasm. For example, HIV-1 prevents an RNA-binding protein called hnRNP A1 from entering the nucleus so that it c...