Background Small states, and in particular Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have been subject to academic discourses since quite a while. Briguglio (1995) diagnoses them economic vulnerability while some highlight particular advantages resulting from unique economic structures and processes (Bertram and Watters 1986; Poirine 1998). In Political Science small states have been subject of ref...

The recent description of Indonesian and Brazilian species of Acanthotetilla motivated the onset of a phylogenic and biogeographic revision of this taxon, to figure whether it had an Atlantic or an Indo-Pacific origin, and whether a Tethyan or southern African route might have been followed. A datamatrix with 27 morphological characters and 63 character states was tabulated and run on PAUP*4.0 ...

DNA topoisomerase I (TOP1) mediates the induction of radiosensitization (RS) by camptothecin derivatives in mammalian cells. Many indolocarbazole (INDO) derivatives have been shown to induce TOP1-mediated DNA damage (T1DD). In the current study, we characterized the cytotoxic and radiosensitizing activities of six INDO derivatives in relation to their efficiencies to induce T1DD. Evaluated by c...

Indo-European is the largest and best-documented language family in the world, yet the reconstruction of the Indo-European tree, first proposed in 1863, has remained controversial. Complications may include ascertainment bias when choosing the linguistic data, and disregard for the wave model of 1872 when attempting to reconstruct the tree. Essentially analogous problems were solved in evolutio...

Known as pantun to the Malays in Brunei, Malaysia, Pattani, Riau, Singapore, and Southern Phillipines, it is called peparikan to the Javanese, sesindiran to the Sundanese and many other different names in different ethnic groups in the different parts of the Indo-Malay world, which is made up of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Pattani in southern Thailand, and Mindanao in the southern P...

Species of the limpet genus Siphonaria (Gastropoda: Euthyneura) are commonly found in the rocky intertidal, worldwide, except in the Arctic. In total, 205 species-group names are available and not permanently invalid. However, estimating the actual species diversity of Siphonaria has remained challenging, mainly because past authors have interpreted differently the variation of shell characters...

Some studies have indicated that PGs can modulate the single nephron tubuloglomerular feedback (TGF) response. The aim of this study was to define the specific role of the vasoconstrictor PG, TX, by administration to rats of either vehicle (group 1; n = 20) or drugs that inhibit either cyclooxygenase (indomethacin [indo], 5 mg.kg-1, group 2, n = 17), TX synthetase (UK-38,485 [UK], 100 mg.kg-1, ...

OBJECTIVE Two polymorphisms in the promoter region of the gene encoding cytosolic aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH1A1), ALDH1A1*2 and ALDH1A1*3, have recently been identified. The present study sought to determine whether an association exists between ALDH1A1 genotypes, alcohol dependence, drinking history, and liver function tests in the two major ethnic groups of Trinidad and Tobago (TT). METHO...

The six major genetic lineages of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are strongly associated with specific geographical regions, but their relevance to bacterial virulence and the clinical consequences of infection are unclear. Previously, we found that in Vietnam, East Asian/Beijing and Indo-Oceanic strains were significantly more likely to cause disseminated tuberculosis with meningitis than those fr...

The Indo-Swiss partnership has been based on the principles enunciated by the Swiss Commission for Research Partnership with Developing Countries. It provides support for scientific research projects, exchange of scientists and building partnerships for science. The 11 Principles of Research Partnership have been elaborated under the following headings: 1. Decide on the objectives together 2. B...