Why might mitochondria fuse? Mammalian mitochondria continuously undergo fusion in vivo, a process accomplished by an elaborate machinery of energy-dependant GTPase proteins. These proteins are extensively post-translationally regulated and the fusion process involves actively merging both inner and outer mitochondrial membranes to shape extensive networks. Executing this energetically costly p...

Little is known about how prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) influences risks of asthma in humans. In this small study, we sought to determine whether disaster-related PNMS would predict asthma risk in children. In June 1998, we assessed severity of objective hardship and subjective distress in women pregnant during the January 1998 Quebec Ice Storm. Lifetime asthma symptoms, diagnoses, and cortic...

The aim of this study was to investigate clinical, demographic and psychosocial predictors of melanoma-related worry. A questionnaire-based study in a population-ascertained cohort of individuals diagnosed with melanoma in the previous 3-6 months was carried out to identify factors associated with worry about melanoma shortly after diagnosis. A total of 520 patients felt worried about their fut...

The fishermen looked at the yama when they went fishing, looked at the yama when they couldn’t go fishing, looked at the yama when they abandoned a tool, they spent a life looking at the yama all the time. When a splendid sendØ, known for his excellence, looked at the yama the undulations on ground of the sea unfolded like a nautical chart in his mind. ... Considering a fisherman gazing at the ...

When a dying patient lacks decision-making capacity, the general practitioner needs to collaborate with family members in making decisions about forgoing life-sustaining treatment. The key to working out the best course of action is for the doctor to have a very clear idea of which treatment options he or she considers acceptable or unacceptable. The choice of treatment depends on a thorough ev...

The author, a practicing physician, was diagnosed with throat cancer and lost his vocal cords. He endured the side effects of radiation, repeated surgeries, and the effects of prolonged hospitalizations; confronted medical mistakes and discrimination after losing his vocal cords; and struggled to regain his speech and find new meaning and purpose for his life. Facing the hardship and trials of ...

BACKGROUND This study investigated the household economic burden of eating disorders and cost-related non-adherence to treatment in Australia. METHODS Multi-centre prospective observational study using a structured questionnaire. Ninety participants were recruited from two clinic settings in New South Wales, Australia and from the community using social media. The primary outcome measures wer...

Early-life ecological conditions have major effects on survival and reproduction. Numerous studies in wild systems show fitness benefits of good quality early-life ecological conditions ("silver-spoon" effects). Recently, however, some studies have reported that poor-quality early-life ecological conditions are associated with later-life fitness advantages and that the effect of early-life cond...