BACKGROUND Cardiovascular disease may have its origins in utero, but the influence of in utero growth on microvascular structure in children is unknown. We hypothesized that poor in utero growth is associated with narrower arteriolar caliber, which may help explain the established association of low birth weight with hypertension and cardiovascular disease in adulthood. METHODS AND RESULTS We...

Through non-genetic maternal effects, mothers can tailor offspring phenotype to the environment in which young will grow up. If juvenile and adult ecologies differ, the conditions mothers experienced as juveniles may better predict their offspring's environment than the adult environment of mothers. In this case maternal decisions about investment in offspring quality should already be determin...

Origin and age was determined for individual fish caught in offshore catches of Atlantic salmon stocks (Salmo salar L.) in the Baltic Sea over the years 2000–2009. DNA microsatellite loci and smolt age were used to probabilistically assign returning spawners to their stock of origin. Data for this study were based on approximately 2600 catch samples of the five most common wild and four sea-ran...

In this study we compare the reproductive ability of Mastomys natalensis, an agricultural rodent pest and that of the closely related species M. coucha, which has not been ascribed as a pest. We suggest that the ability of M. natalensis to plague, as well as dominate, resource-limited habitats, may in part be related to its differential breeding response to variation in diet quality. Thus, we e...