A functional circadian clock has long been considered a selective advantage. Accumulating evidence shows that the clock coordinates a variety of physiological processes in order to schedule them to the optimal time of day and thus to synchronize metabolism to changes in external conditions. In mitochondria, both metabolic and cellular defense mechanisms are carefully regulated. Abnormal clock f...

Psychoanalysis has benefitted from the application of empirical research efforts to psychodynamic concepts and clinical interventions. One of the most striking examples of research into psychoanalytic concepts is the widespread integration of Bowlby’s attachment theory in developmental and social psychology research (e.g. Cassidy & Shaver, 2008). Other examples include research concerning defen...

Understanding the evolutionary origin of the ribonuclease (RNase) A superfamily is of great interest because the superfamily is the sole vertebrate-specific enzyme family known to date. Although mammalian RNases have a diverse array of biochemical and physiological functions, the original function of the superfamily at its birth is enigmatic. Such information may be obtained by studying basal l...

Prey organisms are confronted with time and resource allocation trade-offs. Time allocation trade-offs partition time, for example, between foraging effort to acquire resources and behavioral defense. Resource allocation trade-offs partition the acquired resources between multiple traits, such as growth or morphological defense. We develop a mathematical model for prey organisms that comprise t...

The role and pathological significance of apoptosis in an influenza virus-infected host has been hotly debated. Influenza virus-induced apoptosis was primarily thought to be a host defense mechanism to limit virus replication and eliminate viruses from the host; however, the virus has mechanisms not only to overcome but to utilize apoptosis for its efficient replication. Virus-induced apoptosis...

Terror Management Theory posits that when individuals are faced with their own mortality, they use several defense mechanisms to reduce the existential anxiety caused by the thought of their own death. In this paper, we examined one such mechanism: Control attributions. To do so, we ran an experiment (n = 140) in which we manipulated mortality salience and type of failure (relevant vs. irreleva...

This article explains the physiological response of the specific potato species upon infection by the specific nematode species. This article is interesting enough to initiate the research on specific stimulus and response, however it fails to do so due to the luck of controls. For example, first, two species of plant roots are measured by their voltage change upon nematode infection. The autho...

Carbohydrate chains of glycoproteins, glycolipids, proteoglycans, and polysaccharides mediate processes of biological and medical importance through their interactions with complementary proteins. The unraveling of these interactions is therefore a priority in biomedical sciences. Carbohydrate microarray technology is a new development at the frontier of glycomics that is revolutionizing the st...

N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) play an important role in the communication within the rhizosphere; they serve as a chemical base for interactions within and between different species of Gram-negative bacteria. Not only bacteria, also plants perceive and react to AHLs with diverse responses. Here we describe a negative correlation between the length of AHLs' lipid chains and the observed grow...

Host protection from invading pathogens involves cellular and humoral effectors and results from the concerted action of both non-adaptive (innate) and adaptive (acquired) immunity. The latter is based on specific immunological recognition mediated by clonally distributed receptors, is a recent acquisition of the immune system, and is present only in vertebrates. The former evolved well before ...