In a recent issue of Cell, four papers described regulatory interactions among messenger RNAs (mRNAs) that share target sequences for the same microRNAs (miRNAs) (Cesana et al., 2011; Karreth et al., 2011; Sumazin et al., 2011; Tay et al., 2011). The authors state that these mRNAs, dubbed ‘‘competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs),’’ define a new layer of regulation of miRNA activity that has only re...

There are many fish in the sea, but having a large school to choose from doesn’t make mate choice decisions any easier. In fact, selecting a mate requires members of the choosing sex to process, integrate and recall a great deal of information related to mate quality across many potential mates. As this choice is directly related to fitness, it stands to reason that the cognitive ability of the...

Since 1992, Human Botulism Immune Globulin has been provided by the California Department of Health Services to infants with probable infant botulism, the intestinal toxemia form of human botulism. Human Botulism Immune Globulin became available in California in 1992-1997 within a randomized, controlled, double-blinded, pivotal clinical trial and subsequently became available nationwide in 1998...

Supramolecular mimics of metalloproteins, viz. cytochrome P-450 and ironsulfur proteins are described. The cytochrome P-450 mimic consists of a Mn porphyrin and a Rh complex which are incorporated within a vesicle membrane in water. This system catalyses the reductive activation of molecular oxygen in the epoxidation of alkenes at Mn, with reducing equivalents derived from the simultaneous Rh c...

Nitroxides are the most important metal-independent superoxide dismutase mimics. They act as antioxidants mainly by reacting with superoxide. Nitroxides are low molecular weight, cell membrane permeable, and relatively stable radicals. The SOD-mimic activities of nitroxides are catalytic processes in which nitroxides and their oxidized form exchange among themselves without depletion of nitroxi...

Mimicry has long provided some of the most persuasive examples of the power of natural selection. However, some mimics are quite poor. A new study shows that mechanisms by which animals learn might explain how imperfect mimics survive.

Glutathione peroxidase is key for the removal of H2O2 and other hydroperoxides and therefore, it has an important role in the maintenance of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolic balance in vivo. The native enzymes of the glutathione peroxidase family (GPx) have many defects, such as instability in vitro and poor availability. GPx mimetics has become a topic of considerable interest in ar...

Aggressive mimics are predatory species that resemble a 'model' species to gain access to food, mating opportunities or transportation at the expense of a signal receiver. Costs to the model may be variable, depending on the strength of the interaction between mimics and signal receivers. In the Indopacific, the bluestriped fangblenny Plagiotremus rhinorhynchos mimics juvenile cleaner wrasse La...

Animal communication is often deceptive; however, such dishonesty can become ineffective if it is used too often, is used out of context, or is too easy to detect [1-3]. Mimicry is a common form of deception, and most mimics gain the greatest fitness benefits when they are rare compared to their models [3, 4]. If mimics are encountered too frequently or if their model is absent, avoidance learn...

OBJECTIVES Acute stroke management has changed dramatically over the recent years, where a timely assessment is driven by the expanding treatment options of acute ischaemic stroke. This increases the risk in treating non-stroke patients (stroke mimics) with a possibly hazardous intravenous thrombolysis treatment (IVT). SETTING Patients of the thrombolysis registry of Södersjukhuset AB, a seco...