In vitro liver models have been important tools for more than 40 years for academic research and preclinical toxicity screening by the pharmaceutical industry. Hepatocytes, the highly metabolic parenchymal cells of the liver, are efficient at different metabolic chemistries depending on their relative spatial location along the sinusoid from the portal triad to the central vein. Although replic...

Zonation of organisms in soft-bottom intertidal habitats is mainly a consequence of the tidal sorting of the substrate and how benthic organisms respond to it, with predation and competition also playing a role. Although parasites are ubiquitous in these habitats and known agents of community structure, their impact on zonation is rarely considered. Here, using observational and experimental da...

Anthropogenic climate change is predicted to cause widespread biodiversity loss due to shifts in species' distributions, but these predictions rarely incorporate ecological associations such as zonation. Here, we predict the decline of a diverse assemblage of mid-latitude salt marsh plants, based on an ecosystem warming experiment. In New England salt marshes, a guild of halophytic forbs occupi...

Functional zonation of the adrenal cortex is a consequence of the zone-specific expression of P450c17 (CYP17A1) and its cofactors. Activin and inhibin peptides are differentially produced within the zones of the adrenal cortex and have been implicated in steroidogenic control. In this study, we investigated whether activin and inhibin can function as intermediates in functional zonation of the ...

Landslides are a major geologic hazard with estimated tens of deaths and $1–2 billion in economic losses per year in the US alone. The island of Puerto Rico experiences one or two large events per year, often triggered in steeply sloped areas by prolonged and heavy rainfall. Identifying areas susceptible to landslides thus has great potential value for Puerto Rico and would allow better managem...

Although the zonation of the adrenal cortex has a clear functional role, the mechanisms that maintain it remain largely conjectural. The concept that an outer proliferative layer gives rise to cells that migrate inwards, adopting sequentially the zona glomerulosa, fasciculata and reticularis phenotypes, has yet to be explained mechanistically. In other tissues, Eph receptor (EphR)/ephrin signal...

A previously described digitonin-perfusion technique [Quistorff, Grunnet & Cornell (1985) Biochem. J. 226, 289-297], by which intracellular material of rat liver could be liberated, has been refined, now allowing release of cytosol of high purity from both periportal and perivenous parts of the same liver. The cytosolic fractions are obtained by perfusing the liver for short intervals (10-20 s)...

Mangroves are prone to bearing frequently the full brunt of hurricanes and tropical storms. The extent of destruction and early regeneration are widely studied. The purpose of this study was to add a long-term view of mangrove regeneration and assess the potential effects on mangrove horizontal zonation patterns of catastrophic destruction. Hattie, a category five hurricane, hit the Belizean co...

Availability of accurate and objective landslide susceptibility maps depicting zones defined on the basis of probability of occurrence of landslides is one of the critical inputs in assessing risk to property and lives in any mountainous region, particularly in the Himalayas. The aim of this study is to portray the usage of an in-house developed indigenous software, acronymmed as Landslide Susc...