This very successful meeting attracted nearly 110 attendees, from 32 countries and involved a total of over 70 oral presentations, 16 shotguns presentations and 27 posters. The results and insights from this meeting are being made accessible to the general scientific community by this special dedicated issue of the Frontiers in Microbiology Research Topic. Antimicrobial resistance within popula...

It has been estimated that more than half of all epilepsies have some genetic basis and over the pastdecade important progresses have been made in the understanding of the genetic causes of many ofthese epilepsies. Single gene defects in ion channels or neurotransmitter receptors are associated withsome inherited forms of epilepsy [1-6]. In addition, genetic discoveries in the field of infantil...

In 1998 Cereon Genomics LLC, a subsidiary of Monsanto Co., performed a shotgun sequencing of the Arabidopsis thaliana Landsberg erecta genome to a depth of twofold coverage using ‘classic’ Sanger sequencing. This sequence was assembled and aligned to the Columbia ecotype sequence produced by the Arabidopsis Genome Initiative. The analysis provided tens of thousands of high-confidence prediction...

There once was an ugly duckling. Except he wasn't a duckling at all, and once he realized his error he lived happily ever after. And there you have an early primer from the animal literature on the issue of misrepresentation-perhaps one of the few on this topic to have a happy ending. Philosophers interested in misrepresentation have turned their attention to a different fairy tale animal: the ...

BIRDSHOT RETINOCHOROIDITIS: THE ORIGINS OF THE DISEASE NAME Birdshot retinochoroiditis (BRC) is a uveitis predominantly affecting the posterior segment of the eye with dual, independent retinal and choroidal inflammation and almost only seen in Caucasians. 2 Ryan and Maumenee first described the bilateral retinochoroidal inflammatory disease in early 1980, reporting on 13 patients. These author...

Epithelial to mesenchymal transitions are prominent features of mammalian gastrulation and neural crest development, and are essential for the proper development of many organs and tissues. Moreover, most cancers derive from epithelial cells, and metastasis involves departure of these cells from their epithelium of origin and invasion of the surrounding tissue. It is known that epithelial to me...

Recreational firearm use is a popular leisure-time activity in the United States enjoyed by millions of individuals across all age groups. Recreational firearms produce impulse noise levels that exceed 140 decibels peak sound pressure levels (dB peak SPL). Unprotected ear exposure to this high-level impulse noise can cause immediate and irreversible damage to delicate inner ear structures of bo...

Invasive and overabundant species are an increasing threat to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning world-wide. As such, large amounts of money are spent each year on attempts to control them. These efforts can, however, be thwarted if exploitation is compensated demographically or if populations simply become too numerous for management to elicit an effective and rapid functional response. We...

Background Nutritional supplements intended for consumption in proximity to resistance exercise are extremely popular among young males and athletes. Common components of these products include caffeine, creatine monohydrate, b-Alanine (BA), citrulline, L-arginine, branched chain amino acids (BCAA), and whey protein in proprietary blends. To date, there have been no investigations of the potent...

Bushpig, Potamocheorus porcus, occurring naturally in the high rainfall areas of Zimbabwe, have become a major threat to maize producers in the country. Traditional means of control including hunting have been unsuccessful in keeping the numbers to a tolerable level owing to the secretive and cunning nature of the animal. The use of poisons has been discouraged because of indiscriminate use and...