background low back pain (lbp) is the most common and multifactor problem among the commercial drivers and the individual, social, psychological and occupational factors have important role in intensifying this pain. in various studies, the role of spiritual factor was investigated less compared to other factors. objectives the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of religious belief...

With a pair of beefed-up forelimbs ready for action, praying mantises look as prepared any prize fighter, but these animals aren't just fighting glory, the stakes are far higher: they're after dinner. Yet, even mighty vulnerable to larger predators, so there will be occasions when it would wise disregard tasty treat avoid ending up on someone else's menu. ‘Most behaviour needs strike balance’, ...

High-resolution crystal structures have recently been solved for the mismatch binding protein MutS of Escherichia coli and its Thermus aquaticus homologue; they show how these factors recognise such structurally diverse substrates as base-base mismatches and insertion/deletion loops.

The way in which mantids localize the direction and the distance of their prey has been analysed, to clarify the importance of binocular interactions. The results suggest the following major points: 1. Binocular interactions coordinate monocular directional information, such that the direction in which a mantid fixates its prey is intermediate between the image directions in the two eyes (Figs ...

The praying mantis uses its front legs for locomotion, prey capture and feeding. Inspired by this dexterity, we began designing a hexapod robot that could use its front legs for both locomotion and manipulation. Our current work focuses on the middle and back legs of the robot. We designed a five degree of freedom leg, using a gimbal to form three intersecting axes of rotation at the hip to imi...

For the reader who believes that only computers can faithfully duplicate gigabits of information, some insights into his or her own biology will be revealing. Just as he or she reads this Primer, billions of his or her cells prepare for division by replicating the six billion or so DNA nucleotides of their diploid genomes, each cell typically making not more than a single mistake. This extraord...