Aberrant activity of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) is believed to be essential for neoplastic cell behaviour and thus for the malignancy of tumor cells [Bowman T, Garcia R, Turkson J, Jove R. STATs in oncogenesis. Oncogene 2000;19:2474-88]. Extravillous trophoblast cells resemble malignancies in their invasive and destructive features, excluding the fact of sequent

Strongly interacting one-dimensional (1D) Bose-Fermi mixtures form a tunable XXZ spin chain. Within the spin-chain model developed here, all properties of these systems can be calculated from states representing the ordering of the bosons and fermions within the atom chain and from the ground-state wave function of spinless noninteracting fermions. We validate the model by means of an exact diagon

There are several different preventive measures that can be used to reduce the number of fire fatalities in residential buildings, but information on how effective different measures are for different groups are, however, lacking. As a result, general measures are often implemented on large portions of the total population, which is not as cost-effective as targeting certain measures for certain g

In a world careening towards climate chaos, nature is dead. It can no longer be separated from society. Everything is a blur of hybrids, where humans possess no exceptional agency that sets them apart from dead matter. But is it really so? In this blistering polemic and theoretical manifesto, Andreas Malm develops a contrary argument: in a warming world, nature comes roaring back, and it is more i

Background and aims Diet and smoking expose the general population to cadmium (Cd), which is a toxic metal that accumulates in the arterial wall. In experimental studies, Cd causes reductions in proliferation of smooth muscle cells and cellular synthesis of procollagen. The aim of this study was to examine whether blood Cd levels, a valid measure of Cd exposure, are associated with increased risk

Recently Prévot-Julliard and colleagues presented a concept paper on biological conservation strategies using exotic species as a case study. They emphasized the difficulty of integrating conservation into a broad picture that accounts for public perception as well as scientific knowledge. We support this general call for better integration of society in conservation research, but we believe that

This paper focuses on understanding human impact on landscape. Both ecological and human practices are analysed as interacting processes. An agent-based model integrating biological and historical knowledge is used to analyse the pattern of Scots Pine encroachment in a French Mediterranean upland. In the STIPA model, pine trees are autonomous agents and a cellular automaton simulates land-use. We

More often than not, it is asserted that Anders Vilhelm Lundstedt (1882-1955), a disciple and friend of Axel Hägerström who enthusiastically embraced the latter’s philosophical theories, (i) went to great lengths to apply those theories in the central fields of law but (ii) actually deviated from Hägerström’s teachings by introducing the complex notion of "social welfare" (or "social utility") as

In L.E. v. Greece, the European Court of Human Rights found that Greece failed to fulfill its positive obligations under art.4 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The judgment can be assessed as a step forward for alleviating the scarcity of judicial engagement with art.4 of the ECHR (the right not to be subjected to slavery, servitude, forced labour and human trafficking). While ov

Abstract in French Cet article porte sur la manière dont les Micmacs ont lutté contre le projet d'une vaste carrière dans les années 1990 sur l'île du Cap-Breton, Nouvelle-Écosse, en faisant référence à leurs traditions et à leur héros culturel, Kluskap. Tout d'abord, l'auteure explore la manière dont un chasseur micmac canadien et pré-moderne interprète le monde, tel que décrit dans les histoires

As the evolutionary responses to environmental change depend on selection acting on individual differences,disentangling within- and between-individual variation becomes imperative. In animalmigration research, multiyear tracks are thus needed to estimate the individual consistency of phenotypictraits. Avian telemetry studies have recently provided the first evidence of individuality acrossspace a

The human restricted pathogen Moraxella catarrhalis is an important causal agent for exacerbations in chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) in adults. In such patients, increased numbers of granulocytes are present in the airways, which correlate with bacteria-induced exacerbations and severity of the disease. Our study investigated whether the interaction of M. catarrhalis with the human granul