Peer-reviewed Articles

Bioluminescent reporter genes, such as those from fireflies and bacteria, let researchers use light production as a non-invasive and non-destructive surrogate measure of microbial numbers in a wide variety of environments. As bioluminescence needs microbial metabolites,...

Butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) comprise significant portions of the world’s natural history collections, but a standardized tissue preservation protocol for molecular research is largely lacking. Lepidoptera have traditionally been spread on mounting boards...

Monolaurin (also known as glycerol monolaurate) is a natural compound found in coconut oil and is known for its protective biological activities as an antimicrobial agent. The nature of oral candidiasis and the increased antifungal resistance demand the search...

Mutating residues has been a common task in order to study structural properties of the protein of interest. Here, we propose and validate a simple method that allows the identification of structural determinants; i.e., residues essential for preservation of the...

Vineyards worldwide occupy over 7 million hectares and are typically virtual monocultures, with high and costly inputs of water and agro-chemicals. Understanding and enhancing ecosystem services can reduce inputs and their costs and help satisfy market demands...

Background. A large proportion of natural grasslands around the world is exposed to overgrazing resulting in land degradation and biodiversity loss. Although there is an increasing effort in the promotion of sustainable livestock management, rangeland degradation...

Late Pleistocene groundwater discharge deposits (paleowetlands) in the upper Las Vegas Wash north of Las Vegas, Nevada, have yielded an abundant and diverse vertebrate fossil assemblage, the Tule Springs local fauna (TSLF). The TSLF is the largest open-site vertebrate...

Background. Quantitative ultrasound measures are influenced by multiple external factors including examiner scanning force. Force feedback may foster the acquisition of reliable morphometry measures under a variety of scanning conditions. The purpose of this study...

Background. Epidemiological studies have reported various results relating preoperative hydronephrosis to upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). However, the clinical significance and prognostic value of preoperative hydronephrosis in UTUC remains controversial....

Pre-harvest contamination of forage maize by mycotoxin producing Fusarium species was investigated in the UK in 2011 and 2012. A total of 15 Fusarium species were identified from a collection of 1,761 Fusarium isolates recovered from maize stalks and kernels. This...

The Tijuana River Valley is the first natural habitat in California to be substantially invaded by the Kuroshio Shot Hole Borer (KSHB, Euwallacea sp.), an ambrosia beetle native to Southeast Asia. This paper documents the distribution of the KSHB in the riparian...

Background. Normative feedback (NF), or receiving information about one’s drinking compared to peer drinking norms, is one of the most widely used brief interventions for prevention and intervention for hazardous alcohol use. NF has demonstrated predominantly small...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short nucleotide sequences that form a typical hairpin structure which is recognized by a complex enzyme machinery. It ultimately leads to the incorporation of 18–24 nt long mature miRNAs into RISC where they act as recognition keys to aid...

Three-dimensional (3D) data of many kinds is produced at an increasing rate throughout all scientific disciplines. The Portable Document Format (PDF) is the de-facto standard for the exchange of electronic documents and allows for embedding three-dimensional models....

Background. Genome-wide association studies have succeeded in detecting novel common variants which associate with complex diseases. As a result of the fast changes in next generation sequencing technology, a large number of sequencing data are generated, which...