Circulating tumour cells: The Good,the Bad and the Ugly

This review is an overview of the current knowledge regarding circulating tumour cells (CTCs), which are potentially the most lethal type of cancer cell, and may be a key component of the metastatic cascade. The clinical utility of CTCs (the "Good"), includes their diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic potential. Conversely, their complex biology (the "Bad"), including the existence of CD45+/EpCAM+ CTCs, adds insult to injury regarding their isolation and identification, which in turn hampers their clinical translation. CTCs are capable of forming microemboli composed of both non-discrete phenotypic populations such as mesenchymal CTCs and homotypic and heterotypic clusters which are poised to interact with other cells in the circulation, including immune cells and platelets, which may increase their malignant potential. These microemboli (the "Ugly") represent a prognostically important CTC subset, however, phenotypic EMT/MET gradients bring additional complexities to an already challenging situation.     

Ovarian Steroids: The Good,the Bad,and the Signals that Raise Them

Ovarian steroid production and subsequent local steroid-mediated signaling are critical for normal ovarian processes, including follicle growth, oocyte maturation, and ovulation. In contrast, elevated steroidogenesis and/or increased steroid signaling in the ovary can lead to profound ovarian pathology, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome, the leading cause of infertility in reproductive age women. Through the use of several in vitro and animal models, great strides have been made toward characterizing the mechanisms regulating local steroid production and action in the ovary. Examples of this progress include insights into luteinizing hormone (LH)- and growth factor-mediated signaling, steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) activation, and both genomic and nongenomic steroid-mediated signaling in somatic and germ cells, respectively. The following review will address these advances, focusing on how this rapidly expanding knowledge base can be used to better understand female reproduction, and to further improve treatments for common diseases of infertility.     

The Good,the Bad,and the Ugly: Agonistic Behaviour in Juvenile Crocodilians

We examined agonistic behaviour in seven species of hatchling and juvenile crocodilians held in small groups (N = 4) under similar laboratory conditions. Agonistic interactions occurred in all seven species, typically involved two individuals, were short in duration (5–15 seconds), and occurred between 1600–2200 h in open water. The nature and extent of agonistic interactions, the behaviours displayed, and the level of conspecific tolerance varied among species. Discrete postures, non-contact and contact movements are described. Three of these were species-specific: push downs by C. johnstoni; inflated tail sweeping by C. novaeguineae; and, side head striking combined with tail wagging by C. porosus. The two long-snouted species (C. johnstoni and G. gangeticus) avoided contact involving the head and often raised the head up out of the way during agonistic interactions. Several behaviours not associated with aggression are also described, including snout rubbing, raising the head up high while at rest, and the use of vocalizations. The two most aggressive species (C. porosus, C. novaeguineae) appeared to form dominance hierarchies, whereas the less aggressive species did not. Interspecific differences in agonistic behaviour may reflect evolutionary divergence associated with morphology, ecology, general life history and responses to interspecific conflict in areas where multiple species have co-existed. Understanding species-specific traits in agonistic behaviour and social tolerance has implications for the controlled raising of different species of hatchlings for conservation, management or production purposes.     

Etiology of Developmental Disorders: Good Science, Bad Science, and Pseudoscience

Developmental disorders originate in infancy or early childhood, are associated with presumed or observed organic abnormalities, and have serious long-term physical and/or psychological sequelae. Of particular interest here are two such disorders, mental retardation and autism. Purported causes range from genetics, early prenatal and/or postnatal exposure to toxins (including heavy metals), and recently, vaccinations. Single factors have often been claimed to be the cause of a developmental disorder, without regard to possible exacerbating or alleviating roles of other factors, including socioeconomic status. Unfortunately, professional and popular literature on both claimed causes and effective treatments has often been characterized by research and theorizing that is seriously flawed (bad science) or actively misrepresented (pseudoscience). The present paper critically reviews selected research on a few controversial issues concerning developmental disorders, particular mental retardation and autism, and emphasizes the role of low socioeconomic status.     

间斑寇蛛(L.tredecimguttatus)室内饲养及活体采毒方法的初步探讨

间斑寇蛛Latrotectus tredecimguttatus是目前已知毒性最强的蜘蛛之一,为了解决间斑寇蛛毒素研究中毒素来源有限的问题,本实验室开展了间斑寇蛛的室内人工饲养与采毒方法的研究,着重探索影响室内饲养间斑寇蛛生长发育、成活率及繁殖力的主要因素及活体采毒方法.结果表明,温度、湿度和食物种类等多种因素都影响湖南一带室内饲养间斑寇蛛的效果,但相对而言,空气的相对湿度是最重要的因素.与同批次的雌、雄蛛交配比较,利用前批次雌蛛与相隔30天左右的后批次雄蛛交配更有利于产卵率的提高.间斑寇蛛幼蛛度过适当长度的"卵袋期"对于以后的成活与生长发育,尤其是早期的成活与生长发育来说是必要的.尽管有多种方法可用来进行间斑寇蛛的活体采毒,但电刺激采毒法是最佳的活体采毒方法.     

Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: A Political Perspective on Culture and Terrorism

The link between Islam and terrorism became a central media concern following September 11, resulting in new rounds of "culture talk. This talk has turned religious experience into a political category, differentiating 'good Muslims" from "bad Muslims, rather than terrorists from civilians. The implication is undisguised: Whether in Afghanistan, Palestine, or Pakistan, Islam must be quarantined and the devil must be exorcized from it by a civil war between good Muslims and bad Muslims. This article suggests that we lift the quarantine and turn the cultural theory of politics on its head. Beyond the simple but radical suggestion that if there are good Muslims and bad Muslims, there must also be good Westerners and bad Westerners, I question the very tendency to read Islamist politics as an effect of Islamic civilization—whether good or bad—and Western power as an effect of Western civilization. Both those politics and that power are born of an encounter, and neither can be understood outside of the history of that encounter. Cultural explanations of political outcomes tend to avoid history and issues. Thinking of individuals from "traditional" cultures in authentic and original terms, culture talk dehistoricizes the construction of political identities. This article places the terror of September 11 in a historical and political context. Rather than a residue of a premodern culture in modern politics, terrorism is best understood as a modern construction. Even when it harnesses one or another aspect of tradition and culture, the result is a modern ensemble at the service of a modern project. [Keywords: Muslims, culture talk, Islamist politics, political identities, terrorism]     

INSECTICIDE RESISTANCE IN THE GROUND SPIDER,Pardosa sumatrana (THORELL, 1890; ARANEAE: LYCOSIDAE)

Elevated levels of insecticides detoxifying enzymes, such as esterases, glutathione S‐transferases (GSTs), and cytochrome P‐450 monooxygenases, act in the resistance mechanisms in insects. In the present study, levels of these enzymes in the insecticide‐resistant ground spider Pardosa sumatrana (Thorell, 1890) were compared with a susceptible population (control) of the same species. Standard protocols were used for biochemical estimation of enzymes. The results showed significantly higher levels of nonspecific esterases and monooxygenases in resistant spiders compared to controls. The activity of GSTs was lower in the resistant spiders. Elevated levels of nonspecific esterases and monooxygenases suggest their role in metabolic resistance in P. sumatrana. The reduced levels of total protein contents revealed its possible consumption to meet energy demands.     

The Good,the Bad,and the Ugly of interleukin‐6 signaling

Interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) is a pleiotropic cytokine with complex roles in inflammation and metabolic disease. While typically regarded as a pro‐inflammatory cytokine, multiple studies in the last 20 years have generated conflicting data on the role of IL‐6 in inflammation and metabolism. In a recent study in Nature Immunology, Brüning and collaborators demonstrate that IL‐6 signaling in myeloid cells attenuates obesity‐induced inflammation and insulin resistance by promoting macrophage alternative activation (Mauer et al, 2014 ). This study unveils a new and surprising anti‐inflammatory action of IL‐6 and further highlights the complex actions of this cytokine.     

Recovering microbial genomes from metagenomes in hypersaline environments: The Good,the Bad and the Ugly

Current metagenomic tools allow the recovery of microbial genomes directly from the environment. This can be accomplished by binning metagenomic contigs according to their coverage and tetranucleotide frequency, followed by an estimation of the bin quality. The public availability of bioinformatics tools, together with the decreasing cost of next generation sequencing, are democratizing this powerful approach that is spreading from specialized research groups to the general public. Using metagenomes from hypersaline environments, as well as mock metagenomes composed of Archaea and Bacteria frequently found in these systems, we have analyzed the advantages and difficulties of the binning process in these extreme environments to tackle microbial population diversity. These extreme systems harbor relatively low species diversity but high intraspecific diversity, which can compromise metagenome assembly and therefore the whole binning process. The main goal is to compare the output of the binning process with what is previously known from the analyzed samples, based on years of study using different approaches. Several scenarios have been analyzed in detail: (i) a good quality bin from a species highly abundant in the environment; (ii) an intermediate quality bin with incongruences that can be solved by further analyses and manual curation, and (iii) a low-quality bin to investigate the failure to recover a very abundant microbial genome as well as some possible solutions. The latter can be considered the “great metagenomics anomaly” and is mainly due to assembly problems derived from the microdiversity of naturally co-existing populations in nature.     

Hickmania Troglodytes, the Tasmanian Cave Spider, and its Potential Role in Cave Management

Cave faunas – which often contain a high representation of spiders – are subject to increasing pressure from the effects of epigean habitat degradation and recreational caving activities. Hickmania troglodytes is a prominent member of the Tasmanian cave fauna, a spider of phylogenetic, zoogeographic and ecological importance, but about which little has previously been known. Long-term monitoring has revealed many unusual life-cycle characteristics in this species, most of which occur over long periods of time and are dependent upon environmental stability. The species presents a potentially useful tool in the management and monitoring of cave fauna and karst, as it is large, conspicuous, numerous, ubiquitous, sedentary, functionally significant and potentially sensitive to various sources of disturbance. H. troglodytes may provide a visible and obvious measure of disturbance in and around cave entrances, and may also prove useful in detecting broader scale impacts affecting the entire cave. Many promising developments are being made in terms of cave management in Tasmania, but other issues are less well addressed and still need to be resolved. With further research, the use of indicator or sentinel species may prove to be well suited to the less complex and often sparsely populated subterranean environment, and may play an important role within larger management strategies for cave fauna and karst.     

Threshold Concepts and Their Use in Rangeland Management and Restoration: The Good, the Bad, and the Insidious

Ecological thresholds describe abrupt changes in ecological properties in time or space. In rangeland management, thresholds reflect changes in vegetation and soils that are expensive or impossible to reverse. The threshold concept has catalyzed important advances in rangeland management thinking, but it has also introduced two classes of drawbacks. First, the ambiguity of the term "threshold" and the desire for simplicity in its application has led to an overemphasis on classification thresholds, such as vegetation cover values. Uncritical use of classification thresholds may lead to the abandonment of management efforts in land areas that would otherwise benefit from intervention. Second, it is possible that the invocation of thresholds and irreversible degradation may eventually result in the wholesale conversion of land areas that would have been recoverable or served important societal functions, such as biodiversity maintenance, that are not reflected in threshold definitions. I conclude with a recommendation to clarify the nature of thresholds by defining the relationships among pattern, process, and degradation and distinguishing preventive thresholds from restoration thresholds. We must also broaden the attributes used to define states and thresholds.