A Tale of Two Atria

We present an interesting intracardiac electrogram of a dissimilar atrial rhythm in a patient of bi-atrial orthotopic cardiac transplant.     

Baseball on the Border: A Tale of Two Laredos

Baseball on the Border:. Tale of Two Laredos. Alan M. Klein. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1997.291 pp.     

Experimentalist Meets Theoretician: A Tale of Two Scientific Cultures

This is the story of how a small team of experimentalists and theoreticians collaborated to develop a theoretical model for vesicle formation during endocytosis. In telling our story, we hope to distil some general conclusions about the purpose and value of theoretical models and how best to navigate collaborations between experimentalists and theoreticians. We encountered challenges in building and publishing our model, but through our experiences we gained insight into how such collaborations can be profitably conducted. We also developed opinions about how theoretical models should be evaluated by peer reviewers and editors. During the evolution of our theoretical model, we educated each other, organized our thoughts and our data, developed a conceptual framework for understanding the mechanochemistry of endocytosis, and generated testable hypotheses that stimulated new experiments.     

Obesity in Eastern Europe: An overview of its health and economic implications

AIMS: To assess the evolution and patterns of obesity in countries of the WHO European Region with a particular focus on the Eastern European countries, and to discuss the health and economic implications of obesity for those countries. METHODS: The available data on overweight and obesity in children and adults for the countries of the WHO European countries were collated from the International Obesity TaskForce database and considered in the light of estimates for the costs of obesity-related ill health. RESULTS: Overweight and obesity in most countries of Europe show rising secular trends, and are predicted to continue rising if not addressed. Estimates of the costs to the health services and to economic productivity indicate that some countries may find it hard to cope with the burden of obesity: up to 6% of total health care costs and as much in indirect costs of lost productivity could be attributed to obesity and its associated illnesses. CONCLUSIONS: Transition, despite the many benefits it has undoubtedly conferred to the population living in the Region, has also entailed the collateral damage of a fast growing obesity challenge. Policy-makers in the new and candidate EU countries as well as other countries of the European Region can learn from the negative Western European and global experience, act now to stem the obesity epidemic from further developing and in so doing, reduce the substantial economic losses associated with obesity. Local, national and international strategies will be needed to combat the problem.     

Bread Iodine Content and Thyroid Radioiodine Uptake: A Tale of Two Cities

The iodine content of bread consumed in the Bronx, New York, was found to be significantly lower than that of bread consumed in Columbia, Missouri. This difference in dietary intake of iodine could account for the lowered range of normal values for 24-hour ¹³¹I uptake tests in Columbia, and the persistence of the same normal range for this test over the past 28 years in the Bronx. A population with high iodine intake requires higher doses of radioactive iodine in the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid disease. Questions are raised regarding the relationship of high iodine intake to the risk of developing thyrotoxicosis.     

Allelic Variation in Malawi Cichlid Opsins: A Tale of Two Genera

The role of sequence variation in the spectral tuning of color vision is well established in many systems. This includes the cichlids of Lake Victoria where sequence variation has been linked to environmental light gradients and speciation. The cichlids of Lake Malawi are a similar model for visual evolution, but the role of gene sequence variation in visual tuning between closely related species is unknown. This work describes such variation in multiple species of two rock-dwelling genera: Metriaclima and Labidochromis. Genomic DNA for seven cone opsin genes was sequenced and the structure of the opsin proteins was inferred. Retinal binding pocket polymorphisms were identified and compared to available data regarding spectral absorbance shifts. Sequence variation with known or potential effects on absorbance spectra were found in four genes: SWS1 (UV sensitive), SWS2B (violet sensitive), RH2Aβ (green sensitive), and LWS (red sensitive). Functional variation was distributed such that each genus had both a variable short-wavelength and long-wavelength sensitive opsin. This suggests spectral tuning is important at the margins of the cichlid visual spectrum. Further, there are two SWS1 opsin alleles that differ in sensitivity by 10 nm and are >2 MY divergent. One of these occurs in a haplotype block >1 kb. Potential haplotype blocks were found around the RH2 opsin loci. These data suggest that molecular diversification has resulted in functionally unique alleles and changes to the visual system. These data also suggest that opsin sequence variation tunes spectral sensitivities between closely related species and that the specific regions of spectral tuning are genus-specific.     

Frameworks of population obesity and the use of cultural consensus modeling in the study of environments contributing to obesity

Obesity in Eastern Europe has been linked to privilege and status prior to the collapse of communism, and to exposure to free-market economics after it. Neither formulation is a complete explanation, and it is useful to examine the potential value of other models of population obesity for the understanding of this phenomenon. These include those of: thrifty genotypes; obesogenic behaviour; obesogenic environments; nutrition transition; obesogenic culture; and biocultural interactions of genetics, environment, behaviour and culture. At the broadest level, obesity emerges from the interaction of thrifty genotype with obesogenic environment. However, defining obesogenic environments remains problematic, especially in relation to sociocultural factors. Furthermore, since different identity groups may share different values concerning the obesogenicity of the environment, a priori assumptions about group homogeneity may lead to flawed interpretations of the importance of sociocultural factors in obesogenic environments. A new way to identify cultural coherence of groups and populations in relation to environments contributing to obesity is put forward here, that of cultural consensus modeling.     

Health and nutrition in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union during the decade of transition: A review of the literature

The collapse of the Soviet Union was the most important historical event at the close of the 20th century. The jarring nature of this transition has resulted in large fluctuations in household resources and increased uncertainty in all facets of life for the individuals concerned. Much academic research and popular writing has explored the socioeconomic and political ramifications of bringing these countries into mainstream capitalism. This paper provides a review of the literature examining health outcomes in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union during the transition period. The research, which has studied the human face of transition, spans multiple disciplines and it is thus currently difficult for interested researchers to obtain an overview of the basic facts, as well as, the more detailed nuances, concerning developments. This paper highlights what we currently know about health outcomes in transition countries and what we do not know, and suggests future areas of research which may help fill important gaps in our knowledge.     

A Tale of Two Policies: The French Connection,Methadone, and Heroin Epidemics

The law enforcement and treatmentpolicies of the Nixon administration are oftencredited with ending the epidemic of heroinaddiction that rose in America's cities in the1960s. In this article it is argued thatalthough the interventions did in fact cause amajor change in heroin distribution and use,the epidemic did not end in any simple way. Thedecline in heroin and increase in methadonethat resulted from the Nixon policies lead to ashift for many addicts in both clinical andstreet settings from one narcotic to another.The temporary shortage of heroin that resultedfrom law enforcement was quickly compensatedfor with methadone, as well as with newdistribution systems from Southeast Asia andMexico. In the end, the interventions caused achange in an enduring heroin system, a changethat left that system in a stronger form interms of supply and in a situation ofcontinuing growth in terms of the number ofaddicts.     

Carthamus species in the ancient Near East and south-eastern Europe: archaeobotanical evidence for their distribution and use as a source of oil

We present an overview of archaeobotanical Carthamus spp. finds from Neolithic to medieval sites in the Near East and adjacent areas. A particular focus is put on the cultivated form of the genus. Safflower appears first in a number of early Bronze Age (3000 b.c.) sites in northern and central Syria. From there it apparently spread to Egypt, the Aegean and south-eastern Europe. The Near Eastern Bronze Age evidence shows a striking exclusiveness in the distribution patterns of safflower and flax, with flax being restricted to Levantine and Iranian sites. This may reflect the contrasting ecological requirements of the two crops, with safflower being well adapted to drought and salinity and thus to arid conditions. At the same time the geographically complementary evidence may indicate a similar use of the two crops and most probably suggests that the safflower was also used for oil almost from the beginning of its cultivation. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

SSR在琼海和三亚两普通野生稻居群中的遗传变异

通过分析37个SSR座位在琼海与三亚两普通野生稻（Oryza rufipogon）居群中的遗传变异,结果表明,SSR座位在三亚普通野生稻居群中的变异高于其在琼海普通野生稻居群中的变异。根据遗传相似性和遗传距离公式得到琼海与三亚普通野生稻居群间的遗传相似性为0．6385,遗传距离为0．4486cM。Wright的啪验结果表明,这37个SSR座位在两居群之间存在着中等程度的遗传分化,FST=0．3909。此分化结果主要是由两居群间弱的基因漂移导致的（Nm=0．3895）。     

Differentiation of tetrapod communities and some aspects of biotic events in the early triassic of Eastern Europe

The patterns of spatial differentiation of the Early Mesozoic terrestrial biota in Eastern Europe and Australia-Tasmania demonstrate that the tetrapod faunal recovery following the Permian extinction was characterized by both global and regional heterogeneity. Local distinctions observed in the development of Early Triassic tetrapod assemblages of European Russia allow the recognition of the following realms: (1) the central and northern regions of the East European Platform (Moscow-Mezen Syncline) and the Timan-North Ural Region; (2) the southern Fore-Urals, including the Obshchii Syrt Plateau; and (3) the southern regions of the East European Platform (the slope of the Voronezh Anticline). Climatic conditions at the initial stage of the development of local communities were characterized by an increase in aridity and seasonal contrasts of climate. Therefore, terrestrial assemblages mostly concentrated in the aquatic and coastal biotopes. Accordingly, vertebrate assemblages of the region were dominated everywhere by aquatic amphibians and semiaquatic reptiles, while the accompanying palynomorph assemblages show the predominance of hygrophilous vegetation indicative of swampy mangrove setting. With respect to amphibians, a peak of local biogeographic differentiation falls on the onset of the Early Triassic and, in the case of reptiles, on the end of this time span. This change conforms to the increasing role of reptiles in the overall taxonomic diversity with time. Among the three main biogeographic units of the region, the Southern Fore-Ural Realm is distinguished by the maintenance of distinct faunal links with Gondwanan regions. The Southern Realm shows a connection with the Germanic Basin and more western Euramerican areas, which is documented for the Late Olenekian and occurred under influence of coastal marine conditions.     

Pears and persimmons: A comparison of temperate forests in Europe and eastern North America

Major dimensions of ecological segregation of tree species in cool temperate Europe and E North America appear related to (a) soil pH, (b) large scale ‘succession’ including topographic sequences of changing moisture stress, and (c) intolerance versus tolerance of canopy competition as involved in ‘gap-phase’ dynamics. Genera tend to have similar average positions along these dimensions in the two subcontinents. E North American genera that were probably never present in Europe, and the few opposites, tend to be southern and are concentrated on dry or basic soil. The cause of this trend may involve the isolated expansions of dry climatic areas since the early Tertiary. E North American genera that became extinct in Europe after the mid-Pliocene are typical of habitat intermediate between dry-acid and moist-basic, though generally more moist-acid than dry-basic. These genera also have few species and little overall habitat width. Severe restrictions of their habitats may have occurred. Also, difficulties of migration to and from refugia are suggested by the generally heavier seed of extinet genera and those with strongly southern ranges in Europe or with few species compared to E North America. This relationship is apparent within small winged, medium fleshy and large nutty fruit classes. However, there is little difference in geographic restriction between these classes. Carpinus, Alnus, Corylus, Taxus, Pyrus and Sorbus reach 100–1000% greater height in Europe. There are no opposing differences of this magnitude. These trees may be ecological substitutes for extinct Liriodendron, Liquidambar, Carya, Tsuga + Thuja, Diospyros, and a group with smaller fleshy fruits, respectively. There are other intrageneric differences in height, seed weight, niche width, longevity, etc., that deserve further attention.     

New data on Trematosauroid labyrinthodonts of Eastern Europe: 1. Genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Inflectosaurus</Emphasis> Shishkin, 1960

New materials and previously unpublished data on trematosaurid labyrinthodonts from the Early Triassic Bolshoe Bogdo locality (Astrakhan Region) are described. All cranial trematosaurid specimens from this locality are assigned to the monotypic genus Inflectosaurus based on the postorbital length of the skull roof. The diagnosis of the genus is amended. The intermediate position of Inflectosaurus between Angusaurus and Trematosaurus is marked.     

The invader,the enemy within and they-who-must-not-be-named: how police talk about minorities in Italy,the Netherlands and France

How people talk about ethnic minorities is a sensitive subject, especially in law enforcement. We know little about it as far as continental Europe is concerned. This article is about how police officers talk about minorities in France, in Italy and in the Netherlands. How do speech norms (‘political correctness’) apply outside the anglophone world? Is there a relation between speech norms and practices? This exploratory study is based on interviews with fifty-five police officers from France, Italy and the Netherlands. In these countries, police officers are aware that displaying overt racism is not socially desirable. Interviews show that there are vastly different speech norms governing decent race talk in the three countries. Specifically, we compare: how police use ethnic categories; how police anticipate accusations of discrimination; and how police theorize the over-representation of ethnic minorities in crime. French respondents respect much stricter speech norms than Dutch or Italian ones.     

A Tale of Two Morphs: Modeling Pollen Transfer,Magic Traits,and Reproductive Isolation in Parapatry

The evolution of the flower is commonly thought to have spurred angiosperm diversification. Similarly, particular floral traits might have promoted diversification within specific angiosperm clades. We hypothesize that traits promoting the precise positional transfer of pollen between flowers might promote diversification. In particular, precise pollen transfer might produce partial reproductive isolation that facilitates adaptive divergence between parapatric populations differing in their reproductive-organ positions. We investigate this hypothesis with an individual-based model of pollen transfer dynamics associated with heterostyly, a floral syndrome that depends on precise pollen transfer. Our model shows that precise pollen transfer can cause sexual selection leading to divergence in reproductive-organ positions between populations served by different pollinators, pleiotropically causing an increase in reproductive isolation through a “magic trait” mechanism. Furthermore, this increased reproductive isolation facilitates adaptive divergence between the populations in an unlinked, ecologically selected trait. In a different pollination scenario, however, precise pollen transfer causes a decrease in adaptive divergence by promoting asymmetric gene flow. Our results highlight the idea that magic traits are not “magic” in isolation; in particular, the effect size of magic traits in speciation depends on the external environment, and also on other traits that modify the strength of the magic trait''s influence on non-random mating. Overall, we show that the evolutionary consequences of pollen transfer dynamics can depend strongly on the available pollinator fauna and on the morphological fit between flowers and pollinators. Furthermore, our results illustrate the potential importance of even weak reproductive isolating barriers in facilitating adaptive divergence.