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We explore population genetic structure in phyllostomid bats (Ardops nichollsi, Brachyphylla cavernarum and Artibeus jamaicensis) from the northern Lesser Antilles by investigating the degree to which island populations are genetically differentiated. Our hypothesis, that the island populations are genetically distinct because of a combination of founding events, limited migration and genetic drift exacerbated by catastrophe-induced fluctuations in population size, is derived from a priori hypotheses erected in the literature. The first prediction of this hypothesis, that within each species island populations are monophyletic, was tested using a parametric bootstrap approach. Island monophyly could not be rejected in Ardops nichollsi (P = 0.718), but could be rejected in B. cavernarum (P < 0.001) and Artibeus jamaicensis (P < 0.001). A second prediction, that molecular variance is partitioned among islands, was tested using an amova and was rejected in each species [Ardops nichollsi (P = 0.697); B. cavernarum (P = 0.598); Artibeus jamaicensis (P = 0.763)]. In B. cavernarum and Artibeus jamaicensis, the admixture in mitochondrial haplotypes from islands separated by > 100 km of ocean can be explained either by interisland migration or by incomplete lineage sorting of ancestral polymorphism in the source population. As an a posteriori test of lineage sorting, we used simulations of gene trees within a population tree to suggest that lineage sorting is an unlikely explanation for the observed pattern of nonmonophyly in Artibeus jamaicensis (PW < 0.01; PSE = 0.04), but cannot be rejected in B. cavernarum (PW = 0.81; PSE = 0.79). A conservative interpretation of the molecular data is that island populations of Artibeus jamaicensis, although isolated geographically, are not isolated genetically.

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Fragmentary cranial remains of a child from a commingled burial in a historic Omaha Cemetery (AD 1780-1800) exhibit bony fusion between the frontal, parietals, and sphenoid. The child's remains are consistent with a developmental age between newborn and 6 months postnatal. Radiological and morphological analyses confirm that this individual exhibits osteological signs pathognomic of bicoronal sutural synostosis, including deformation of the lateral orbital margin. This case, although fragmentary, significantly augments other archaeological cases of coronal synostosis reported in the literature. In addition, an extremely large bregmatic fontanel, expanded anterior cranial fossa, and bossed forehead compared with undeformed individuals suggest the child also suffered from increased intracranial pressure perhaps related to an associated hydrocephaly. Despite the deformity, the remains of this child were treated in much the same manner as other infant remains from the site, including the presence of red mercury pigment on the skeletal remains.

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The DNA double helix is straight only in the idealized case. In reality, it bends, twists and stretches in response to local base sequence and to specific interactions with proteins and other bound ligands. Naturally occurring bends appear to promote the assembly of nucleosomes, and in some cases can effectively replace regulatory DNA-binding proteins in vivo. Recently, a computational method known as 'finite element analysis', which is used routinely by engineers to analyse the stability of buildings and bridges, has been applied to the quantitative assessment of natural curvature in supercoiled DNA structures, providing new insight into the relationship between local, sequence-dependent features and the overall topology of these chains.

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DNA base sequence, once thought to be interesting only as a carrier of the genetic blueprint, is now recognized as playing a structural role in modulating the biological activity of genes. Primary sequences of nucleic acid bases describe real three-dimensional structures with properties reflecting those structures. Moreover, the structures are base sequence dependent with individual residues adopting characteristic spatial forms. As a consequence, the double helix can fold into tertiary arrangements, although the deformation is much more gradual and spread over a larger molecular scale than in proteins. As part of an effort to understand how local structural irregularities are translated at the macromolecular level in DNA and recognized by proteins, a series of calculations probing the structure and properties of the double helix have been performed. By combining several computational techniques, complementary information as well as a series of built-in checks and balances for assessing the significance of the findings are obtained. The known sequence dependent bending, twisting, and translation of simple dimeric fragments have been incorporated into computer models of long open DNAs of varying length and chemical composition as well as in closed double helical circles and loops. The extent to which the double helix can be forced to bend and twist is monitored with newly parameterized base sequence dependent elastic energy potentials based on the observed configurations of adjacent base pairs in the B-DNA crystallographic literature.

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This study suggests that the evolution of head posture in bats is constrained by the demands of vocalization during echolocation. Nasal-emitting microchiropteran taxa are easily identified by their characteristic rotation of the basicranium ventrally about the cervical axis, the depression of the rostrum below the basicranial axis, and by the rotation of the lateral semicircular canals so as to maintain their horizontal orientation during flight. The converse is true for oral-emitting Microchiroptera. The general form of the microchiropteran skull has been canalized along two distinct evolutionary paths, respectively, towards oral-emitting or nasal-emitting forms.

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PIP: A clinical study was conducted using plasma samples from 9 normally menstruating women volunteers to determine the contribution of the corpus luteum on the steroid profile. The levels of 12 unconjugated steroids and 4 steroid sulphates were analyzed in the peripheral circulation and in the venous blood draining both ovaries before and after surgical removal of a freshly formed corpus luteum. Peripheral levels of several steroids were also measured during 3 preoperative and 3 postoperative days. Levels of certain of the steroids were significantly higher in the venous blood draining the "active" ovary (containing the corpus luteum) than in the blood draining the "inactive" ovary. The levels of many of the steroids were significantly higher in the blood draining both ovaries than in the perpheral blood, but some of the steroid levels were only higher in the blood draining the 'active' ovary. Enucleation of the corpus luteum abolished the previous differences in steroid levels between the 2 ovaries and diminished certain steroid levels and raised others in the blood draining the ovary from which the corpus luteum had been removed. The most important steroids secreted by the human corpus luteum are concluded to be progesterone, 20a-dihydroprogesterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone estradiol, and estrone.^ieng

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