The importance of defining sex differences across various biological and physiological mechanisms is more pervasive now than it has been over the last 15-20 years. As the muscle biology field pushes to identify small molecules and interventions to prevent, attenuate or even reverse muscle wasting, we must consider the effect of sex as a biological variable. It should not be assumed that a therapeutic will affect males and females with equal efficacy or equivalent target affinities under conditions where muscle wasting is observed. With that said, it is not surprising to find that we have an unclear or even a poor understanding of the effects of sex or sex hormones on muscle wasting conditions. Although recent investigations are beginning to establish experimental approaches that will allow investigators to assess the impact of sex-specific hormones on muscle wasting, the field still has not established enough published scientific tools that will allow the field to rigorously address critical hypotheses. Thus, the purpose of this review is to assemble a current summary of knowledge in the area of sexual dimorphism driven by estrogens with an effort to provide insights to interested physiologists on necessary considerations when trying to assess models for potential sex differences in cellular and molecular mechanisms of muscle wasting.
n November 2003, the Australian Government released the Tourism White Paper, a medium- to long-term strategy for the Australian tourism industry. The Paper provides for funding to improve the availability of high-quality information for the development of tourism in regional areas of Australia. More than $21 million, a historically large amount, has been identified for “…extending the provision of quality research and statistics” (Prime Minister John Howard, Media Release, November 20, 2003).
Combinations of antagonistic herbicides can be helpful in the search for seed-applied chemical safeners to protect crop plants from herbicide injury. If a particular herbicide combination is selectively antagonistic so that the crop is not injured but weed control efficacy is not reduced, it should be possible to develop a new, more selective formulation of the herbicide which includes the antagonist or antidote. A promising new approach involves the use of early pretreatments of crop plants with subtoxic levels of a particular herbicide to increase crop tolerance to later, higher rates of that herbicide. When there are different mechanisms for herbicide detoxification in different plant species, it should also be possible to develop selective herbicide synergists that would provide equal efficacy at lower rates with greater crop tolerance. As our knowledge of herbicide metabolism and mode of action develops, it will be increasingly possible to use other chemicals to selectively synergize or safen herbicides to solve problems in important crop-weed situations.
After 2-jaw surgery, difficulty in breathing through the mouth and the nose is common due to nasal airway obstruction, intraoral bleeding, and sometimes maxillomandibular fixation. A partially withdrawn nasotracheal tube can be used economically with equal efficacy to the nasopharyngeal airway to provide supplemental oxygen after 2-jaw surgery.
Bordetella pertussis outer membrane vesicle vaccine confers equal efficacy in mice with milder inflammatory responses compared to a whole-cell vaccine
