This continuing series gathers and presents original research results on the leading edge of medicine and biology. Each article has been carefully selected in an attempt to present substantial topical data across a broad spectrum. Topics discussed include breast cancer and autophagy; menopause symptoms, treatment and self-care measures; patient-completed questionnaires; bacterial flagella and biofilms formation; future direction of cataract surgery; high orderlines of phytoplankton taxonomic structure and a multiple increment-decrement life table of HIV population.