釉基质蛋白对人牙周膜细胞群骨钙素的影响

目的研究人牙周膜细胞群(human periodontal ligament cell populations,hPDLPs)在釉基质蛋白(em-dogain,EMD)诱导下骨钙素(osteocalcin,OCN)表达的改变。方法组织块法分离培养人牙周膜细胞,实验组用含100 mg/L EMD的培养液诱导6 d,对照组不经EMD诱导培养。免疫细胞化学和实时定量聚合酶链反应(polymer-ase chain reaction,PCR)检测成牙骨质细胞矿化相关蛋白OCN的表达。结果免疫细胞化学结果显示,实验组和对照组hPDLPs细胞胞浆均可见黄色或棕黄色颗粒,OCN表达呈阳性;实验组hPDLPs的OCN检测平均光密度值为0.172 43±0.014 85,对照组为0.167 01±0.017 03,组间差异无统计学意义(t=0.757,P=0.459);实时定量PCR检测结果显示,实验组骨钙素相对表达量是对照组的1.13倍。结论 EMD对hPDLPs的OCN表达无明显影响。     

Identifying structural barriers to an effective HIV response: using the National Composite Policy Index data to evaluate the human rights,legal and policy environment

Introduction

Attention to the negative effects of structural barriers on HIV efforts is increasing. Reviewing national legal and policy environments with attention to the international human rights commitments of states is a means of assessing and providing focus for addressing these barriers to effective HIV responses.

Methods

Law and policy data from the 171 countries reporting under the Declaration of Commitment from the 2001 United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS were analyzed to assess attention to human rights in national legal and policy environments as relevant to the health and rights of key populations such as people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men and sex workers.

Results

Seventy-eight governments and civil society in 106 countries report the existence of laws and policies which present obstacles to accessing HIV services for key populations. Laws and policies which positively affect access to HIV-related services, in and of themselves constituting structural interventions, were also reported. The dissonance between laws and how this impacts the availability and use of HIV-related services deserve greater attention.

Conclusions

Recognition of the harms inherent in laws that constitute structural barriers to effective HIV responses and the potential positive role that a supportive legal environment can play suggests the need for legal reform to ensure an enabling regulatory framework within which HIV services can be effectively delivered and used by the populations who need them. Moving beyond laws and policies, further efforts are required to determine how to capture information on the range of structural barriers. Teasing apart the impact of different barriers, as well as the structural interventions put in place to address them, remains complicated. Capturing the impact of policy and legal interventions can ultimately support governments and civil society to ensure the human rights of key populations are protected in national HIV responses.     

Rapidly mutating Y-STRs in rapidly expanding populations: Discrimination power of the Yfiler Plus multiplex in northern Africa

The male-specific northern African genetic pool is characterised by a high frequency of the E-M81 haplogroup, which expanded in very recent times (2–3 kiloyears ago). As a consequence of their recent coalescence, E-M81 chromosomes often cannot be completely distinguished on the basis of their Y-STR profiles, unless rapidly-mutating Y-STRs (RM Y-STRs) are analysed. In this study, we used the Yfiler® Plus kit, which includes 7 RM Y-STRs and 20 standard Y-STR, to analyse 477 unrelated males coming from 11 northern African populations sampled from Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Egypt. The Y chromosomes were assigned to monophyletic lineages after the analysis of 72 stable biallelic polymorphisms and, as expected, we found a high proportion of E-M81 subjects (about 46%), with frequencies decreasing from west to east. We found low intra-population diversity indexes, in particular in the populations that experienced long-term isolation. The AMOVA analysis showed significant differences between the countries and between most of the 11 populations, with a rough differentiation between northwestern Africa and northeastern Africa, where the Egyptians Berbers from Siwa represented an outlier population. The comparison between the Yfiler® and the Yfiler® Plus network of the E-M81 Y chromosomes confirmed the high power of discrimination of the latter kit, thanks to higher variability of the RM Y-STRs: indeed, the number of chromosomes sharing the same haplotype was drastically reduced from 201 to 81 and limited, in the latter case, to subjects from the same population.     

Importance of Genetic Studies in Consanguineous Populations for the Characterization of Novel Human Gene Functions

Consanguineous offspring have elevated levels of homozygosity. Autozygous stretches within their genome are likely to harbour loss of function (LoF) mutations which will lead to complete inactivation or dysfunction of genes. Studying consanguineous offspring with clinical phenotypes has been very useful for identifying disease causal mutations. However, at present, most of the genes in the human genome have no disorder associated with them or have unknown function. This is presumably mostly due to the fact that homozygous LoF variants are not observed in outbred populations which are the main focus of large sequencing projects. However, another reason may be that many genes in the genome—even when completely “knocked out,” do not cause a distinct or defined phenotype. Here, we discuss the benefits and implications of studying consanguineous populations, as opposed to the traditional approach of analysing a subset of consanguineous families or individuals with disease. We suggest that studying consanguineous populations “as a whole” can speed up the characterisation of novel gene functions as well as indicating nonessential genes and/or regions in the human genome. We also suggest designing a single nucleotide variant (SNV) array to make the process more efficient.     

Helping Smokers Quit: The Smoking Cessation Leadership Center Engages Behavioral Health by Challenging Old Myths and Traditions

Smoking is much more common among persons with behavioral health conditions (mental illnesses and/or substance use disorders). Persons with these disorders are more likely to die from smoking-related causes than any other reason. Studies have shown that stopping smoking can improve mental health function, as well as improve outcomes for substance use disorders. Yet, for a variety of reasons, smoking cessation has not been integrated into the treatment of behavioral health conditions, and in many instances tobacco use was not only condoned but encouraged. Beginning in 2007, the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center (SCLC) began engaging relevant agencies in an attempt to stimulate more vigorous smoking cessation activities. Partners included the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, advocacy organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness and Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, and clinical groups such as the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, the American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, National Council on Behavioral Health, and National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. A signature program featured 16 individual state summits involving agencies and groups from multiple sectors, all aiming to lower smoking rates in behavioral health populations. These activities mark an evolving culture change within behavioral health.     

Microaggressions and marijuana use among college students

This study examines the association between exposure to microaggressions and marijuana use, using original survey data from a sample of racial/ethnic minority college students (n?=?332) from a large Division I university in the United States. Nearly all of our sample (96%) reported at least one experience with microaggressions in the past 6 months, while 33% reported using marijuana regularly. We modeled regular use of marijuana using multiple logistic regression, with consideration of sex, age, race/ethnicity, and microaggression scale scores as covariates. Age, sex, the microinvalidations subscale score, and the full microaggression scale score were significantly associated with marijuana use in our full models (p?p?=?.01; p?=?.02; p?=?.03, respectively). With each additional experience of microaggression, the odds of regular marijuana use increase. Academic communities may consider the primary prevention of discriminatory behavior when addressing student substance use.     

In the absence of hard data,Is soft data better than no data at all?

Where total anonymity and confidentiality were previously respected in drug research, a tendency towards the provision of “hard” data such as verifiable personal details seriously disadvantages researchers working with “hidden groups” who use drugs in a relatively problem free way. This particularly applies to those who use substances generally regarded as highly addictive and problematic, such as heroin. Funding for a follow-up to an earlier research project was sought; the original investigated non-problematic heroin users, whereas the chief aim of the follow-up was to examine “resilience” to the problems commonly associated with the use of heroin. An illustration of attempting to put the gathering of “hard” verifiable data into action is presented here along with the immediate consequences. Unsurprisingly, the response of potential participants to the idea of providing personal details was largely negative, as the perceived consequences of being “outed” as a heroin user were generally regarded as worse than any of the issues associated with the use of the drug itself. An irony of the situation is that this “resilience” may be due to participant refusal to compromise their anonymity. This raises some obvious ethical issues. A number of potential longer term consequences on substance use/misuse research are also discussed.