经典名方中黄芪的本草考证

通过查阅历代本草、方书、医籍，结合现代相关文献、标准等资料，对黄芪药材的名称、基原、产地、采收加工、炮制方法等根据不同历史发展时期进行系统考证，为含该药材的经典名方的开发提供依据。经考证可知，黄芪本名黄耆，而“芪”字本指药材知母，明代开始俗作黄芪，进而逐渐将黄芪作为药材正名。黄芪历代主流基原可确定为蒙古黄芪Astragalus membranaceus var. mongholicus或膜荚黄芪A. membranaceus的干燥根，不同历史时期还存在多花黄芪A. floridus、金翼黄芪A. chrysopterus、梭果黄芪A. emestii等黄芪属甚至非黄芪属植物作地方习用黄芪使用的情况。黄芪最早产区为四川、陕西、甘肃等地，后逐渐往东北方向扩展，宋代以来多将山西所产绵黄芪奉为道地，至清代除山西外又加内蒙古为道地，民国则推崇东北所产。现主产于山西、内蒙古、甘肃及东北等省区，商品以栽培品为主，山西大同、忻州等地仿野生栽培品质较好。黄芪在本草、方书中记载的炮制方法较多，多用生品，炮制品中以蜜炙为主流。基于当前资源栽培、生产情况，《古代经典名方目录（第一批）》所载11首含黄芪的经典名方建议均使用蒙古黄芪A. membranaceus var. mongholicus，以山西大同、忻州等地产者为佳，且除清心莲子饮注明需蜜炙外，其他方剂建议用生品。     

多结节肝癌单中心与多中心起源的鉴别及临床治疗进展

肝癌是全球最常见的恶性肿瘤之一,具有起病隐匿、发展迅速的特点,多数患者确诊时病期已较晚.此外,约有一半的原发性肝癌,特别是肝细胞肝癌患者肿瘤结节并非一个,而呈多结节病变,按照起源不同可将其分为多中心起源和单中心起源,两类患者在发病机理、治疗方式及预后上有显著不同.因此,鉴别多结节肝癌的起源对于提高患者生存质量有着至关重要的作用.本文对多结节肝癌的分类、鉴别方法及其在临床治疗中的作用进行综述.     

EurEAs_Gplex—A new SNaPshot assay for continental population discrimination and gender identification

Assays that allow analysis of the biogeographic origin of biological samples in a standard forensic laboratory have to target a small number of highly differentiating markers. Such markers should be easy to multiplex and the assay must perform well in the degraded and scarce biological material. SNPs localized in the genome regions, which in the past were subjected to differential selective pressure in various populations, are the most widely used markers in the studies of biogeographic affiliation. SNPs reflecting biogeographic differences not related to any phenotypic traits are not sufficiently explored.The goal of our study was to identify a small set of SNPs not related to any known pigmentation/phenotype-specific genes, which would allow efficient discrimination between populations of Europe and East Asia. The selection of SNPs was based on the comparative analysis of representative European and Chinese/Japanese samples (B-lymphocyte cell lines), genotyped using the Infinium HumanOmniExpressExome microarray (Illumina). The classifier, consisting of 24 unlinked SNPs (24-SNP classifier), was selected. The performance of a 14-SNP subset of this classifier (14-SNP subclassifier) was tested using genotype data from several populations. The 14-SNP subclassifier differentiated East Asians, Europeans and Africans with ∼100% accuracy; Palestinians, representative of the Middle East, clustered with Europeans, while Amerindians and Pakistani were placed between East Asian and European populations.Based on these results, we have developed a SNaPshot assay (EurEAs_Gplex) for genotyping SNPs from the 14-SNP subclassifier, combined with an additional marker for gender identification. Forensic utility of the EurEAs_Gplex was verified using degraded and low quantity DNA samples. The performance of the EurEAs_Gplex was satisfactory when using degraded DNA; tests using low quantity DNA samples revealed a previously not described source of genotyping errors, potentially important for any SNaPshot-based assays.     

Establishing Origin: Analysing the Questions Asked in Asylum Interviews

In the absence of evidence, asylum seekers are interviewed to assess the credibility of their stories. Few studies have examined whether or not the questions asked in such interviews stimulate the applicant to give lengthy, detailed, and accurate answers. The style, type, and content of the questions asked in order to assess a claim about origin were analysed in 40 case files from the Dutch Immigration Service. A large proportion of the questions were closed and fact-checking questions. Less than one fifth of questions were open or cued recall questions. The results show that to assess credibility of origin, knowledge questions were posed about the immediate living environment, flight to Europe, identity documents, country of origin, and personal background of applicants. Possibilities for increasing the quantity and quality of information obtained in asylum interviews are discussed. Future research should validate the assumption that truthful claimants have substantial knowledge about their country and town of origin.     

从不对称行为特征探讨白马人的族源

目的:研究白马人的族源问题。方法:采用随机抽样方法调查白马人和羌族的6项不对称行为特征。结果:白马人的利手出现率、羌族的起步类型出现率存在性别间差异。白马人交叉臂左型率为55.7%,在我国族群中处于较高水平,交叉腿左型率为17.0%,起步类型左型率为39.1%,在我国族群中处于较低水平。羌族扣手左型率为47.8%,在我国族群中处于较高水平。聚类分析结果显示,白马人的不对称行为特征与羌族比较接近。结论:在6项不对称行为特征方面,支持白马人并非藏族的观点,并提示白马人与羌族的族源关系比较接近。     

“You Live Where?!” Lesbian Mothers' Attachment to Nonmetropolitan Communities

A positive attachment to one's residential community has been linked to better mental health ( McLaren, 2009 ), stronger social support ( Young, Russell, & Powers, 2004 ), and a higher quality of life ( Mak, Cheung, & Law, 2009 ). Attachment to residential community has been understudied in research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) families. The current study attempts to fill this gap by using family and minority stress theories to examine the predictors of residential community attachment among 77 lesbian mothers living in nonmetropolitan communities. Our findings indicate that stronger residential community attachment is predicted by more frequent contact with family of origin, low religiosity, and an interaction between close LGBT friendships and the presence of at least one local LGBT organization. Contrary to expectations, anti‐LGBT victimization perpetrated by community members did not have an effect on residential community attachment.     

The Origin of the Variola Virus

The question of the origin of smallpox, one of the major menaces to humankind, is a constant concern for the scientific community. Smallpox is caused by the agent referred to as the variola virus (VARV), which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. In the last century, smallpox was declared eradicated from the human community; however, the mechanisms responsible for the emergence of new dangerous pathogens have yet to be unraveled. Evolutionary analyses of the molecular biological genomic data of various orthopoxviruses, involving a wide range of epidemiological and historical information about smallpox, have made it possible to date the emergence of VARV. Comparisons of the VARV genome to the genomes of the most closely related orthopoxviruses and the examination of the distribution their natural hosts’ ranges suggest that VARV emerged 3000 to 4000 years ago in the east of the African continent. The VARV evolution rate has been estimated to be approximately 2 × 10⁻⁶ substitutions/site/year for the central conserved genomic region and 4 × 10⁻⁶ substitutions/site/year for the synonymous substitutions in the genome. Presumably, the introduction of camels to Africa and the concurrent changes to the climate were the particular factors that triggered the divergent evolution of a cowpox-like ancestral virus and thereby led to the emergence of VARV.