Increased centrosome amplification in aged stem cells of the Drosophila midgut

Age-related changes in long-lived tissue-resident stem cells may be tightly linked to aging and age-related diseases such as cancer. Centrosomes play key roles in cell proliferation, differentiation and migration. Supernumerary centrosomes are known to be an early event in tumorigenesis and senescence. However, the age-related changes of centrosome duplication in tissue-resident stem cells in vivo remain unknown. Here, using anti-γ-tubulin and anti-PH3, we analyzed mitotic intestinal stem cells with supernumerary centrosomes in the adult Drosophila midgut, which may be a versatile model system for stem cell biology. The results showed increased centrosome amplification in intestinal stem cells of aged and oxidatively stressed Drosophila midguts. Increased centrosome amplification was detected by overexpression of PVR, EGFR, and AKT in intestinal stem cells/enteroblasts, known to mimic age-related changes including hyperproliferation of intestinal stem cells and hyperplasia in the midgut. Our data show the first direct evidence for the age-related increase of centrosome amplification in intestinal stem cells and suggest that the Drosophila midgut is an excellent model for studying molecular mechanisms underlying centrosome amplification in aging adult stem cells in vivo.     

Cervical cancer: cytological cervical screening in Iceland and implications of HPV vaccines

K. Sigurdsson
Cervical cancer: cytological cervical screening in Iceland and implications of HPV vaccines This paper reviews the Icelandic experience regarding the age‐specific effectiveness, optimal targeted age range and intervals in cervical cancer screening and the screening implications of the HPV16/18 vaccines. The background material is based on data from a screening programme with centralized records dating back to 1964, as well as from population‐based studies on the distribution of oncogenic HPV types in cancer and histologically verified CIN2‐3 lesions and from the Icelandic arm of the Future II trial with Gardasil^®. The findings confirm significant increased rates in the screened population of CIN2‐3, stage IA (microinvasive) cancer since 1979, mainly in the age group 20–34 years. These lesions start to accumulate within 3 years of a normal smear. Studies on the distribution of HPV types indicate that the marketed vaccines could lower the incidence of cancer and CIN2‐3 by about 67% and 53%, respectively, after taking into account reported cross‐protection. About 65% of women below 25 years of age had lesions related to the non‐vaccine types and after the last normal smear these cases accumulated at the same frequency as cases with vaccine‐included types. Cases with combined vaccine and non‐vaccine types accumulated at a slower rate. We conclude that screening should continue to start at age 20 years, with invitations at 2‐year intervals up to age 39 years and thereafter at 4‐year intervals up to age 65–69 years. Current data support the conclusion that the optimal age for catch‐up HPV vaccination should be considered in the context of sexual practices and the data do not support changes in the lower age limit or screening intervals for the vaccinated women.     

绝经后女性血清瘦素、骨密度及血骨特异性碱性磷酸酶和Ⅰ型胶原交联氨基末端肽的测定及意义

目的:测定绝经后女性血清瘦素(leptin)与骨密度及及血清骨特异性碱性磷酸酶(BAP)和Ⅰ型胶原交联氨基末端肽(NTx)并探讨其关系。方法:用酶联免疫吸附试验测定287名40-80岁健康绝经后女性血清leptin以及血清骨特异性碱性磷酸酶(BAP)和Ⅰ型胶原交联氨基末端肽(NTx);用双能X线骨密度扫描仪测定总体、腰椎正位、总髋部骨密度以及体脂、瘦体重;分析它们之间的关系。结果:Leptin与髋部总体BMD呈正相关(r=0.162,P<0.05),校正年龄和体脂后,Leptin与髋部总体BMD相关性消失,Leptin与BAP相关无统计学意义;与NTX呈负相关(r=-0.119,P<0.05),校正年龄和体脂后,相关无统计学意义。BAP与总体骨密度、腰椎骨密度、髋部总体骨密度均呈负相关(r=-0.210,r=-0.236,r=-0.223,P<0.05),校正年龄和体质指数后,相关性都依然存在(r=-0.168,r=-0.187,r=-0.169,P<0.05)。NTx与总体骨密度、腰椎骨密度、髋部总体骨密度均呈负相关(r=-0.238,r=-0.232,r=-0.239,P<0.05),校正年龄和体质指数后...     

Flora Nwapa and Oguta’s Lake Goddess

The home of Nigeria's renowned Marxist anthropologist, Ikenna Nzimiro, and of the country's ``first lady of letters,' Flora Nwapa, is Oguta, a sprawling commercial centre situated on Oguta Lake near the confluence of the rivers Niger and Urashi. Both authors have described their home town in their own diverging perspectives. While Nzimiro's account focused on the town's political organization and questions of state formation and authority, Flora Nwapa was a novelist concerned primarily with women's issues. She engaged her home town's custom and religious beliefs centring on the pre-eminent lake goddess, Ogbuide, in her quest to champion womanhood. This paper examines how the novelist took certain artistic liberties and critically deconstructed local custom in her cause to promote women. While Nwapa's primary concern was women's reproductive rights and welfare, she also cherished Oguta culture, voiced her critique with caution, and was increasingly critical of foreign intrusions.     

The response of Hyssopus pallidus to hosts previously parasitised by Ascogaster quadridentata: heterospecific discrimination and host quality

1. Two basic tenets of competition among parasitoids, that taxonomically distinct parasitoids are unable to discriminate against hosts that have previously been attacked by a competitor and that previous parasitism reduces the quality of a host, were tested by monitoring the oviposition response of Hyssopus pallidus, a gregarious ectoparasitoid, to healthy codling moth larvae and codling moth larvae that had previously been parasitised by a solitary endoparasitoid, Ascogaster quadridentata. 2. Hyssopus pallidus accepted both categories of host larva for oviposition when its competitor was constrained as a first‐instar larva by the diapause development of its host, but discriminated against previously parasitised host larvae when its competitor was present as a larger larva in a non‐diapausing host. 3. Hyssopus pallidus distinguished between the two categories of host larva by allocating twice as many eggs to host larvae previously parasitised by A. quadridentata, a response that was not influenced by previous oviposition experience. 4. The larger clutch sizes allocated to previously parasitised host larvae produced twice as many female progeny, each of a typical size, such that the total biomass was twice that produced from the smaller clutches laid on healthy host larvae. Possible confounding influences of host age and diapause are discounted. 5. These results demonstrate that interspecific discrimination does occur in H. pallidus and that host quality can be improved through previous parasitism by an endoparasitoid. Although interspecific discrimination appears rare among insect parasitoids, it may have been overlooked among ectoparasitoids and requires examination of the fitness consequences of interspecific interactions to clarify its adaptive significance.     

FURTHERING INJUSTICES AGAINST WOMEN: GENETIC INFORMATION, MORAL OBLIGATIONS, AND GENDER

The purpose of this paper is to show that a decontextualized approach to ethical issues is not just unhelpful for the decision making process of real, situated human beings, but dangerous. This is so, because by neglecting the context in which people make moral decisions we run the risk of reinforcing or furthering injustices against already disadvantaged groups. To show this, I evaluate three moral obligations that our ability to obtain genetic information has made salient: the duty to obtain genetic information about ourselves, the obligation to inform family members about genetic risks and the duty not to reproduce when we know that there is a high risk of transmitting a serious disease or defect. I will argue here that in ignoring the context in which these moral obligations are put into practice, and in particular the situation of women in our society, those who defend these moral duties might be furthering injustices against women.     

Kristine Bonnevie,Tine Tammes and Elisabeth Schiemann in Early Genetics: Emerging Chances for a University Career for Women

The beginning of the twentieth century saw the emergence of the discipline of genetics. It is striking how many female scientists were contributing to this new field at the time. At least three female pioneers succeeded in becoming professors: Kristine Bonnevie (Norway), Elisabeth Schiemann (Germany) and the Tine Tammes (The Netherlands). The question is which factors contributed to the success of these women’s careers? At the time women were gaining access to university education it had become quite the norm for universities to be sites for teaching and research. They were still expanding: new laboratories were being built and new disciplines were being established. All three women benefited from the fact that genetics was considered a new field promising in terms of its utility to society; in the case of Tammes and Schiemann in agriculture and in the case of Bonnevie in eugenics. On the other hand, the field of genetics also benefited from the fact that these first female researchers were eager for the chance to work in science and wanted to make active contributions. They all worked and studied in environments which, although different from one another, were positive towards them, at least at the start. Having a patron was generally a prerequisite. Tammes profited from her teacher’s contacts and status. Bonnevie made herself indispensable through her success as a teacher and eventually made her position so strong that she was no longer dependent on a single patron. The case of Schiemann adds something new; it shows the vulnerability of such dependency. Initially, Schiemann’s teacher had to rely on the first generation of university women simply because he was unable to attract ambitious young men to his institute. In those early, uncertain years of the new discipline, male scientists tended to choose other, better established, and more prestigious disciplines. However, when genetics itself had become an established field, it also became more attractive to men. Our case studies also demonstrate that a new field at first relatively open to women closes its doors to them once it becomes established.     

小剂量脂多糖气管内滴注制备急性肺损伤动物模型的探究

目的急性肺损伤/急性呼吸窘迫综合征(Acute lung injury/Acute respiratory distress syndrome,ALI/ARDS)发病率与死亡率均较高,发病机制迄今尚不完全清楚,也无特效的治疗方法。本实验成功地建立一种轻型ALI动物模型,为研究该病的早期发病机制及治疗提供重要的观察手段。方法给予45只SD大鼠气管内灌注内毒素0.5 mL/kg(LPS 200μg/mL),观察4、12、24及48 h光镜和电镜下的病理改变;观察支气管肺泡灌洗液(BALF)中细胞分数、白蛋白等。结果在观察时间内实验动物均存活。LPS给予后实验组病理检查发现①肺间质水肿;②肺泡腔内多形核中性粒细胞(PMN)浸润和红细胞渗出;③肺泡Ⅰ型和Ⅱ型肺泡上皮细胞破坏。以LPS给予后4~12 h为最严重。BALF中PMN及白蛋白明显增加。结论气管内灌注内毒素0.5 mL/kg(LPS200μg/mL)成功地建立急性肺损伤动物模型。     

86例绝经后妇女取宫内节育器分析

目的探讨提高绝经后妇女取宫内节育器（IUD）的成功率,减少绝经后取器并发症发生的有效方法。方法对86例绝经后妇女取器者术前给予米非司酮25mg,每12h 1次,连续口服3天,服药前后2h禁食,第4天空腹口服米索前列醇600μg后2h取器。结果顺利取出IUD者59例,用宫颈扩张器扩张宫口为6号后顺利取出者23例;IUD嵌顿者4例,1例最终通过宫腔镜取器,余3例由宫颈扩宫器扩至6号后剪断不锈钢丝后取出。所有取器者术中腹痛和出血量正常,术后阴道出血2～5天。结论米非司酮联合米索前列醇在绝经后妇女取宫内节育器应用中,可有效扩张、软化宫颈,具有安全、有效的特点,值得基层推广。     

成人先天性髋关节发育不良的围手术期护理

成人先天性髋关节发育不良是一种髋臼先天性发育缺陷的疾病,长期发展会形成髋关节半脱位、脱位,最终甚至可能出现股骨头坏死等严重合并症。对于早期患者目前主要采用髋臼旋转截骨手术治疗,而晚期出现股骨头脱位及坏死则只能通过全髋关节置换进行治疗。不论哪种手术方式,围手术期的护理对于患者的健康恢复都有着非常重要的意义。