《中药鉴定学》综合性、设计性实验教学改革初探

阐述与分析了《中药鉴定学》综合性、设计性实验内容及实践模式,表明本学科综合性、设计性实验对培养学生实践技能、创新精神和素质教育的作用和意义。     

Energy exchange between subject and belt during treadmill walking

Treadmill walking aims to simulate overground walking, but intra-stride belt speed variations of treadmills result in some interaction between treadmill and subject, possibly obstructing this aim. Especially in self-paced treadmill walking, in which the belt speed constantly adjusts to the subject, these interactions might affect the gait pattern significantly. The aim of this study was to quantify the energy exchange between subject and treadmill, during the fixed speed (FS) and self-paced (SP) modes of treadmill walking. Eighteen subjects walked on a dual-belt instrumented treadmill at both modes. The energy exchange was calculated as the integration of the product of the belt speed deviation and the fore-aft ground reaction force over the stride cycle. The total positive energy exchange was 0.44 J/stride and the negative exchange was 0.11 J/stride, which was both less than 1.6% of the performed work on the center of mass. Energy was mainly exchanged from subject to treadmill during both the braking and propulsive phase of gait. The two treadmill modes showed a similar pattern of energy exchange, with a slightly increased energy exchange during the braking phase of SP walking. It is concluded that treadmill walking is only mildly disturbed by subject-belt interactions when using instrumented treadmills with adequate belt control.     

Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment as a Useful Adjunctive Tool for Pneumonia

Pneumonia, the inflammatory state of lung tissue primarily due to microbial infection, claimed 52,306 lives in the United States in 2007¹ and resulted in the hospitalization of 1.1 million patients². With an average length of in-patient hospital stay of five days², pneumonia and influenza comprise significant financial burden costing the United States $40.2 billion in 2005³. Under the current Infectious Disease Society of America/American Thoracic Society guidelines, standard-of-care recommendations include the rapid administration of an appropriate antibiotic regiment, fluid replacement, and ventilation (if necessary). Non-standard therapies include the use of corticosteroids and statins; however, these therapies lack conclusive supporting evidence⁴. (Figure 1)Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT) is a cost-effective adjunctive treatment of pneumonia that has been shown to reduce patients’ length of hospital stay, duration of intravenous antibiotics, and incidence of respiratory failure or death when compared to subjects who received conventional care alone⁵. The use of manual manipulation techniques for pneumonia was first recorded as early as the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918, when patients treated with standard medical care had an estimated mortality rate of 33%, compared to a 10% mortality rate in patients treated by osteopathic physicians⁶. When applied to the management of pneumonia, manual manipulation techniques bolster lymphatic flow, respiratory function, and immunological defense by targeting anatomical structures involved in the these systems^{7,8, 9, 10}.The objective of this review video-article is three-fold: a) summarize the findings of randomized controlled studies on the efficacy of OMT in adult patients with diagnosed pneumonia, b) demonstrate established protocols utilized by osteopathic physicians treating pneumonia, c) elucidate the physiological mechanisms behind manual manipulation of the respiratory and lymphatic systems. Specifically, we will discuss and demonstrate four routine techniques that address autonomics, lymph drainage, and rib cage mobility: 1) Rib Raising, 2) Thoracic Pump, 3) Doming of the Thoracic Diaphragm, and 4) Muscle Energy for Rib 1.^5,11     

Familial Alzheimer’s disease modelling using induced pluripotent stem cell technology

Alzheimer’s disease(AD)is a progressive neurodegenerative disease in which patients exhibit gradual loss of memory that impairs their ability to learn or carry out daily tasks.Diagnosis of AD is difficult,particularly in early stages of the disease,and largely consists of cognitive assessments,with only one in four patients being correctly diagnosed.Development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of AD has proved to be a lengthy,costly and relatively unproductive process with attrition rates of90%.As a result,there are no cures for AD and few treatment options available for patients.Therefore,there is a pressing need for drug discovery platforms that can accurately and reproducibly mimic the AD phenotype and be amenable to high content screening applications.Here,we discuss the use of induced pluripotent stem cells(iPSCs),which can be derived from adult cells,as a method of recapitulation of AD phenotype in vitro.We assess their potential use in high content screening assays and the barriers that exist to realising their full potential in predictive efficacy,toxicology and disease modelling.At present,a number of limitations need to be addressed before the use of iPSC technology can be fully realised in AD therapeutic applications.However,whilst the use of AD-derived iPSCs in drug discovery remains a fledgling field,it is one with immense potential that is likely to reach fruition within the next few years.     

WJSC 6th Anniversary Special Issues（2）:Mesenchymal stem cellsAdipose mesenchymal stem cells in the field of bone tissue engineering

Bone tissue engineering represents one of the most challenging emergent fields for scientists and clinicians.Current failures of autografts and allografts in many pathological conditions have prompted researchers to find new biomaterials able to promote bone repair or regeneration with specific characteristics of biocompatibility,biodegradability and osteoinductivity.Recent advancements for tissue regeneration in bone defects have occurred by following the diamond concept and combining the use of growth factors and mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs).In particular,a more abundant and easily accessible source of MSCs was recently discovered in adipose tissue.These adipose stem cells(ASCs)can be obtained in large quantities with little donor site morbidity or patient discomfort,in contrast to the invasive and painful isolation of bone marrow MSCs.The osteogenic potential of ASCs on scaffolds has been examined in cell cultures and animal models,with only a few cases reporting the use of ASCs for successful reconstruction or accelerated healing of defects of the skull and jaw in patients.Although these reports extend our limited knowledge concerning the use of ASCs for osseous tissue repair and regeneration,the lack of standardization in applied techniques makes the comparison between studies difficult.Additional clinical trials are needed to assess ASC therapy and address potential ethical and safety concerns,which must be resolved to permit application in regenerative medicine.     

西双版纳传统利用的野生药食两用植物

2010年3月至2011年7月对西双版纳少数民族传统利用的药食两用植物进行民族植物学调查,通过访谈和野外调查工作, 收集并记录了关于当地社区传统利用药食两用植物的传统知识以及其他相关信息,并选择了其中20种植物进行抗菌活性的筛选。共调查统计了43科95种西双版纳传统利用的药食两用植物,从分类学角度来看,以茄科（6种）和唇形科（6种）最多,其中草本植物占了最大比例,为495%。对其中20种植物的抗菌活性筛选结果显示,只有马蓝（Baphicacanthus cusia）和旋花茄（Solanum spirale）对金黄色葡萄球菌有抑菌活性。从调查中可以看出：药食两用植物的利用在当地人的日常生活中仍占有相当重要的分量。但随着近年来经济快速发展导致的传统知识的急剧流失和森林的大面积砍伐,很多植物已经逐渐从人们的生活中淡出,如何保护这些传统知识并使其能够可持续发展下去是一个值得思考的问题。     

Genetic Admixture in the Culturally Unique Peranakan Chinese Population in Southeast Asia

The Peranakan Chinese are culturally unique descendants of immigrants from China who settled in the Malay Archipelago ∼300–500 years ago. Today, among large communities in Southeast Asia, the Peranakans have preserved Chinese traditions with strong influence from the local indigenous Malays. Yet, whether or to what extent genetic admixture co-occurred with the cultural mixture has been a topic of ongoing debate. We performed whole-genome sequencing (WGS) on 177 Singapore (SG) Peranakans and analyzed the data jointly with WGS data of Asian and European populations. We estimated that Peranakan Chinese inherited ∼5.62% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.76–6.49%) Malay ancestry, much higher than that in SG Chinese (1.08%, 0.65–1.51%), southern Chinese (0.86%, 0.50–1.23%), and northern Chinese (0.25%, 0.18–0.32%). A sex-biased admixture history, in which the Malay ancestry was contributed primarily by females, was supported by X chromosomal variants, and mitochondrial (MT) and Y haplogroups. Finally, we identified an ancient admixture event shared by Peranakan Chinese and SG Chinese ∼1,612 (95% CI: 1,345–1,923) years ago, coinciding with the settlement history of Han Chinese in southern China, apart from the recent admixture event with Malays unique to Peranakan Chinese ∼190 (159–213) years ago. These findings greatly advance our understanding of the dispersal history of Chinese and their interaction with indigenous populations in Southeast Asia.     

Gene therapy in cancer

Gene therapy, recently frequently investigated, is an alternative treatment method that introduces therapeutic genes into a cancer cell or tissue to cause cell death or slow down the growth of the cancer. This treatment has various strategies such as therapeutic gene activation or silencing of unwanted or defective genes; therefore a wide variety of genes and viral or nonviral vectors are being used in studies. Gene therapy strategies in cancer can be classified as inhibition of oncogene activation, activation of tumor suppressor gene, immunotherapy, suicide gene therapy and antiangiogenic gene therapy. In this review, we explain gene therapy, gene therapy strategies in cancer, approved gene medicines for cancer treatment and future of gene therapy in cancer. Today gene therapy has not yet reached the level of replacing conventional therapies. However, with a better understanding of the mechanism of cancer to determine the right treatment and target, in the future gene therapy, used as monotherapy or in combination with another existing treatment options, is likely to be used as a new medical procedure that will make cancer a controllable disease.     

亚热带地区阔叶林与杉木林土壤活性有机质比较

通过对亚热带3个地区地带性阔叶林和杉木林土壤活性有机质的比较,分析森林类型变化及杉木连栽对土壤有机碳和养分含量的影响.结果表明：地带性阔叶林转变为杉木林后,土壤总有机碳含量下降27.8%～52.1%、腐殖酸碳下降32.2%～52.8%、胡敏酸下降36.4%～59.0%、富里酸下降29.7%～50.0%;杉木连栽也使土壤总有机碳和腐殖质含量下降.森林类型改变和杉木连栽对土壤活性有机质的影响更明显.杉木林取代阔叶林后,土壤微生物生物量碳、微生物生物量氮、可溶性有机碳和可溶性有机氮含量的最大降幅分别为61.8%、38.2%、43.3%和69.0%;与第1代杉木林相比,第2代杉木林土壤微生物生物量碳、微生物生物量氮、可溶性有机碳和可溶性有机氮含量的最大降幅分别为34.7%、29.3%、30.4%、18.4%.经相关性分析,除冷水浸提有机氮外,土壤活性有机质与养分含量之间具有密切的相关关系.     

海南岛土著药用木本植物区系及其应用现状调查

对海南岛野生土著药用木本植物区系的研究表明,该区系由70科206属332种组成,呈现出热带北缘特征,物种主要集中在岛南部、中南部和东南部地区。本文还对海南岛药用植物资源的应用现状及发展思路作了探讨。