Marriage and family formation among the white and ethnic minority populations in Britain

Recent UK Labour Force Survey data are used to investigate marriage and family formation among the white and ethnic minority populations in Britain. The different age‐sex structures of the white and ethnic minority groups are analysed and the increasing number of UK‐born or ‘second‐generation’ persons identified. Large differentials are seen between ethnic minority groups in the propensity to cohabit, marry and experience marital disruption. Average spousal age differences and the propensity to form interethnic unions are also distinctive. Resulting patterns of family and household composition are described. In particular, the data suggest important divergences between individuals of Indian and those of Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic origin, such that we cannot talk about the demography of the South Asian population as a whole. Comparisons of marriage patterns among ‘first‐’ and ‘second‐generation’ individuals within each ethnic group suggest some assimilation in marriage patterns among the Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi populations towards those of the white population.     

Campus Anthropology: A Case Study from West Bengal,India1

In this ethnographic account, I attempt to write an anthropological narrative of my own university located in a district town of the West Bengal state in India about 130 kilometres from Kolkata, the capital of the state. My account does not come under the sub-discipline of ‘Educational Anthropology’ in which formal education is studied by the anthropologists as yet another process of the transmission of culture. My point of departure entails viewing the physical and the cultural space named ‘university campus’ by situating the case study of Vidyasagar University in a theoretical and global context. The anthropological subjects in the cultural space labelled as ‘campus’ range from the Vice-Chancellors to the indigenous tribal people who were viewed as ‘encroachers’ by the university community, while the latter looked at the campus as part of their traditional village common land. Ironically, the aims and objectives of my university was to build up research and teaching towards the development of the tribal and the underprivileged people of the region in which the university is located. The case of my university and comparative cases of Columbia, Pennsylvania and Marquette Universities definitely differ in scale, but they also share one common point: expansion of a campus and its effect on the local community in the context of the ideals and objectives of university as a social institution. The empirical scenario demands the emergence of the new sub-discipline named ‘campus anthropology’.     

中医院校涉外专业微生物学双语教学探索与实践

双语教学已经成为高校培养高素质综合性人才的重要举措之一。本文根据中医院校的特点,阐述了中医院校微生物学双语教学的必要性与可行性,并从学生、教师、教材、考核等方面对微生物双语教学进行了初步的探讨。     

An alternate enzymic route for the synthesis of the alkyl analog of phosphatidic acid involving alkylglycerol

A key intermediate in the biosynthesis of complex ether lipids is 1-alkyl-2-acyl-$\text{sn}$-glycero-3-phosphate. This lipid is known to be formed by enzymic reduction of alkyldihydroxyacetone phosphate and subsequent acylation. We have now obtained evidence for an alternate pathway for its formation from hexadecylglycerol. The reaction is catalyzed by a mitochondrial supernatant fraction prepared from mouse preputial gland tumors; CoA, ATP, and Mg⁺⁺ are required as cofactors.     

Increased sister-chromatid exchange in bone-marrow cells of mice exposed to whole cigarette smoke

Male Wistar rats were fed diets of varying selenium content in order to obtain selenium-deficient and selenium-supplemented rats. After 5-6 weeks on the respective diet, the rats were used to investigate how selenium influences the effect of dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) on some liver enzymes and related reactions. The selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase activity in postmicrosomal supernatant from liver was about 1% in selenium-deficient rats as compared to selenium-supplemented rats or rats fed a standard diet. The highest DMN-demethylase activity was observed in postmitochondrial supernatant from selenium-deficient rat liver, and the lowest in selenium-supplemented rats. No dietary effect was observed on hepatic microsomal cytochrome P450 levels. C-Oxygenation of N,N-dimethylaniline (DMA) was not affected by the selenium level. On the other hand, selenium deficiency seemed to reduce N-oxygenation of DMA. The mutagenicity of DMN in Chinese hamster V79 cells after metabolic activation by the isolated perfused rat liver, was approximately doubled when selenium-deficient livers were used as compared to selenium-supplemented livers and livers from rats fed a standard diet. A negative correlation between DMA-N-oxygenation and mutagenicity from DMN was observed, whereas no correlation between DMA-C-oxygenation and mutagenicity from DMN was found.     

Properties of microsomal acyl coenzyme A reductase in mouse preputial glands

Synthesis of long-chain fatty alcohols in preputial glands of mice is catalyzed by an NADPH-dependent acyl coenzyme A (CoA) reductase located in microsomal membranes; sensitivity to trypsin digestion indicates that the reductase is on the cytoplasmic side of the membrane. Results with pyrazole and phenobarbital demonstrate the reaction is not catalyzed by a nonspecific alcohol dehydrogenase or an aldehyde reductase. Acyl-CoA reductase activity is sensitive to sulfhydryl and serine reagent modification, is stimulated by bovine serum albumin, and produces an aldehyde intermediate. The activity is extremely detergent sensitive and cannot be restored even after removal of the detergents. Phospholipase C or asolectin treatment does not release the acyl-CoA reductase from microsomal membranes, but causes a significant decrease in the activity recovered in the membrane pellet. Glycerol does not solubilize the reductase activity, nor does 3.0 m NaCl; however, the combination of glycerol and 3.0 m NaCl did release about 50% of the acyl-CoA reductase from the microsomal pellet. Substrate concentration curves obtained in the presence or absence of bovine serum albumin show significant differences in enzyme activities. The reductase is sensitive to the concentration of palmitoyl-CoA and is progressively inhibited at levels beyond the critical micellar concentration of the substrate. The apparent K_m for acyl-CoA reductase is 14 μm; however, the maximum velocity varies with the concentration of albumin used. Expression of enzyme activity in delipidated microsomes requires specific phospholipids, which suggests that in vivo regulation of acyl-CoA reductase activity could be achieved through modifications in membrane lipid composition.     

Regulation of acyl coenzyme A reductase by a heat-stable cytosolic protein during preputial gland development

A low-molecular-weight protein located in the cytosol of mouse preputial glands has been shown to stimulate the activity of a microsomal acyl coenzyme A (CoA) reductase in the gland. This cytoplasmic protein was stable to heating and lyophilization, but was destroyed by trypsin digestion. It was able to bind palmitoyl-CoA and gel elution behavior indicated it had a molecular weight of 10,000–12,000. The level of this stimulatory cytosolic protein and the activity of acyl-CoA reductase were shown to correlate with differentiation of the preputial gland during development of puberty in male mice; the acyl-CoA reductase activity first appeared at 4 weeks of age and increased dramatically up to 6 weeks of age. By 8 weeks, when sexual maturity was attained, the reductase activity decreased to that level found in mature male mice. The cytosol from the preputial glands of the youngest mice (3 weeks) contained sufficient heat-stable acyl-CoA binding protein to stimulate acyl-CoA reduction; however, the 3-week-old preputial gland microsomes had little or no acyl-CoA reductase activity. As the animal matured, the stimulatory capacity in the heat-treated cytosol increased, reaching a maximum at 6 weeks; by 8 weeks, the stimulatory capacity of the soluble fraction had decreased to that found in mature male mouse. Results of this study suggest that the concentration of acyl-CoA, cytoplasmic acyl-CoA binding protein, and acyl-CoA reductase activity regulate the level of fatty alcohols in vivo and that the reductase activity and binding protein have similar patterns of development during puberty.     

SCE evaluations in human lymphocytes after G0 exposure to mitomycin C Lack of expression of MMC-induced SCEs in cells that have undergone greater than two in vitro divisions

We conducted a series of experiments designed to determine whether DNA damage induced in G₀ lymphocytes by mitomycin C (MMC) would be expressed as sister-chromatid exchanges during the second and third post-treatment cell cycles. Lymphocytes from normal donors were exposed to MMC for 2 h prior to culture in the presence of phytohemagglutinin. MMC-treated and control cells were subsequently exposed to bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) for the entire culture period (i.e. 48 h or 72 h) or for the terminal 24 h of 72-h cultures. We observed a 3–4-fold increase in SCEs in MII metaphases from lymphocytes treated with MMC and cultured in the presence of BrdUrd for the entire culture period. In contrast, in replicate cultures of MMC-treated lymphocytes that were exposed to BrdUrd for the terminal 24 h only, the SCE frequency in uniformly harlequinized metaphases was not significantly different from that observed in control cultures. We interpret these data as providing evidence that MMC-induced lesions (or alterations) in the DNA of G₀ lymphocytes are probably expressed as SCEs during the first period of mitogeninduced DNA synthesis, and that these lesions do not persist and give rise to SCEs in subsequent cell divisions.     

Defining the Relationship between Obesity and Total Joint Arthroplasty

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between obesity and patient‐administered outcome measures after total joint arthroplasty. Research Methods and Procedures: A voluntary questionnaire‐based registry contained 592 primary total hip arthroplasty patients and 1011 primary total knee arthroplasty patients with preoperative and 1‐year data. Using logistic regression, the relationships between body mass index and the several outcome measures, including Short Form‐36 and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index, were examined. Results: There was no difference between obese and non‐obese patients regarding satisfaction, decision to repeat surgery, and Δphysical component summary, Δmental component summary, and ΔWestern Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index scores (p > 0.05 for all). Body mass index was associated with an increased risk of having difficulty descending or ascending stairs at 1 year (odds ratio, 1.2 to 1.3). Discussion: Obese patients enjoy as much improvement and satisfaction as other patients from total joint arthroplasty.