On Mexican Folk Medicine

In this paper traditional medical beliefs and practices in a Mexican village are described and interpreted. The analysis focuses on the notion that health is a balance of hot and cold within the body. Several lines of evidence are used to reveal the metaphorical meanings of hot and cold, and these meanings are then seen to be related to structural features of peasant society.     

Opioid Peptides: An Overview of Functional Significance

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - Bioactive peptides have been reported to exhibit opioid-like activity and are termed as opioid peptides. Either these are produced...     

Transport ATPases: Structure,Motors, Mechanism and Medicine: A Brief Overview

Today we know there are four different types of ATPases that operate within biological membranes with the purpose of moving many different types of ions or molecules across these membranes. Some of these ions or molecules are transported into cells, some out of cells, and some in or out of organelles within cells. These ATPases span the biological world from bacteria to eukaryotic cells and have become most simply and commonly known as “transport ATPases.” The price that each cell type pays for transport work is counted in molecules of hydrolyzed ATP, a metabolic currency that is itself regenerated by a transport ATPase working in reverse, i.e., the ATP synthase. Four major classes of transport ATPases, the P, V, F, and ABC types are now known. In addition to being involved in many different types of biological/physiological processes, mutations in these proteins also account for a large number of diseases. The purpose of this introductory article to a mini-review series on transport ATPases is to provide the reader with a very brief and focused look at this important area of research that has an interesting history and bears significance to cell physiology, biochemistry, immunology, nanotechnology, and medicine, including drug discovery. The latter involves potential applications to a whole host of diseases ranging from cancer to those that affect bones (osteoporosis), ears (hearing), eyes (macromolecular degeneration), the heart (hypercholesterolemia/cardiac arrest,), immune system (immune deficiency disease), kidney (nephrotoxicity), lungs (cystic fibrosis), pancreas (diabetes and cystic fibrosis), skin (Darier disease), and stomach (ulcers).     

Epigenetics: A Historical Overview

Postmigratory mouse primordial germ cells (PGCs) undergo extensive epigenetic remodeling that includes DNA methylation (DM) reprogramming of imprinted genes and, surprisingly, of transposable elements (TEs). Given the danger posed by TEs to the integrity of the germline, even a brief derepression of TEs is counterintuitive and puzzling. In the male fetal gonocytes, a sophisticated repressive mechanism that uses DM and TE-targeting piRNAs has evolved to stably silence TEs. A recent study has further increased the complexity of this problem by revealing that TE silencing is alleviated specifically at the onset of meiosis in testes lacking MAEL, a piRNA pathway protein. These observations and prior work of others are consistent with existence of an additional reprogramming event, transient relaxation of transposon silencing (TRTS), at the onset of both male and female meiosis in mice. In this Point of View we propose that TE expression is inherent to mammalian meiosis and discuss potential functional significance of this phenomenon.     

Functional Roles of Gangliosides in Neurodevelopment: An Overview of Recent Advances

Gangliosides are sialic acid-containing glycosphingolipids that are most abundant in the nervous system. They are localized primarily in the outer leaflets of plasma membranes and participated in cell–cell recognition, adhesion, and signal transduction and are integral components of cell surface microdomains or lipid rafts along with proteins, sphingomyelin and cholesterol. Ganglioside-rich lipid rafts play an important role in signaling events affecting neural development and the pathogenesis of certain diseases. Disruption of gangloside synthase genes in mice induces developmental defects and neural degeneration. Targeting ganglioside metabolism may represent a novel therapeutic strategy for intervention in certain diseases. In this review, we focus on recent advances on metabolic and functional studies of gangliosides in normal brain development and in certain neurological disorders.     

Peptides from Fish By-product Protein Hydrolysates and Its Functional Properties: an Overview

The inadequate management of fish processing waste or by-products is one of the major problems that fish industry has to face nowadays. The mismanagement of this raw material leads to economic loss and environmental problems. The demand for the use of these by-products has led to the development of several processes in order to recover biomolecules from fish by-products. An efficient way to add value to fish waste protein is protein hydrolysis. Protein hydrolysates improve the functional properties and allow the release of peptides of different sizes with several bioactivities such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, or antihyperglycemic among others. This paper reviews different methods for the production of protein hydrolysates as well as current research about several fish by-products protein hydrolysates bioactive properties, aiming the dual objective: adding value to these underutilized by-products and minimizing their negative impact on the environment.     

中西医结合治疗功能性消化不良的临床分析

目的：探讨中西医结合治疗功能性消化不良的临床疗效。方法：对228例的功能性消化不良患者给予中西医结合治疗,并与120例西医治疗的患者进行疗效对照。结果：中西医结合组与对照组显效率和总有效率分别为1.3％和22．5％、97．8％和71．7％,均有显著性差异（P〈0．05）两组患者都没有发生严重的不良反应。结论：中西医结合辨证治疗疗效显著,值得临床推广。     

Curandero: A Life in Mexico Folk Healing

Curandero:. Life in Mexico Folk Healing . Eliseo "Cheo" Torres with Timothy L. Sawyer Jr. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2005 (paperback). 170 pp.     

The Use of Insects in Folk Medicine in the State of Bahia, Northeastern Brazil, with Notes on Insects Reported Elsewhere in Brazilian Folk Medicine

At least 42 insects have been reported as used in folk medicine in the state of Bahia, northeastern Brazil. These resources are distributed in nine orders, with Hymenopterans the most prevalent with 22 specimens. Medicinal insects, which are used live, cooked, ground, in infusions, in plasters, or as ointments, provide honey, nests, eggs, cocoons, sting, wax, and parts of their bodies for the elaboration of folk remedies to treat a great variety of locally diagnosed ailments. Most of the folk remedies are administered in the form of teas made using the powder produced by grinding the toasted or scraped part of the body of the insects or the whole toasted animal. Traditional knowledge concerning entomotherapy in the state of Bahia is very important since folk medicine is still one of the most important resources for discovery of unknown natural drug resources.     

中国神农架民间草药的特点与代表种类

简要介绍了神农架民间草药的特点及其代表种类,并对其中四种名称均带有一字、三十六种冠以还阳二字以及七十二种名称中以七字结尾组成的几类最具特色的中草药的来源和疗效进行了阐述。     

Ethnographic Studies of Childhood: A Historical Overview

In this article, I briefly survey the ethnographic research literature on childhood in the 20th century, beginning with the social and intellectual contexts for discussions of childhood at the turn of the 20th century. The observations of Bronislaw Malinowski and Margaret Mead in the 1920s were followed by later ethnographers, also describing childhood, some of whom criticized developmental theories; still others were influenced initially by Freudian and other psychoanalytic theories and later by the suggestions of Edward Sapir for research on the child's acquisition of culture. The Six Cultures Study led by John Whiting at midcentury was followed by diverse trends of the period after 1960—including field studies of infancy, the social and cultural ecology of children's activities, and language socialization. Ethnographic evidence on hunting and gathering and agricultural peoples was interpreted in evolutionary as well as cultural and psychological terms. The relationship between ethnography and developmental psychology remained problematic.     

重要藏药川西獐牙菜种子萌发的研究

比较了温度、生长素(赤霉素GA3)和储藏条件对川西獐牙菜(SwertiamussotiiFranch)高海拔野生自然种群和低海拔栽培后种子发芽率的影响。未经任何处理的高海拔野生自然种群种子的发芽率明显高于低海拔栽培种群。无论是赤霉素处理还是低温处理对种子的发芽率都有显著提高。经过处理后,两种来源的种子最终发芽率没有明显的变化。结果表明:(i)野生的或栽培的川西獐牙菜种子都存在休眠现象;(ii)通过引种栽培不能打破川西獐牙菜种子的休眠,该机制可能是受遗传因素的控制;(iii)赤霉素处理和4℃低温冷藏对打破种子的休眠具有重要作用。     

Epigenetics Beyond Fetal Growth Restriction: A Comprehensive Overview

Molecular Diagnosis & Therapy - Fetal growth restriction is a pathological condition occurring when the fetus does not reach the genetically determined growth potential. The etiology of fetal...     

Multimorbidity in Adult Asylum Seekers: A First Overview

Principals

Over the last two decades, the total annual number of applications for asylum in the countries of the European Union has increased from 15,000 to more than 300,000 people. The aim of this study was to give a first overview on multimorbidity of adult asylum seekers.

Methods

Our retrospective Swiss single center data analysis examined multimorbidity of adult asylums seekers admitted to our ED between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2012.

Results

A total of 3170 patients were eligible for the study; they were predominantly male (2392 male, 75.5% versus 778 female, 24.5). The median age of the patients was 28 years (range 28–82). The most common region of origin was Africa (1544, 48.7%), followed by the Middle East (736, 23.6%). 2144 (67.6%) of all patients were not multimorbid. A total of 1183 (37.7%) of our patients were multimorbid. The mean Charlson comorbidity index was 0.25 (SD 1.1, range 0–12). 634 (20%) of all patients sufferem from psychiatric diseases, followed by chronic medical conditions (12.6%, 399) and infectious diseases (4.7%, 150). Overall, 11% (349) of our patients presented as a direct consequence of prior violence. Patients from Sri Lanka/India most often suffered from addictions problems (50/240, 20.8%, p<0.0001). Infectious diseases were most frequent in patients from Africa (6.6%), followed by the Balkans and Eastern Europe/Russia (each 3.8%).

Conclusion

The health care problems of asylum seekers are manifold. More than 60% of the study population assessed in our study did not suffer from more than one disease. Nevertheless a significant percentage of asylum seekers is multimorbid and exhibits underlying psychiatric, infectious or chronic medical conditions despite their young age.