Steam engine time: A review of ‘Ending Ageing’ by Aubrey de Grey

Aubrey de Grey has summarised his ideas on Strategies for Engineering Negligible Senescence - SENS - into his book Ending Ageing. He groups the molecular and cellular damage that result from ageing into seven categories, and describes what he believes are approaches to treating or reversing all of them. Some are relatively simple, some very radical, but, even if they are implemented imperfectly, de Grey believes that healthy lifespan would be extended significantly and some adults alive today would live healthily and productively to be 120 or beyond. At that point, further development of anti-ageing technology would extend their life further, and so on. The key is the practicality of technologies for addressing the basis of ageing today. The book is unashamedly a polemic and a plea for support for this grand vision, and its partisanship, first-person conversational style and occasionally immoderate comments may distract some readers from its message. This would be a shame. I think the vision unrealistic in its extreme version, but worth pursuing for its more modest aims, and the book worth reading for its bold ideas and its ability to stimulate the receptive mind to think about how its grand vision might be reduced to practice, to the benefit of us all. Above all, for readers of this Journal, it is an example of how carefully argued hypotheses can make you think and (I hope) act.     

Computational Genome Analysis: an Introduction * Richard C. Deonier, Simon Tavare and Michael S. Waterman

I wish that I had had such a book 5 years ago, when I startedto switch my career from being a control engineer to a computationalbiologist. Like many people following the same path, I was eagerto prospect the biomedical fields in which my mathematical andcomputational expertise     

Vision screening in children tested at 7, 11, and 16 years.

Distant vision screenings of a national sample of children were performed at the ages of 7, 11, and 16. Many children with normal vision at one screening showed defects at later screenings, and altogether 18% of children with normal vision at the age of 7 had defects by the time they were 16. Twelve per cent of those with normal vision at 7 and 11 had developed a visual defect by the age of 16. Apparent improvements between screenings probably resulted largely from technical difficulties inherent in testing young children. The results clearly indicate the importance of regular vision screening during the school years and the need for comprehensive but flexible back-up services.     

药用植物磨芋的考证

磨芋是具有悠久栽培历史的食用、药用植物,有多个名称。经考证,首载于《名医别录》的由跋,是现今广泛载种的磨芋(A.Konjac),后来的许多本草著作把磨芋的一、二年生苗称为由跋;首载于《开宝衣草》的蒟蒻或蒻头,是指磨芋和疏毛磨芋(A Sinensis),但一般说来,蒟蒻就是磨芋(A.Konjac).“磨芋”这个词最早见于《植物名实图考》,吴其濬置之于“天南星”条下,后人以“魔芋”取代了“磨芋”;磨芋的学名是AmorphophalltlS konjac C.Koch,而Amorphophallus rivieri Durieu是它的同物异名。     

A Cover Story: Fisheries May Drive Stocks to Extinction

The cover of the 1993 reprint of Beverton and Holt's book bears a diagram, its significance previously unrecognized, that expresses extinction due to fishing. This paper traces the concept to self-regenerating yield models in their 1957 book, its numerical development therein far in advance of its reinvention 30 years later. Local extinction constitutes a critical impact of fisheries on aquatic ecosystems that has been too often downplayed by fisheries science.     

Review of The dream experience: A systematic exploration..

Reviews the book, The dream experience: A systematic exploration by Milton Kramer (see record 2007-01084-000). This book was written by an exceptional scientist and clinician and is based on 46 years of productive work in the field of dream research and sleep medicine. Milton Kramer presents some preliminary data about two patterns that describe changes in dream content over one night: the progressive-sequential dream pattern and the repetitive-traumatic dream pattern, each illustrated with an example. The first pattern reflects some kind of progression reflecting a successful coping with the problem of the first dream. The second pattern repeats one topic but without introducing successful coping strategies. Milton Kramer's book is a comprehensive overview of dream research over the last 50 years and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in pursuing this field of research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dichromatic colour vision in an Australian marsupial, the tammar wallaby

Despite earlier assertions that most mammals are colour blind, colour vision has in recent years been demonstrated in a variety of eutherian mammals from a wide range of different orders. This paper presents the first behavioural evidence from colour discrimination experiments, that an Australian marsupial, the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii), has dichromatic colour vision. In addition, the experiments show that the wallabies readily learn the relationship between the presented colours rather than the absolute hues. This provides a sensitive method to measure the location of the neutral-point, which is the wavelength of monochromatic light that is indistinguishable from white. This point is a diagnostic feature for dichromats. The spectral sensitivity of the wallabies' middle-wavelength-sensitive photoreceptor is known (peak: 539 nm) and the behavioural results imply that the sensitivity of the short-wavelength-sensitive receptor must be near 420 nm. These spectral sensitivities are similar to those found in eutherian mammals, supporting the view that the earliest mammals had dichromatic colour vision. Accepted: 18 July 1999     

Comparison of effects of a self management booklet and audiocassette for patients with asthma.

The effects on self management of asthma of a specially prepared book and audiocassette tape with similar contents were observed in a controlled study of 177 patients with asthma in general practice. After a run in period of six months patients were randomly given the book, the tape, both the book and tape, or neither. Patients'' knowledge of the use of drugs, perceptions of their disability, skill in using an inhaler, consumption of drugs, consultations with their general practitioners, morbidity (from patients'' entries on diary cards), and use of the educational material were measured. Knowledge about the use of drugs was significantly increased in the groups who received the material after three months and persisted after 12 months. Patients who had been given the tape or the book and tape increased their scores of knowledge of drugs more than patients given the book alone. Patients in all groups given the material considered that their disability was reduced. There were no other significant changes. Patients given both the book and the tape preferred the book. Patients with asthma can obtain useful information from such material. The paradoxical result whereby patients learnt more from the tape but preferred the book suggests that a distinction can be made between information that patients need, which may be acquired better from an audiocassette, and information that they want, which may be acquired better from a book.     

英文教材Prescott's Microbiology的特点及其发展

Mc Graw-Hill Education出版的Prescott’s Microbiology从1990年第1版至今已有近26年,历经了两代作者更替,迄今已出版了10版。该书是在国际上使用较为广泛的微生物学教材,其内容和版本每三年更新一次,力求及时反映学科前沿水平的新知识、新技术。其内容丰富,精深广博;版式编排设计以读者(学生)需求为本;编排合理,结构灵活;图片精美,设计感强;配套教学资源系统完善。对该教材进行深入的研究,了解其体系、知识结构和内容等,对加强我国高校教材建设具有重要借鉴作用。     

Boris Balinsky: transition from embryology to developmental biology

This is the story of a textbook that students of developmental biology have used for 45 years. "An Introduction to Embryology" was released soon after a role for genes in the control of development became finally recognized but not yet well documented. Thus this book manifested the transition from embryology to developmental biology. The story of its author, Boris Balinsky, who against all odds survived to write this book, is remarkable on its own. He started his scientific career in the USSR, but due to 20th century social and political upheavals, ended it in South Africa. This article will shed light on the life of Boris Balinsky, a scientist and writer and will explore the origins of his book.     

Effect of Age-Stiffening Tissues and Intraocular Pressure on Optic Nerve Damages

Age-stiffening of ocular tissues is statistically linked to glaucoma in the elderly. In this study, the effects of age-stiffening on the lamina cribrosa, the primary site of glaucomatous nerve damages, were modeled using computational finite element analysis. We showed that glaucomatous nerve damages and peripheral vision loss behavior can be phenomenologically modeled by shear-based damage criterion. Using this damage criterion, the potential vision loss for 30 years old with mild hypertension of 25mmHg intraocular pressure (IOP) was estimated to be 4%. When the IOP was elevated to 35mmHg, the potential vision loss rose to 45%; and age-stiffening from 35 to 60 years old increased the potential vision loss to 52%. These results showed that while IOP plays a central role in glaucomatous damages, age-stiffening facilitates glaucomatous damages and may be the principal factor that resulted in a higher rate of glaucoma in the elderly than the general population.     

Vision screening of adolescents and their use of glasses.

Vision screening was performed in over 11 000 16-year-olds who were taking part in the National Child Development Study. For distance vision 75% had normal acuity, 9% a minor defect, and 16% a more severe unilateral or bilateral defect. For near vision 85% had normal vision, 8% a minor defect, and 7% a unilateral or bilateral defect. Few children (62) with normal distant vision had defects in near vision, though many more (607) had both poor distant vision and poor near vision. Vision defects were more common in girls than in boys and occurred more often in adolescents from non-manual than manual families. Athough 18% of children had been prescribed glasses for current use, a third did not have their glasses available at the examination: 27% of the children prescribed glasses had normal unaided distant visual acuity or only a minor defect, and they constituted 42% of those who were not wearing their glasses. Further investigation is needed into the criteria on which glasses are prescribed for children and into the reasons for which they are not worn.     

达尔文-科学进化论的奠基者

2009年, 时逢英国博物学家查尔斯·罗伯特·达尔文(Charles Robert Darwin,1809-1882)诞辰200周年, 进化论光辉著作《物种起源》发表150周年。历史的发展不断认证达尔文的《物种起源》一书是生物学史上不朽的经典著作, 如今《物种起源》所提及的许多观点已成为人尽皆知的常识, 并且还在不断地发展、完善, 为人类认识自然和自身发展指点方向。文章追忆了先贤的卓越科学贡献和科学探索精神, 并对百年来科学进步和进化论的发展重要成果进行了简要的评述, 指出了进化论未来研究的重点问题。     

Steel wheels: The Age of Migration 5.0

As with all previous editions, the fifth edition offers substantial updates and developments. The addition of de Haas as a third author in this edition has had noticeable impacts on the shape and content of the book. The Age of Migration does not simply report on or contribute to the field of migration studies; it has done more than any other book to define that field.     

Langenheim, J.H. Plant resins: chemistry, evolution, ecology and ethnobotany.

When I agreed to review this book, I did so because I thoughtit would be an opportunity to bring myself up-to-date in a fieldI felt I ought to know more about. I had no idea that it wouldmake such compulsive reading. Jean Langenheim has spent hercareer working on plant resins and she has done a great serviceby assembling her wealth of knowledge and experience into thismarvellous book. The blandness of the title     

夜行性昆虫微光视觉行为及其视觉适应机制

作为昆虫种群的重要组成部分,夜行性昆虫成功进化出了与其生存环境相适应的感觉机制,普遍认为夜行性昆虫主要依靠嗅觉和机械性感受等来探索环境,其视觉器官发生了退化或功能丧失.近年来,随着红外夜视、视网膜电位(electroretinogram,ERG)和视觉神经等生物新技术的应用,昆虫视觉生态学研究出现了突破性进展,自200...     

Comparison of different presbyopia treatments: refractive lens exchange with multifocal intraocular lens implantation versus LASIK monovision

There are several methods for presbyopia treatment. Refractive lens exchange (RLE) followed by multifocal intraocular lens (MFIOL) implantation enables high rate of spectacle independence but have some visual disturbances. Laser in Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) monovision gives patient ability to have good distant vision with dominant eye and good near vision with nondominant eye. In this prospective randomized study we wanted to compare clinical outcomes in patients who underwent either of the mentioned procedures. The first group included 50 patients (N = 100 eyes) who underwent RLE with MFIOL implantation and the second group included 50 patients (N = 100 eyes) who underwent LASIK monovision as presbyopia treatment. Uncorrected distant, near and intermediate visual acuity, patient's subjective satisfaction and visual disturbances were measured. Follow up was 6 months. Patients in RLE group had better near uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) and patients in LASIK monovision group had better distant and intermediate vision. Patients in RLE group reported visual disturbances (halo, glare). Patients satisfaction and spectacle independence was high in both groups. Refractive lens exchange with multifocal intraocular lens implantation and LASIK monovision are effective methods for presbyopia treatment. LASIK monovision with -0.50D - 1.25D of residual dioptry at nondominant eye in patients under 50 years enables good vision at all distances without affecting stereovision. Patient selection and preoperative counseling are key to success.     

《续南方草木状》初释

<正> 《续南方草木状》的作者江藩是清代经史学家。江苏甘泉人,字子屏,号郑堂。又称炳烛老人。为监生。生于1761年,即清高宗,乾隆26年;卒于1831年,即清宣宗,道光11年,终年71岁。少年时拜和惠栋、余莦客、江声为师。对古代经学和史学颇有研究,著有《国朝汉学师承记》八卷、《宋学渊源记》三卷、《国朝经师经义目录》一卷;晚年并著有《炳烛室杂文》,《续南方草木状》就是其中一文。     

Fly vision: moving into the motion detection circuit

The Reichardt detector model for fly motion vision has been around for more than 50 years, but a cellular implementation of the model has not yet been discovered. Detailed reconstruction of serial electron-microscopy sections has now revealed a circuit that might well provide the cellular basis for directional selectivity in motion vision.