萨拉乌苏河流域化石智人的身高

采用股骨骨干下部横径等,根据中国汉族男女性长骨碎骨的身高推断回归方程推测有比较明确地层记载的萨拉乌苏河流域化石智人的身高。据此计算复原股骨长。采用一系列身高推测公式,得出该标本可能的身高范围并比较。该化石的身材比北京直立人高。与晚更新世智人相比,该流域化石智人的身材比山顶洞化石人类矮,比柳江化石人类高。     

下草湾的人类股骨化石*

1954年6月我们在安徽泗洪县下草湾引河岸调查产河狸化石的地层时,在河岸上检得了一段股骨,由其形态上观察,有股骨嵴(linea aspera)的存在,骨表面满布长尾纤孔,可以确定其为人的股骨。由其石化程度之深和其海绵骨质的空隙中所填充的土质来判断当为相当早的人类化石,随后我们又把该段股骨的一小部分进行了氟的成分的定量分析,也证明它是较现代人为早,但较巨河狸为晚的化石     

贵州兴义猫猫洞出土的人类化石

本文主要是对贵州兴义猫猫洞遗址出土的人化石进行的初步研究,并对哺乳动物化石、地层、堆积物作叙述。该遗址的人类化石包括下颌骨4件,股骨3段,是中国南方洞穴遗址中发现的数量较多,系统分类地位较清楚的晚期智人的化石。人类化石同层的鹿牙作铀系法测年结果为14500±1200 BP,相当于更新世的末期。     

关于萨拉乌苏遗址地层及人类化石年代的问题

本文回顾了与人类化石相关的萨拉乌苏河晚更新世地层及文化层的年代学研究,经过14C测年和相关证据认为,采集的萨拉乌苏PA.62号股骨不属于萨拉乌苏遗址的原生地层。     

云南丽江盆地一个第四纪哺乳类化石地点

1960年春,中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所云南野外工作队,在昆明云南省博物馆丽江县采集的古生物标本中,看到了石化程度不同的三根人类的股骨标本,同一地点出土的还有不少古哺乳类的材料。这个化石地点位于丽江县的漾弓江边,     

柳江人身体大小和形状——体重、身体比例及相对脑量的分析

发现于广西柳江的更新世晚期人类化石除1具完整的头骨外,还包含有右侧髋骨、骶骨、两段股骨及若干件椎骨。根据各方面的特征分析,初步认定这些化石属于同一个体。这一有利条件为我们比较准确地获取与该个体身体大小和形状有关的指标数据提供了可能。本文通过对柳江人头骨及复原骨盆的测量,计算了柳江人的身高、体重、身体比例、相对脑量等。在此基础上分析了柳江人的身体大小和形状。本研究发现:柳江人化石所代表的个体具有适应温暖气候环境的纤细型身体比例,代表相对脑量的EQ指数5.602大于金牛山、山顶洞等中国更新世中、晚期化石人类,而与包括港川人在内的更新世末期及现代人类的EQ指数接近。柳江人体重52.0kg小于金牛山、山顶洞、尼安德特人等生活在高纬度地区的化石人类,而与港川、非洲的KNM-ER3883、KNM-ER3733等生活在温暖环境的古人类接近。作者认为这些发现除说明柳江人生活的气候环境外,还提示柳江人身体大小、比例及相对脑量与更新世末期及现代人类接近。     

化石文化

化石文化刘晓峰化石,大自然赐予人类的珍贵资源之一,历来为人类所关注。化石给人类带来了丰富多彩的生活,并从中创造和累积了独特的文化──化石文化。－、化石文化的含义化石,是经自然作用保存在各地质历史时期岩层中的生物遗体或遗迹。化石文化是人类在发现、认识、...     

广西柳江土博出土的人牙化石及共生的哺乳动物群

在广西柳江县土博公社发现一洞穴,地层中含有人类化石和哺乳动物化石。其时代初步定为更新世晚期。人类化石仅是牙齿九枚,根据其形态特征,这些材料的系统地位似应与柳江人相当,分类上可归属晚期智人。     

埃塞俄比亚发现古人类化石

埃塞俄比亚发现古人类化石最近在埃塞俄比亚的亚的斯亚贝巴举行的一次记者招待会上,科学家们展示了大约在４５０万年前生活在埃塞俄比亚边远地区的人类最早祖先的遗骸化石。埃塞俄比亚的人类学家贝哈尼·网斯富说：“这些化石是迄今所发现的最早的人类直接祖先化石。”贝...     

柳江人

柳江人是四、五万年前的人类祖先,属旧石器时代晚期的人类。他们很早就在柳江流域劳动、生活着。说起柳江人的发现史,话就长了。那是在1958年9月中旬,工人们在距柳州市东南十六公里的新兴农场的通天岩洞中挖掘岩泥时,在离洞口18米处偶然发现一个完整的人的头骨化石(缺下颌骨),接着再进十米又发现了人的四个胸椎、五个腰椎、骶骨、右髋骨和左右股骨各一段。大量的哺乳动物化石也在这里出土。消息传开后,中国科学院的研究人员赶到现场,在农场场长李殿同志引导下,对通天洞作了考察。人化石送到北京后,经著名的人类学家吴汝康的研究,发表了题为《广西柳江发现的人类化石》的重要论文,从此柳江人的声誉传四海。柳江人头骨有许多特点证明他属于黄种人,如他的脸面部、鼻梁和嘴部的突出程度与现代黄种人一致,硬腭大小中等,上门齿舌面呈铲形,他的年龄虽已超过四十岁,但是第三臼齿仍未长出来,这些在现代黄种人     

Preparation of hair for measurement of elements by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

The preparation of hair for the determination of elements is a critical component of the analysis procedure. Open-beaker, closedvessel microwave, and flowthrough microwave digestion are methods that have been used for sample preparation and are discussed. A new digestion method for use with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has been developed. The method uses 0.2 g of hair and 3 mL of concentrated nitric acid in an atmospheric pressurelow-temperature microwave digestion (APLTMD) system. This preparation method is useful in handling a large numbers of samples per day and may be adapted to hair sample weights ranging from 0.08 to 0.3 g. After digestion, samples are analyzed by ICP-MS to determine the concentration of Li, Be, B, Na, Mg, Al, P, S, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ge, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Zr, Mo, Pd, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, I, Cs, Ba, Pt, Au, Hg, Tl, Pb, Bi, Th, and U. Benefits of the APLTMD include reduced contamination and sample handling, and increased precision, reliability, and sample throughput.     

外泌体在白血病中的重要调控作用

目前,白血病复发是患者死亡的主要原因之一。肿瘤细胞和微环境的相互作用,以及隐匿在骨髓中的肿瘤干细胞,促进了白血病的复发和向淋巴组织的转移,因此白血病的治疗、转移和复发问题受到广泛关注。外泌体是由绝大多数细胞分泌的双层脂质膜囊泡,可以调控细胞间的交流和信息传递。在白血病细胞、基质细胞和内皮细胞之间的相互联系中都涉及到外泌体,白血病细胞来源的外泌体存在于白血病患者的血浆中,能把其携带的白血病相关抗原及微小RNA呈递给靶细胞,促进白血病肿瘤细胞的增殖,有助于肿瘤细胞实现免疫逃避,保护白血病细胞抵抗化疗药物导致的细胞毒性作用,促进血管生成及肿瘤细胞的迁移。因此,外泌体与白血病的转移、治疗及预后密切相关,可以用来检测和监测白血病的进展。本文综述了外泌体的来源、形成与分泌机制,以及外泌体在白血病发生前、发展中、预后和免疫治疗中所扮演的重要角色。     

Staining protocols for human pancreatic islets

Estimates of islet area and numbers and endocrine cell composition in the adult human pancreas vary from several hundred thousand to several million and beta mass ranges from 500 to 1500 mg. With this known heterogeneity, a standard processing and staining procedure was developed so that pancreatic regions were clearly defined and islets characterized using rigorous histopathology and immunolocalization examinations. Standardized procedures for processing human pancreas recovered from organ donors are described in part 1 of this series. The pancreas is processed into 3 main regions (head, body, tail) followed by transverse sections. Transverse sections from the pancreas head are further divided, as indicated based on size, and numbered alphabetically to denote subsections. This standardization allows for a complete cross sectional analysis of the head region including the uncinate region which contains islets composed primarily of pancreatic polypeptide cells to the tail region. The current report comprises part 2 of this series and describes the procedures used for serial sectioning and histopathological characterization of the pancreatic paraffin sections with an emphasis on islet endocrine cells, replication, and T-cell infiltrates. Pathology of pancreatic sections is intended to characterize both exocrine, ductular, and endocrine components. The exocrine compartment is evaluated for the presence of pancreatitis (active or chronic), atrophy, fibrosis, and fat, as well as the duct system, particularly in relationship to the presence of pancreatic intraductal neoplasia. Islets are evaluated for morphology, size, and density, endocrine cells, inflammation, fibrosis, amyloid, and the presence of replicating or apoptotic cells using H&E and IHC stains. The final component described in part 2 is the provision of the stained slides as digitized whole slide images. The digitized slides are organized by case and pancreas region in an online pathology database creating a virtual biobank. Access to this online collection is currently provided to over 200 clinicians and scientists involved in type 1 diabetes research. The online database provides a means for rapid and complete data sharing and for investigators to select blocks for paraffin or frozen serial sections.     

Assessing burrowing, nest construction, and hoarding in mice

Deterioration in the ability to perform "Activities of daily living" (ADL) is an early sign of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Preclinical behavioural screening of possible treatments for AD currently largely focuses on cognitive testing, which frequently demands expensive equipment and lots of experimenter time. However, human episodic memory (the most severely affected aspect of memory in AD) is different to rodent memory, which seems to be largely non-episodic. Therefore the present ways of screening for new AD treatments for AD in rodents are intrinsically unlikely to succeed. A new approach to preclinical screening would be to characterise the ADL of mice. Fortuitously, several such assays have recently been developed at Oxford, and here the three most sensitive and well-characterised are presented. Burrowing was first developed in Oxford. It evolved from a need to develop a mouse hoarding paradigm. Most published rodent hoarding paradigms required a distant food source to be linked to the home cage by a connecting passage. This would involve modifying the home cage as well as making a mouse-proof connecting passage and food source. So it was considered whether it would be possible to put the food source inside the cage. It was found that if a container was placed on the floor it was emptied by the next morning., The food pellets were, however, simply deposited in a heap at the container entrance, rather than placed in a discrete place away from the container, as might be expected if the mice were truly hoarding them. Close inspection showed that the mice were performing digging ("burrowing") movements, not carrying the pellets in their mouths to a selected place as they would if truly hoarding them. Food pellets are not an essential substrate for burrowing; mice will empty tubes filled with sand, gravel, even soiled bedding from their own cage. Moreover, they will empty a full tube even if an empty one is placed next to it. Several nesting protocols exist in the literature. The present Oxford one simplifies the procedure and has a well-defined scoring system for nest quality. A hoarding paradigm was later developed in which the mice, rather than hoarding back to the real home cage, were adapted to living in the "home base" of a hoarding apparatus. This home base was connected to a tube made of wire mesh, the distal end of which contained the food source. This arrangement proved to yield good hoarding behaviour, as long as the mice were adapted to living in the "home base" during the day and only allowed to enter the hoarding tube at night.     

Genetic Manipulation in Δku80 Strains for Functional Genomic Analysis of Toxoplasma gondii

Targeted genetic manipulation using homologous recombination is the method of choice for functional genomic analysis to obtain a detailed view of gene function and phenotype(s). The development of mutant strains with targeted gene deletions, targeted mutations, complemented gene function, and/or tagged genes provides powerful strategies to address gene function, particularly if these genetic manipulations can be efficiently targeted to the gene locus of interest using integration mediated by double cross over homologous recombination.Due to very high rates of nonhomologous recombination, functional genomic analysis of Toxoplasma gondii has been previously limited by the absence of efficient methods for targeting gene deletions and gene replacements to specific genetic loci. Recently, we abolished the major pathway of nonhomologous recombination in type I and type II strains of T. gondii by deleting the gene encoding the KU80 protein^1,2. The Δku80 strains behave normally during tachyzoite (acute) and bradyzoite (chronic) stages in vitro and in vivo and exhibit essentially a 100% frequency of homologous recombination. The Δku80 strains make functional genomic studies feasible on the single gene as well as on the genome scale^1-4.Here, we report methods for using type I and type II Δku80Δhxgprt strains to advance gene targeting approaches in T. gondii. We outline efficient methods for generating gene deletions, gene replacements, and tagged genes by targeted insertion or deletion of the hypoxanthine-xanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HXGPRT) selectable marker. The described gene targeting protocol can be used in a variety of ways in Δku80 strains to advance functional analysis of the parasite genome and to develop single strains that carry multiple targeted genetic manipulations. The application of this genetic method and subsequent phenotypic assays will reveal fundamental and unique aspects of the biology of T. gondii and related significant human pathogens that cause malaria (Plasmodium sp.) and cryptosporidiosis (Cryptosporidium).     

日本北海道虻类雌性外生殖器形态(双翅目：虻科)(英文)

【目的】利用日本北海道虻类评估和验证外生殖器在分类学上的意义。【方法】将虻类成虫标本浸渍在生理盐水中并置于双目显微镜下通过针和镊子在培养皿中进行解剖并绘图,观察第9背板、第10背板、尾叶、第8腹板、受精囊、受精囊管及生殖叉器的形态特征。【结果】在日本北海道共记录了虻科(Tabanidae) 3亚科7属38种。我们观察并描述了3亚科其中的6属24种的雌性外生殖器的主要特征。亚科之间存在明显差异;然而在一般情况下属之间很难建立一种方法来确定共同点;种之间只有在斑虻属Chrysops中有相似之处,其他属中则比较多样化。因此,亚科鉴定根据第9背板、第8腹板及受精囊足以进行区分,属及种鉴定需要结合第9背板、第10背板、尾叶、第8腹板、受精囊、受精囊管及生殖叉器各自的特征组合在一起才能区分开来。我们也制作了虻类外生殖器的检索表。【结论】和许多其他昆虫一样,外生殖器是虻科的重要分类特征,对于促进分类学和系统学的发展具有重要意义。本研究首次对分布在日本北海道的虻科雌性外生殖器进行了系统研究。     

A phylogenetic analysis of 100+ genera and 50+ families of euasterids based on morphological and molecular data with notes on possible higher level morphological synapomorphies

 A data matrix of 143 morphological and chemical characters for 142 genera of euasterids according to the APG system was compiled and complemented with rbcL and ndhF sequences for most of the genera. The data were subjected to parsimony analysis and support was assessed by bootstrapping. Strict consensus trees from analyses of morphology alone and morphology + rbcL + ndhF are presented. The morphological data recover several groups supported by molecular data but at the level of orders and above relationships are only superficially in agreement with molecular studies. The analyses provide support for monophyly of Gentianales, Aquifoliales, Apiales, Asterales, and Dipsacales. All data indicate that Adoxaceae are closely related to Dipsacales and hence they should be included in that order. The trees were used to assess some possible morphological synapomorphies for euasterids I and II and for the orders of the APG system. Euasterids I are generally characterised by opposite leaves, entire leaf margins, hypogynous flowers, “early sympetaly” with a ring-shaped corolla primordium, fusion of stamen filaments with the corolla tube, and capsular fruits. Euasterids II often have alternate leaves, serrate-dentate leaf margins, epigynous flowers, “late sympetaly” with distinct petal primordia, free stamen filaments, and indehiscent fruits. It is unclear which of these characters represent synapomorphies and symplesiomorphies for the two groups, respectively, and there are numerous expections to be interpreted as reversals and parallelisms. Received August 28, 2000 Accepted August 7, 2001     

A Microplate Assay to Assess Chemical Effects on RBL-2H3 Mast Cell Degranulation: Effects of Triclosan without Use of an Organic Solvent

Mast cells play important roles in allergic disease and immune defense against parasites. Once activated (e.g. by an allergen), they degranulate, a process that results in the exocytosis of allergic mediators. Modulation of mast cell degranulation by drugs and toxicants may have positive or adverse effects on human health. Mast cell function has been dissected in detail with the use of rat basophilic leukemia mast cells (RBL-2H3), a widely accepted model of human mucosal mast cells^3-5. Mast cell granule component and the allergic mediator β-hexosaminidase, which is released linearly in tandem with histamine from mast cells⁶, can easily and reliably be measured through reaction with a fluorogenic substrate, yielding measurable fluorescence intensity in a microplate assay that is amenable to high-throughput studies¹. Originally published by Naal et al.¹, we have adapted this degranulation assay for the screening of drugs and toxicants and demonstrate its use here.Triclosan is a broad-spectrum antibacterial agent that is present in many consumer products and has been found to be a therapeutic aid in human allergic skin disease^7-11, although the mechanism for this effect is unknown. Here we demonstrate an assay for the effect of triclosan on mast cell degranulation. We recently showed that triclosan strongly affects mast cell function². In an effort to avoid use of an organic solvent, triclosan is dissolved directly into aqueous buffer with heat and stirring, and resultant concentration is confirmed using UV-Vis spectrophotometry (using ε₂₈₀ = 4,200 L/M/cm)¹². This protocol has the potential to be used with a variety of chemicals to determine their effects on mast cell degranulation, and more broadly, their allergic potential.     

Automated High-throughput Behavioral Analyses in Zebrafish Larvae

We have created a novel high-throughput imaging system for the analysis of behavior in 7-day-old zebrafish larvae in multi-lane plates. This system measures spontaneous behaviors and the response to an aversive stimulus, which is shown to the larvae via a PowerPoint presentation. The recorded images are analyzed with an ImageJ macro, which automatically splits the color channels, subtracts the background, and applies a threshold to identify individual larvae placement in the lanes. We can then import the coordinates into an Excel sheet to quantify swim speed, preference for edge or side of the lane, resting behavior, thigmotaxis, distance between larvae, and avoidance behavior. Subtle changes in behavior are easily detected using our system, making it useful for behavioral analyses after exposure to environmental toxicants or pharmaceuticals.