社会神经科学研究进展

社会神经科学是研究人类的社会行为及其神经机制的综合性学科.从1992年学科成立至今,社会神经科学研究取得了丰硕的成果.本文系统介绍了该领域4个主要研究方向:社会知觉、社会认知、社会调节和社会互动的研究成果,并在此基础上总结了各研究方向的核心问题,即社会知觉加工的模块化问题、人类社会认知的独特性问题和社会调节加工的跨文化一致性问题.已有研究表明,社会知觉加工至少在计算算法层面是特异化的;心智化系统是人类独有的加工模块;人类社会调节不具备跨文化的一致性;大脑间耦合可能是社会互动共有的神经机制.最后,展望了社会神经科学未来的发展方向.     

Overview

In vitro studies of mineral bioavailability are useful because they are faster and less expensive than in vivo studies and because they offer better control over experimental variables. Selection of conditions for in vitro assays of mineral availability is arbitrary. Conditions vary widely among laboratories and with the mineral of interest. Absorption takes place in vivo under conditions that allow ongoing influx and efflux of nutrients and digestive secretions. Conditions in the digestive tract respond to the bulk and nutrient composition of a meal. How does one reproduce these conditions in a closed in vitro system? Correlations between in vivo and in vitro assays may depend on choice of conditions for in vivo studies. Studies of mineral bioavailability from soils have developed to the point that mathematical models have been developed that predict the bioavailability of various minerals to plants under field conditions. Definition of such a model for mineral bioavailability to animals or humans will probably be more difficult to achieve. More information is needed on the nature of nonmineral components of foods and how they interact with minerals.     

Overview of vaccines

This article lists the vaccines current available for the control of both viral and bacterial infections. They may be attenuated live or inactivated whole microorganisms, or subunit preparations. Many more are in the pipeline and increasing attention is being given to establishing their safety before registration. Following the earlier eradication of smallpox, good progress is now being made toward the global eradication of poliomyelitis and a new program to eliminate measles from the Americas has begun. A variety of new approaches to vaccine development is now available. The hepatitis B virus surface antigen, made by DNA-transfected yeast or mammalian cells, is the basis of the first genetically engineered vaccine. Early in the 21st century, new vaccines based on oligopeptides, recombinant live viral or bacterial vectors (often existing live vaccines), or recombinant DNA plasmids are likely to be registered for human use. The efficacy of vaccines depends on the immune responses generated, and the recent substantial increase in our understanding of the mammalian immune system now offers great opportunities for manipulation to best obtain desired responses. These include mixing vaccine formulations to maximize immune responses, and combining vaccines to simplify their administration. Despite these advances, some persisting infections, such as those caused by HIV, plasmodia, and mycobacteria, still pose a great challenge to vaccine developers.     

Overview of Smith-Magenis syndrome

Increased awareness of the phenotype associated with SMS permits early diagnosis and optimal management and intervention. From a management standpoint, the unique constellation of behavioral dysfunction and sleep disturbances has a significant impact on the parents, siblings and relatives of individuals with SMS as well as the professionals involved in their care. Support groups for families of persons with SMS like PRISMS in the US [http://www.prisms.org], provide families with up-to-date information, as well as emotional and peer support, enabling them to better care for their child.     

Overview of osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is a common age-related disorder manifested clinically by skeletal fractures, especially fractures of the vertebrae, hip, and distal forearm. The major cause of these fractures is low bone mass, although an increase in trauma due to falls in the elderly also contributes. There are multiple causes for the low bone mass which, in any given individual, may contribute differently to the development of the osteopenia. The most important groups of causes are failure to achieve adequate peak bone mass, slow bone loss due to processes relating to aging, the menopause in women, and a variety of sporadic behavioral, nutritional, and environmental factors that affect bone mass in some but not in other individuals. The most important approach is prevention. Drugs and behavioral factors known to cause bone loss should be eliminated and perimenopausal women should be evaluated for possible preventive administration of estrogen. For patients with fractures due to established osteoporosis, the only drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration are the antiresorptive agents calcium, estrogen, and calcitonin. Formation-stimulating regimens, however, are being developed and may be available for clinical use in the foreseeable future. These regimens may be capable of increasing bone mass to above the fracture threshold, thereby resulting in a clinical cure of the osteoporosis.     

Overview of sexing sperm

Hundreds of thousands of off springs have been born as a result of AI with sexed sperm. Although this technology has been used for many species, the overwhelming majority of pregnancies have been in cattle, nearly all as a result of sperm that were sexed and subsequently frozen. The technology for sexing sperm has not changed greatly in the past 7 years, but refinements have speeded up the process and reduced damage to sperm. The process of commercialization of sexed sperm has accelerated recently. However, this technology is characterized by high costs, complexity of implementation and lower pregnancy rates than with control sperm. Nevertheless, sexed, frozen bovine sperm are being produced commercially in many countries, although from a limited number of bulls. The main application of sexed sperm to date has been to breed dairy heifers to produce female calves. Because of the slow speed of sexing sperm, fewer sperm are used per insemination dose of sexed than conventional sperm, and pregnancy rates with this product are often only slightly decreased. Successful use of sexed sperm requires excellent management of cattle, careful handling of sperm and use of skilled inseminators. As costs decline, sexed sperm will be used increasingly for cattle breeding, horse breeding and niche applications in other species.     

Overview of microbial biofilms

As the success of this two-issue special section of the Journal of Industrial Microbiology attests, the study of microbial biofilms is truly burgeoning as the uniqueness and the importance of this mode of growth is increasingly recognized. Because of its universality the biofilm concept impacts virtually all of the subdivisions of Microbiology (including Medical, Dental, Agricultural, Industrial and Environmental) and these two issues incorporate contributions from authors in all of these disciplines. Some time ago we reasoned that bacteria cannot possibly be aware (sic) of their precise location, in terms of this spectrum of anthrocentric subspecialties, and that their behavior must be dictated by a standard set of phenotypic responses to environmental conditions in what must seem to them (sic) to be a continuum of very similar aquatic ecosystems. In this overview I will, therefore, stress the common features of microbial biofilms that we should bear in mind as we use this simple universal concept to seek to understand bacterial behavior in literally hundreds of aquatic ecosystems traditionally studied by dozens of subspecies of microbiologists reared in sharply different scientific and academic conventions.     

生物芯片应用概述

生物芯片技术作为新一代生物技术,以其高通量并行分析的优势引起国内外广泛的关注及重视,在各个领域得到广泛的应用,就生物芯片在科学研究、疾病诊断、预防医学、新药开发、司法鉴定、食品安全检测、环境监测、农林科学及军事科学等领域中的应用做简单介绍。