Sociology and the teaching of ethnic and racial studies

Surveys and other explorations of the teaching of ethnic and racial studies have occurred over three decades in the UK, mostly within sociology. The findings of one recent survey are discussed, along with an examination of sociology textbooks, and used to argue that the content of teaching is both more and less diverse than Michael Banton indicates, and that his account underplays the impact of audit and scrutiny exercises in higher education. This article goes on to argue that many aspects of ethnic and racial studies transcend the boundaries of sociology and other disciplines, and to use Banton's call for comparison as a launch pad to reflect on history of the discipline of sociology and how such reflections can be used to think otherwise about how we teach ethnicity and racism.     

Edmund Vincent Cowdry and the Making of Gerontology as a Multidisciplinary Scientific Field in the United States

The Canadian–American biologist Edmund Vincent Cowdry played an important role in the birth and development of the science of aging, gerontology. In particular, he contributed to the growth of gerontology as a multidisciplinary scientific field in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. With the support of the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, he organized the first scientific conference on aging at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where scientists from various fields gathered to discuss aging as a scientific research topic. He also edited Problems of Ageing (1939), the first handbook on the current state of aging research, to which specialists from diverse disciplines contributed. The authors of this book eventually formed the Gerontological Society in 1945 as a multidisciplinary scientific organization, and some of its members, under Cowdry’s leadership, formed the International Association of Gerontology in 1950. This article historically traces this development by focusing on Cowdry’s ideas and activities. I argue that the social and economic turmoil during the Great Depression along with Cowdry’s training and experience as a biologist – cytologist in particular – and as a textbook editor became an important basis of his efforts to construct gerontology in this direction.     

Entomology and the Australian Entomological Society

Abstract   The Australian Entomological Society was founded in 1965 and provides a journal of world-class and annual scientific meetings for members. The world-wide impact of entomology publications is growing faster than that of the Australian Journal of Entomology , and membership of the society is declining slowly. In a recent survey members were generally happy with the society, but much of the exciting research involving insects is probably being published in specialist journals. Challenges identified for the future include building membership through greater connection with amateur entomologists and with students interested in ecology and insects. The growth area for entomology is seen to be in the application of insect biodiversity to the sustainable management of Australia's ecosystems. This special issue of the journal includes 10 papers illustrating the breadth and depth of entomology in the society.     

Immunosuppression by 2′-deoxycoformycin: Studies on the mode of administration

It was previously reported that continuous infusion of 2′-deoxycoformycin (DCF), a potent inhibitor of the enzyme adenosine deaminase (ADase), produces a severe immunodeficiency of both T and B lymphocytes (A. Tedde, M. E. Balis, S. Ikehara, R. Pahwa, R. A. Good, and P. P. Trotta, Proc. Nat Acad. Sci. USA 77, 4899 (1980)). In the present study the immunological and biochemical effects in C57BL/6J mice of daily single intraperitoneal injections of DCF are examined. Five days of daily injections of DCF at 0.4 mg/kg body wt/day produced both immunosuppression and lymphocytotoxicity. Parallel experiments indicated that continuous infusion of DCF at the lower dose of 0.3 mg/kg body wt/day resulted in a more potent depression of immune function and a greater lymphocytotoxicity. In particular we have observed after single injections: (i) A decrease in body weight of 4.7%, compared to 16.2% after continuous infusion; (ii) a decrease in differential lymphocyte count from 90.3% (normal) to 65.6%, compared to 31.4% after continuous infusion, and a decrease in leukocyte count (per mm²) from 5200 (normal) to 3800, compared to 2300 after continuous infusion, while no difference in other blood parameters, including erythrocyte number, hematocrit, and hemoglobin concentration, was observed; (iii) on histological examination, a depletion of T and, to a lesser extent, B lymphocytes, and an atrophy of lymph nodes, spleen, and thymus; and (iv) significant depression in blastogenesis induced by the T-cell mitogens concanavalin A and phytohemagglutinin and, to a lesser extent, by the B-cell mitogen Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide. ADase was inhibited to a high degree ranging from 84 to 94% in lymphoid organs and erythrocytes from animals receiving DCF by either mode of administration. These data provide further direct support for the importance of ADase to proper lymphocyte function, and suggest that continuous infusion may be the preferred mode of administration in clinical trials of DCF as an antileukemic agent.     

Association of TLR and TREM-1 gene polymorphisms with risk of coronary artery disease in a Russian population

Atherosclerosis, manifesting itself as acute coronary syndrome, stroke, and peripheral arterial diseases, is a chronic progressive inflammatory disease which is driven by responses of both innate and adaptive immunity. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells-1 (TREM-1) are important effectors of the innate immune system, and polymorphisms within genes encoding them may increase risk of occurrence of various pathologies including cardiovascular disorders. Thus, we carried out a genetic association study on the sample of 702 consecutive Caucasian (Russian) patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and 300 age-, sex-, and ethnicity-matched healthy controls. We revealed that the C/C genotype of the TLR1 rs5743551 polymorphism was significantly associated with a reduced risk of CAD according to the recessive model (OR = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.20–0.84, P = 0.017, adjusted by age and gender). Concerning TREM-1 gene polymorphisms, we found that A/A genotype of the rs2234237 polymorphism, the G/G genotype of the rs6910730 polymorphism, the C/C genotype of the rs9471535 polymorphism, and the T/T genotype of the rs4711668 polymorphism were significantly associated with elevated CAD risk according to the recessive model (OR = 5.52, 95% CI = 1.17–25.98, P = 0.011; OR = 4.28, 95% CI = 1.09–16.81, P = 0.021; OR = 5.55, 95% CI = 1.18–26.09, P = 0.011, and OR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.10–2.52, P = 0.014, respectively, adjusted by age and gender). Conversely, the G allele of the rs1817537 polymorphism, the T allele of the rs2234246 polymorphism, and the T allele of the rs3804277 polymorphism significantly correlated with similarly decreased risk of CAD according to the dominant model (OR = 0.57, 95% CI = 0.40–0.81, P = 0.0013; OR = 0.59, 95% CI = 0.42–0.84, P = 0.003, and OR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.41–0.81, P = 0.0014, respectively, adjusted by age and gender). We conclude that certain TLR and TREM-1 gene polymorphisms may be associated with CAD in Russian population; however, their significance as predictive and pathogenic markers of CAD should be interpreted with caution in other populations.     

Effects of short chain fatty acid producing bacteria on epigenetic regulation of FFAR3 in type 2 diabetes and obesity

The human gut microbiota and microbial influences on lipid and glucose metabolism, satiety, and chronic low-grade inflammation are known to be involved in metabolic syndrome. Fermentation end products, especially short chain fatty acids, are believed to engage the epigenetic regulation of inflammatory reactions via FFARs (free fatty acid receptor) and other short chain fatty acid receptors.     

晚清及民国时期白鲟的研究

本文回顾了晚清及民国时期白鲟(Psephurus gladius)的研究史,同时也简单回顾了我国早期的鱼类学史。晚清及民国时期我国的鱼类学研究经历了由西方到中方的转变,白鲟的研究也经历了同样的历程。在晚清及民国时期,白鲟还是长江中一种常见鱼类,因其独特的外观和巨大的体形而闻名于西方。由于晚清时期我国的鱼类学研究尚未起步,最早由西方学者开展了对白鲟的形态学、分类学及解剖学方面的研究。同时,一批来华的西方人在其著作和游记中记述了他们所见的白鲟,为我们留下了一批宝贵的文献资料。民国时期我国建立了自己的生物研究机构——中国科学社生物研究所和国立中央研究院自然历史博物馆,开启了对本国鱼类的研究,其在维护国家主权和提升国家地位上亦做出了重要贡献,我国最早对白鲟的研究也始于这两个机构。1937年抗日战争全面爆发后二者迁至重庆北碚进行大后方的鱼类学调查研究,其中也有一些关于白鲟的报道。1949年中华人民共和国成立后,我国的鱼类学研究进入了一个新的阶段,对白鲟的研究也更加深入。