The Developmental Origins of Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is one of the most prevalent skeletal disorders and has enormous public health consequences due to the morbidity and mortality of the resulting fractures. This article discusses the developmental origins of osteoporosis and outlines some of the modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors in both intrauterine and postnatal life that contribute to the later onset of osteoporosis. Evidence for the effects of birth size and early growth in both preterm and term born infants are discussed and the role of epigenetics within the programming hypothesis is highlighted. This review provides compelling evidence for the developmental origins of osteoporosis and highlights the importance of osteoporosis prevention at all stages of the life course.     

Ethical Obligations in the Face of Dilemmas Concerning Patient Privacy and Public Interests: The Sasebo Schoolgirl Murder Case

A murder case that had some features in common with the Tarasoff case occurred in Sasebo City, Japan, in 2014. A 15‐year‐old high school girl was murdered and her 16‐year‐old classmate was arrested on suspicion of homicide. One and a half months before the murder, a psychiatrist who had been examining the girl called a prefectural child consultation centre to warn that she might commit murder, but he did not reveal her name, considering it his professional duty to keep it confidential. Article 134 of the Japanese Criminal Law states that doctors should not disclose patient information obtained in clinical practice without a legitimate reason, but the Japanese Supreme Court has not specified what constitutes a legitimate reason. Mass media and commentators suggested that the murder could have been prevented if the psychiatrist had disclosed the girl's name to the authorities or had isolated her coercively in a psychiatric ward. However, the authors disagree with such claims. This article discusses obligations imposed on concerned individuals and third party members in cases involving ethical dilemmas regarding patient confidentiality and information disclosure. It is concluded that everyone should fulfill their obligations to prevent such tragedies and one should judge the appropriateness of others’ actions based not on the consequences of their actions, but on the processes used to decide on a course of action and their commitment. It is necessary for us to establish a society in which concerned parties can do what they think is ethically best without fearing ungrounded charges.     

细胞生物学教学改革初探

细胞生物学是生命科学专业的一门必修的专业基础课,占有非常重要的地位。鉴于我院细胞生物学课程课时安排少、实验少、与已修课程有重复内容、相关科学前沿知识不能及时更新、"填鸭式"教学模式和传统的以"讲"为主的教学方法等严重影响该课程教学质量的教学现状,提出了从课程结构体系、课程教学内容,教学方法及考核方式等方面的一系列改革探究,课程结构体系方面由专业任选课变更为专业基础课,适当增加了理论课时;从课程内容来看,取缔与已修课程的重复内容,适当补充最新科研动态、介绍相关的诺贝尔奖,积极鼓励学生参与教师的相关科研项目和申报大学生科研创新活动项目,培养学生的科研创新能力;从教学模式来看,教师要积极利用图文并茂的多媒体教学、适时放映学生喜欢看的相关电教视频、课堂上多以讨论和提问的方式教学;考核采用平时成绩加期末成绩的方式,不断提高教学效率和课堂管理水平,促进教学质量的提高。     

“互联网+”教育在生物化学课程中应用的分析与思考

在"互联网+"教育的大力推广之下,微课、慕课、翻转课堂、手机课堂等多种教学模式应运而生。通过在生物化学课程中运用"互联网+"教学模式:教师课前准备并向学生发布相关学习资源、学生预习情况和预习效果的评价、学生成绩量化标准,取得了初步的成效。本文从我国"互联网+生物化学"教育现状、"互联网+"教育在生物化学课程中的应用以及生物化学课程与"互联网+"教育结合的未来发展等三个方面进行了阐述。     

Ernst Mayr as community architect: Launching the society for the study of evolution and the journalEvolution

Ernst Mayr's contributions to 20th century biology extend far beyond his defense of certain elements in evolutionary theory. At the center of mid-century efforts in American evolutionary studies to build large research communities, Mayr spearheaded campaigns to create a Society for the Study of Evolution and a dedicated journal,Evolution, in 1946. Begun to offset the prominence ofDrosophila biology and evolutionary genetics, these campaigns changed course repeatedly, as impediments appeared, tactics shifted, and compromises built a growing coalition of support. Preserved, however, were designs to balance the community and journal with careful equation of status and explicit partitioning of responsibilities within the working coalition. Choice terms such as cooperation and unity carried a strong political message. Mayr's editorship ofEvolution provides a superb example of these balancing efforts. The mid-century infrastructural activities described herein also represented aggressive attempts to leverage control across several layers of community. Leaders of these campaigns sought: (1) to promote evolutionary studies as a modernized research discipline and place it at the center of American biology, (2) to promote evolutionary studies within existing disciplines — e.g. systematics, genetics, and paleontology, (3) to foster certain research styles within evolutionary studies, and (4) to emphasize certain solutions to prominent research questions. Throughout, Mayr interjected his priorities, tactics and energy.     

A review of bioinformatics degrees in Australia

Bioinformatics has been a hot topic in Australia's biotechnology circles for the past five years. As with biotechnology in the 1990s, there has been a sudden increase in the number of Bioinformatics undergraduate degrees. For students in the 2005 intake there are six undergraduate Bioinformatics degrees to choose from and another five Bioinformatics streams within a Bachelor of Science degree. The courses vary from three to four years of full-time study. This report aims at dissecting each of these degrees to determine where the differences lie, to give the prospective students an idea as to which degree suits their career goals and to give an overview of the pedagogy of Australian bioinformatics education.     

Objective working hour characteristics and work–life conflict among hospital employees in the Finnish public sector study

This epidemiological cohort study, based on Finnish public sector data, investigated the associations between objective working hour characteristics and work–life conflict in day and shift work. The comprehensive data of hospital workers (n = 8 931, 92% women, average age 45 years), consisted of survey responses from 2012, linked with the payroll data of working hour characteristics from 91 days preceding the survey. Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the associations between working hour characteristics and experiencing work–life conflict often/very often. The analyses were adjusted for age (< 39, 40–49 and >50 years), sex, level of education, marital status, number of small (0–6 years) and school-aged (7–18 years) children, and the overall stressfulness of the life situation. We also conducted stratified analyses of age and sex on the basis of significant interactions. Difficulties in combining work and life were more often associated with shift work without night shifts and shift work with night shifts than with day work (41% and 34 versus 27%; OR for shift work with night shifts 1.78, 95% CI 1.59–2.00, OR for shift work without night shifts 1.42, 95% CI 1.26–1.60). A high proportion (> 25%) of long (> 40h, (OR 1.26, 95% 1.14–1.39) and very long (> 48h, OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.15–1.49) weekly working hours were associated with work–life conflict, and in the stratified analysis, the latter was also true among women (OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.25–1.89). Of the unsocial working hour characteristics, a relatively large amount (> 10% of all shifts) of evening (OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.41–1.72) and night shifts (OR 1.46, 95%CI 1.32–1.61), a high proportion (> 25% of all shifts) of quick returns (< 11h) (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.31–1.63), and weekend work (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.31–1.58) were associated with work–life conflict. A large amount of single days off (> 25% of all days off) was associated with work–life conflict among men (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.11–3.25), but not in the whole sample. When the two types of shift work were analyzed separately, shift work without night shifts and very long work weeks had higher odds (OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.20–1.80) of work–life conflict than shift work with night shifts. Conversely, weekend work and evening shifts had higher odds of work–life conflict among shift workers with night shifts (OR 1.74, 95% 1.55–1.96; (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.40–1.77) than among those without night shifts. To conclude, this study shows that shift workers with and without night shifts more often have difficulties combining work and life than day workers. Several unsocial working hour characteristics, including long work weeks, evening and night shifts, weekend work, and quick returns, are associated with work–life conflict.     

大学生物专业新生启航工程专业教育课程教学的初步实践

为了尽快增强大学新生对专业的认知感,激发学习兴趣,明确学习目标,树立良好的学习风气,为大一新生开设了启航工程专业教育课程。就课程的设置模式、取得的成效、现存不足及改进设想等情况进行介绍与探讨。     

The presence of atrazine and atrazine-degrading bacteria in the residential, cattle farming, forested and golf course regions of Lake Oconee

Aims: To assess the concentration of atrazine in Lake Oconee and develop a qPCR assay as a potential marker for the presence of atrazine‐degrading bacteria indicating atrazine contamination. Methods and Results: Water and sediment samples were collected from the Oconee Lake at four golf course sites, two residential sites, one cattle farming site and a forested site. Atrazine concentration at the study sites was determined using an ELISA kit and indicated the presence of atrazine from 0·72 ppb at the forested sites to 1·84 ppb at the golf course sites. QPCR results indicate the presence of atzA gene (atrazine chlorohydrolase) from 1·51 × 10² gene copies at the residential sites to 3·31 × 10⁵ gene copies per 100 ml of water at the golf course regions of the lake and correlated (r = 0·64) with atrazine concentration. Sediment samples had higher atzA gene copies compared with the water samples (P < 0·05). Conclusions: Atrazine concentration and the highest quantity of atzA gene were detected in the golf course regions of the lake. Overall, atrazine concentration monitored in Lake Oconee was below the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) regulatory standards. Significance and Impact of the Study: Quantitative PCR is an efficient technique for assessing the presence of atrazine catabolism gene as a functional marker for atrazine‐degrading bacteria and the presence of atrazine contamination.     

《发酵工程与设备》课程设计教学的研究

《发酵工程与设备》课程设计是重要的实践教学环节, 在实践教学中起到承上启下的作用, 可为学生毕业后到工厂工作打下良好的工作基础。对课程设计所处地位以及教学观念、内容、方法等教学各环节进行交流探讨。