那片竹林

假期,我和妈妈一起回了一趟老家。一下车,我就被那片竹林吸引了。翠绿的竹子,高高低低,长满山岭。山脚的竹子,那浓浓的绿色,如同一桶颜料在画布上涂抹开来;山腰的竹子,则是一片清纯的绿,但又蜻蜓点水般地染了几抹黄,像一张花纹独特的巨毯;山顶的竹子。     

百年回眸诺贝尔生理或医学奖

正诺贝尔生理学或医学奖,是根据已故的瑞典化学家阿尔弗雷德·诺贝尔的遗嘱而设立的,目的在于表彰前一年世界上在生理学或者医学领域有重要发现或发明的人。该奖项于1901年首次颁发,由瑞典首都斯德哥尔摩的医科大学卡罗琳学院负责评选,颁奖仪式于每年12月10日(诺贝尔逝世的周年纪念日)举行。诺贝尔生理学或医学奖从1901年开始颁奖以来,已经颁发     

读书汇报

最近粗粗学习了一下几位师友的赠书。分享如下： 当金钱不再至上! 《当金钱不再至上——知识生产革命与经济发展方式转变》,侯若石著。非常有幸,我成为该书较早的赠读者。对于我等非经济专业的人士来说,不太容易理解书名的意思。     

价值工程方法在矿用链条加工中的应用研究

运用价值分析法对矿用高强度圆环链的加工过程进行诊断分析,通过对象选择、功能系统分析、功能评价,提出优化方案,降低了原材料成本,从而提高链条企业的经济效益.     

Truncating mutations in the Fanconi anemia J gene BRIP1 are low-penetrance breast cancer susceptibility alleles

We identified constitutional truncating mutations of the BRCA1-interacting helicase BRIP1 in 9/1,212 individuals with breast cancer from BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation-negative families but in only 2/2,081 controls (P = 0.0030), and we estimate that BRIP1 mutations confer a relative risk of breast cancer of 2.0 (95% confidence interval = 1.2-3.2, P = 0.012). Biallelic BRIP1 mutations were recently shown to cause Fanconi anemia complementation group J. Thus, inactivating truncating mutations of BRIP1, similar to those in BRCA2, cause Fanconi anemia in biallelic carriers and confer susceptibility to breast cancer in monoallelic carriers.     

Constitutional 11p15 abnormalities, including heritable imprinting center mutations, cause nonsyndromic Wilms tumor

Constitutional abnormalities at the imprinted 11p15 growth regulatory region cause syndromes characterized by disordered growth, some of which include a risk of Wilms tumor. We explored their possible contribution to nonsyndromic Wilms tumor and identified constitutional 11p15 abnormalities in genomic lymphocyte DNA from 13 of 437 individuals (3%) with sporadic Wilms tumor without features of growth disorders, including 12% of bilateral cases (P = 0.001) and in one familial Wilms tumor pedigree. No abnormality was detected in 220 controls (P = 0.006). Abnormalities identified included H19 DMR epimutations, uniparental disomy 11p15 and H19 DMR imprinting center mutations (one microinsertion and one microdeletion), thus identifying microinsertion as a new class of imprinting center mutation. Our data identify constitutional 11p15 defects as one of the most common known causes of Wilms tumor, provide mechanistic insights into imprinting disruption and reveal clinically important epigenotype-phenotype associations. The impact on clinical management dictates that constitutional 11p15 analysis should be considered in all individuals with Wilms tumor.     

Common variants near MC4R are associated with fat mass, weight and risk of obesity

To identify common variants influencing body mass index (BMI), we analyzed genome-wide association data from 16,876 individuals of European descent. After previously reported variants in FTO, the strongest association signal (rs17782313, P = 2.9 x 10(-6)) mapped 188 kb downstream of MC4R (melanocortin-4 receptor), mutations of which are the leading cause of monogenic severe childhood-onset obesity. We confirmed the BMI association in 60,352 adults (per-allele effect = 0.05 Z-score units; P = 2.8 x 10(-15)) and 5,988 children aged 7-11 (0.13 Z-score units; P = 1.5 x 10(-8)). In case-control analyses (n = 10,583), the odds for severe childhood obesity reached 1.30 (P = 8.0 x 10(-11)). Furthermore, we observed overtransmission of the risk allele to obese offspring in 660 families (P (pedigree disequilibrium test average; PDT-avg) = 2.4 x 10(-4)). The SNP location and patterns of phenotypic associations are consistent with effects mediated through altered MC4R function. Our findings establish that common variants near MC4R influence fat mass, weight and obesity risk at the population level and reinforce the need for large-scale data integration to identify variants influencing continuous biomedical traits.     

Evidence of widespread selection on standing variation in Europe at height-associated SNPs

Strong signatures of positive selection at newly arising genetic variants are well documented in humans, but this form of selection may not be widespread in recent human evolution. Because many human traits are highly polygenic and partly determined by common, ancient genetic variation, an alternative model for rapid genetic adaptation has been proposed: weak selection acting on many pre-existing (standing) genetic variants, or polygenic adaptation. By studying height, a classic polygenic trait, we demonstrate the first human signature of widespread selection on standing variation. We show that frequencies of alleles associated with increased height, both at known loci and genome wide, are systematically elevated in Northern Europeans compared with Southern Europeans (P < 4.3 × 10(-4)). This pattern mirrors intra-European height differences and is not confounded by ancestry or other ascertainment biases. The systematic frequency differences are consistent with the presence of widespread weak selection (selection coefficients ～10(-3)-10(-5) per allele) rather than genetic drift alone (P < 10(-15)).