Research Progress on the Effect of the Interaction Between Calcium and Iron on Their Absorption in the Intestine

Calcium and iron are essential metal elements for human health, as they play important roles in various metabolic processes such as bone formation and oxygen transport. Their interactions may interfere with each other’s absorption and bioavailability; however, deficiencies of calcium and iron are common nutritional problems that may cause osteoporosis and anemia, respectively. Therefore, understanding the mechanism of the intestinal absorption of calcium and iron and their interactions is crucial for developing effective strategies to prevent or treat these nutritional diseases. Many studies have demonstrated that calcium could inhibit iron absorption on a short-term basis, while long-term calcium supplementation has no effect the overall iron homeostasis, perhaps because the effect of calcium intake on iron absorption is a transient and adaptive response. The molecular mechanisms involved may include modulation of iron transporters by calcium, but more research is needed to elucidate this process. Furthermore, there are few studies on how iron affects calcium absorption. High doses of iron may have a negative effect on calcium absorption and retention; however, the specific effect of iron on calcium absorption is not clear. In this article, the current understanding of the intestinal absorption mechanism of calcium and iron, their interactions during the absorption process, and the underlying molecular mechanisms governing their reciprocal effects on each other’s absorption are summarized, which is of guiding significance for formulating efficient strategies for improving calcium and iron intake and absorption as well as for preventing public health problems caused by nutritional deficiencies

Cultural evolution: the case of babies’ first names

In social sciences, there is currently rare consensus on the underlying mechanism for cultural evolution, partially due to lack of suitable data. The evolution of first names of newborn babies offers a remarkable example for such researches. In this paper, we employ the historical data on baby names from the United States to investigate the evolutionary process of culture, in particular focusing on how inequality among baby names changes over time. Then we propose a stochastic model where individual choice is determined by both individual preference and social influence, and show that the decrease in the strength of social influence can account for all the observed empirical features. Therefore, we claim that the weakening of social influence drives cultural evolution

苏州市三甲医院医患关系现状及其影响因素分析*

Objective: To investigate the relationship between doctors and patients in Suzhou, we focused on exploring the factors of doctor-patient communication, and strived to deepen the doctor-patient communication skills and knowledge. Method: Questionnaire survey was carried out in comprehensive tertiary-class hospitals in Suzhou , adopting the method of random sampling, respectively on patients and doctors. Results: 593 valid questionnaires were from both doctors and patients. The doctors thought that the current doctor-patient relationship  "good" and above accounted for 32% (31/98).At the meanwhile, in the patients, this proportion was 45% (223/495).There was statistically significance between the difference(P ＜0.05).Only 6% doctors thought that the communication between doctors and patients is not important; in the patients, the ratio was 10%. Among the doctors, the top three factors of doctor-patient communication were: lack of communication skills, too much tasks and not enough time and energy, not good attitude. Among patients, the top three factors were: incomprehension and distrust of the doctors, the poor understanding for medical knowledge and the low cultural level. Conclusion: In the first-class hospitals of Suzhou, the relationship between doctors and patients had a relatively good development trend. There were some problems in the communication between doctors and patients. We should enhance the doctor-patient communication, and build a harmonious doctor-patient relationship.目的  了解苏州市三甲医院的医患关系现状，探寻医患沟通的影响因素，以增进医患沟通的知识及技能。方法  在苏州市综合性“三甲”医院进行问卷调查，采用单纯随机抽样方法，分别就患方和医方进行调研。结果  收回医患双方有效问卷593份，有效率为94.6%。医方认为当前医患关系“比较好”及以上者占32%(31/98)，患方认为当前医患关系“比较好”及以上者占45%(223/495)，两者比较差异有统计学意义（P＜0.05）。医方有6%的人认为医患沟通不重要；在患方，这一比率为10%。就医方责任方面来说，影响医患沟通的前三位因素依次为：缺乏沟通技巧、工作任务繁重没有时间和精力、服务态度不好；就患者方面责任来说，影响医患沟通的前三位因素依次为：不理解不信任医护人员、对医疗知识不了解、文化层次相对较低。结论  苏州市3家三甲医院医患关系总体较好，医患沟通方面存在一定不足，应当切实增进医患沟通，构建和谐医患关系

Indian monsoon variability on millennial-orbital timescales

The Indian summer monsoon (ISM) monsoon is critical to billions of people living in the region. Yet, significant debates remain on primary ISM drivers on millennial-orbital timescales. Here, we use speleothem oxygen isotope (δ18O) data from Bittoo cave, Northern India to reconstruct ISM variability over the past 280,000 years. We find strong coherence between North Indian and Chinese speleothem δ18O records from the East Asian monsoon domain, suggesting that both Asian monsoon subsystems exhibit a coupled response to changes in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation (NHSI) without significant temporal lags, supporting the view that the tropical-subtropical monsoon variability is driven directly by precession-induced changes in NHSI. Comparisons of the North Indian record with both Antarctic ice core and sea-surface temperature records from the southern Indian Ocean over the last glacial period do not suggest a dominant role of Southern Hemisphere climate processes in regulating the ISM variability on millennial-orbital timescales