《說文》籀文與商周古文字關係之研究

籀文，一般認為出自童蒙識字課本《史籀篇》，故其文字稱為「籀」。然《史籀篇》早亡，迄今能確證為籀文者，僅餘東漢許慎（68－148）《說文解字》（下 稱《說文》）所錄的227 形籀文。 過往，學者對《史籀篇》的作者及成書年代多有研究，但看法並不一致。傳統觀點根據東漢班固（32－92）和許慎的說法，以《史籀篇》為周宣王時太史籀 所作。然而近代王國維（1877－1927）提出新說，他認為史籀並非人名，懷疑《史籀篇》並非作於西周，而是「春秋戰國之間」秦人所作，並進而提出「所謂秦文， 即籀文也」的觀點，以籀文為戰國時秦國通行之文字。此後，學者對此說多有評 述，但至今未有定論。本文旨在結合商、周的甲骨金文和戰國古文字材料，與《說文》籀文作比較分析，重新審視班、許舊說與王國維說，以確定籀文的時代，並 以此為基礎，進而考察《說文》籀文與殷商、西周、春秋、戰國文字所存在的關係。 通過《說文》籀文與古文字材料的逐字系聯和對比，本文發現籀文與西周金文的相合程度最高，二者應為同時期的文字。換言之，傳統以《史籀篇》為西周宣王時作的觀點並不容輕易推翻，王國維把《史籀篇》成書時代推遲的說法似乎未能成立。此外，針對籀文的流傳範圍，本文系聯了籀文與戰國各系古文字材料， 發現籀文在春秋戰國時期固然行用於秦國，但東土六國使用籀文的情況亦甚普 遍，故此，王氏的「秦用籀文」之說並不符合出土古文字材料所反映的實際情況

地方性江神 : 楚地湘夫人

水是萬物生長的泉源，它時而化成堅冰，時而又演化為滔滔的猛烈洪水，而由於水變動不居的特性和強大的破壞力，先民相信它有精有靈，於是便產生對河川神祇的崇拜。水神的最初的形象多為獸形或人面怪獸。如《山海經‧海外東經》的水伯天呈，就有「八首八面，八足八尾」的外形。此外，水神的形象還有人面魚身、馬首龍身、蛇身等說法。1在眾多河神中，黃河和長江的神祇是比較重要的水神崇拜對象

Is 'oil pulling' a 'snake oil'? : a clinical trial

The traditional Ayurveda practice of ‘oil pulling’ has become a recent phenomenon and concerns about its efficacy have been raised. Objectives: (1) to determine awareness about the practice of ‘oil pulling’ among a group of young adults, and to determine variations in awareness with respect to socio-demographic factors, oral health behaviours (oral hygiene and dental attendance) and use of natural health products; (2) to determine the effectiveness of ‘oil pulling’ and conventional oral hygiene practice compared to the use of conventional oral hygiene practice alone in terms of oral hygiene and (3) to determine the effectiveness of ‘oil pulling’ and conventional oral hygiene practice compared to the use of conventional oral hygiene practice alone in terms of gingival health. Methods: Group members recruited seventy-four young adults to participate in a clinical trial over a two-month period comparing the effectiveness of (a) ‘oil pulling’ and conventional oral hygiene methods (toothbrush and toothpaste) versus (b) conventional oral hygiene methods alone. Oral hygiene was assessed using the Plaque Index - PI (Silness and Löe, 1964) and the proportion of sites with visible plaque (PVP). Gingival health was assessed using the Gingival Index – GI (Silness and Löe,1963) and the proportion of sites with gingival bleeding (PGB). Participants were block randomized in groups of four to a cross over clinical trial and assessments were conducted at one-month and two-months. Results: Approximately a quarter (28.4%, 21) of participants was aware of the practice of ‘oil pulling’. Awareness of the practice was associated with reported use of natural dental/oral health products (p0.05). There were observed significant differences in gingival health among both the test and control groups from baseline to one-month (p0.05). No significant differences were observed in oral health parameters from one-month to two-month among neither the test nor control groups (p>0.05). Conclusion: Awareness of the practice of ‘oil pulling’ is relatively common and is associated with use of natural dental/oral health products. Findings from the clinical trial failed to support the adjunct use of ‘oil pulling’ in addition to conventional oral hygiene practices.published_or_final_versio

Aberrant Transferrin and Ferritin Upregulation Elicits Iron Accumulation and Oxidative Inflammaging Causing Ferroptosis and Undermines Estradiol Biosynthesis in Aging Rat Ovaries by Upregulating NF-Κb-Activated Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase: First Demonstration of an Intricate Mechanism

We report herein a novel mechanism, unraveled by proteomics and validated by in vitro and in vivo studies, of the aberrant aging-associated upregulation of ovarian transferrin and ferritin in rat ovaries. The ovarian mass and serum estradiol titer plummeted while the ovarian labile ferrous iron and total iron levels escalated with age in rats. Oxidative stress markers, such as nitrite/nitrate, 3-nitrotyrosine, and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, accumulated in the aging ovaries due to an aberrant upregulation of the ovarian transferrin, ferritin light/heavy chains, and iron regulatory protein 2(IRP2)-mediated transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1). Ferritin inhibited estradiol biosynthesis in ovarian granulosa cells in vitro via the upregulation of a nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) and p65/p50-induced oxidative and inflammatory factor inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). An in vivo study demonstrated how the age-associated activation of NF-κB induced the upregulation of iNOS and the tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα). The downregulation of the keap1-mediated nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), that induced a decrease in glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), was observed. The aberrant transferrin and ferritin upregulation triggered an iron accumulation via the upregulation of an IRP2-induced TfR1. This culminates in NF-κB-iNOS-mediated ovarian oxi-inflamm-aging and serum estradiol decrement in naturally aging rats. The iron accumulation and the effect on ferroptosis-related proteins including the GPX4, TfR1, Nrf2, Keap1, and ferritin heavy chain, as in testicular ferroptosis, indicated the triggering of ferroptosis. In young rats, an intraovarian injection of an adenovirus, which expressed iron regulatory proteins, upregulated the ovarian NF-κB/iNOS and downregulated the GPX4. These novel findings have contributed to a prompt translational research on the ovarian aging-associated iron metabolism and aging-associated ovarian diseases

Coronavirus-positive Nasopharyngeal Aspirate as Predictor for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Mortality

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has caused a major epidemic worldwide. A novel coronavirus is deemed to be the causative agent. Early diagnosis can be made with reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of nasopharyngeal aspirate samples. We compared symptoms of 156 SARS-positive and 62 SARS-negative patients in Hong Kong; SARS was confirmed by RT-PCR. The RT-PCR–positive patients had significantly more shortness of breath, a lower lymphocyte count, and a lower lactate dehydrogenase level; they were also more likely to have bilateral and multifocal chest radiograph involvement, to be admitted to intensive care, to need mechanical ventilation, and to have higher mortality rates. By multivariate analysis, positive RT-PCR on nasopharyngeal aspirate samples was an independent predictor of death within 30 days

Optimization and clinical validation of a pathogen detection microarray

New design and optimization of pathogen detection microarrays is shown to allow robust and accurate detection of a range of pathogens. The customized microarray platform includes a method for reducing PCR bias during DNA amplification