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星期二, 三月 13th, 2007Born in March? You have a higher risk of schizophrenia
星期一, 三月 12th, 2007But autumn birth comes with a greater likelihood of panic attacks, say studies that link birth seasons to health problems
BY ALISON MOTLUK
New Scientist Magazine
Posted Monday, March 12, 2007
The star you were born under influences the person you become. This is not something you expect to hear from scientists but, incredibly, it seems to be true.
There’s firm evidence that the time of year you are born affects not just your personality, but also your health, specifically your chances of developing serious mental illness. But don’t expect to find clues in your horoscopes. The star in question is the star we were all born under – the sun.
Being born at certain times of year gives a small but significantly increased risk of problems such as depression, schizophrenia and anorexia nervosa. The question is no longer if the seasons affect mental health, but how. Pinning this down could yield vital clues on how to intervene to prevent mental illness.
The effect was first noticed in 1929, when Swiss psychologist Moritz Tramer reported that people born in late winter were more likely to develop schizophrenia. We now know that for people born in the Northern Hemisphere in February, March and April, the risk of developing schizophrenia is between 5 percent and 10 percent greater than for those born at other times of the year. The effect has been replicated numerous times over the decades and is far from trivial.
According to a study carried out at Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, the increased risk of schizophrenia that comes with a winter birthday is almost twice the increase in risk linked to having a parent or sibling with the disorder.
Season of birth seems to be linked to other conditions, too. A recent study of more than 25,000 suicides in England and Wales found that 17 percent more people who had committed suicide had birthdays in April, May and June than in the rest of the year.
Similarly, people with anorexia in the Northern Hemisphere are 13 percent more likely to have been born between April and June than in other months. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s best to be born later in the year, however.
Autumn birthdays are associated with an 8 percent increase in the likelihood of suffering panic attacks, for example, and a small but significant increase in alcoholism in men.
Finding out just how the changing seasons change the risk of certain psychiatric conditions is proving a daunting task for epidemiologists. Until recently, the leading hypothesis on why winter and spring births increase the risk of both schizophrenia and anorexia centered on the health of a mother during pregnancy. Perhaps a viral infection in the mother at a key stage of the baby’s development could somehow interfere with brain development.
Several studies in the 1980s seemed to have found spikes in the number of schizophrenia cases in people born in the months following outbreaks of viral diseases such as flu and measles. But several large studies, in particular one in 1999 by Stephen Miller at the University of Georgia, Athens, which looked in detail at patient records for 750,000 people, failed to find a similar correlation between epidemics and rates of schizophrenia.
Seasonal fertility
More recent explanations have concentrated on the more direct effects of the seasons on the mother: how much sunshine a pregnant woman is exposed to, for example, or the effects of temperature.
The hormone melatonin, which regulates the sleep-wake cycle and is suppressed by sunshine, could play a role during gestation or early life, says British consultant psychiatrist Emad Salib. Salib was lead author on the study linking birth in late spring to suicide, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2006. Salib reasons that as people born in April, May and June were conceived in July, August and September, high melatonin levels during crucial months of development could prompt changes in the brain, and then stimulate suicide later in life.
Beth Watkins, an eating disorder researcher at St. George’s Hospital Medical School, London, has suggested a more subtle reason for the season-of-birth link to anorexia, which follows a similar pattern to that for suicide. Her idea is not that the seasons cause changes in the fetus, but rather that seasonal effects allow babies vulnerable to the condition to be conceived and born only at certain times of the year.
People with anorexia are eight times as likely as the general population to have a parent or sibling with the disorder. Often that relative is the mother, and this got Watkins thinking. Was there something about overly thin mothers that might vary by season? “Their actual fertility is on a knife-edge,” she says, and babies born in the months most strongly linked to anorexia were conceived in July to September. Could the higher temperature allow an anorexic mother to conserve just enough energy to tip her into a fertile state?
Watkins and colleague Kate Willoughby looked at a sample of nearly 400 women in the United Kingdom with anorexia and other eating disorders. In the UK, only in the summer months of July and August does the average monthly temperature tend to rise above 60 degrees, and in keeping with Watkins’s hypothesis, significantly more people with anorexia had been conceived during these warmest months.
They then collected data on 200 patients in Australia living in and around Sydney, where average temperatures drop below 60 degrees only in the winter months of June, July and August. Sure enough, they found that fewer had been conceived in these cooler months.
Finally, they looked at a sample of people with anorexia from Singapore, where the temperature remains constant at about 80 degrees all year round. There they found no season-of-birth effect at all.
Watkins accepts that the effect could just as well be explained by prenatal exposure to sunlight, now a leading theory in explaining the season-of-birth effect in schizophrenia.
In 2005, John McGrath and his colleagues at the Queensland Center for Mental Health Research, Wacol, Australia, reported that the higher the latitude, the greater the excess incidence of schizophrenia among people born in winter. Between 30 degrees and 60 degrees north (Chicago is 42), the excess is about 5 percent; at latitudes above 60 degrees north it is 10 percent.
A sunny disposition
Not convinced by the idea that winter infections are the cause, McGrath focused on the effects of a seasonal lack of sunlight. He was intrigued by a study in Brazil by Erick de Messias of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center in Baltimore, which found a raised incidence of schizophrenia in people born three months after the rainy season.
One way sunlight is known to influence the body is by stimulating the production of vitamin D, which fetuses need for brain development. Trouble is, in northern latitudes, there isn’t enough sun around in the winter.
McGrath suspects vitamin D deficiency might link birth date to an elevated risk of schizophrenia. Working with neuroscientist Darryl Eyles, he’s established that the brains of rats deprived of vitamin D during gestation have abnormally large lateral ventricles. People with schizophrenia also have enlarged lateral ventricles.
The rats with enlarged lateral venticles run around more than is normal, and this behavior can be rectified by the antipsychotic drug haloperidol, which is thought to block the neurotransmitter dopamine and is used to treat schizophrenia. The link between vitamin D deficiency and neurodevelopmental abnormalities is a “done deal,” says McGrath, at least in rats. Does that mean the same applies to humans? “We’re still working on that,” he says.
The reassuring fact is that most winter babies escape schizophrenia, and spring babies by and large do not grow up with eating disorders. What we can hope for is that we may some day understand the biological basis for this seasonal blip in the incidence of mental disorder. And if we can do that, we may then be able to fix it.
海铁/海陆/铁路运输到俄罗斯及前俄地区有什么需要注意的?
星期五, 三月 9th, 20071).询价时,须提供准确的车站名称和铁路站的编码,及商品的英文名称和商品编码,这样才能报价准确;
2).铁铁运输一般按一个车皮/40`箱来计费,而不是按一个TEU来算; 有些特定货物和敏感货物需要武装押运(SECUITY FEE),所以报价时要将这个费用报价包含在内,如不交费,可能遭遇货物丢失的风险;
3).限重问题,几种运输方式都是一样,要求,20英尺货柜+货重不能超过24吨;40`货柜+货重不能超过30吨;
4).订舱时间: 至少须提前10-15天时间,以便安排租柜和申请车皮计划;
5).付费问题:到俄罗斯的业务,运杂费需提前付费,最晚时间在货到中转港之前,否则俄铁方面将拒绝安排上二程铁路;
6).客户货款的收取问题: 因为俄罗斯铁路运输,目的港是凭铁路大票和有效身份证明提货,没有办法扣货,所以客户在发货前就要确保可以收到货款,代理和铁路公司没有权限和能力配合不放货和扣货
外国五十年经典长篇小说书单
星期四, 三月 8th, 2007日本(7部)
川端康成《雪国》(创作期:1935—1947)
谷崎润一郎《细雪》(1948)
三岛由纪夫《金阁寺》(1956)
安部公房《砂女》(1962)
大江健三郎《性的人》(1963)
村上龙《近似无限透明的蓝色》(1976)
村上春树《挪威的森林》(1987)
印度(2部)
萨尔曼·拉什迪《午夜的孩子》(1981)
阿伦德哈蒂·罗易《卑微的神灵》(1997)
以色列(1部)
阿摩司·奥兹《我的米海尔》(1968)
摩洛哥(1部)
塔哈尔·本·杰伦《神圣的夜晚》(1987)
南非(1部)
娜汀·戈迪默《我儿子的故事》(1990)
美国(21部)
1、罗伯特·佩·华伦《国王的人马》(1946)
2、诺曼·梅勒《裸者与死者》(1948)
3、J.D.塞林格《麦田里的守望者》(1951)
4、欧内斯特·海明威《老人与海》(1952)
5、杰克·凯鲁亚克《在路上》(1957)
6、伯纳德·马拉默德《店员》(1957,又译《伙计》)
7、弗拉基米尔·纳博科夫《洛丽塔》(1958)
8、约翰·厄普代克《兔子四部曲》(1960—1990)
9、约瑟夫·海勒《第二十二条军规》(1961)
10、凯瑟琳·安·波特《愚人船》(1962)
11、楚曼·卡波第《冷血》(1966,又译《凶杀》)
12、库尔特·冯内古特《五号屠场》(1969)
13、索尔·贝娄《洪堡的礼物》(1975)
14、约翰·欧文《加普的世界》(1978,中译为《诱惑》)
15、威廉·斯泰伦《苏菲的抉择》(1979)
16、艾丽丝·沃克《紫颜色》(1982)
17、威廉·肯尼迪《斑鸠菊》(1983,中译为《铁草》)
18、拉里·麦克默特里《孤独鸽》(1986)
19、托妮·莫里森《宠儿》(1987)
20、E.L.多克特罗《比利·巴思格特》(1989)
21、简·斯迈利《一千英亩》(1991)
加拿大(2部)
迈克尔·翁达杰《英国病人》(1992)
卡萝尔·希尔兹《斯通家史札记》(1995)文学崛起的标志性人物。
澳大利亚(3部)
帕特里克·怀特《人树》(1955)
汤玛斯·肯纳利《辛德勒的名单》(1982)
彼得·凯里《奥斯卡和露辛达》(1988)
英国(9部)
伊夫林·沃《旧地重游》(1945)
格雷厄姆·格林《问题的核心》(1948)
威廉·戈尔丁《蝇王》(1954)
莫丽尔·斯帕克《布罗迪小姐的青春》(1961)
安东尼·伯吉斯《发条橙》(1962)
多丽丝·莱辛《金色笔记》(1962)
约翰·福尔斯《法国中尉的女人》(1969)
维·苏·奈保尔《大河湾》(1979,原为《特立尼达人》)
A.S.拜厄特《占有》(1990)
爱尔兰(1部)
J.唐利维《姜人》(1956,书名又译《眼线》)
法国(16部)
阿尔贝·加缪《鼠疫》(1947)
让·吉奥诺《屋顶轻骑兵》(1951)
弗朗索瓦丝·萨冈《你好,忧愁》(1954)
阿·罗伯—格里耶《橡皮》(1953)
米歇尔·布托尔《变》(1957)
雷蒙·格诺《地铁姑娘扎姬》(1959)
克洛德·西蒙《弗兰德公路》(1960)
玛格丽特·尤瑟纳尔《熔炼》(1968)
勒克莱齐奥《战争》(1970)
米歇尔·图尼埃《桤木王》(1970)
帕特里克·莫迪亚诺《暗铺街》(1978)
乔治·佩雷克《人生拼图版》(1978)
菲利浦·索莱尔斯《女人们》(1983)
玛格丽特·杜拉斯《情人》(1984)
安德列·马奇诺《法兰西遗嘱》(1995)
让·埃什诺兹《我走了》(1999)
德国(5部)
E.P.雷马克《凯旋门》(1946)
君特·格拉斯《铁皮鼓》(1959)
西格弗里德·伦茨《德语课》(1968)
海因里希·伯尔《莱尼和他们》(1971,又译名《女士及众生相》)
帕特里克·聚斯金德《香水》(1985)
瑞士(1部)
马克斯·弗里施《能干的法贝尔》(1957)
意大利(3部)
托·迪·兰佩杜萨《豹》(1958)
伊塔洛·卡尔维诺《寒冬夜行人》(1979)
翁贝尔托·埃科《玫瑰的名字》(1980)
俄罗斯(4部)
帕斯捷尔纳克《日瓦戈医生》(1957)
布尔加科夫《大师与玛格丽特》(1966)
索尔仁尼琴《癌症房》(1970)
阿斯塔菲耶夫《鱼王》(1975)
希腊(1部)
尼可斯·卡赞扎基斯《基督的最后诱惑》(1955)
塞尔维亚(1部)
米洛拉德·帕维奇《哈扎尔辞典》(1984)
捷克(2部)
博胡米尔·赫拉巴尔《过于喧嚣的孤独》(1982)
米兰·昆德拉《生命中不能承受之轻》(1984)
西班牙(1部)
佛朗西斯科·阿亚拉《惨死如狗》(1958)
葡萄牙(1部)
若泽·萨拉马戈《修道院纪事》(1982)
拉丁美洲(总计23部)
巴西(2部)
吉马朗埃斯·罗萨《广阔的腹地:条条小径》(1956)
若热·亚马多《加布里埃拉》(1958)
墨西哥(4部)
胡安·鲁尔福《佩德罗·巴拉莫》(1955)
卡洛斯·富恩特斯《阿尔特米奥·克鲁斯之死》(1962)
德尔·帕索《帝国轶闻》(1987)
劳拉·埃斯基韦尔《恰似水于巧克力》(1989)
危地马拉(1部)
阿斯图里亚斯《玉米人》(1949)
多米尼加联邦(1部)
简·里斯《藻海无边》(1966)
古巴(3部)
莱萨马·利马《天堂》(1966)
卡夫雷拉·因方特《三只忧伤的老虎》(1967)
塞维罗·萨多伊《眼镜蛇》(1972)
哥伦比亚(2部)
加西亚·马尔克斯《百年孤独》(1967)
阿尔瓦雷斯·加尔德阿萨瓦尔《白痴市场》(1974)
秘鲁(3部)
何塞·玛利亚·阿格达斯《深沉的河流》(1958)
马里奥·巴尔加斯·略萨《绿房子》(1966)
布里塞·埃切尼克《胡利乌斯的世界》(1971)
智利(2部)
何塞·多诺索《污秽的夜鸟》(1970)
依莎贝尔·阿连德《幽灵之家》(1982)
阿根廷(3部)
埃内斯托·萨瓦托《英雄与坟墓》(1961)
胡里奥·科塔萨尔《跳房子》(1963)
曼努埃尔·普伊格《蜘蛛女之吻》(1976)
巴拉圭(1部)
罗亚·巴斯托斯《人子》(1960)
乌拉圭(1部)
胡安·卡洛斯·奥内蒂《造船厂》(1961)日本(7部)
川端康成《雪国》(创作期:1935—1947)
谷崎润一郎《细雪》(1948)
三岛由纪夫《金阁寺》(1956)
安部公房《砂女》(1962)
大江健三郎《性的人》(1963)
村上龙《近似无限透明的蓝色》(1976)
村上春树《挪威的森林》(1987)
印度(2部)
萨尔曼·拉什迪《午夜的孩子》(1981)
阿伦德哈蒂·罗易《卑微的神灵》(1997)
以色列(1部)
阿摩司·奥兹《我的米海尔》(1968)
摩洛哥(1部)
塔哈尔·本·杰伦《神圣的夜晚》(1987)
南非(1部)
娜汀·戈迪默《我儿子的故事》(1990)
美国(21部)
1、罗伯特·佩·华伦《国王的人马》(1946)
2、诺曼·梅勒《裸者与死者》(1948)
3、J.D.塞林格《麦田里的守望者》(1951)
4、欧内斯特·海明威《老人与海》(1952)
5、杰克·凯鲁亚克《在路上》(1957)
6、伯纳德·马拉默德《店员》(1957,又译《伙计》)
7、弗拉基米尔·纳博科夫《洛丽塔》(1958)
8、约翰·厄普代克《兔子四部曲》(1960—1990)
9、约瑟夫·海勒《第二十二条军规》(1961)
10、凯瑟琳·安·波特《愚人船》(1962)
11、楚曼·卡波第《冷血》(1966,又译《凶杀》)
12、库尔特·冯内古特《五号屠场》(1969)
13、索尔·贝娄《洪堡的礼物》(1975)
14、约翰·欧文《加普的世界》(1978,中译为《诱惑》)
15、威廉·斯泰伦《苏菲的抉择》(1979)
16、艾丽丝·沃克《紫颜色》(1982)
17、威廉·肯尼迪《斑鸠菊》(1983,中译为《铁草》)
18、拉里·麦克默特里《孤独鸽》(1986)
19、托妮·莫里森《宠儿》(1987)
20、E.L.多克特罗《比利·巴思格特》(1989)
21、简·斯迈利《一千英亩》(1991)
加拿大(2部)
迈克尔·翁达杰《英国病人》(1992)
卡萝尔·希尔兹《斯通家史札记》(1995)文学崛起的标志性人物。
澳大利亚(3部)
帕特里克·怀特《人树》(1955)
汤玛斯·肯纳利《辛德勒的名单》(1982)
彼得·凯里《奥斯卡和露辛达》(1988)
英国(9部)
伊夫林·沃《旧地重游》(1945)
格雷厄姆·格林《问题的核心》(1948)
威廉·戈尔丁《蝇王》(1954)
莫丽尔·斯帕克《布罗迪小姐的青春》(1961)
安东尼·伯吉斯《发条橙》(1962)
多丽丝·莱辛《金色笔记》(1962)
约翰·福尔斯《法国中尉的女人》(1969)
维·苏·奈保尔《大河湾》(1979,原为《特立尼达人》)
A.S.拜厄特《占有》(1990)
爱尔兰(1部)
J.唐利维《姜人》(1956,书名又译《眼线》)
法国(16部)
阿尔贝·加缪《鼠疫》(1947)
让·吉奥诺《屋顶轻骑兵》(1951)
弗朗索瓦丝·萨冈《你好,忧愁》(1954)
阿·罗伯—格里耶《橡皮》(1953)
米歇尔·布托尔《变》(1957)
雷蒙·格诺《地铁姑娘扎姬》(1959)
克洛德·西蒙《弗兰德公路》(1960)
玛格丽特·尤瑟纳尔《熔炼》(1968)
勒克莱齐奥《战争》(1970)
米歇尔·图尼埃《桤木王》(1970)
帕特里克·莫迪亚诺《暗铺街》(1978)
乔治·佩雷克《人生拼图版》(1978)
菲利浦·索莱尔斯《女人们》(1983)
玛格丽特·杜拉斯《情人》(1984)
安德列·马奇诺《法兰西遗嘱》(1995)
让·埃什诺兹《我走了》(1999)
德国(5部)
E.P.雷马克《凯旋门》(1946)
君特·格拉斯《铁皮鼓》(1959)
西格弗里德·伦茨《德语课》(1968)
海因里希·伯尔《莱尼和他们》(1971,又译名《女士及众生相》)
帕特里克·聚斯金德《香水》(1985)
瑞士(1部)
马克斯·弗里施《能干的法贝尔》(1957)
意大利(3部)
托·迪·兰佩杜萨《豹》(1958)
伊塔洛·卡尔维诺《寒冬夜行人》(1979)
翁贝尔托·埃科《玫瑰的名字》(1980)
俄罗斯(4部)
帕斯捷尔纳克《日瓦戈医生》(1957)
布尔加科夫《大师与玛格丽特》(1966)
索尔仁尼琴《癌症房》(1970)
阿斯塔菲耶夫《鱼王》(1975)
希腊(1部)
尼可斯·卡赞扎基斯《基督的最后诱惑》(1955)
塞尔维亚(1部)
米洛拉德·帕维奇《哈扎尔辞典》(1984)
捷克(2部)
博胡米尔·赫拉巴尔《过于喧嚣的孤独》(1982)
米兰·昆德拉《生命中不能承受之轻》(1984)
西班牙(1部)
佛朗西斯科·阿亚拉《惨死如狗》(1958)
葡萄牙(1部)
若泽·萨拉马戈《修道院纪事》(1982)
拉丁美洲(总计23部)
巴西(2部)
吉马朗埃斯·罗萨《广阔的腹地:条条小径》(1956)
若热·亚马多《加布里埃拉》(1958)
墨西哥(4部)
胡安·鲁尔福《佩德罗·巴拉莫》(1955)
卡洛斯·富恩特斯《阿尔特米奥·克鲁斯之死》(1962)
德尔·帕索《帝国轶闻》(1987)
劳拉·埃斯基韦尔《恰似水于巧克力》(1989)
危地马拉(1部)
阿斯图里亚斯《玉米人》(1949)
多米尼加联邦(1部)
简·里斯《藻海无边》(1966)
古巴(3部)
莱萨马·利马《天堂》(1966)
卡夫雷拉·因方特《三只忧伤的老虎》(1967)
塞维罗·萨多伊《眼镜蛇》(1972)
哥伦比亚(2部)
加西亚·马尔克斯《百年孤独》(1967)
阿尔瓦雷斯·加尔德阿萨瓦尔《白痴市场》(1974)
秘鲁(3部)
何塞·玛利亚·阿格达斯《深沉的河流》(1958)
马里奥·巴尔加斯·略萨《绿房子》(1966)
布里塞·埃切尼克《胡利乌斯的世界》(1971)
智利(2部)
何塞·多诺索《污秽的夜鸟》(1970)
依莎贝尔·阿连德《幽灵之家》(1982)
阿根廷(3部)
埃内斯托·萨瓦托《英雄与坟墓》(1961)
胡里奥·科塔萨尔《跳房子》(1963)
曼努埃尔·普伊格《蜘蛛女之吻》(1976)
巴拉圭(1部)
罗亚·巴斯托斯《人子》(1960)
乌拉圭(1部)
胡安·卡洛斯·奥内蒂《造船厂》(1961)
