- Mothers who give birth to big babies are ‘more likely to develop diabetes’, study says
- Hypertension: 3 Cups of Coffee a Day May Lower Blood Pressure
- From Chaucer to chocolates: how Valentine’s Day gifts have changed over the centuries
- Chinese immigrants look to digital Chinatowns to find love online
- Highly cited genetics studies found to contain sequence errors
- Climate ‘teleconnections’ may link droughts and fires across continents
Mothers who give birth to big babies are ‘more likely to develop diabetes’, study says
研究稱，生巨嬰的母親「更容易患糖尿病」
Health
Mothers who give birth to larger-than-average babies are more likely to develop diabetes later in life, a new study has suggested. Previous studies have shown that gestational diabetes puts women at greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes later in life. Gestational diabetes is also a common cause of babies who are large-for-gestational age (LGA), defined as babies who weigh more than 90 per cent of all babies of the same gestational age. LGA babies are more likely to be admitted to intensive care unit and develop health complications later in life, including obesity and Type 2 diabetes themselves. Now, researchers have found that mums-to-be who don’t have gestational diabetes but gives birth to an LGA baby are also at greater risk of developing diabetes later in life.
--from Independent
一項新的研究顯示，誕下體型較一般嬰兒大的母親在未來更有可能患上糖尿病。先前的研究亦指出，妊娠糖尿病使女性在以後的生活中患上第二型糖尿病的風險更大。妊娠期糖尿病（Gestational diabetes）也是造成大於胎齡兒（large-for-gestational age, LGA）嬰兒的常見原因，LGA是指體重超過所有同胎齡嬰兒90%的嬰兒。LGA 嬰兒更有可能被送進加護病房，並在未來的健康中出現並發症，其中包括肥胖和第二型糖尿病。目前研究人員也發現，沒有妊娠糖尿病但生下LGA嬰兒的準媽媽在未來患上糖尿病的風險也更大。
--摘錄翻譯自Independent
Hypertension: 3 Cups of Coffee a Day May Lower Blood Pressure
高血壓：每天3杯咖啡可降低血壓
Health
A new study published in the journal Nutrients reports that drinking three or more cups of coffee daily was associated with lower peripheral and central blood pressure. According to the study’s lead author, Dr. Arrigo F.G. Cicero, associate professor in the Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences at the University of Bologna, peripheral and central blood pressure are markers of arterial stiffening and aging. The authors note in their report that the effects of coffee on blood pressure are still under debate, primarily because it is known that the caffeine content of coffee can raise blood pressure in the short term. However, these effects may be ameliorated by the antioxidants found in coffee which can help blood vessels dilate as well as protect cells against free radicals.
--from Health News
發表於《營養素》期刊上的一項新研究報告顯示，每天喝三杯或以上的咖啡與降低周邊和中心血壓有關。據該研究的主要作者 Arrigo F.G. Cicero博士、博洛尼亞大學的內外全科科學系副教授表示，周邊血壓和中心血壓是動脈硬化和老化的標誌。作者在報告中指出，咖啡對血壓的影響仍在爭論中，主要是因為眾所周知咖啡中的咖啡因含量會在短期內升高血壓。然而，咖啡中的抗氧化劑可能會改善這些影響，咖啡中的抗氧化劑可以幫助血管擴張並保護細胞免受自由基的侵害。
--摘錄翻譯自Health News
From Chaucer to chocolates: how Valentine’s Day gifts have changed over the centuries
從英國作家喬叟到巧克力：情人節禮物的變遷
Culture
For Valentine’s Day, some couples only roll their eyes at each other in mutual cynicism. The capitalisation of love in the modern world can certainly seem banal. But Valentine’s Day gifts are hardly a contemporary invention. People have been celebrating the day and gifting love tokens for hundreds of years. (When discussing the history and changes of Valentine’s Day gifts) We should first turn to Geoffrey Chaucer, the 14th-century poet, civil servant and keen European traveller. Chaucer’s poem from the 1380s, The Parliament of Fowls, is held to be the first reference to February 14 as a day about love. This day was already a feast day of mysterious early Roman martyred Saint Valentines, but Chaucer described it as a day for people to choose their lovers. Like today, in Chaucer’s time gift-giving could be highly ritualised and symbolise intention and commitment.
--from The Conversation
情人節那天，一些情侶只會互相翻白眼、並且冷嘲熱諷一番。在現代社會中，愛情的商業化使情人節看起來平庸又乏味。但情人節禮物並不是當代才出現的。從數百年前開始，人們就已經在慶祝情人節並且還會互相贈送愛之信物。（在討論情人節禮物的歷史變遷時），首先應探討14 世紀的英國詩人、公務員和旅行家—傑弗里·喬叟（Geoffrey Chauce）。1380 年代，喬叟在詩歌《眾鳥之會》中第一次將2月14日視為慶祝愛的日子。這天原本就已是慶祝神秘的羅馬烈士聖瓦倫丁的日子，但喬叟卻將其視為人們選擇情人的日子。就如同現代，在喬叟的時代，送禮可以高度儀式化，象徵著意圖和承諾。
--摘錄翻譯自The Conversation
Chinese immigrants look to digital Chinatowns to find love online
海外華人通過數位唐人街在網上找尋愛情
Culture
Where do people go for good Chinese food? One obvious answer is Chinatown. Many large cities have established Chinatowns and other neighbourhoods that serve as a cultural base for different communities. But increasingly, more than existing in physical space, these ethnic communities are forming in cyberspace. In particular, digital Chinatowns are becoming very important in the dating lives of Chinese immigrants. According to our new research, many Chinese immigrants in Canada are turning to online communities hoping to find love. As the internet and smartphones have become ubiquitous in our day-to-day life, millions of singles are going online to look for romantic partners. And online dating platforms have burgeoned.
--from The Conversation
人們都去哪裡吃好吃的中國菜呢？ 答案明顯是唐人街。 許多大城市都有唐人街和如唐人街這般由特定文化族群組成的社區作為其文化的根據地。 如今，愈來愈多這類由特定文化族群組所組成的社群接連出現在網路上。近年來，數位唐人街在海外華人的社交圈中更是扮演愈來愈重要的角色。根據我們的最新研究，許多在加拿大的海外華人轉向線上社群，希望從中找到真愛。 隨著網際網路和智能手機在我們的日常生活中變得無所不在，數以百萬的單身人士已投奔到網路上尋找伴侶。 線上約會平台也因此蓬勃發展。
--摘錄翻譯自The Conversation
Highly cited genetics studies found to contain sequence errors
高度引用的遺傳學研究被發現存在著序列錯誤
Sciences
The prevalence of mistakes in published gene research could be more widespread than previously thought, according to an analysis of cancer-genetics papers in two high-impact journals. By combing through the supplementary information for hundreds of papers, a team led by cancer researcher Jennifer Byrne at the University of Sydney in Australia has identified some highly cited studies that contain errors in the DNA or RNA sequences of reagents. Scientists use these reagents for various reasons — for example, to study the function of a given gene or genetic sequence in a disease — and if the sequences are wrongly reported it could affect the reproducibility of the research. Some researchers also question the extent to which errors at the level of individual nucleotides might affect the papers’ conclusions. However, most agree that the presence of such mistakes in the scientific literature is worrying.
--from Nature news
根據針對兩份高影響力期刊中的癌症遺傳學論文的一項分析，已發表的基因研究中普遍存在的錯誤可能比先前所認為的更為廣泛。透過結合數百篇論文的附加訊息，澳洲雪梨大學癌症研究員Jennifer Byrne領導的團隊發現了一些被高度引用的研究中，其試劑的DNA或RNA序列中存在錯誤。科學家出於各種原因使用這些試劑—例如：研究特定基因或基因序列在疾病中的功能—如果序列被錯誤報告，可能會影響研究的可重複性。一些研究人員還質疑個別核酸水平的錯誤對於論文結論的影響程度。然而，大多數人認為科學文獻中存在此類錯誤令人擔憂。
--摘錄翻譯自Nature news
Climate ‘teleconnections’ may link droughts and fires across continents
氣候「遙相關」可以解釋各大洲的乾旱與火災的關聯
Sciences
Large-scale climate patterns that can impact weather across thousands of kilometers may have a hand in synchronizing multicontinental droughts and stoking wildfires around the world, two new studies find. These profound patterns, known as climate teleconnections, typically occur as recurring phases that can last from weeks to years. “They are a kind of complex butterfly effect, in that things that are occurring in one place have many derivatives very far away,” says Sergio de Miguel, an ecosystem scientist at Spain’s University of Lleida and the Joint Research Unit CTFC-Agrotecnio. Major droughts arise around the same time at drought hot spots around the world, and the world’s major climate teleconnections may be behind the synchronization, researchers report in one study. What’s more, these profound patterns may also regulate the scorching of more than half of the area burned on Earth each year, de Miguel and colleagues report in the other study.
--from Science News
兩項新的研究發現，足以影響數千公里內天氣的大規模氣候模式，可能和多個大陸同步發生乾旱及引發世界各地野火有關。這些被稱為「氣候遙相關」的奧妙模式通常會持續數週至數年，週期性地反覆發生。西班牙雷里達大學與CTFC-Agrotecnio聯合研究單位的生態系統科學家Sergio de Miguel說：「它們是一種複雜的蝴蝶效應，意即在一處發生的事情能在很遠處衍生許多狀況。」研究人員在一項研究中報告說，世界各地的乾旱熱點幾乎同時發生大乾旱，而世界主要的氣候遙相關可能是同步的原因。此外，更重要的是Miguel與其同事在另一項研究報告指出，這些深度模式還可能調節每年地球上超過一半被燃燒地區的灼熱。
--摘錄翻譯自Science News