“生存黑洞”与“圆形循环”——薛舒《成人记》女性叙事分析

薛舒的《成人记》以婚姻和爱情为外壳,书写了女性的“生存黑洞”,具有明显的女性叙事特征。小说借助女性叙述眼光、内心透视和自由间接/直接引语等叙述手法彰显了女性的声音,同时通过设置重复情节、典型意象、极限境遇等来推动女性主体的突围与重构。但是,这些叙事并没有给身处时空裂缝中的女性带来本质性的解脱,她们依然被“生存黑洞”深深裹挟。薛舒通过《成人记》再次向世人警示女性普遍面临着的循环困境——走出牢笼之后仍然是戴着镣铐的生活囚徒。

Memory consolidation during sleep and adult hippocampal neurogenesis

In anticipation of the massive burden of neurodegenerative disease within super-aged societies, great efforts have been made to utilize neural stem and progenitor cells for regenerative medicine. The capacity of intrinsic neural stem and progenitor cells to regenerate damaged brain tissue remains unclear, due in part to the lack of knowledge about how these newly born neurons integrate into functional circuitry. As sizable integration of adult-born neurons naturally occurs in the dentate gyrus region of the hippocampus, clarifying the mechanisms of this process could provide insights for applying neural stem and progenitor cells in clinical settings. There is convincing evidence of functional correlations between adult-born neurons and memory consolidation and sleep; therefore, we describe some new advances that were left untouched in our recent review.

A Realistic Portrayal of Reservation Life： A Postcolonial Reading of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian＊

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a 2007 National Book Award novel for young adults by Sherman Alexie. Inspired by his own experiences of growing up, award-winning author Sherman Alexie chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one unlucky boy trying to rise above the life everyone expects him to live. As a bildungsroman, the novel honestly depicts the real life in reservation as well as protagonist Arnold＇s personal development in misfortune. The novel addresses various themes. Through close reading of the novel and with the help of some theories from postcolonial criticism, the present paper tries to analyze the bleak reality of reservation life and protagonist Arnold＇s struggle for social success, thus interpreting the themes of othering, alienation, unhomeliness, double consciousness, and hope presented in the novel

Bariatric surgery proves long-term benefit in patients with cirrhosis

Background:Obesity is commonly observed in patients with cirrhosis,especially with the increasing prevalence of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis(NASH).Bariatric surgery has been avoided in these patients given concerns about increased perioperative risk;therefore,data are lacking regarding long-term outcomes.In this study,we aimed to evaluate the long-term outcomes of patients with cirrhosis who underwent bariatric surgery.Methods:We reviewed the charts of adult patients with compensated cirrhosis who underwent bariatric surgery after they were prospectively enrolled between February 23,2009 and November 9,2011,and followed in a pilot study for evaluation of bariatric surgery outcomes.Only patients with more than 4 years of follow-up were included in the analysis.Data regarding their liver disease,metabolic status,and survival were collected.A descriptive analysis was performed.Results:The cohort consisted of 10 patients,of whom 7 were females.The median post-surgical follow-up was 8.7 years(61.4 years).All patients had biopsy-proven NASH;two patients had concurrent,untreated hepatitis C infection.During the observation period,there was a mean weight loss of 24 kg(19.2%of total body weight pre surgery,P<0.001)and only one patient regained weight to the baseline pre-surgical measurement.One patient who was not eligible for transplant developed hepatic encephalopathy 3 years after surgery and later died.The remainder of the patients did not have any hepatic decompensation,cardiovascular event,or mortality.Except for one patient with Gilbert syndrome,bilirubin was normal in all patients at last follow-up.Conclusions:Bariatric surgery in patients with compensated cirrhosis can lead to sustained weight loss and stable hepatic function on long-termfollow-up.

A novel long non-coding RNA Myolinc regulates myogenesis through TDP-43 and Filip1

Myogenesis is a complex process required for skeletal muscle formation during embryonic development and for regeneration and growth of myofibers in adults. Accumulating evidence suggests that long non-coding RNAs （IncRNAs） play key roles in regulating cell fate decision and function in various tissues. However, the role of IncRNAs in the regulation of myogenesis remains poorly understood. In this study, we identifed a novel muscle-enriched IncRNA called ＇Myolinc （AK142388）＇, which we functionally characterized in the C2C12 myoblast cell line. Myolinc is predominately localized in the nucleus, and its levels increase upon induction of the differ-entiation. Knockdown of Myolinc impairs the expression of myogenic regulatory factors and formation of multi-nucleated myotubes in cultured myoblasts. Myolinc also regulates the expression of Filipl in a cis-manner. Similar to MyoUnc, knockdown of FiUpl inhi-bits myogenic differentiation. Furthermore, Myolinc binds to TAR DNA-binding protein 43 （TDP-43）, a DNA/RNA-binding protein that regulates the expression of muscle genes （e.g. Actal and MyoD）. Knockdown of TDP-43 inhibits myogenic differentiation. We also show that Myolinc-TDP-43 interaction is essential for the binding of TDP-43 to the promoter regions of muscle marker genes. Finally, we show that silencing of Myolinc inhibits skeletal muscle regeneration in adult mice. Altogether, our study identifies a novel IncRNA that controls key regulatory networks of myogenesis.