MyMedR

Fulltext Linking Ayurveda and Western medicine by integrative analysis

Fauzi FM, Koutsoukas A, Lowe R, Joshi K, Fan TP, Glen RC, et al.

J Ayurveda Integr Med, 2013 Apr;4(2):117-9.

PMID: 23930045 DOI: 10.4103/0975-9476.113882

In this article, we discuss our recent work in elucidating the mode-of-action of compounds used in traditional medicine including Ayurvedic medicine. Using computational ('in silico') approach, we predict potential targets for Ayurvedic anti-cancer compounds, obtained from the Indian Plant Anticancer Database given its chemical structure. In our analysis, we observed that: (i) the targets predicted can be connected to cancer pathogenesis i.e. steroid-5-alpha reductase 1 and 2 and estrogen receptor-β, and (ii) predominantly hormone-dependent cancer targets were predicted for the anti-cancer compounds. Through the use of our in silico target prediction, we conclude that understanding how traditional medicine such as Ayurveda work through linking with the 'western' understanding of chemistry and protein targets can be a fruitful avenue in addition to bridging the gap between the two different schools of thinking. Given that compounds used in Ayurveda have been tested and used for thousands of years (although not in the same approach as Western medicine), they can potentially be developed into potential new drugs. Hence, to further advance the case of Ayurvedic medicine, we put forward some suggestions namely: (a) employing and integrating novel analytical methods given the advancements of 'omics' and (b) sharing experimental data and clinical results on studies done on Ayurvedic compounds in an easy and accessible way.

Mate preference priorities in the East and West: A cross-cultural test of the mate preference priority model

Thomas AG, Jonason PK, Blackburn JD, Kennair LEO, Lowe R, Malouff J, et al.

J Pers, 2020 06;88(3):606-620.

PMID: 31494937 DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12514

OBJECTIVE: Mate choice involves trading-off several preferences. Research on this process tends to examine mate preference prioritization in homogenous samples using a small number of traits and thus provide little insight into whether prioritization patterns reflect a universal human nature. This study examined whether prioritization patterns, and their accompanying sex differences, are consistent across Eastern and Western cultures.

METHOD: In the largest test of the mate preference priority model to date, we asked an international sample of participants (N = 2,477) to design an ideal long-term partner by allocating mate dollars to eight traits using three budgets. Unlike previous versions of the task, we included traits known to vary in importance by culture (e.g., religiosity and chastity).

RESULTS: Under low budget conditions, Eastern and Western participants differed in their mate dollar allocation for almost every trait (average d = 0.42), indicating that culture influences prioritization. Despite these differences, traits fundamental for the reproductive success of each sex in the ancestral environment were prioritized by both Eastern and Western participants.

CONCLUSION: The tendency to prioritize reproductively fundamental traits is present in both Eastern and Western cultures. The psychological mechanisms responsible for this process produce similar prioritization patterns despite cross-cultural variation.

The 2019 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: ensuring that the health of a child born today is not defined by a changing climate

Watts N, Amann M, Arnell N, Ayeb-Karlsson S, Belesova K, Boykoff M, et al.

Lancet, 2019 11 16;394(10211):1836-1878.

PMID: 31733928 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32596-6

The 2020 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: responding to converging crises

Watts N, Amann M, Arnell N, Ayeb-Karlsson S, Beagley J, Belesova K, et al.

Lancet, 2021 Jan 09;397(10269):129-170.

PMID: 33278353 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32290-X

For the Chinese, French, German, and Spanish translations of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.

The 2021 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: code red for a healthy future

Romanello M, McGushin A, Di Napoli C, Drummond P, Hughes N, Jamart L, et al.

Lancet, 2021 Oct 30;398(10311):1619-1662.

PMID: 34687662 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01787-6

The 2022 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: health at the mercy of fossil fuels

Romanello M, Di Napoli C, Drummond P, Green C, Kennard H, Lampard P, et al.

Lancet, 2022 Nov 05;400(10363):1619-1654.

PMID: 36306815 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01540-9

The 2023 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: the imperative for a health-centred response in a world facing irreversible harms

Romanello M, Napoli CD, Green C, Kennard H, Lampard P, Scamman D, et al.

Lancet, 2023 Dec 16;402(10419):2346-2394.

PMID: 37977174 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01859-7

Fulltext Long-term thermal sensitivity of Earth's tropical forests

Sullivan MJP, Lewis SL, Affum-Baffoe K, Castilho C, Costa F, Sanchez AC, et al.

Science, 2020 05 22;368(6493):869-874.

PMID: 32439789 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw7578

The sensitivity of tropical forest carbon to climate is a key uncertainty in predicting global climate change. Although short-term drying and warming are known to affect forests, it is unknown if such effects translate into long-term responses. Here, we analyze 590 permanent plots measured across the tropics to derive the equilibrium climate controls on forest carbon. Maximum temperature is the most important predictor of aboveground biomass (-9.1 megagrams of carbon per hectare per degree Celsius), primarily by reducing woody productivity, and has a greater impact per °C in the hottest forests (>32.2°C). Our results nevertheless reveal greater thermal resilience than observations of short-term variation imply. To realize the long-term climate adaptation potential of tropical forests requires both protecting them and stabilizing Earth's climate.

Fulltext Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Cooper DLM, Lewis SL, Sullivan MJP, Prado PI, Ter Steege H, Barbier N, et al.

Nature, 2024 Jan;625(7996):728-734.

PMID: 38200314 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06820-z

Trees structure the Earth's most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations1-6 in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth's 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories7, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world's most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees.

Displaying all 9 publications