Practicing Behavioral Sex Therapy in India: Selection, Modifications, Outcome, and Dropout

A file review of 178 male patients with sexual dysfunction revealed that high income, married status, presence of partner at evaluation, and liberal attitude towards sexuality increased the chances of selection for behavioral sex therapy. The outcome of therapy was associated with treatment adherence. Participation of the conjoint unit resulted in lower dropout rates.     

Psoriasis: To Cut or Not to Cut, What Say You?

BACKGROUND: A common problem facing patients suffering from psoriasis is the need for surgery that requires incision through active psoriatic skin. Many patients have been denied surgery because of the fear of an increased risk of infection, decreased wound healing ability, and worsening of the psoriatic lesions. OBJECTIVE: To assess the practices and beliefs of dermatologists and surgeons (orthopedic and plastic surgeons) faced with the decision of whether to operate through active psoriatic skin. METHODS: Dermatologists, orthopedic surgeons, and plastic surgeons selected from various professional membership lists from five representative cities were sent a survey to ascertain their opinions on operating on active psoriatic skin. Psoriatic patients were also given forms asking about the severity of their psoriasis and whether they had ever been denied surgery. RESULTS: Dermatologists are more likely to condone surgery in active psoriatic skin and to believe that there is not a risk of increased infection or decreased wound healing than are orthopedic surgeons and plastic surgeons. These findings are statistically significant (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: With proper preoperative measures and dermatologic treatment, surgery can be performed on active psoriatic skin in most cases with minimal reservations, although a controlled, prospective study is necessary to arrive at a definitive conclusion.     

Incidence of Mallophaga on poultry in Dehradun (India).

The order of abundance of different mallophagan species on poultry birds in Dehradun (India) has been found to be Menopon gallinae greater than Menacanthus cornutus greater than Menacanthus stramineus greater than Goniocotes gallinae greater than Goniodes dissimilis greater than Lipeurus caponis greater than Lipeurus lawrensis tropicalis greater than Goniodes gigas. The intensity of these species upon 1249 birds has been recorded by coding system. The correlation between the monthly incidence of different species and environmental temperature as well as R.H. has been recorded. The degree of association between four most commonly occurring combinations has also been analysed.     

Anti-microbial active composite nanoparticles with magnetic core and photocatalytic shell: TiO2-NiFe2O4 biomaterial system

Reverse micelle and chemical hydrolysis techniques have been successfully combined to synthesize composite nanoparticles consisting of a photocatalytic shell of titania and a magnetic core of nickel ferrite. The nature of titania shell, i.e. anatase or brookite, depends on the TiO₂ and NiFe₂O₄ molar ratio. The work presented here describes the photocatalytic and anti-microbial activity of the composite nanoparticles together with the magnetic characteristics of the nickel ferrite core. The TiO₂-coated NiFe₂O₄ nanoparticles retain the magnetic characteristics of uncoated nanocrystalline nickel ferrites (superparamagnetism; absence of hysteresis, remanence and coercivity at 300 K) encouraging their application as removable anti-microbial photocatalyst nanoparticles that can be extracted from the sprayed surface (human body or environment) after exposure.     

Optimedin: a novel olfactomedin-related protein that interacts with myocilin

Mutations in the MYOC gene may lead to juvenile open-angle glaucoma with high intraocular pressure, and are detected in about 4% of people with adult onset glaucoma. Most of these mutations are found in the third exon of the gene encoding the olfactomedin-like domain located at the C terminus of the protein. Another olfactomedin-related protein, known as noelin or pancortin, is involved in the generation of neural crest cells. Here we describe the identification of a novel olfactomedin-related gene, named optimedin, located on chromosome 1p21 in humans. Optimedin and noelin are both expressed in brain and retina. However, unlike noelin, rat optimedin is also highly expressed in the epithelial cells of the iris and the ciliary body in close proximity to the sites of Myoc expression. In the human eye, optimedin is expressed in the retina and the trabecular meshwork. Both optimedin and myocilin are localized in Golgi and are secreted proteins. The presence of mutant myocilin interferes with secretion of optimedin in transfected cells. Optimedin and myocilin interact with each other in vitro as judged by the GST pulldown, co-immunoprecipitation and far-western binding assays. The C-terminal olfactomedin domains are essential for interaction between optimedin and myocilin, while the N-terminal domains of both proteins are involved in the formation of protein homodimers. We suggest that optimedin may be a candidate gene for disorders involving the anterior segment of the eye and the retina.     

Effect of gossypol in association with chromium protoporphyrin on heme metabolic enzymes

Gossypol prevents the liberation of oxygen from oxyhemoglobin and exerts a hemolytic effect on erythrocytes. In excessive dosages of gossypol, an extreme burden is placed upon the respiratory and circulatory organs owing to the reduced oxygen carrying capacity of blood. Chromium protoporphyrin (CrPP) has been shown to either competitively suppress or to significantly ameliorate a variety of naturally occurring or experimentally induced forms of jaundice in animals and man. In this communication, a novel tissue dependent response to gossypol (50 micromol/kg bw) and gossypol in association with CrPP (50 micromol/kg bw) is described. Our results revealed that gossypol stimulated the hepatic, splenic, and renal delta-aminolevulinic acid synthase (ALA-S) activity, the heme biosynthetic enzyme, and simultaneous administration of CrPP and gossypol synergized the gossypol-mediated increase of ALA-S activity. Gossypol was found to be a potent stimulator of heme oxygenase (HMOX) activity in rat liver and kidney to varying degrees. This tissue response contrasted with that of the spleen, where gossypol decreased the activity of the enzyme. In consonance with the increased hepatic and renal HMOX activity, a marked increase was observed in total serum bilirubin concentration in gossypol treated rats. When rats were given CrPP simultaneously with gossypol, the gossypol mediated increase in hepatic and renal HMOX activity was effectively blocked. Furthermore, the increase in enzymatic activity was accomplished by a decline in the total microsomal protein content on gossypol administration. These findings emphasize the toxic effect of gossypol in eliciting increased heme degradation by stimulating HMOX activity in the liver and the kidney and the potential usefulness of CrPP in experimental and perhaps clinical conditions in which hyperbilirubinemia occurs.     

Platelet glycoprotein VI-dependent thrombus stabilization is essential for the intraportal engraftment of pancreatic islets

Platelet activation and thrombus formation have been implicated to be detrimental for intraportal pancreatic islet transplants. The platelet-specific collagen receptor glycoprotein VI (GPVI) plays a key role in thrombosis through cellular activation and the subsequent release of secondary mediators. In aggregometry and in a microfluidic dynamic assay system modeling flow in the portal vein, pancreatic islets promoted platelet aggregation and triggered thrombus formation, respectively. While platelet GPVI deficiency did not affect the initiation of these events, it was found to destabilize platelet aggregates and thrombi in this process. Interestingly, while no major difference was detected in early thrombus formation after intraportal islet transplantation, genetic GPVI deficiency or acute anti-GPVI treatment led to an inferior graft survival and function in both syngeneic mouse islet transplantation and xenogeneic human islet transplantation models. These results demonstrate that platelet GPVI signaling is indispensable in stable thrombus formation induced by pancreatic islets. GPVI deficiency resulted in thrombus destabilization and inferior islet engraftment indicating that thrombus formation is necessary for a successful intraportal islet transplantation in which platelets are active modulators.     

Juvenile dermatomyositis associated with autoantibodies to small ubiquitin-like modifier activating enzyme: a report of 4 cases from North India and a review of literature

Immunologic Research - Juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) is the commonest inflammatory myositis in children. The clinical phenotype is often characterized by the presence of myositis-specific...