HIV/AIDS and home-based health care

This paper highlights the socio-economic impacts of HIV/AIDS on women. It argues that the socio-cultural beliefs that value the male and female lives differently lead to differential access to health care services. The position of women is exacerbated by their low financial base especially in the rural community where their main source of livelihood, agricultural production does not pay much. But even their active involvement in agricultural production or any other income ventures is hindered when they have to give care to the sick and bedridden friends and relatives. This in itself is a threat to household food security. The paper proposes that gender sensitive policies and programming of intervention at community level would lessen the burden on women who bear the brunt of AIDS as caregivers and livelihood generators at household level. Improvement of medical facilities and quality of services at local dispensaries is seen as feasible since they are in the rural areas. Other interventions should target freeing women's and girls' time for education and involvement in income generating ventures. Two separate data sets from Western Kenya, one being quantitative and another qualitative data have been used.     

Management of Nucleus and IOL Drop

Background

Thirty six cases of lenticular nucleus drop following phacoemulsification and 43 cases of posterior dislocation of intraocular lens (IOL) inclusive of two paediatric cases were managed by a modified vitrectomy procedure without using perfluorocarbon liquid (PFCL).

Methods

In these cases the incision was placed inferotemporally at pars plana. The limbal sites of the earlier cataract surgery were utilised as the other two ports. In either case adequate vitrectomy was performed first. In cases of nuclear drop, the nucleus was impaled (speared) with a micro vitreo retinal blade and brought into the anterior chamber from where it was delivered out. In cases of IOL drop the same was picked up by an intra-vitreal forceps.

Result

Of the 77 adult cases treated 57 (74%) of the eyes had a visual recovery of 6/18 or more.

Conclusion

Prompt surgical management in cases of nuclear drop or posterior dislocation of IOL yields good results.Key Words: Phaco-emulsification, Intraocular lens drop, Nucleus drop, Vitrectomy     

Calcium calmodulin dependent kinase kinase 2 - a novel therapeutic target for gastric adenocarcinoma

Gastric cancer is one of the most common gastrointestinal malignancies and is associated with poor prognosis. Exploring alterations in the proteomic landscape of gastric cancer is likely to provide potential biomarkers for early detection and molecules for targeted therapeutic intervention. Using iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomic analysis, we identified 22 proteins that were overexpressed and 17 proteins that were downregulated in gastric tumor tissues as compared to the adjacent normal tissue. Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase 2 (CAMKK2) was found to be 7-fold overexpressed in gastric tumor tissues. Immunohistochemical labeling of tumor tissue microarrays for validation of CAMKK2 overexpression revealed that it was indeed overexpressed in 94% (92 of 98) of gastric cancer cases. Silencing of CAMKK2 using siRNA significantly reduced cell proliferation, colony formation and invasion of gastric cancer cells. Our results demonstrate that CAMKK2 signals in gastric cancer through AMPK activation and suggest that CAMKK2 could be a novel therapeutic target in gastric cancer.     

Switching of the nonallelic forms of fetal hemoglobin during late gestation

The gamma chains of human fetal hemoglobin occur in two nonallelic forms, designated G gamma and A gamma, which differ from one another in having either glycine or alanine as their 136th residue respectively. In newborns, G gamma comprises about 75% of the total gamma chains, while in adults, G gamma comprises about 40% of the total gamma chains. The timing of the switching events that lead to the alteration of the rates of production of G gamma and A gamma are still unknown. Umbilical cord red blood cells from term infants were separated by density gradient fractionation into four age-dependent fractions. Red blood cell size and reticulocyte content decreased and the percent fetal hemoglobin increased with increasing gradient densities, confirming age- dependent density separation. The percent G gamma was determined by two methods on fractionated cord red blood cells to determine if the switch in the production ratio of the nonallelic forms of gamma chains began during late gestation. The G gamma content of fetal hemoglobin was found to decrease with decreasing red blood cell age, demonstrating that the switch from predominately glycine-containing gamma chains to predominately alanine-containing gamma chains begins during late gestation.     

一氧化氮在神经退行性疾病中的作用:非类固醇性抗炎药的治疗前景(英文)

一氧化氮(nitric oxide, NO)是一类胞内信使。研究表明,神经退行性病人脑组织中催化合成NO的酶的表达水平显著提高,提示NO与神经退行性疾病密切相关。此外,在这些组织中还检测到硝化的蛋白,提示NO在这些组织中具有生物活性。在神经免疫应答中,神经元和胶质细胞(包括小胶质细胞和星形胶质细胞)内都发生了NO水平的改变。很多神经退行性疾病都伴随有神经炎症,抑制神经炎症的信号通路能延迟这些疾病的发展。因此,NO及其释放通路已逐渐成为神经退行性疾病研究领域的热点,对它们的理解能帮助我们找到合适的方案来预防、减缓或者治愈这些疾病。     

The significance of splenomegaly in 101 adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at presentation and during remission

One-hundred-one adult patients with ALL were analyzed to determine the prognostic implications of splenomegaly occurring at any time during the course of their illness. The clinical status of the spleen at presentation was not found to be of major prognostic significance. Complete response rates, remission durations, and survivals did not differ between patients with and without splenomegaly at presentation. An enlarged spleen accompanied relapse in four patients. In six additional patients, splenomegaly was present during complete remission, and splenectomies performed in five of these patients revealed no evidence of leukemia to account for the splenomegaly. Splenectomy does not appear to be detrimental, as all five patients are currently in complete remission from 20 to 63 mo after splenectomy. Evidence implicating the spleen as a source of an antibody directed against autologous leukemia cells in one patient is reviewed.