Falling through the cracks: contraceptive needs of female sex workers in Cambodia and Laos

Background

Condom is the only method promoted for dual protection among female sex workers (FSWs) in most Asian countries, which may be insufficient to prevent pregnancies given FSWs' high frequency of sexual intercourse.

Study Design

Data were obtained from independent cross-sectional surveillance surveys conducted in Cambodia and Laos. Random samples of FSWs provided behavioral information.

Results

Respondents numbered 592 in Cambodia and 1421 in Laos. In Cambodia, 28.2% had abortions in the past year despite reporting 99.0% condom use at last commercial sex. Abortion increased with the number of clients, inconsistent condom use, recent condom breakage and recent forced unprotected sex with clients. In Laos, 26.0% of all FSWs had ever aborted as had 89.4% of those who had been pregnant in the past 6 months.

Conclusions

FSWs experience higher frequency of abortion than women from the general population. FSWs' reportedly high rate of condom use is insufficient to prevent pregnancies.     

‘Diabetes is a gift from god’ a qualitative study coping with diabetes distress by Indonesian outpatients

Quality of Life Research - More than two-thirds of patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Indonesia encounter medical-related problems connected to routine self-management of...     

The role of genetic polymorphisms in STIM1 and ORAI1 for erythropoietin resistance in patients with renal failure

Anemia is a common complication in patients with renal failure. While erythropoietin is commonly used to treat anemia, some patients exhibit a poor response to erythropoietin. Since store-operated calcium channel (SOC) signaling is one of the erythropoietin activated pathways, we aimed to investigate the association between the genetic polymorphisms of SOC signaling pathway and erythropoietin resistance in patients with renal failure.Four tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms in STIM1 and five in ORAI1 were selected in this study. Genotyping was performed with the TaqMan Allelic Discrimination assay and the association of individual tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms with erythropoietin resistance was analyzed by multivariable adjusted random intercepts model.194 patients were enrolled in this study. The mean age of participants is 68 years, and 56% were men. The mean erythropoietin resistance index was 9.04 ± 4.51 U/Kg/week/g/dL. We found that patients with the AA genotype of rs1561876 in STIM1, and the CC or CT genotypes of rs6486795 in ORAI1, were associated with increased risk of erythropoietin resistance. Functional annotation of expression quantitative trait loci revealed that the AA genotype of rs1561876 in STIM1 has a relatively lower expression of ribonucleotide reductase catalytic subunit M1 in skeletal muscle, while the CC genotype of rs6486795 in ORAI1 has a relatively higher expression of ORAI1 in the whole blood and thyroid.Overall, we demonstrate a significant association between erythropoietin resistance and genetic polymorphisms of STIM1 and ORAI1. Annotation prediction revealed the importance of SOC-mediated calcium signaling for erythropoietin resistance.     

Effects of Pleistocene glaciations and rivers on the population structure of Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus)

Sundaland, a tropical hotspot of biodiversity comprising Borneo and Sumatra among other islands, the Malay Peninsula, and a shallow sea, has been subject to dramatic environmental processes. Thus, it presents an ideal opportunity to investigate the role of environmental mechanisms in shaping species distribution and diversity. We investigated the population structure and underlying mechanisms of an insular endemic, the Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). Phylogenetic reconstructions based on mtDNA sequences from 211 wild orangutans covering the entire range of the species indicate an unexpectedly recent common ancestor of Bornean orangutans 176 ka (95% highest posterior density, 72-322 ka), pointing to a Pleistocene refugium. High mtDNA differentiation among populations and rare haplotype sharing is consistent with a pattern of strong female philopatry. This is corroborated by isolation by distance tests, which show a significant correlation between mtDNA divergence and distance and a strong effect of rivers as barriers for female movement. Both frequency-based and Bayesian clustering analyses using as many as 25 nuclear microsatellite loci revealed a significant separation among all populations, as well as a small degree of male-mediated gene flow. This study highlights the unique effects of environmental and biological features on the evolutionary history of Bornean orangutans, a highly endangered species particularly vulnerable to future climate and anthropogenic change as an insular endemic.     

Novel tetra- and pentanucleotide microsatellite markers allow for multiplexed genotyping of Sulawesi tarsiers (Tarsius spp.)

Based on 454 sequencing, we characterized 10 polymorphic tetra- and pentanucleotide microsatellites for population studies of Sulawesi tarsiers. We identified 2516 repeat regions and designed PCR primer pairs for 60 tetra-, penta- and hexanucleotide repeat loci. Of 16 markers tested with dye-labelled primers, 11 proved to be polymorphic and 10 were readily amplified in multiplex PCR reactions. We tested 54 individuals of three species (T. lariang, T. dentatus, T. wallacei) and 10 putative hybrids for allelic diversity. All loci are genetically unlinked, one locus was found to deviate from Hardy?CWeinberg equilibrium in one species. The novel marker system will aid studies of tarsier landscape genetics in the biodiversity hotspot Sulawesi.     

The influence of diabetes and or periodontitis on inflammation and adiponectin level

BackgroundIn Indonesia, most of diabetic patients had periodontitis and 75.3% of them had severe periodontitis. Previous study found that hyperglycemia and or local inflammation (such as periodontitis) modulated systemic pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines.AimsThis study aimed to investigate the effect of DM and or periodontitis on systemic cytokines and adipocytokines levels.Methods and materialsA total of 57 participants with age of 29–71 years were recruited for this study. We divided them into three groups; DM-periodontitis (n = 22), periodontitis without DM (n = 16) and control (n = 19). All participants underwent physical examinations (BMI, WC, periodontal status examination) and laboratory examinations (FBG, fasting insulin, CRP, adiponektin, leptin, TNF-α and IL-10).ResultsThe proportion of severe periodontitis were higher in DM-periodontitis group compared to periodontitis without DM (77.3% vs 6.2%). DM-periodontitis group had lower adiponectin levels than that of periodontitis without DM group [5860.78 ± 4182.40 vs 9553.13 ± 6794.73; p = 0.046]. TNF-α/IL-10 ratio was significantly higher in the periodontitis without DM compared to control group [1.96 (1.68–2.32) vs 1.55 (1.27–1.85); p = 0.015].ConclusionLocal inflammation such as periodontitis, elevated systemic inflammatory markers (TNF-α/IL-10 ratio). Meanwhile chronic hyperglycemia alter adipocytokines level. The changes of systemic inflammation among diabetic group had not been shown yet in this study since some antidiabetic and antilipid drugs possess anti-inflammtory effect. Age, WC and FBG correlated with severe periodontitis. Adiponectin, leptin, TNF-α and IL-10 levels did not correlated with severe periodontitis.     

A whole-arm translocation (WAT8/9) separating Sumatran and Bornean agile gibbons,and its evolutionary features

Gibbons, like orangutans, are a group of threatened Asian apes, so that genetic monitoring of each species or subspecies is a pressing need for conservation programmes. We conducted a project to take, as far as possible, samples of known origin from wild-born animals from Sumatra and Borneo (Central Kalimantan) for genetic monitoring of agile gibbons. As a result, we found a whole arm translocation between chromosomes 8 and 9 (WAT8/9) specific to Sumatran agile gibbons. Furthermore, population surveys suggested that the form with the WAT8/9 seems to be incompatible with an ancestral form, suggesting that the former might have extinguished the latter from Sumatran populations by competition. In any case, this translocation is a useful chromosomal marker for identifying Sumatran agile gibbons. Population genetic analyses with DNA showed that the molecular genetic distance between Sumatran and Bornean agile gibbons is the smallest, although the chromosomal difference is the largest. Thus, it is postulated that WAT8/9 occurred and fixed in a small population of Sumatra after migration and geographical isolation at the last glacial period, and afterwards dispersed rapidly to other populations in Sumatra as a result of the bottleneck effect and a chromosomal isolating mechanism.     

Clinical and ultrasonography evaluation of thyroid tumor screening in symptomatic patient of Bajulmati primary care center,Banyuwangi, East Java,Indonesia

This study aims to assess the prevalence, clinical, and ultrasonography (US) in thyroid screening in healthy subjects with general symptoms of thyroid abnormality in low iodine intake in Bajulmati primary care center, East Java Indonesia. We retrospectively reviewed US thyroid examination of 74 subjects with symptoms of mass in the neck, shaky, sleep difficulties, over sweating, and chronic fatigue on September 15^th, 2021. Following the WHO guidelines, subjects also underwent physical examination in which the result were classified into 3 categories, that is, no palpable nor visible goiter, palpable but no visible goiter, as well as palpable and visible goiter. We evaluate US thyroid characteristics following Korean Society of Thyroid Radiology guidelines. Image analysis was reviewed by 4 general radiologists with 2 to 13 years’ experience. Categorical variables were compared using chi-squared or Fisher exact tests. Correlation between variables was measured with gamma statistics. Statistical analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0. A P-value < .05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. Of the 74 subjects, 32 (43.2%) show abnormalities. Statistical analysis showed no significant differences in the result of thyroid US in subjects with complaint fatigue (P = .464), insomnia (P = .777), over sweating (P = .158), and tremor (P = .778), but there were significant differences with the complaint of mass in the neck (P = .008). Furthermore, there was also a strong correlation between goiter palpation and US thyroid result (R = 0.773, P = .00). We conclude there were significant differences in US result of patients with and without complaint of mass in the neck. We also found a strong correlation between goiter palpation and US examination. Clinical findings, laboratory examination, cytology and molecular markers, patients’ age, nodules size, and ultrasound features should be considered for the treatment planning.     

Prioritising recommendations to advance community pharmacy practice

Introduction

The nature of community pharmacy in many countries has changed. Despite the significant efforts made to change practice, there is a paucity of literature that highlights consensus on the approaches that should be prioritised for advancing practice particularly in the context of developing countries.