Association of severity and sex with vasoactive substance and sexual hormone level in patients with vascular dementia in the type of kidney asthenia and blood stasis syndrome

BACKGROUND: Kidney asthenia is the basic cause of the development of vascular dementia (VD). Kidney asthenia lasting for a long time will result in blood stasis. Also, the cause of VD may have relationships with endothelin (ET), nitric oxide (NO), homocysteine (HCY), estrogen (E2), and testosterone (T). OBJECTIVE: To observed clinical curative effect of the kidney tonic, pancreas tonic, and blood tonic with promoting blood circulation components in treating kidney asthenia with blood stasis syndrome of VD. DESIGN: Case controlled study. SETTING: Geriatric Institute of Integrated Medicine, Fujian College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 70 patients, including 39 males and 31 females aged 60-80 years, were selected from Department of Neurology, Pingshan Hospital from May 2000 to September 2002. Diagnostic criteria were used for probable VD of the American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical of Manual of Mental Disorder, 4th ed (DSM-Ⅳ), 1994 revised, mini-mental state examination (MMSE), and criteria of kidney asthenia with blood stasis with mixed weak and sthenia syndrome of Guidelines of Clinical Research of New Chinese Medicine in Treating Dementia. According to score of kidney asthenia with blood stasis syndrome, they were classified to three groups: mild (n =22), moderate (n =33) and severe (n =15). All of them with complete chest X-Ray, ECG, blood chemistry and other related examinations, exclusive of cardiovascular, liver, kidney diseases, homeopathy and psychiatry diseases. And hereby we also select 30 normal people as the comparing group, having no substantial diseases in heart, brain, kidney, liver, lung and other main organic systems after medical examination. Of this group, 11 were males and 19 were females, ranging from 62 years old to 78 years old. There were no obvious differences between the above two groups in sex, age, and education level after statistical analysis. All patients observed in Pingxi Hospital, Fuzhou, from May 2000 to September 2002. METHODS: ① According to the diagnoses standard of blood stasis syndrome: 0-89: The increase in score indicated that blood stasis syndrome was getting serious. ② According to MMSE: All the test samples were evaluated, those with scores of 0-30, in which the non-educated ≤ 17, primary school ≤ 20, above middle school ≤ 24 were categorized. ③ Testing all sample's ET, E2 and T by using radioimmunoassay, the RIA kits were provided by Scientific and Technological Development Center of General Hospital of PLA. ④ Testing the level of NO by using colorimetic method. ⑤ Testing the level of HCY by using Enzyme-linked Immunoassay. ⑥ Meanwhile, analyzing the blood stasis score by comparing with every standard. The differences of data were compared by using t test and F test. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ① Blood plasma ET, blood serum NO, HCY, E2 and T. ② The analyzing results obtained from comparing score of blood stasis with every indicators. RESULTS: The result analysis was including of both the 70 patients of VD with kidney asthenia and blood stasis and compared group consist of 30 healthy people. ① ET, NO, HCY and ET/NO: The levels of ET, HCY and ET/NO were increasing with pathography, while the levels of ET, NO, HCY and ET/NO were decreasing with the pathography, and the difference in statistics was significant (P < 0.01). ② The level of E2 and T: The levels of both E2, T and E2/T for male VD patients were (67.72±12.18) pg/L and (351.58±155.02) ng/L, 0.24±0.12 respectively, which were higher than the compared group [(53.96±16.13) pg/L, (471.83±143.99) ng/L, 0.12±0.00, P < 0.05]. The level of E2 in the female VD patients was lower than the compared group [(34.23±10.99), (44.81±14.65) pg/L, P < 0.05]. ③ The relationship between the score of blood stasis and each indicators: The levels of ET, ET/NO and HCY had significant positive relationship with blood stasis mark (r = 0.352, 0.754, 0.347, P < 0.05-0.01), obvious negative relationship with NO (r =-0.528, P < 0.01) and no clear relationship with female E2/T and male E2/T (r = -0.210, 0.04, P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: ① The levels of ET, HCY and ET/NO are increasing with pathography, while the level of NO is decreasing, which may be the evidence that the possibility of VD pathography may have relationship with the indicators above. ② The level of E2 increase in male's VD patients, and decrease in male's. And the decrease of the female may have relationship with the VD.

Sex and age classes of prey items (rats/mice) in the diet of the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) in Sindh,Pakistan

Barn Owl (Tyto alba) pellets were collected from nine locations and two districts of Sindh,Pakistan and 937 prey items were recovered from 619 pellets.Rats/mice (59.6%) were the most dominant food items consumed by the Barn Owl.Shrews (22.3%),bats (1.3%),birds (12.0%),insects (1.3%),frogs (2.2%) and plant materials (1.3%) were found in their diet as well.Study of the pelvic girdle bones of rats/mice,used only for sexing,proved to be a useful device in population dynamics.In the pelvic bone,pelvic symphysis is found only in female rats/mice developed as a result of sex hormones that occur during gestation.Among the diet of rats/mice,males were found to be significantly dominant.Tooth wear patterns on the occlusal surfaces of molariform teeth of the rats/mice were found to provide an effective criterion for establishing age classes of rats/mice.In the present study,adult rats/mice were found to be dominant over sub-adults and old adults.ANOVA showed significant differences in the number of rats/mice and shrews (prey items) and the other prey items/plant materials in the diet of Barn Owls in the district Thatta and district Karachi.Chi-square test disclosed non-significant differences in age and sex categories.

TV and Sex Make Americans Sleepy

本文让我们窥见了美国的“隐私”一隅。在美国失眠者不在少数,他们有什么安然入梦之良策?似乎男女各有招数: For women, reading came in as the best way to fall asleep, followed by watching TV and prayer or meditation(冥想). Men favored TV viewing and sex——although women also acknowledged the sleep-inducing powers of sex. When asked if sex before bed helped them fall asleep, three quarters of respondents said it did.】

Diet Composition of the Salamander Lyciasalamandra luschani basoglui on the Greek Island of Kastellorizo in the Southeast Aegean Sea

The diet composition of the Lycian salamander Lyciasalamandra luschani basoglui across both age and sex groups was studied. Specimens were collected from a small island in the Southeast Aegean Sea. The dominant prey group of juveniles consisted of Collembola, while Coleoptera dominated the diet of males and females. The number and size of prey items consumed by males and females of L. luschani basoglui were quite similar, while juveniles ate fewer items of much smaller size. The numerical abundance along with the four measures of the size of prey permitted discrimination among males, females and juveniles. Although discrimination between adults and juveniles is expected due to dissimilarity in body size, discrimination between males and females remains inexplicable despite their similarity in body size. Future studies should be focused on understanding how and why prey choice differs between sexes in L. luschani basoglui.

Sex education for adolescents:Indonesian nurse educators’experience as parents

Objectives:Sex education toward adolescent remains the most controversial subject due to the various thoughts and ideas of different values present in society.Nurse educators as parents must exemplify sex education to their children.The aim of this present study was to explore parents’experience,with nurse educators background to be exact,on how they convey sex education to their children.Methods:This study is a descriptive qualitative study,and the sample is recruited by using the purposive sampling technique.The qualified participants filled in the informed consent,provided demographic data,and were interviewed.Saturation data were obtained at the 6th interview in this study.The interview is transcribed to find themes and subthemes using conventional content analysis.Results:We derived 3 main themes:parents’approach,sex education topic,and children’s reaction.Parents’approach contained 4 subthemes,namely,gender match,parent-child closeness,media,and attitude.Sex education topic included 5 subthemes of bodily autonomy,health and safety,reproductive anatomy,puberty-related changes,and how to maintain healthiness.Children’s reaction experiences also included 4 subthemes of uncomfortable,questioning,acknowledging,and laughing.Conclusions:As a matter of fact,some parents in eastern countries,such as Indonesia,conveyed sex education to their children.Children might have various reactions to that topic,but it is important to keep them safe,especially in reproductive health,regardless of the culture or tradition.Based on nurse educators as exemplifiers,nurses and nursing students might acquire the picture in conveying sex education to adolescents.

Adult Granulosa Cell Tumor in a Young Woman: A Case Report and Literature Review

Granulosa cell tumors belong to the group of stromal and sex cord tumors of the ovary. The adult type is the most common type and usually occurs during the perimenopausal period while the juvenile type mostly affects young women. This is a report of a 26 years old woman who presented an adult type of granulosa cells tumor, with review of the literature. She complained abdominal pain and distension associated with abundant ascites and underwent a right adnexectomy. The pathology examination diagnosed an adult granulosa cell tumor. The two entities of granulosa cell tumors (juvenile and adult types) are distinguished by their characteristic morphological aspects on histological examination allowing diagnostic orientation.

The Explicit Portrayal of Obscenity in American Television Series on The Grey＇s Anatomy

The portrayal of obscenity in television series is not a new issue in our society. It is a reasonable fact to be understood, that the exposure to such explicit content of obscenity is acceptable in Western culture but somehow or rather, the acceptance of obscenity among the Asian society is still taboo and this has geared parents to pay greater attention to what type of media content should be watched by their children. The researcher believes the audience could also educate themselves by watching such television series since Malaysia is lacking in sexual education. This research consists of qualitative content analysis. The researcher had included the obscene visuals and dialogues in order to justify the existence of such sexual portrayal on the Grey＇s Anatomy TV series. A theory was selected for this study--the application on selected variables from a previous research done by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation （Sex on TV4, 2005）. The researchers had found that such TV content could be a medium to promote safe sex messages since Malaysia lacks in sex education. The implication on theory was to distinguish the obscenity portrayal in TV series in shaping the audiences＇ acceptance.

Using Doubly-Labeled Water to Measure Energy Expenditure in an Important Small Ectotherm Drosophila melanogaster

Energy expenditure is a key variable in the study of ageing, and the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is a model organism that has been used to make step changes in our understanding of the ageing process. Standard methods for measurement of energy expenditure involve placing individuals in metabolic chambers where their oxygen consumption and CO2 production can be quantified. These measurements require separating individuals from any social context, and may only poorly reflect the environment in which the animals normally live. The doubly-labeled water （DLW） method is an isotope-based technique for measuring energy expenditure which overcomes these problems. However, technical challenges mean that the smallest animals this method has been previously applied to weighed 50-200 mg. We overcame these technical challenges to measure energy demands in Drosophila weighing 0.78 mg. Mass-specific energy expenditure varied between 43 and 65 mW·g^-1. These estimates are considerably higher than estimates using indirect calorimetry of Drosophila in small metabolic chambers （around 18 mW·g^-1）. The methodology we have established extends downwards by three orders of magnitude the size of animals that can be measured using DLW. This approach may be of considerable value in future ageing research attempting to understand the genetic and genomic basis of ageing.