Melanocyte pigmentation stiffens murine cardiac tricuspid valve leaflet

Pigmentation of murine cardiac tricuspid valve leaflet is associated with melanocyte concentration, which affects its stiffness. Owing to its biological and viscoelastic nature, estimation of the in situ stiffness measurement becomes a challenging task. Therefore, quasi-static and nanodynamic mechanical analysis of the leaflets of the mouse tricuspid valve is performed in the current work. The mechanical properties along the leaflet vary with the degree of pigmentation. Pigmented regions of the valve leaflet that contain melanocytes displayed higher storage modulus (7–10 GPa) than non-pigmented areas (2.5–4 GPa). These results suggest that the presence of melanocytes affects the viscoelastic properties of the mouse atrioventricular valves and are important for their proper functioning in the organism

Sexually transmitted infections and sexual practices in injection drug users and their regular sex partners in Chennai, India.

OBJECTIVE: Measuring sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and sexual practices in injection drug users (IDUs) and their regular sex partners. GOAL: Informing HIV intervention programs. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. RESULTS: One percent IDUs and 2% of their regular female sex partners were syphilis infected; 40% (84/211) and 38% respectively (81/211) were infected with HSV-2. 30% IDUs and 5% of their female regular sex partners were HIV positive. Serodiscordant results for syphilis and HSV-2 were noticed. Women having first sex at ageor=38 years had seven times the odds of having any non-HIV-STI. CONCLUSION: Reaching out to IDUs and their female regular sex partners with modified STI management guideline and promoting women-controlled safer sex measures are needed harm-reduction measures