Child marriage legislation in the Asia-Pacific region

Child marriage is a human rights violation that robs a girl of her childhood, puts her health, growth, and development at risk, disrupts her education, limits her opportunities for empowerment and social development, and increases her risk of exposure to violence and abuse (for a review of the evidence on the negative effects of child marriage on girls and their children, see Parsons et al. 2015, in this issue). While child marriage is not mentioned specifically in the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention does contain a provision requiring governments to abolish “traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children” and calling on them to protect children from “all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse”(art. 4). In addition, child marriage relates to other children’s rights, such as the right to express their views freely, the right to protection from all forms of abuse, and the right to be

Anatomic and MRI bases for medullary infarctions with patients' presentation

Objective: There is a low incidence of the medullary infarctions and sparse data about the vascular territories, as well as a correlation among the anatomic, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neurologic signs. Materials and methods: Arteries of the 10 right and left sides of the brain stem were injected with India ink, fixed in formalin and microdissected. The enrolled 34 patients with medullary infarctions underwent a neurologic, MRI and Doppler examination. Results: Four types of the infarctions were distinguished according to the involved vascular territories. The isolated medial medullary infarctions (MMIs) were present in 14.7%. The complete MMIs comprised one bilateral infarction (2.9%), whilst the incomplete and partial MMIs were observed in 5.9% and 8.9%, respectively. The anterolateral infarctions (ALMIs) were very rare (2.9%). The complete and incomplete lateral infarctions (LMIs), noted in 35.3%, comprised 11.8% and 23.6%, respectively, that is, the anterior (5.9%), posterior (8.9%), deep (2.9%), and peripheral (5.9%). Dorsal ischemic lesions (DMIs) occurred in 11.8%, either as a complete (2.9%), or isolated lateral (5.9%) or medial infarctions (2.9%). The remaining ischemic regions belonged to various combined infarctions of the MMI, ALMI, LMI and DMI (35.3%). The infarctions most often affected the upper medulla (47.1%), middle (11.8%), or both (29.5%). Several motor and sensory signs were manifested following infarctions, including vestibular, cerebellar, ocular, sympathetic, respiratory and auditory symptoms. Conclusions: There was a good correlation among the vascular territories, MRI ischemia features, and neurologic findings regarding the medullary infarctions.Peer reviewe

Performance Analysis of Nonlinear Energy‐Harvesting DF Relay System in Interference‐Limited Nakagami‐

A decode‐and‐forward system with an energy‐harvesting relay is analyzed for the case when an arbitrary number of independent interference signals affect the communication at both the relay and the destination nodes. The scenario in which the relay harvests energy from both the source and interference signals using a time switching scheme is analyzed. The analysis is performed for the interference‐limited Nakagami‐m fading environment, assuming a realistic nonlinearity for the electronic devices. The closed‐form outage probability expression for the system with a nonlinear energy harvester is derived. An asymptotic expression valid for the case of a simpler linear harvesting model is also provided. The derived analytical results are corroborated by an independent simulation model. The impacts of the saturation threshold power, the energy‐harvesting ratio, and the number and power of the interference signals on the system performance are analyzed

Misidentification of tansy, tanacetum macrophyllum, as yarrow, achillea grandifolia: a health risk or benefit?

Tansy, Tanacetum macrophyllum (Waldst. & Kit.) Sch. Bip., is often misidentified by herb collectors as yarrow, Achillea grand folia Friv. With the former, cases of poisoning induced by its ingestion are well documented, but the latter is widely used for ethnopharmacological purposes. The aim of this study was to estimate, based on the volatile metabolite profiles of the two species, the potential health risk connected with their misidentification. GC and GC-MS analysis of the essential oils hydrodistilled using a Clevenger-type apparatus from A. grandifolia, T macrophyllum, and two plant samples (reputedly of A. grandifolia, but in fact mixtures of A. grand folia and T macrophyllum) obtained from a local market, resulted in the identification of 215 different compounds. The main constituents of A. grandifolia oil were ascaridole (15.5%), alpha-thujone (7.5%), camphor (15.6%), borneol (5.2%) and (Z)-jasmone (6.4%), and of T macrophyllum oil, 1,8-cineole (8.6%), camphor (6.4%), borneol (9.1%), isobornyl acetate (9.5%), copaborneol (4.2%) and gamma-eudesmol (6.2%). The compositions of the oils extracted from the samples obtained from the market were intermediate to those of A. grandifolia and T macrophyllum. Significant differences in the corresponding volatile profiles and the literature data concerning the known activities of the pure constituents of the oils, suggested that the pharmacological action of the investigated species (or their unintentional mixtures) would be notably different. It seems, however, that misidentification of T macrophyllum as A. grandifolia does not represent a health risk and that the absence of the toxic alpha-thujone from T macrophyllum oil may in fact be regarded as a benefit

Reversible Oxidation of Myometrial Voltage-Gated Potassium Channels with Hydrogen Peroxide

The uteri, spontaneously active or Ca2+ (6 mM) induced, were allowed to equilibrate, and to inhibit voltage-gated potassium () channels 1 mM 4-amino pyridine (4-AP) was applied for 15 min before adding H2O2 .  H2O2 was added cumulatively: 2 μM, 20 μM, 200 μM, 400 μM, and 3 mM. Average time for H2O2 concentrations (2, 20, 200, and 400) μM to reach its full effect was 15 min. H2O2 3 mM had a prolonged effect and therefore was left to act for 30 min. Two-way ANOVA showed significant differences in time dependency between spontaneous and Ca2+-induced rat uteri after applying 3 mM H2O2 (type of contraction, ), but not 400 μM H2O2 (). Our results indicate that H2O2 oxidises channel intracellular thiol groups and activates the channel, inducing relaxation. Cell antioxidative defence system quickly activates glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) defence mechanism but not catalase (CAT) defence mechanism. Intracellular redox mechanisms repair the oxidised sites and again establish deactivation of channels, recuperating contractility. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that channels can be altered in a time-dependent manner by reversible redox-dependent intracellular alterations

The effects of wild-type and mutant SOD1 on smooth muscle contraction

In this work we compared the mutated liver copper zinc-containing superoxide dismutase (SOD1) protein G93A of the transgenic rat model of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS), to wild-type (WT) rat SOD1. We examined their enzymatic activities and effects on isometric contractions of uteri of healthy virgin rats. G93A SOD1 showed a slightly higher activity than WT SOD1 and, in contrast to WT SOD1, G93A SOD1 did not induce smooth muscle relaxation. This result indicates that effects on smooth muscles are not related to SOD1 enzyme activity and suggest that heterodimers of G93A SOD1 form an ion-conducting pore that diminishes the relaxatory effects of SOD1. We propose that this type of pathogenic feedback affects neurons in FALS

Does cholesterol bound to haemoglobin affect the anti-oxidant enzyme defence system in human erythrocytes?

In a previous study, it was shown that the lipid fraction, which is occasionally observed in red blood cell hemolysates, represents cholesterol (Ch) associated with phospholipid firmly bound to haemoglobin (termed Hb-Ch). The current study was conducted to investigate whether Hb-Ch could affect the primary anti-oxidant enzyme defence system in human erythrocytes. Sixty healthy volunteers were used for the current study. Group 1 consisted of 28 subjects without or with a low level of Hb-Ch. Group 2 comprised 32 subjects with a considerably higher level of Hb-Ch. The activities of erythrocyte superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase, as well as the content of methaemoglobin (metHb) were measured in both groups. The results indicated that the amount ofHb-Ch neither influenced the activities of the erythrocyte anti-oxidant enzymes nor altered the level of metHb. However, a higher amount ofHb-Ch changed the correlations in the part of the anti-oxidant defence system relating to glutathione, suggesting increased peroxidative pressure from plasma lipids. Group 2 also had significantly increased concentrations of total plasma Ch and triglycerides. Together, these facts are strong indications that the anti-oxidant defence system in human erythrocytes finely retunes its composition according to plasma oxidative demands

Apple pectin-derived oligosaccharides produce carbon dioxide radical anion in Fenton reaction and prevent growth of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus

Pectin is the main soluble fiber in apples or citruses. It may be fermented by gut microbiota to metabolites showing local intestinal and systemic effects. A wide range of beneficial effects of dietary pectin includes impacts on the redox milieu and microbiota profile. We prepared pectin-derived oligosaccharides (apple (APDO) and citrus) and polygalacturonic acid-derived oligosaccharides, using alkaline hydrolysis by hydrogen peroxide, and analyzed them by Foufier Transform Infrared spectrometry. Furthermore, we analyzed the effects of pectin derived oligosaccharides on hydroxyl radical (HO center dot)-generating Fenton reaction using electron paramagnetic resonance spin-trapping spectroscopy, and the effects on the growth of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus minus in the presence of dietary-relevant HO center dot-generating system (iron + ascorbate). The oligosaccharides react with HO center dot radical to produce carbon dioxide radical anion (CO2 center dot (-)). A comparative analysis showed that APDO has the most prominent bacteriostatic effect. This might be at least partially related to the higher capacity of APDO to produce CO2 center dot (-), which specifically targets proteins and appears to have a longer lifetime and larger diffusion radius in biological systems compared to HO center dot.The peer-reviewed version: [http://cer.ihtm.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/3043