Diseases of the lips

Heath care providers should be comfortable with normal as well as pathologic findings in the lips, because the lips are highly visible and may display clinical manifestations of local, as well as systemic inflammatory, allergic, irritant, and neoplastic alterations. Fortunately, the lips are easily accessible. The evaluation should include a careful history and physical examination, including visual inspection, as well as palpation of the lips and an examination of associated cervical, submandibular, and submental nodes. Pathologic and microscopic studies, as well as a review of medications, allergies, and habits, may further highlight possible etiologies. Many lip conditions, including premalignant changes, are relatively easy to treat, when the abnormalities are detected early; however, advanced disease and malignancies are challenging for both the patient and clinician. Treatment should be focused on eliminating potential irritants or allergens and treatment of the primary dermatosis. In this paper we review physiologic variants as well as pathologic conditions of the lips

Action Initiation in the Human Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex

The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) has previously been implicated in processes that influence action initiation. In humans however, there has been little direct evidence connecting dACC to the temporal onset of actions. We studied reactive behavior in patients undergoing therapeutic bilateral cingulotomy to determine the immediate effects of dACC ablation on action initiation. In a simple reaction task, three patients were instructed to respond to a specific visual cue with the movement of a joystick. Within minutes of dACC ablation, the frequency of false starts increased, where movements occurred prior to presentation of the visual cue. In a decision making task with three separate patients, the ablation effect on action initiation persisted even when action selection was intact. These findings suggest that human dACC influences action initiation, apart from its role in action selection

State business: gender, sex and marriage in Tajikistan

This article examines the relation of the state to masculinity and sexuality by way of an exploration of the sexual problems of a young man and his wife in Tajikistan at the end of the Soviet era. It suggests that the regime’s inattention to this kind of issue was bound up with the importance to the state of projecting appropriate versions of masculinity. It further posits the idea that the continued refusal of the independent Tajik state to offer appropriate treatments for sexual dysfunction is consistent with the image of modernity President Rahmon wishes to present to the world. The article shows that as masculinity discursively occupies the superior gender position, with men expected to dominate, the state is itself impotent to respond when they are, in fact, unable to do so in sexual practice. However, the myth of male dominance persists to the point that it may prevent women from seeing beyond their subordination and finding mutually beneficial solutions in their familial and sexual relationships

Unilateral Laminotomy with Bilateral Spinal Canal Decompression for Lumbar Stenosis: A Technical Note

Abstract Lumbar stenosis has become one of the most common spinal pathologies and one that results in neurogenic claudication, back and leg pain, and disability. The standard procedure is still an open laminectomy, which involves wide muscle retraction and extensive removal of the posterior spinal structures. This can lead to instability and the need for additional spinal fusion. We present a systemized and detailed approach to unilateral laminotomy for bilateral decompression, which we believe is superior to the standard open laminectomy in terms of intraoperative visualization, postoperative stability, and degree of invasiveness

A review of bioanalytical techniques for evaluation of cannabis (Marijuana, weed, Hashish) in human hair

Cannabis products (marijuana, weed, hashish) are among the most widely abused psychoactive drugs in the world, due to their euphorigenic and anxiolytic properties. Recently, hair analysis is of great interest in analytical, clinical, and forensic sciences due to its non-invasiveness, negligible risk of infection and tampering, facile storage, and a wider window of detection. Hair analysis is now widely accepted as evidence in courts around the world. Hair analysis is very feasible to complement saliva, blood tests, and urinalysis. In this review, we have focused on state of the art in hair analysis of cannabis with particular attention to hair sample preparation for cannabis analysis involving pulverization, extraction and screening techniques followed by confirmatory tests (e.g., GC–MS and LC–MS/MS). We have reviewed the literature for the past 10 years’ period with special emphasis on cannabis quantification using mass spectrometry. The pros and cons of all the published methods have also been discussed along with the prospective future of cannabis analysis