The Sexual Politics of the Manusmriti: A Critical Analysis with Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Perspectives

The choice of women for reproduction and their free expression of sexuality in India are not separate from religious or cultural beliefs. The ancient legal text, The Manusmriti and its law codes had a significant role in creating the Brahmanic Patriarchy, the caste system, and the heteronormative structures of Ancient India. Under the British, the text became instrumental in constructing a complex system of jurisprudence in which ‘general law’ was supplemented by ‘personal law’ determined by one’s religious affiliation. The present study using the qualitative research method, analyses the sexual politics of The Manusmriti from women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRH Rights) perspective. Instead of the original Sanskrit text, the English translation of The Manusmriti by Wendy Doniger and Brian. K. Smith was taken for the textual analysis and attempted an interpretive analysis of the specific verses coming under the selected six categories. Several of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights of women related to the right to bodily integrity, marriage rights, right to contraception, right to divorce, etc., are denied as per the injunctions prescribed in the text. Women are portrayed as sexually promiscuous, secret, sly, and out to capture men. Their bodies are frequently objectified and more often devalued as eliciting disgust. The authors connect the implications of the findings with the present status of women’s sexual and reproductive rights in Indian society and highlight the need for re-reading the religious and cultural texts with a human rights /gender perspective

Contested understandings in the global garment industry after Rana Plaza

This Introduction synthesizes the key themes of this special cluster of articles and explores the implications of the three contributions on garment supply chains after the Rana Plaza disaster. The three articles examine the perspectives of key stakeholders in garment value chains — global buyers, managers of garment factories in Bangladesh, and workers at these factories — and analyses their responses to the new governance initiatives that emerged in the aftermath of Rana Plaza. Placing the contrasting perspectives of these stakeholders alongside each other starkly reveals how their different positions within hierarchically organized global value chains form the particular lens through which they view post-Rana Plaza initiatives. This special cluster scrutinizes the particular understandings of these stakeholders and reveals the very different capacity for voice and influence that they bring to bear in shaping outcomes. It reflects on the contradictory imperatives faced by actors in the garment industry caught between a logic of competition on the one hand and global labour standards norms on the other. The Introduction concludes by examining the prospects for a re-embedding of the market in global value chains via the activation of civil society

An Incidental Case of Neuroendocrine Tumor Case Report

Rectal neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), which have a 0.17% incidence, are rare. Despite the fact that improved detection rates are to blame for the current increase in NET incidence. Furthermore, it has been determined that the following elements significantly influence the tumor's capacity to spread: Proliferative index, depth of infiltration at diagnosis, and tumor size (1). When the tumor is detected at a low-grade proliferation stage, rectal NET offers the best prognosis of any NET type. Modern knowledge of the lesion's morphology, along with the additional use of ancillary studies, help diagnose NET as soon as possible so that the necessary management may be tailored

An Incidental Case of Neuroendocrine Tumor Case Report

Rectal neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), which have a 0.17% incidence, are rare. Despite the fact that improved detection rates are to blame for the current increase in NET incidence. Furthermore, it has been determined that the following elements significantly influence the tumor's capacity to spread: Proliferative index, depth of infiltration at diagnosis, and tumor size (1). When the tumor is detected at a low-grade proliferation stage, rectal NET offers the best prognosis of any NET type. Modern knowledge of the lesion's morphology, along with the additional use of ancillary studies, help diagnose NET as soon as possible so that the necessary management may be tailored

ATP Reception and Chemosensory Adaptation in \u3c/i\u3eTetrahymena thermophila\u3c/i\u3e

Micromolar concentrations of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and its non-hydrolyzable analog β- γ -methylene ATP are both effective depolarizing chemorepellents in Tetrahymena thermophila. Chemorepellent behavior consists of repeated bouts of backward swimming (avoidance reactions) that can easily be quantified to provide a convenient bioassay for purinergic reception studies. Chemosensory adaptation occurs following prolonged exposure (10 min) to the repellents, and cells regain normal swimming behavior. Adaptation is specific since cells that are behaviorally adapted to either ATP or β- γ -methylene ATP still retain full responsiveness to the chemorepellents GTP and lysozyme. However, cross adaptation occurs between ATP and β- γ -methylene ATP, suggesting that they involve the same receptor. Behavioral sensitivity to both ATP and β- γ -methylene ATP is increased by the addition of Na+, but addition of either Ca2+ or Mg2+ dramatically decreases the response to ATP. These ionic effects are correlated with in vivo ATP hydrolysis, suggesting that divalent ions decrease purinergic sensitivity by activating a Ca2+- or Mg2+-dependent ecto-ATPase to hydrolyze the ATP signal. In vivo [32P]ATP binding studies and Scatchard analysis suggest that the behavioral adaptation is due to a decrease in the number of surface binding sites, as represented by decreased Bmax values. All these changes are reversible (de-adaptation) after 12 min in a repellent-free buffer. Electrophysiological analysis showed that both β- γ -methylene ATP (10 micromol l-1) and ATP (500 micromol l-1) elicited sustained, reversible depolarizations while GTP (10 micromol l-1) produced a transient depolarization, suggesting that the chemosensory response pathways for ATP and GTP reception may differ. There may be separate ATP and GTP receptors since ATP and GTP responses do not cross-adapt and ‘cold’ (unlabeled) GTP is not a good inhibitor of [32P]ATP binding. These results suggests that T. thermophila possess high-affinity surface receptors for ATP that are down-regulated during chemosensory adaptation. These ATP receptors may act as chemorepellent receptors to enable T. thermophila to recognize recently lysed cells and avoid a possibly deleterious situation. This is the simplest eukaryotic organism to show an electrophysiological response to external ATP

Rosai Dorfman Disease - A Rare Presentation of Cervical Lymphadenopathy - A Case Report

Rosai Dorfman disease is an uncommon histiocytic disorder presenting as bilateral cervical lymphadenopathy in children and young adults. Under the revised classification of histiocytic disorders, it is classified in the` R’ group of histiocytosis. Cutaneous Rosai -Dorfman disease is regarded as a separate entity which falls under the`C’ group of histiocytosis according to this classification system. We herein report a case of cervical lymphadenopathy who initially developed swelling in the right side of the neck and later developed in the left side of the neck. Patient underwent mantoux test which showed induration of 22mm which was significant. No other symptoms like cough with expectoration, loss of appetite was present.chest x ray was normal. Tuberculous Lymphadenitis was suspected. FNAC was done but confirmatory diagnosis was not obtained, so Excision biopsy was done. Finally, microscopic examination revealed marked emperipolesis with sheets of mature lymphocytes and plasma cells which is pathognomic cytoarchitecture of Rosai Dorfman disease. No evidence of granuloma/ RS cells/ atypia seen. Immunohistochemistry showed S -100 – strong positivity

Profile of pharmacological effects of combination of buspirone with selected antidepressants: a behavioral study in mice

Background: Antidepressants are commonly prescribed drugs. Co-existing disorders like anxiety require therapy with other drugs. The profiles of pharmacological effects of these drugs on central nervous system are influenced by the administration of these drugs either as single or combination. This study is designed to observe the behavioral effects of antidepressants along with the antianxiety agent buspirone in mice.Methods:  Four antidepressant drugs belonging to different groups are selected for the study. Amitriptyline, citalopram, venlafaxine and mirtazapine are given orally for 2 weeks. Subsequently, buspirone is added to each antidepressant drug for a period of 3 weeks. The behavioral effects in mice are observed at weekly intervals using photoactometer, rotarod, forced swim test and elevated plus maze.Results: The antidepressant drugs amitriptyline and citalopram showed any change in spontaneous motor activity recorded by photoactometer. In rotarod test venlafaxine showed an increase in values, which showed further increase when buspirone was added. In the forced swim test also, venlafaxine showed a different pattern of effects when compared to other antidepressants. In the elevated plus maze test, the four antidepressants did not show any increase in the time spent in open arm excepting citalopram. Venlafaxine showed an increase in time spent in closed arm.Conclusions: The test drugs do not show any significant depression of central nervous system at the dose used. Venlafaxine showed a different pattern of activity in the rotarod test and swim test. The variation in response is attributed to their effects on central neurotransmitter

Immunolocalization of a PIGR-like Protein in Tetrahymena thermophila

Netrins are pleiotropic signaling molecules which guide axonal development and help regulate processes such as angiogenesis. Netrins can act as chemorepellents for developing axons, and our previous work has shown that several netrins, including netrin-1, netrin-3, and netrin-4, are chemorepellents in Tetrahymena thermophila. In vertebrates, netrin-1 signals through several receptors, including those in the UNC-5 family. UNC-5 family proteins often signal through the src family of tyrosine kinases. We have previously characterized UNC-5 and src-like proteins in Tetrahymena, by immunolocalization and Western blotting. Sequencing of our src-like proteins gave a number of homologous sequences, including the sequence for polymeric immunoglobulin-like receptor (PIGR). With all of these findings in mind, we hypothesized that Tetrahymena might possess a receptor similar to PIGR, which would localize either to the plasma membrane or cilia of Tetrahymena