The Political Economy of Village Sanitation in South India: Capture or Poor Information?

Despite efforts to mandate and finance local governments' provision of environmental sanitation services, outcomes remain poor in the villages surveyed in the four South Indian states. The analysis indicates some key issues that appear to hinder improvements in sanitation. Local politicians tend to capture sanitary infrastructure and cleaning services for themselves, while also keeping major village roads reasonably well-served. Their decisions suggest, however, that they neither understand the health benefits of sanitation, nor the negative externalities to their own health if surrounding areas are poorly served. Our findings suggest that improving sanitary outcomes requires disseminating information on the public goods nature of their health benefits, as well as on the local government's responsibilities. It also requires putting public health regulations in place, along with measures to enable accountability in service provision.access to services; accountability; Accounting; affiliates; agricultural output; agriculture; air; air freight; air transport; Backbone; bank loans; Bank of Tanzania; Banking sector

Who Selects an Online Class Over the Same Course Face-to-Face? And Who Learns More? Results from a Mixed-Methods, Quasi-Experimental Study of Teaching the Sociology of Work and Family

We analyze the student learning and background characteristics of multiple sections of an upper-division undergraduate work and family sociology course, two taught face-to-face and four offered completely online. The learning environments across the two delivery modes were strictly controlled, with the same instructor in all six sections, the same assignments, and the same grading standards. Our qualitative data suggest that students select either online or face-to-face sections to match their perceived learning styles, and to accommodate their academic schedules, as well as work and family obligations. Our quantitative results suggest that most learning outcomes do not differ by delivery mode. We do see differences in levels of class participation favoring online students; students with higher GPAs participate more, while those with higher levels of activity hours and who are taking more online credits participate less. Online students face a trade-off between working more hours and participating in online classes. Our results need replication to determine whether these findings obtain in other upper-division sociology classes

Pelvic floor disorders in gynecological malignancies. An overlooked problem?

Cervical, endometrial, ovarian, vulvar, and vaginal cancers affect women of a broad age spectrum. Many of these women are still sexually active when their cancer is diagnosed. Treatment options for gynecological malignancies, such as gynecological surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, are proven risk factors for pelvic floor dysfunction. The prevalence of urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, and sexual dysfunction before cancer treatment is still unclear. Hypotheses have been raised in the literature that these manifestations could represent early symptoms of pelvic cancers, but most remain overlooked even in cancer surviving patients. The primary focus of therapy is always cancer eradication, but as oncological and surgical treatment options become more successful, the number of cancer survivors increases. The quality of life of patients with gynecological cancers often remains an underrated subject. Pelvic floor disorders are not consistently reported by patients and are frequently overlooked by many clinicians. In this brief review we discuss the importance of pelvic floor dysfunction in patients with gynecological malignant tumors

Albumin uptake in human podocytes: a possible role for the cubilin-amnionless (CUBAM) complex

Abstract Albumin re-uptake is a receptor-mediated pathway located in renal proximal tubuli. There is increasing evidence of glomerular protein handling by podocytes, but little is known about the mechanism behind this process. In this study, we found that human podocytes in vitro are committed to internalizing albumin through a receptor-mediated mechanism even after exposure to low doses of albumin. We show that these cells express cubilin, megalin, ClC-5, amnionless and Dab2, which are partners in the tubular machinery. Exposing human podocytes to albumin overload prompted an increase in CUBILIN, AMNIONLESS and CLCN5 gene expression. Inhibiting cubilin led to a reduction in albumin uptake, highlighting its importance in this mechanism. We demonstrated that human podocytes are committed to performing endocytosis via a receptor-mediated mechanism even in the presence of low doses of albumin. We also disclosed that protein overload first acts on the expression of the cubilin-amnionless (CUBAM) complex in these cells, then involves the ClC-5 channel, providing the first evidence for a possible role of the CUBAM complex in albumin endocytosis in human podocytes

Ultrasonographic assessment of the cutaneous changes induced by topical flavonoid therapy

Ultrasonography allows the quantification of dermal density and echogenicity changes during the physiological senescence process. Some active ingredients are able to slow down the tissular degeneration and disorganization process. The purpose of this study was to assess the cutaneous changes induced by the topical use of products containing Viniferol® as active ingredient, using high-frequency ultrasound. The study was performed over 12 weeks and included 80 healthy Caucasian female subjects, aged 22–75 years, divided into two groups: the study group and the control group. The product was applied according to a predetermined protocol. The measurements performed for each subject were: the thickness of the epidermis and dermis (mm), the number of low, medium, and high echogenic pixels, and the number of low echogenic pixels in the upper dermis/number of low echogenic pixels in the lower dermis. All the parameters showed a significant improvement. Ultrasound measurements showed an increase of the mean thickness of the epidermis (P < 0.0001) and dermis (P < 0.0001) following the application of the Viniferol product as compared to the control group. The changes in the dermal echogenicity confirm the efficacy and direct action of Viniferol upon the cutaneous fibroblasts. No side effects related to the treatment were recorded. The study proves the efficacy of this active ingredient in the cutaneous senescence process as well, as the fact that anti-aging prophylaxis should be initiated in the 20–40 year critical age group. This interval involves specific changes in dermal echogenicity that quantify intense molecular, biochemical and structural changes, being thus mostly and highly responsive to the anti-aging therapy