Advances in Hormone-Free Contraceptive Devices

Up to (99%) of women worldwide may use birth control for at least 30 years. However, most modern female contraceptives containing hormones can have undesirable side effects. Among the limited hormone-free options, the fertility awareness method is the safest and most effective when used correctly. This study explores a time-tested, safe, and effective barrier contraceptive called FemCap. FemCap not only aids in pinpointing the day of ovulation but also integrates electronic period-tracking technology to enhance the efficacy of the fertility awareness method. Stress Urinary Incontinence is a prevalent issue affecting women of all ages, often suffering in silence. Our research aims to address the unmet needs in women’s reproductive health. We have discovered that FemCap can function as a pessary to manage Stress Urinary Incontinence by providing support to the bladder neck and straightening the urethra, thereby restoring the competence of the urethral sphincters. FemCap has emerged as a powerhouse for fertility awareness and stress urinary incontinence. However, due to the limitations of this study, the authors welcome any investigators who can validate our findings as well as provide suggestions to enhance the overall value of this research for the benefit of all women

Serum Amyloid A Stimulates Vascular and Renal Dysfunction in Apolipoprotein E-Deficient Mice Fed a Normal Chow Diet

Elevated serum amyloid A (SAA) levels may promote endothelial dysfunction, which is linked to cardiovascular and renal pathologies. We investigated the effect of SAA on vascular and renal function in apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE−/−) mice. Male ApoE−/− mice received vehicle (control), low-level lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or recombinant human SAA by i.p. injection every third day for 2 weeks. Heart, aorta and kidney were harvested between 3 days and 18 weeks after treatment. SAA administration increased vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 expression and circulating monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-1 and decreased aortic cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), consistent with SAA inhibiting nitric oxide bioactivity. In addition, binding of labeled leukocytes to excised aorta increased as monitored using an ex vivo leukocyte adhesion assay. Renal injury was evident 4 weeks after commencement of SAA treatment, manifesting as increased plasma urea, urinary protein, oxidized lipids, urinary kidney injury molecule (KIM)-1 and multiple cytokines and chemokines in kidney tissue, relative to controls. Phosphorylation of nuclear-factor-kappa-beta (NFκB-p-P65), tissue factor (TF), and macrophage recruitment increased in kidneys from ApoE−/− mice 4 weeks after SAA treatment, confirming that SAA elicited a pro-inflammatory and pro-thrombotic phenotype. These data indicate that SAA impairs endothelial and renal function in ApoE−/− mice in the absence of a high-fat diet

The Yeast Spore Wall Enables Spores to Survive Passage through the Digestive Tract of Drosophila

In nature, yeasts are subject to predation by flies of the genus Drosophila. In response to nutritional starvation Saccharomyces cerevisiae differentiates into a dormant cell type, termed a spore, which is resistant to many types of environmental stress. The stress resistance of the spore is due primarily to a spore wall that is more elaborate than the vegetative cell wall. We report here that S. cerevisiae spores survive passage through the gut of Drosophila melanogaster. Constituents of the spore wall that distinguish it from the vegetative cell wall are necessary for this resistance. Ascospores of the distantly related yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe also display resistance to digestion by D. melanogaster. These results suggest that the primary function of the yeast ascospore is as a cell type specialized for dispersion by insect vectors

What do I do now? Intolerance of uncertainty is associated with discrete patterns of anticipatory physiological responding to different contexts

Heightened physiological responses to uncertainty are a common hallmark of anxiety disorders. Many separate studies have examined the relationship between individual differences in intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and physiological responses to uncertainty during different contexts. Despite this there is a scarcity of research examining the extent to which individual differences in IU are related to shared or discrete patterns of anticipatory physiological responding across different contexts. Anticipatory physiological responses to uncertainty were assessed in three different contexts (associative threat learning and extinction, threat uncertainty, decision-making) within the same sample (n = 45). During these tasks, behavioural responses (i.e. reaction times, choices), skin conductance and corrugator supercilli activity were recorded. In addition, self-reported IU and trait anxiety were measured. IU was related to both skin conductance and corrugator supercilii activity for the associative threat learning and extinction context, and decision-making context. However, trait anxiety was related to corrugator supercilii activity during the threat uncertainty context. Ultimately, this research helps us further tease apart the role of IU on different aspects of anticipation (i.e. valence and arousal) across contexts, which will be relevant for future IU-related models of psychopathology

The Concept of Governance in the Spirit of Capitalism

Through combining insights from political economy and sociology, this article explains the early genesis of the policy notion of governance in relation to ideological changes in capitalism. Such an approach has tended to be neglected in existing conceptual histories, in the process, undermining a sharper politicization of the term and how it became normalized. The argument dissects how the emergence of governance can be understood in light of a relationship between political crises, social critique and justificatory arguments (centered around security and justice claims) that form part of an ideological ‘spirit of capitalism’. Through a distinctive comparison between the creation of ‘corporate governance’ in the 1970s and the formulation of a ‘governance agenda’ by the World Bank from the 1980s, the article elucidates how the concept, within certain policy uses, but by no means all, can reflect and help constitute a neoliberal spirit of capitalism

Disequilibrium in development finance: the contested politics of institutional accountability and transparency at the World Bank inspection panel

This article examines the dynamic nature with which independent accountability mechanisms operate. Focusing on the World Bank, the authors argue that its Inspection Panel evolves according to internal and external pressures. In seeking to achieve equilibrium, and protect its authority and independence, the Panel has gone through several distinct phases: negotiation, emergence, protracted resistance, assertion of independence and authority, renewed tension, and contestation. The core novelty of the article is its application of concepts from outside the field of development studies — notably institutional accountability from the governance literature, and judicialization from the legal studies literature — to the topic of the Inspection Panel. Examining the Panel in this way demonstrates that accountability mechanisms represent a hybrid of transnational governance influenced by a range of actors including project-affected peoples, national governments, managers and development donors. Accountability in development finance is about competing interests as well as competing conceptions and expectations of accountability. In such a complex and multi-scalar system, the Panel is not only concerned with delivering well-researched investigation reports; it is also an entity seeking to ensure its own survival, as well as an arbiter of its own brand of legitimacy and accountability. © 2018 The Authors. Development and Change published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Institute of Social Studie

Understanding Islam: Development, Economics and Finance

In this paper, the foundational rules governing human, economic and financial development in Islam, as understood from the Quran and from the life and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), are summarized. These rules pave the path to development as the basis of institutional structure, which in turn, underpin the path of economic and social progress. The essential elements in the life of a Muslim—the unity of creation, freedom and freedom of choice, economic and human development, economic system and financial practice—are developed