Role of Leptin in the Pathogenesis of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Leptin is a 16 kDa adipocyte-secreted hormone that regulates weight centrally and links nutritional status to neuroendocrine and immune functions. Several studies indicate that leptin plays an important role in immune responses. Leptin affects both innate and adaptive immunity. It can stimulate dendritic cells (DC), monocytes, macrophages, neutrophils and natural killer cells. Leptin is involved in DC maturation and survival,and can skew the cytokine balance of a T helper (Th)1 profi le. In adaptive immunity, leptin can promote naïve T cell survival and production of interferon-γ and interleukin-2, and activate Th1 cells while inhibiting Th2 cells. Leptin may play an important role in theregulation of the Th1/Th2 balance. As a survival factor, leptin has been shown to suppress B cell apoptosis. The role of leptin in the pathogenesis of systemic lupuserythematosus (SLE) is not fully determined yet. This review tries to link the role of leptin in immunity to the pathogenesis of SLE

Knee Arthritis in an HIV Positive Patient - Not Associated with Antiretroviral Therapy

Human immunodefi ciency virus (HIV)-associated arthritis is an oligoarthritis which predominantly affect the knees and ankles. It tends to be selflimited and to last less than six weeks. However, some patients with HIV-associated arthritis have been reported to have a disease course of more than six weeks with joint destruction. Synovial fl uid cultures are typically sterile and radiographs of the affected joints are usually normal except in those rare patients with a prolonged duration of symptoms in whom joint-space narrowing can occur.1,2 The pathophysiology of HIV specific arthritis types is not fully understood but drugs of the highly active antiretroviral therapy, in particular indinavir, are supposed to cause arthritis or rheumatological complaints.3 However,recently both human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) type I and HTLV-II have been suggested to induce infl ammatory or autoimmune reactions which can increase signifi cantly the incidence of arthritis.4 We report a patient with HIV infection presenting as knee arthritis which was apparently not associated with antiretroviral therapy

Correlation Between Serum Leptin Concentration and Disease Activity in Normal Body Mass Index Premenopausal Women with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Background. Leptin is recognized as a cytokine-like hormone with pleiotropic actions in modulating immune responses. The role of leptin in pathogenesis of systemiclupus erythematosus (SLE) was not fully understood yet. Previous study did not fi nd the correlation between serum leptin concentration and disease activity in patients with SLE, but selection of the subjects wasn\u27t based on the classifi cation of body mass index (BMI) and menopausal status.Objective. To determine correlation between serum leptin concentration and the disease activity in normal BMI premenopausal women with SLE.Methods. Serum leptin concentration was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and disease activity was scored using Mexican SLE disease activity index (Mex-SLEDAI). Spearman\u27s correlation coeffi cient test was used for evaluating the strength of association between leptin level and Mex-SLEDAI score.Results. Seventy normal BMI premenopausal women with SLE were included in this study. The median of serum leptin concentration was 13.4 (0.6 – 45.9) ng/ml.The median serum leptin concentration in patients with active disease was 12.4 (0.6 – 41.6) ng/dl, whereas in patients with inactive disease was 15.2 (3.9 – 45.9) ng/dl.No signifi cant different was found between serum leptin concentration in active and inactive disease (p = 0.14). A weak negative correlation was observed between leptinconcentration and Mex-SLEDAI score, but not statistically signifi cant (r = -0.22; p = 0.07).Conclusion. No correlation was found between serum leptin concentration and disease activity in normal BMI premenopausal women with SLE. Prednisone doses anddisease duration might interfere

Akses Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional pada Pekerja Seks Perempuan

Female sex workers (FSW) is marginalized social group having a high vulnerability of health problems. Effort to expand national health insurance on FSW is still limited, so it is necessarily performed in order to support the achievement of universal health coverage. This study aimed to obtain the depiction of the insurance access among FSW in Denpasar. This study was qualitative. Data was collected through in-depth interview of 15 FSW and four pimps in Denpasar from August to October 2014. The interview result was analyzed using thematic analysis. The analysis framework used was The Health Access Livelihood Framework. The insurance ownership among FSW in Denpasar was low, even though some FSW were willing to be participants and afford to pay the premium. Factors inhibiting the insurance access were the lack of knowledge regarding registration procedures and portability, fear of premium payment sustainability, negative perceptions of quality of services that would be received if using the insurance, incomplete population administration and policy requiring independent non-premium support receiver participants to register all of their family members. The insurance access among FSW was hindered by individual, service and policy factors that need to be conquered to increase the insurance coverage among FSW

The Effect of the Proportion of the Independent Board of Commissioners, Board of Audit Committees, Managerial Ownership and Free Cash Flow on Financial Performance in Banked Companies in Idx in 2015-2017

The purpose of this study is (1) to determine the effect of the Independent Board of Commissioners Proportion on financial performance in banking companies listed on the Stock Exchange in 2015-2017, (2) to determine the influence of the Audit Committee on financial performance in banking companies listed on the IDX in 2015-2017, (3) to determine the effect of Managerial Ownership on financial performance of banking companies listed on the Stock Exchange in 2015-2017, (4) to determine the effect of Free Cash Flow on financial performance in banking companies listed on the IDX on year 2015-2017. The data needed in this study are financial statements and data on the implementation of Good Corporate Governance. The data is quantitative data obtained by analyzing data through measuring research variables with numbers and statistical procedures. The analysis technique used is multiple linear regression analysis. The sample in this study were 13 banking companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2015-2017. Determination of samples using purposive sampling method. The results showed that the variable proportion of independent board and audit committee had a positive effect on financial performance as indicated by their respective significance values of 0.05. However, managerial ownership and free cash flow variables have no influence on financial performance

POROSIDING SEMINAR NASIONAL KECERDASAN DALAM MENGGALI BUDAYA NUSANTARA SEBAGAI SUMBER PENCIPTAAN DAN PENGKAJIAN SENI

“Kecerdasan Dalam Menggali Budaya Nusantara Sebagai Sumber Penciptaan dan Pengkajian Seni” cukup menarik diangkat sebagai tema dalam seminar nasional yang diselenggarakan Program Pascasar- jana Institut Seni Indonesia Denpasar. Karenanya perlu diingat kembali kata “Budaya Nusantara” sangat identik dengan tradisi, dalam hal ini, kesenian tradisional nusantara adalah pondasi yang mendasari segala bentuk dan perkembangan kesenian yang selama ini membawa nama Indonesia ke ranah Global. Dengan demikian kesenian nusantara perlu dijaga dan dilestarikan keberadaannya agar tidak terseret oleh terpaan arus globalisasi yang akan mengkaburkan identitas budaya kita. Perkembangan kesenian di zaman ini penuh dengan pencarian, penggalian ide-ide yang mengede- pankan kreativitas dalam proses penciptaan dan pengkajian seni, sehingga melahirkan karya-karya spek- takuler yang bermutu tinggi. Di dalam ranah seni pertunjukan, para Etnomusikolog di masa ini berjuang mengangkat citra lokal ke ranah global dengan segala bentuk perkembangannya. Hal ini sangat berkaitan dengan topik seminar, yaitu keindahan budaya nusantara yang terbalut oleh nilai estetika tinggi mampu bersaing dalam dunia global. Dan kenyataannya budaya nusantara sudah mulai mengglobal. Di ranah visual art atau seni rupa dan desain dewasa ini terhembus wacana mengenai Global Art yang kembali mengambil dan meminjam ikon atau unsur tradisional yang kemudian di visualkan secara kreatif dengan ide-ide “gila”, sehingga disetiap karya-karya yang diciptakan bernuansa lokal dengan penggayaan baru yang mampu eksis di dalam ranah seni rupa dunia. Hal ini dalam konsep postmodern disebut dengan- pendekatan pasticheya itu mengangkat dan meminjam kembali bentuk-bentuk teks atau bahasa estetik tradisi yang kemudian dikonstruksi kembali dengan bahasa seni yang baru, kemudian menempatkannya kedalam konteks semangat masakini yang sering disebut dengan seni kontemporer tanpa meninggalkan dan merusak kesenian lokal