Age-related morphological peculiarities of human testes

Background: This study aimed to compare the isolated testes size, volume, weight and density changes with age and to establish the suitability of three formulas of testicular volume calculation for 18–50 and 51–70-year-old men groups. Materials and methods: Two hundred and six testes of 103 men (59 of 18–50-year-old and 44 of 51–70-year-old men) were weighed and their size was measured by the sliding calliper. The accurate volume was determined by water displacement and compared with volume calculated using three formulas, and the density of testicular tissues was calculated. Results: The mean length and height of both testes and length and height of right and left testes decreased significantly with age. The mean width of both testes and width of right and left testes decreased with age insignificantly. The mean of water displacement volume and weight and volume and weight of right and left testes decreased with age significantly. The mean density of testicular tissues and the density of the right and left testes increased significantly with age. In the same age group, the size, water displacement volume and weight of right testes was insignificantly higher than that of the left ones, and the density of testicular tissues was similar in the right and left testes. Conclusions: The prolate spheroid formula was most suitable for calculation of testicular volume for 18–50-year-old men and prolate ellipsoid formula was most suitable for calculation of testicular volume in 51–70-year-old men

A Turke turn'd Quaker: conversion from Islam to radical dissent in early modern England

The study of the relationship between the anglophone and Islamic worlds in the seventeenth century has been the subject of increas- ing interest in recent years, and much attention has been given to the cultural anxiety surrounding “Turning Turke”, conversion from Christianity to Islam, especially by English captives on the Barbary coast. Conversion in the other direction has attracted far less scrutiny, not least because it appears to have been far less com- mon. Conversion from Islam to any form of radical dissent has attracted no scholarship whatsoever, probably because it has been assumed to be non-existent. However, the case of Bartholomew Cole provides evidence that such conversions did take place, and examining the life of this “Turke turn’d Quaker” provides an insight into the dynamics of cross-cultural conversion of an exceptional kind

IL-4 enhances IEC-6 intestinal epithelial cell proliferation yet has no effect on IL-6 secretion

Intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) form an important line of defence at the intestinal mucosa by providing a barrier to lumenal contents and also by their ability to secrete various inflammatory cytokines. Recently, several T cell-derived cytokines have been shown to regulate specific IEC functions. In this study, the effect of IL-4 on IEC proliferation and secretion of the inflammatory cytokine IL-6 was investigated using the non-transformed rat IEC-6 intestinal epithelial cell line. Recombinant rat (rr)IL-4 was found to enhance IEC-6 cell proliferation over 4 days of culture, and this enhancement was dose-dependent. Further studies using specific antibodies confirmed that IL-4 induced the effect and that the effect was not mediated by autocrine-produced transforming growth factor-alpha. However, IL-4 did not induce IL-6 secretion by the IEC-6 cells, nor did it alter IL-1β-induced IL-6 secretion. These results indicate that T cells may be capable of regulating IEC proliferation via the secretion of IL-4 without altering the capacity of the IEC to function in the inflammatory response by secreting IL-6

Age-related morphological peculiarities of human testes

This study aimed the comparison of the isolated testes size, volume, weight and density changes with age and establishing the suitability of three formulas of testicular volume calculation for 18-50 and 51-70-year-old men groups. 206 testes of 103 men (59 of 18-50-year-old and 44 of 51-70-year-old men) were weighed and their size was measured by the sliding calliper. The accurate volume was determined by water displacement and compared with volume calculated using three formulas, and the density of testicular tissues was calculated. The mean length and height of both testes and length and height of right and left testes decreased significantly with age. The mean width of both testes and width of right and left testes decreased with age insignificantly. The mean of water displacement volume and weight and volume and weight of right and left testes decreased with age significantly. The mean density of testicular tissues and the density of the right and left testes increased significantly with age. In the same age group, the size, water displacement volume and weight of right testes was insignificantly major than the left, and the density of testicular tissues was similar in the right and left testes. The prolate spheroid formula was most suitable for calculation of testes volume for 18-50-year-old men and prolate ellipsoid formula was most suitable for calculation of 51-70-year-old men testes volume

RTN4 AND FBXL17 GENES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH CORONARY HEART DISEASE IN GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION ANALYSIS OF LITHUANIAN FAMILIES

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a complex and heterogeneous cardiovascular disease. There are many genome-wide association studies (GWAS) performed worldwide to extract the causative genetic factors. Moreover, each population may have some exceptional genetic characteristic. Thus, the background of our study is from the previous Lithuanian studies (the LiVicordia Project), which demonstrated the differences of the atherosclerosis process between Lithuanian and Swedish male individuals. In this study we performed GWAS of 32 families of Lithuanian origin in search of significant candidate genetic markers [single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)] of CHD in this population. After careful clinical and biochemical phenotype evaluation, the ~770K SNPs genotyping (Illumina HumanOmniExpress- 12 v1.0 array) and familial GWAS analyses were performed. Twelve SNPs were found to be significantly associated with the CHD phenotype (p value 0.65). The odds ratio (OR) values were calculated. Two SNPs (rs17046570 in the RTN4 gene and rs11743737 in the FBXL17 gene) stood out and may prove to be important genetic factors for CHD risk. Our results correspond with the findings in other studies, and these two SNPs may be the susceptibility loci for CH