Combination therapy with oral minoxidil and dutasteride in the treatment of male patterned baldness: A case report

Androgenetic alopecia is a medical condition with a deep social and psychological impact on the affected individuals and is characterized by progressive hair thinning, leading to hair loss over the scalp in both males and females. Minoxidil in oral form is primarily an antihypertensive drug, whose mechanism of action is not completely known. Dutasteride is a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor, acting on both alpha-1 and alpha-2 receptors. The author combined these two agents for the treatment of male patterned baldness and found that this combination imparts a visible increase in hair thickness, density, and new hair growth in the patient, within a short period causing minimal side effects.

Macro-B12 masking B12 deficiency

In clinical practice, the finding of an elevated serum B12 concentration is often the consequence of supplementation with B12 in either oral form or injections. Also, elevated serum B12 may be associated with underlying disorders, like liver diseases or a (haematologic) malignancy. Only a few studies have shown that it may also be the consequence of complex formation of B12-vitamin binding proteins with immunoglobulins, the so-called macro-B12. We describe a young woman who previously was diagnosed with B12 deficiency, and in whom, after cessation of B12 injection treatment, neurologic symptoms re-appeared, and despite this, repeatedly elevated serum B12 concentrations above the upper limit of the assay were found. We demonstrated that this was caused by the presence of macro-B12, which not only resulted in erroneous and longstanding elevated serum B12, but also masked her underlying B12 deficiency.

Magiczno-religijna mozaika. Źródła obrazów postaci bogów Krain Wewnętrznego Morza z „Sagi o Zbóju Twardokęsku” Anny Brzezińskiej

The aim of this article is to find the sources of images of the Inner Sea Lands gods in Anna Brzezińska’s “Saga of Twardokęsek the Brigand”. The author presents the most important features of these characters, their most recognizable actions and attributes, comparing them with possible prototypes derived from Greek, Roman, Scandinavian, Slavic, and Hindu mythology, as well as Christianity. She points out that the gods in Brzezińska’s saga, although worshipped, are not omnipotent and do not possess full creative powers. They turn out to be only slightly more powerful than their off spring, the fruit of their relationships with humans — witches. Shaping human fates, they are only able to recreate ancient patterns over and over again and are subject to a higher power (similarly to how the Greek gods were subject to Fatum). In their images, we can also find traces of inspiration from the classic mythopoetic fantasy, especially Ursula K. Le Guin’s series about the Earthsea. Thus, these images can be seen as a magical-religious mosaic, which evokes associations with the considerations of classical anthropology on the relations between magic and religion. The author also puts forward the hypothesis about treating these images as a metaphor for the process of creating literature, especially in its original, oral form.

THE INFLUENCE OF ANIME ON THE EXISTENCE OF INDONESIAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

The form of literary works is increasingly varied over time. In the past, one can only share their thoughts in oral form, but now, they can express their idea, thoughts, and work through visual media. One example is anime. Anime is becoming more popular among Indonesian, especially students. This article focused on anime’s influence on students’ motivation to study the Japanese language and its effects on the Indonesian language and literature existence. Questions that arise from this topic are how anime influences students’ motivation to study the Japanese language and literature, its relevance on the Indonesian language and literature existence, the effect of watching anime, and how to deal with the negative effects that might occur. This research uses an interactive qualitative method with surveys and interviews to collect the data. The data obtained were analyzed descriptively and presented in tables. The results of the research indicate that anime is indeed influencing students’ interest to study the Japanese language and literature which can affect the Indonesian language and literature existence, there are negative effects of watching anime, and efforts need to be done to prevent and overcome these negative impacts. Due to the pandemic, the data collection process was carried out online via Google Forms and WhatsApp. Therefore, the data obtained is not as good as the data collected face-to-face.

Epidemiology, evaluation and management of tinea pedis

Tinea pedis, known as athletics foot, is defined as a dermatophyte infection leading to a condition called dermatophytosis. Usually, the mode of infection is fungal. Trichophyton rubrum is the most common organism which is responsible for the infection. This fungus is endemic in some geographical regions as in Asia and Africa. The mode of transmission and risk factors depends on several factors: the weather, type of clothes and shoes, body response to different organisms, present history, family history, and endemic geographical areas. Increased temperature and humidity were correlated in the literature to the increased incidence and prevalence of tinea pedis compared to those areas which have low temperature, wearing specific types of shoes or clothes might be associated with an increased rate of infection, especially if the shoes are adherent to the foot and occlusive, prolonged exposure to humidity and water was also shown to be among the causes for tinea pedis infections. The clinical presentation of tinea pods varies according to the site and severity of infection. Generally, antifungal drugs are effective in most cases. The application of antifungals may be in oral form or local form, or mixed form. Terbinafine was proven to be effective in mild cases to fully treat the infection within a period of one week, extending to four weeks in more aggressive cases. This was a brief look at the article. This article aimed to review tinea pedis from different prospections clinically.

Oral semaglutide: the innovation in type 2 diabetes management

Oral semaglutide is the first-in-class glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist available in the form of pills administered per os. PIONEER — the clinical trial program assessing the efficacy and safety of oral semaglutide — demonstrated the dose-­dependent efficacy of the drug: the reduction of up to -1,4% in terms of glucose-lowering effects and the decrease of up to 5 kg in terms of weight loss. Moreover, oral semaglutide is superior in this regard compared to empagliflozin 25 mg, liraglutide 1,8 mg and sitagliptin 100 mg according to the dedicated trials of clinical program. From the cardiovascular perspective oral semaglutide has been proven to be safe. Therapeutic concentration of semaglutide in oral form is reached under ­several conditions: taking tablets on a daily basis in a fasting state with up to half a glass of water and waiting 30 minutes before drinking, eating, or taking other drugs. Most frequent adverse events were GLP-1 associated gastrointestinal reactions (­nausea, vomiting and diarrhea), most of the events were transient and occurred generally during dose escalation.

Loss of vision secondary to toxic optic neuropathy due to gutka overdose: A Case Report

Introduction: Toxic optic neuropathy is defined as the damage caused by a toxin to the optic nerve fibers. There is a vast list of toxins that may lead to optic neuropathies. One of the toxins among this list is tobacco. Gutka being an oral form of tobacco, however, has not been previously related to optic neuropathy. Case presentation: We present a case of a 22-year-old male who presented with decreased far vision and gradually increasing photophobia. He had a history of gutka usage, a form of smokeless tobacco. Investigations revealed a central scotoma on FOV, a swollen optic disc on OCT and deranged Liver function tests. A diagnosis of RIGHT + LEFT optic neuropathy secondary to a chemical toxic was made, which in this case, was gutka. Conclusion: Consumption of gutka can lead to irreversible toxic optic neuropathy.

CHARACTER EDUCATION IN THE ACEHNESE IDIOMS OF KUALA BATEE COMMUNITY OF SOUTHWEST ACEH

This study is entitled "Character Education in the Acehnese Idiom in the Kuala Batee Community of Southwest Aceh”. The Acehnese idiom was used as a support in advising and as a means of maintaining existing norms in the society. A Society is one of the most influential molders of character education because of its interactions. The values of traditional culture are recognized by all levels of the society in the regions and nationalities that become national identities. Not only culture, local languages also need to be used in daily interactions in society so that they do not experience a serious decline, which will eventually disappear over the time. In this case, the Acehnese Idiom became a medium to spread the value of character education to the next generation. The purpose of this study is to describe the Acehnese expressions that contain the values of character education in the community of Kuala Batee Southwest Aceh. The method of this research is a descriptive qualitative. Interview was used as an instrument. In this study, 8 subjects are chosen using purposive sampling that consist of tuhapheut and village elders in the community. The location of this study is in Kuala Batee District, Southwest Aceh. There are 18 character values in the Acehnese Idiom in the community of Kuala Batee, Southwest Aceh which consists of; religious, honest, tolerance, discipline, hard work, creative, independent, democratic, curiosity, national spirit, love of the homeland, respect for achievement, friendly/communicative, love peace, love to read, care for the environment, social care and responsibility. The expressions found in the Kuala Batee community are in the form of one line, two lines, three lines and four lines. The Acehnese idiom in the community of Kuala Batee Southwest Aceh is in the oral form which has its own meaning and use as an advice relating to divinity, self, others and the environment. Based on the above conclusions, the author suggests the community to preserve the Acehnese idiom so that it becomes a legacy for the next generation. To the government, it is hoped that they will support to publish references related to Acehnese idioms and other types of folklore related to Acehnese culture so that they can add references to other studies.

Understanding Turkish Classical Makam: Identifying Modes Through Characteristic Melodies

In Turkish classical music, characteristic melodies known as “çeşni-s” form essential building blocks in makam, the modal system of the Middle East. Since around the beginning of the Turkish Republic (1923), Turkish musicologists adapted the makam system for Western staff notation and devised an approach to music theory based on scales. This modern approach, while currently widespread, has its limitations; in particular, the makam scales do not reflect the characteristic melodies that are often so important to the idiomatic expression of makam. For this reason, one needs extended interaction with experienced musicians in order to learn how to interpret the scores, via an oral form of pedagogy traditionally known as “meşk.”

Learning vocabulary in spoken input- and output-based tasks

This experimental study explores the differential effects of spoken input-based and output-based tasks on vocabulary knowledge. The study also investigates whether such tasks result in more learning gains than exposure to input-only (no subsequent task). The study employed a pretest-posttest design with two groups: an experimental group (n = 32) who completed both input- and output-based tasks in a counterbalanced way and a comparison group (n = 12) who were only exposed to L2 input. Vocabulary gains were measured at three levels of sensitivity: oral spontaneous use, oral form recall and meaning recall. The findings showed that participants who were only exposed to L2 input learned significantly fewer words than participants who completed the input-based and output-based tasks. No difference in learning gains was found between the input-based and output-based tasks.