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The 2002 Canadian Contraception Study investigated the contraception and sexual health-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices of a representative sample of Canadian women of childbearing age. In Part 2 of the report of this research, the authors focus on the contraceptive attitudes and practices of adolescent women and women in their later reproductive years, provide data on sexual and reproductive health indicators of Canadian women, describe 2-decade trends in the awareness, opinion, and utilization of contraceptive methods among Canadian women, and describe contraception counselling strategies that may be used to improve patient choice and adherence to method. This report closes with an overall discussion of the findings of the 2002 Canadian Contraception Study.

The 2002 Canadian Contraception Study investigated the contraception and sexual health-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices of a representative sample of Canadian women of childbearing age. In Part 2 of the report of this research, the authors focus on the contraceptive attitudes and practices of adolescent women and women in their later reproductive years, provide data on sexual and reproductive health indicators of Canadian women, describe 2-decade trends in the awareness, opinion, and utilization of contraceptive methods among Canadian women, and describe contraception counselling strategies that may be used to improve patient choice and adherence to method. This report closes with an overall discussion of the findings of the 2002 Canadian Contraception Study.

Among the medical problems associated with aging in women, urogenital aging may well be the most ignored. It can be defined as a process that produces a complex of symptoms and physical findings, involving the lower urinary and genital tracts and the pelvic floor, relating ta a decline in ovarian function and to aging. The prevalence of urogenital aging increases with increasing years; depending on the defining symptoms used, the condition is present in up ta 40 percent of mature women. The symptoms fall into five groups: urinary, vaginal, bowel, prolapse, and sexual symptoms. Many patients will have symptoms from more than one group. The mainstay of treatment is estrogen, although there are many other important aspects of treatment that merit consideration, ranging from exercises to surgery. This review will present the epidemiology, assessment, and management of this common condition.

Angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) is responsible for production of angiotensin II and breakdown of kinins, leading to increased blood pressure (BP). Furthermore, ACE inhibitors are effective antihypertensive agents. A 287 bp insertion/deletion polymorphism in intron 16 of the ACE gene (ACE) was examined by PCR in a cross-sectional study of 80 hypertensive (HT) and 93 normotensive (NT) subjects whose parents had a similar BP status at age greater than or equal to 50. The frequency of the insertion allele was 0.56 in HTs and 0.41 in NTs, and the difference between observed alleles in all subjects in each group was significant (chi 2 = 7.6, P less than 0.01). The data thus provide evidence in favour of an association of HT with a polymorphism at the ACE locus (17q23), so implicating this locus, and possibly a genetic variant of ACE itself, in human essential hypertension.

Aim: Germline BRCA1/2 mutation screening is critical in ovarian cancer patients to identify a subset of women who might benefit from PARP inhibitors. A recent clinical study suggests that women with either germline or somatic BRCA1/2 mutations may benefit from PARP inhibitors1. Tumor mutation screening could expand the number of ovarian cancer patients that might consider PARP inhibitor treatment2. Methods: Previously untreated high grade epithelial ovarian cancer patients were prospectively enrolled between January 2011 and December 2013 in accordance with IRB protocol. Patients were offered germline and tumor BRCA1/2 mutation screening. Germline mutation screening was performed on DNA from blood via custom amplicon assay and next generation sequencing. DNA from FFPE tumor samples was sequenced using custom hybridization enrichment and next generation sequencing. Variants and large rearrangements were identified and classified according to established criteria. Results: 263 patients were enrolled and germline testing was completed. Germline mutation analysis revealed 39 deleterious mutations (15% mutation rate, 25 BRCA1 and 14 BRCA2 mutations). Somatic tumor analysis has been completed for 88 patients receiving upfront surgical treatment (out of 123 total upfront surgery patients). 14 (16%) had germline deleterious mutations and all 14 mutations were independently identified in the tumor, giving 100% concordance between the assays. An additional 8 (9%) deleterious somatic mutations were identified, representing an overall BRCA1/2 mutation rate of 25%. One somatic BRCA2 mutation was observed in a patient with a previously identified germline BRCA2 mutation. Conclusions: Data from this prospective cohort support previously reported frequencies of BRCA1/2 deleterious mutations in high grade epithelial ovarian tumors2. Next generation sequencing assays on blood and tumor DNA were 100% concordant. Tumor sequencing identified additional BRCA1/2 defects. Further molecular profiling and clinical follow-up is ongoing to evaluate outcomes in these subgroups of ovarian cancer patients with BRCA1/2 defects. References 1. Ledermann et al, 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting 2. Hennessy et al, 2010 JCO 28:3570-6. Disclosure: K. Timms, C. Neff, J. Potter, S. Chau, J. Chen, D. Williams, M. Perry, B. Morris, A. Gutin and J. Lanchbury: is an employee and stockholder of Myriad Genetics, Inc.; K. Lu: Participating MD Anderson researchers do not receive funds from Myriad Genetics, Inc.All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

We have constructed an electronic circuit model of the map Xt+1 = 1 − λtX2t, where λt is swept linearly in time. The observed bifurcation points are postponed by amounts which depend on both the sweep velocity and the order of the bifurcation n. Our measured results obey (to within experimental error) two scaling laws predicted by Kaprall and Mandel for a different quadratic map, and therefore provide evidence for the universality of these scaling laws.

Although contemporary anthropological studies of African medical systems have indicated their pluralistic and complex nature, many studies still suggest a stark contrast between folk and cosmopolitan medicine, implying that ethnomedicine is primarily concerned with mystical causation. The present paper outlines ethnomedical practices in southern Malawi, stressing the distinctiveness of herbalists and diviners, and the important role of herbal remedies in the empirical treatment of all illnesses.

Enthalpies and entropies of sorption of water on Linde 4-A and 5-A zelites have been evaluated from data provided by Union Carbide Corporation. The results above 5 molecules of water per unit cell of zeolite show the expected general behavior of water on the heterogeneous zeolite surface. Some interesting additional behavior is observed showing a temperature dependence of the heat of sorption at higher water contents than that required to cover the most energetic sorption sites. This is discussed in terms of the interactions possible in the zeolite cavities.

The dielectric properties of the Linde Molecular Sieve Zeolite Type 5-A with a series of polar and non-polar adsorbates (NH3, SO2, CO2 and n-C5H12) have been investigated in the frequency range 5 Hz to 148 kHz. A region of dielectric absorption is observed which has been assigned to a jumping process involving the interstitial cations. A possible mechanism for the process is discussed and the results analysed on the basis of the apparent dipole moment, associated with the cation jump, which is obtained from the dielectric absorption parameters. The theoretical basis of the analysis is given in an appendix. Plots of the permittivity increment against adsorbate content for polar adsorbates are discussed in terms of the rotational mobility of the sorbed phase.

The permittivity and dielectric loss factor for the Molecular Sieve Zeolites type 3-A and 4-A and a silver exchange form of type-A have been measured in the frequency range 5 Hz to 140 MHz with various amounts of adsorbed water present. A region of dielectric loss in all three may be attributed to movement, within the cavities, of the interstitial cations. The activation energy for the process varies with water content and at any one water content a linear relationship exists between the activation energies and the size of the cations concerned. The behaviour of the activation energy with temperature suggests some change of phase of the adsorbed water takes place, equivalent to freezing, at a temperature well below 0°C. A further region of dielectric absorption has been observed which has been attributed to relaxation, with an ice-like character, of the major part of the adsorbed water dipole moment. The remainder of the water dipole relaxing by motions, other than complete reorientation, at higher frequencies than those available in the present study.

A system, designed particularly for the study of the dielectric properties of zeolites on the adsorption of vapours, is described. It enables compacted disc samples to be dehydrated at 450°C and 10-5Torr., and then measured, in the frequency range 5 Hz–148 kHz, with any equilibrium pressure, up to 760 Torr., of most gaseous adsorbates. Measurements of the permittivity and dielectric loss factor have been made for the Linde Molecular Sieve zeolite type 5-A in the dehydrated state and with adsorbed water at all water contents up to saturation. By the use of conventional dielectric measuring techniques the water saturated material has been measured in the frequency range 5 Hz–8.5 GHz. A well defined region of dielectric absorption, occurring in the low frequency (< 148 kHz) range, has been ascribed to movement, within the zeolite cavities, of the interstitial cations. The behaviour of this absorption with variation of water content and temperature has been investigated. A further low frequency absorption, attributed to the adsorbed water, has been observed and its behaviour with water content and temperature studied. The results suggest that the total dipole polarisation due to the water relaxes in two stages: one is of a low frequency ice-like character, the other, relatively much smaller dispersion, gives absorption(s) throughout the MHz region. The permittivity increment shows a sequence of linear increases with water content which have been interpreted as indicating coverage of the first and second most active adsorption sites in the zeolite cavities. Possible mechanisms of these processes are discussed.