Equipment Design ; Gastrostomy ; instrumentation ; methods ; Humans

Persons with HIV infection are vulnerable to mental health problems. The most common mental health problems among those infected with HIV are Depressive Disorders and Anxiety Disorders. HIV infection can also have direct effects on the central nervous system resulting in neuropsychiatric consequences like HIV encephalopathy, depression, mania, cognitive disorder and dementia. Substance use disorders are also common co-morbid conditions present among HIV infected persons. Refugees and asylum seekers are at a greater risk to develop mental health problems compared to the general population. Depressive Disorders, Anxiety Disorders and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are commonly detected among refugees who seek health care. Thus being a refugee and also being infected by HIV increases the risk of developing mental health problems. Mental health problems have implications on treatment seeking behaviours and treatment adherence. There is a reluctance to report psychological distress because of the stigma associated with psychiatric illnesses especially for HIV infected individuals who are already living with the stigma of HIV. The lack of skill of many health care professionals in detecting psychological symptoms also impacts on the making of diagnoses of psychiatric disorders in this population of patients. These factors are of importance because mental health issues have a negative impact on treatment adherence. This presentation will aim to explore mental health issues pertinent to refugees who are infected by HIV utilizing a few case studies.

With increasing globalization and a trend towards international harmonization of standards for the care and use of animals in research and testing,there is a significant need to assist and support countries to develop training programs for laboratory animal veterinarians. Although formal educational opportunities for training laboratory animal veterinarians exist through well-established specialty colleges of laboratory animal medicine such as ACLAM,ECLAM,JCLAM,and KCLAM or through other professional organisations,such as the Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations ( FELASA ),opportunities for participating in these programs are often limited to veterinarians in North America,Western Europe and specific regions of Asia. Creative thinking is required to develop cost-effective,practical,entry-level and advanced continuing education and applied training programs for veterinarians working in the field of laboratory animal medicine around the world.This paper will describe one potential solution for this issue,the use of a distance education program that provides theoretical information in a virtual classroom with applied training modules to deliver knowledge and practical skills to laboratory animal veterinarians.This type of program takes advantage of the online learning environment and can be an effective means to deliver training at the grassroots level to adult learners.

Objective: An efficient reproducible protocol has been developed for in vitro regeneration of plantlets from leaf and nodal explants of Aristolochia indica L. Methods: Wild grown plants Aristolochia indica L. were collected and grown in the departmental garden. Leaf and nodal segments (0.5-1.0 cm) from young healthy plants were first washed thoroughly under running tap water for 15 - 20 minutes and then treated with liquid detergent [5% (v/v) Tween-20] for 5-10 minutes. Later these explants were washed with double-distilled water for 5 minutes. Subsequently, explants were immersed in 70% (v/v) ethanol for 2 - 3 minutes and washed with sterile glass double distilled water for 2-3 times. Eventually, the explants were treated with an aqueous solution of 0.1% (w/v) HgCl2 for 1 - 2 minutes and rinsed for two-to-three times in sterile ddH2O to remove all traces of HgCl2. The sterilized explants were inoculated aseptically onto solid basal Murashige and Skoog’s medium with different concentrations and combinations of BAP and NAA for in vitro regeneration of plants. Results: Both leaf and nodal explants cultured on MS medium supplemented with 0.8 mg/L BAP developed into mass of callus. These calli were subcultured for the induction of shoots and roots. Shoots were induced from both calli on MS medium supplemented with 0.8 mg/L BAP+0.5 mg/L NAA. Roots were induced from in vitro shoots on MS medium supplemented with 0.8 mg/L NAA for 4 weeks. Nodal explants were more regenerative with 95 % response compared to leaf explants with 85%. Finally, these in vitro regenerated plantlets were hardened, acclimatised and successfully transferred to the field. Conclusions: The present protocol for in vitro regeneration of Aristolochia indica L. can be used to make this plant available throughout the year for traditional healers, pharmaceutical usages, germplasm conservation, commercial cultivation, and also for the production of secondary metabolites.